Bad Boy Chemistry

55. Paintball

Charlie's POV

A week had passed, and Christmas was now only a few days away.

After breaking up with Ryan, I remained outside in the cold long enough to end up sick, and it wasn't pleasant.

My throat was all scratchy, my nose was stuffy and I pretty much slept throughout the week.

Even earlier this morning when I woke up, the first thing I wanted to do was to wrap myself up inside of my blanket and fall right back to sleep, but I didn't feel sick anymore, so that was nice.

If I'm being completely honest, I was glad I wound up sick. It was the perfect excuse not to see two particular people: Ace and Ryan.

Ryan's words cut deep. He was right, though. I was sad and lonely, and in the end, I was cruel. I strung him along, despite knowing that I didn't reciprocate his feelings, at least, not in the same way.

Now that school was on break for a few weeks, I felt relieved. I wouldn't have to see them until the new year.

"Are you feeling better?" Mom asked me when I came downstairs for dinner after having a shower.

For the past week, all we've had for dinner was soup and breadsticks. Tonight's choice in flavor was chicken soup, which I hoped would be far better than last night's beef stew.

I shuddered at the mere memory of it.

"Much better." I said, pulling out a seat and sitting down in it.

"So, Nana Margaret and Grandpa Otis won't be coming to stay with us for Christmas, but they sent over presents for you guys, along with a box of Christmas cookies." Mom said as she put a spoon of soup in her mouth.

"Did they say why?" Nora asked.

Dad slurped on his soup loudly as mom responded. "They're spending Christmas with your Aunt Gen and her new husband."

"That's so not fair! Didn't they spend last year with them?" Nora groaned. "Stupid Aunt Gen and her third husband."

"Nora, be respectful of your elders." Mom said, while dad sat back and laughed.

I zoned out of their conversation and started to eat my dinner. I scooped a spoonful of the chicken soup and shoved it into my mouth. As it travelled down my throat, the warmth of the soup left an oddly soothing sensation.

After dinner, I ambled my way back upstairs to my room, wrapped myself in my blanket and slumped down in bed. I didn't feel sick anymore, but my eyelids grew heavy, and sleep started to envelop me before I heard mom's voice shouting from downstairs.

"CHARLIEEEEE!" Her voice screeched at max volume, I swear I felt her voice through the house's foundation.

My eyes shot open and I reluctantly rose out of bed.

I slowly made my way to the bottom of the stairs, still wrapped up in my blanket. "What?" I wondered when I halted on the ground floor.

"Someone's at the door for you." Mom said sweetly, as if she hadn't just shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Moooom." I groaned. "You could have just sent them up."

I trudged my way to the front door and opened it with a groan.

"There you are." Ace stated, taking in my presence, his eyes lingering on the blanket that I held around me.

"What are you doing here?" I wondered, surprised.

"Was just making sure you were still breathing." He explained.

"Well, I am. Bye." I started to close the door.

"Wait." Ace's hand stopped the door.

I swung the door fully opened again and glared at him.

"Wanna go for a walk?" He asked.

"Where's your motorcycle?" I wondered.

"It's getting fixed." He explained.

I shifted on the doorframe. "I'm kinda tired."

At least it wasn't a lie.

"Oh, okay." He sighed. "Maybe another time?"

"Sure." I said.

He turned around and started down the driveway as I slowly started to close the door shut. I wanted to go for a walk with him, more than anything. I had just gotten over my sickness, I didn't want to end up sick again walking around in the cold.

Screw it, who cares if i get sick again.

Before the door could fully close, I opened it back up and called out to him.

"Wait!" My voice was harsh as it exited my throat, it almost felt like I was exhaling sandpaper.

I unwrapped the blanket from around my body and threw it onto the nearest cabinet before quickly slipping on my shoes and rushing outside.

Ace stood on the driveway, his hands tucked into his leather jacket. "What are you doing?" He asked concernedly.

"Coming for a walk?" I said.

"I thought you were tired?"

"The fresh air might wake me up." I inhaled the cold air into my lungs.

We began to walk down the dark street that was lit by street lights. "So, where are we going?" I wondered.

"It's a surprise."

A long walk later, we arrived at a building I had never seen before, or at least I don't remember ever seeing it.

"A paintball arena?" I raised my eyebrows, turning to Ace. "Isn't it closed? It's Seven PM."

"Yeah, I know the owner and they said I can use it after hours." He explained.

He led me to the back entrance and used a key to unlock the door. I anxiously followed him inside, the back door creaking shut behind me.

Ace flipped on a light switch, which revealed a battlefield for paintball wars.

I took in my surroundings. The lights overhead were bright, and the obstacles of the arena were designed to look like a wooden maze.

Ace handed me a pair of goggles and a paintball gun, a smirk spread across his face.

"Shouldn't we wear protective suits?" I wondered.

"Normally, yes. But the boss puts them in the wash after closing." Ace explained.

I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick again.

"But won't it hurt?" I asked him, worried about my safety.

"Don't worry, there were clean vests left on the rack." He held two vests in his hands. "They only cover the chest and stomach, so we'll have to be careful where we aim." He smirked again.

I struggled to put on my vest.

After I had finally managed to put it on, I popped on my goggles and reached down to the ground for my paintball gun, only to be shot in the chest.

I gasped. "Hey! That's not fair!" I looked him in the eyes.

He gave me a mischievous smirk, aiming his gun at my chest again.

"Oh you are so on!" I picked my paintball gun off of the ground and fired it at him.

He ran into the maze and I rushed in after him, hungry for vengeance.