Just Another Reason I Could Never Forget You

"No! Shit, fuck! Retreat! We've been spotted, Jerri, retreat! I repeat, retreat!"

I laughed at Jack as he came flying around the corner screaming. Why was he screaming? Simply put, the two of us were trying to keep from getting tagged by a nerf gun bullet. It was a beautiful spring day so all of us had agreed on having a nerf war instead of wasting away playing video games. To even it out we split up into pairs and each pair had a person who knew what they were doing. Rian, Zack and I were all pretty good shots. Amanda, Jack and Alex were decent but they couldn't hit a target that was more than five feet away. We had actually measured this out, just out of sheer curiosity.

The two of us hightailed it back towards the front of the house, making sure to check out backs every few steps. Every time we got hit we had to relinquish half of our bullets to the shooting team. It definitely made everyone try their hardest to avoid being shot. Hence Jack's proclamation to retreat. Being spotted was just about as bad as being shot.

From our new hiding spot in the bushes we watched as Zack and Alex ran past. They were talking quietly about where we could be hiding, knowing that we were somewhere nearby. After all,l there weren't very many places to hide in my front yard. Jack looked at me, his gaze questioning. At my nod of approval, we both leaped out of the bushes and began firing. I hit Zack with my first shot, leaving Jack fumbling as he tried to shoot Alex.

Zack walked over, a puppy dog pout on his face. He had made a bet with me before the game started that I wouldn't be able to hit him before he hit me. He lost. The wager? The loser had to make the winner dinner and dessert. So I now had free dinner and dessert for the night.

"Is there anything in particular you want for dinner tonight, Jerri?"

"Nah, surprise me. Dessert-wise, I would prefer something sweet."

"Alright, I think that I can manage that. What time is your mom's beau coming over?"

"I wish you wouldn't call him that. Last I was told, he's supposed to be here at 7:30."

"So I'll be here at 7 o'clock sharp. Is that fine for you?"

"Yeah. Now fork over the bullets, Merrick."

He sighed and began counting his bullets so that he could give me half. He had nearly fifty bullets in his pocket alone. Amanda and Rian must not have been doing very well. As he continued to count, I looked over to see what Alex and Jack were doing. I had to laugh because at some point during my conversation with Zack the two of them had begun wrestling on the ground over what looked like a....Twinkie? Where the hell had they found a Twinkie?

"Is that....a Twinkie that they're fighting over?" This from Zack who looked just as confused as I was by this scenario.

"Yeah, yeah it is."

"Should we try to interfere?"

"Only if we have a death wish. You should know this better than I do."

"True, true."

"So, should we just team up and leave them to it or end the game?"

"I feel like that would be unfair to Amanda and Rian. Extremely unfair to them."

"Yeah, but when's the last time you saw them? Are they even still playing?"

"I think they lost all of their bullets, to be completely honest."

"Doesn't surprise me. Amanda's not very good at the hiding aspect of this game," I said.

Zack shook his head and laughed softly. "Nope, not at all."

"If that's the case, I'm gonna go inside and get something to eat because I'm starving."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

I turned and started walking into my house, pausing slightly when I heard snickers from behind me. I shook it off, thinking that I'd been imagining the noises. When the door opened, I felt three shots hit me in the back from three different directions. Frowning, I turned around to see Rian, Amanda and Zack waving at me innocently. Innocent my ass.

"Not good at hiding, right?"

"Where the hell were you two?"

"Hiding under the edge of the porch. It was a bit dirty, but totally worth it."

I crossed my arms and turned towards Zack, who was trying his hardest not to laugh at me. He knew I was both confused and upset by the situation. "I thought you said they were out of bullets?"

"Aside from the single bullet each of us had chambered, yeah," Rian said.

"Fuck you, Rian. It was your idea to hide under the porch, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but it was Zack's idea for all of us to gank you."

"Ugh. I hate all of you. I'm not sharing my lunch with you buttfaces anymore! Find your own food!"

"Oh, you know you love us Jerri-Berri! By the way, since Alex and I had no part in this, are you still gonna feed us?"

"Yeah love, do we still get some of your delicious cooking?"

I looked at the two of them, their hair sticking up everywhere, their clothes wrinkled and white Twinkie cream smeared all over their faces. They were a sight to be seen, that was for sure. At the same time, they looked so adorable that I just couldn't say no to them. Even if they had woken me up in a rather abrupt fashion.

"I suppose so."

"Yay! Jericha still loves us!"

"Of course I still love you guys. Come on, let's go get some food."

The guys and Amanda all left after I had made Alex, Jack and I some food. It was now 2 o'clock in the afternoon and that left about five hours until Zack would be here to get me and take me to his house for dinner. His parents were out celebrating their anniversary which meant we would have the house to ourselves, something that I wasn't too sure about. While I had warmed up to Zack quite a bit since the school year began, I still wasn't all that sure about spending a lot of time alone with him. The dance club was a different story because we had been surrounded by people. But now....this would be a completely different environment and there would be nobody else around. It meant that Zack might try things that he wouldn't with others around. But then again, maybe he would be a gentleman. Or he could be a total prick like he usually is around others. Hell, maybe he'll end up being like the rest of the jocks at the school. Shut up. You are so not helping, self. Never said I was trying to help, did I? Fuck off.

Why was it that every time I was having a hard time deciding how I felt about something, my conscious decided to pipe up and be a sarcastic bitch? It happened without fail and I sometimes got sick of her. But she was part of me. The usually rational part. But it didn't mean that everything she said was true. I shook my head as I walked up the stairs into my room because I sounded crazy. I was arguing with myself. Again.