Eleven Eleven

In The Air Tonight

I stuck close to Xander, acting as a personal bodyguard. My head whipped in every direction, keeping an eye out for any of the other boys planning a sneak attack and taking the both of us out at once.

"You can go play the real thing with them if you want." Xander muttered, the black light in the room giving his teeth a blueish hue. "If I get shot, I get shot. I'll be out, it's not a big deal."

I lowered my defense for a moment, my gun falling limply at my side.

"If you go down, so do I. We'll go down together." I could see a hint of a smile inching its way across his face. Even in the dark room, I could see the creases of exhaustion around his eyes. He had no desire to be here whatsoever and my heart involuntarily clenched in sympathy.

He started to slow to a stop beside a post. "You do realize I could shoot you at any second and you'll be out, right?"

I gasped dramatically, feigning hurt by slapping my hand against my chest.

"You would never do such a thing!" I exclaimed.

Surprise followed seconds after the words left my mouth. It had been years since I'd let my guard down, even if it was only a crack in the tough exterior shell I'd built, it was enough for me to question myself.

"No, but I would!" a maniacal laugh followed the response. I spun on my heel, pressing my finger against the trigger. Mason gasped, dropping the gun at his feet as he clenched his vest in his hands.

I smirked, crossing my arms as I dropped my gaze to the boy at Xander's feet. The right side of his face was illuminated by the florescent colors omitting from the black light, shadowing his face with pink.

"What were you saying?" I questioned, cocking my head a fraction for emphasis.

Mason coughed. "Poor winner."

"Sore loser." I shot back.

He stood over me, eyes pulsating. As I fell back a step, arms snaked around my waist and forced my gun to the ground. I hardly had enough time to breath before Ryan whirled me around and pressed his gun into the last spot on my vest. "Say hello to my little friend."

The lights all came out suddenly, blinding the four of us.  As soon as I rose I staggered back a few steps, hands over my eyes to keep the light from bleeding through. Once I felt they would adjust, I pried them open and stared ahead of me. Vision blurry, I squeezed them shut and repeated the process. Ryan stood few feet away, pumping his fist in the air as he danced around with prideful grin.

"That was fucking awesome!" Haiden craned his neck around the corner of a wall, a boyish smile lighting his face. "I'm totally doing that again."

Eyes raking my surroundings, I couldn't help but take in how different the Laser Tag ring looked with the lights on. I'd found the florescent colors peaceful and serene and seeing nothing but bare black walls outlined with faint color saddened me a bit.

"You sure about that?" Ryan shot his friend a conceited smile. "You'll just be pissed after I beat you again."

The two boys exchanged a few more fighting words while I let my eyes fall on my best friend. He was favoring his good leg, head against the wall, tilted back as he stared at the ceiling with his face falling into an emotionless mask. He breathed out shakily a few times before his leg gave out and he collapsed against the wall, hitting the ground within seconds. A bloodcurdling scream escaped him as he grasped his head in his hand.

"Alex." I lurched forward and fell to my knees, careful not to disturb whatever episode he might be going through. I knew better than to try and break him out of it without any knowledge of what it might be. "Alex, hey, it's okay."