Falling For a Ghost? How Is That Even Possible?

“Laser tag!” I exclaimed excitedly. I ran towards the doors and turned back to smile at Cale. “Prepare to be destroyed.”

Cale smirked at me. “On the contrary, my fine friend, youare the one who should be watching out. I’m the master at this game.”

I made a face and pulled the doors open. “Psh, whatever. You probably trip over your own shoelaces.”

Cale and I walked into the dark room, and I (obviously) was told to sit down and listen to the instructions and rules. It was Saturday, and since we had nothing to do, I decided I wanted to go to the Play Center. The Center is complete with glow blowing, roller skating, put-put golf, an arcade with DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION! And laser tag. Tons of little kids were running around, and there were hardly any people my age, but there were few. They were all mostly playing bowling though. Bowling is for the people who are too proud to get their asses whipped in laser tag.

“Okay,” the instruction said. “This is the vest. It goes over your head like this…Yes, that’s right. Now clip these things together.” Blah, blah, blah.

“Hey,” I whispered to Cale as we got dressed into our suits. “How does this work with you? I mean, are people just going to see a vest floating around or what?”

Cale looked at me seriously and answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Yes. That is exactly what happens.”

My eye widened. “What?!” When everyone in the room gave me weird looks, I played it off. “Oh, um, I just meant: What? We can’t shove other people?”

“Uh, no,” the instructor said. “Someone might get hurt.”

I nodded at him then looked back to Cale. “Tell me you’re joking.”

Cale nodded. “Yeah, I was, but hey, that was pretty funny. Anyways, the equipment will just disappear until I don’t want it anymore. I can leave this stuff inside there and someone will find it. No one will notice it’s gone.”

I shrugged and looked at the number on my gun. 15. And I was also on the red team; Cale, green. “You’re going down,” I whispered confidently.

Cale smirked. “Don’t be so sure about that.”

“Okay!” the instructor told us. “The doors are opening! Get ready, men! Okay, now go, go, go!” I laughed. The instructors always treated this like the army or something. It was great.

The red team went through one door while the green went through another. The room was huge with tall ceilings, blocks, obstacles, walls with holes in them, and EVERYTHING was black. There was even some fog which made it extra awesome.

I saw a few of my teammates run together in group, idiots, and I crouched down behind a block and peeked over with my finger on the trigger. After a few seconds, I heard lots of beeping noises going off a little ways away, showing that the war had begun.

And just then, a twelve year old boy on the green team ran across my line of sight.
I quickly pointed my gun at the green “X” on his back and fired.

DING! The green “X” turned blue.

Yes! One point for me. But it was only one point. I needed to get more… Needed to beat Cale. I decided to move from my spot and just run around looking for Greenies. After a good ten minutes, and not seeing Cale, I sat down in a corner behind a box, but still able to see plenty, and waited patiently.

DING! I looked down at my “X” that should have been red, now blue. What the hell? I looked up but saw no one. I scanned the area, but still saw no one… Someone’s good.

I got up from my spot and ran around for a little bit until my “X” turned back red. Once it did, I was shooting Greenies left and right.

BEEP!

I crouched down as I heard the sound of someone’s gun going off. They were close, and they were shooting at me.

BEEP! BEEP!

I heard some movement and peeked over the box I was behind. I saw a blur run behind a wall, then another wall, and then another. Geez, they were fast. Suddenly, I saw a bright red dot appear on my chest. Shit!

I dove from behind the box over to a wall just in time to hear a BEEP! run past me. I heard footsteps running, and I turned over on my back, finger on the trigger, and ready to shoot someone’s ass.

Once the green “X” came into view, I pulled. And so did they.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The green “X” turned blue. I looked down. And so did mine. Damn it!

“Huh,” Cale said. “Guess we both die.”

I laughed on the ground. “Cale?”

“Excuse me, K-Mart shoppers, but the game is now over. Please return to the holding room to dispose of your gear and to receive your scoring sheets. Thank you very much for playing.”

Every one of both teams proceeded through the same door and came into the same dark room as before. We took off our gear and hung them back up on the racks, and then the instructor came in and started calling off names for the sheets.

“What’s your total?” Cale asked after we both got ours. Well, I had to get his too. People looked at me funny when I took both papers.

I looked at the bottom of the paper for the total. I grinned proudly as I told. “152. Yours?”

“232.”

My mouth dropped, and I ripped the sheet from his hands. “What?! No way! That’s not even possible! Hey! You’re a ghost! They can’t see you.” I looked up into his grey eyes. “Cheater,” I accused.

He shrugged. “Yeah, maybe, but hey, look here. “ He pointed to a place on the middle of the paper. Number of times hit: 1. “That’s you.”

I smiled at that. It made me look like I was special, unique, and original. I liked being Cale’s only number one. Oh. My. God. How cheesy did that just sound?

Cale nudged me. “Are you ready to be dominated at Dance Dance Revolution?” He grinned down at me.

“What?” I stuffed the sheet into my pocket. “I am so totally going to beat you. You may have beaten me at laser tag, but you cheated. You can’t beat the revolution, my dear friend.”

Cale smiled at me. “I don’t need to cheat, my dear. I have skill.”

I rolled my eyes, and we walked to the arcade. Together. Cale tossed his arm over my shoulders carelessly, and I felt the butterflies go wild in my stomach. Don’t get me wrong, but this almost felt like a…date.