Hidden Beauty

8 Roger that!

"Their faces were priceless." Mark said in between bites of his burger. We were at Macs celebrating our victory against the Mean Girls.

I ordered nuggets with coke, Kait had her salad and tea, and the boys were stuffing their faces with their double cheeseburgers and fries.

"They're so gonna kill me." I sighed, imagining what people were gonna say the minute we went back on Monday.

"We won't let them, right guys?" Kait shot a look at the guys in front of us and they immediately nodded, definitely reluctantly though.

I really don't know what I'll do without them. I'm getting too dependent on them, and if they leave...

I shook the thoughts out of my head, determined not going to let them contaminate my fun.

As I looked up, I burst out into laughter at Mark who stuffed a fry at each side of his mouth and was trying to make walrus noises while clapping his hand like a seal.

What did I do to deserve such great people?

Luke soon joined him and that left me and Kait laughing so loudly, other people were constantly sending us glares.

Meh.

After a few or rather coughs* tons of coughs* other people glared at us, we finally left the Macs. I swiped my coke off the table as we walked out of the mall.

"RBG paintball arena has opened around the corner. Bring along your friends and have a paintastic time!" I cringed at the pun as those words left Mark's lips.

"We should totally go!" Kait suggested as she literally dragged me there. I shot her a look as I pulled her hand off and shook my head. She shrugged, sticking her tongue out at me. The boys eventually reached us as we entered the arena.

"Hi! This is RBG paintball arena! How many people are playing?" The receptionist said as she smiled.

"4-" Just as the number left Kait's mouth I hit her on the shoulder.

"Who said I'm playing?" I half glared.

"You are! 4 players please! Thank you!" Kait answered the receptionist. As the receptionist keyed in the information, I shot daggers at Kait.

"If I die or get hurt, it's your fault. I'll probably die in the first 5 minutes because of you." I huffed as she ignored me.

"I'll protect you, don't worry." I almost swooned until I realised it was Luke. I backed off with my hands up in a surrender position.

His face had been barely 1 inch away before I had moved. My cheeks heated up as I glared at him, butterflies erupting in my stomach.

"Who- who said I needed your protection!" I exclaimed awkwardly as I stomped off.

"So, these are your other team members." The door revealed 4 people. The girl in the middle caught my attention immediately.

"Tricia?" The said girl looked up, revealing her grey eyes and letting her jet black hair flow to pause at mid-back.

"Claire." She breathed, eyes widening as she pulled me into a hug.

"Glasses?" She quirked an eyebrow, releasing me.

"Long time no see, how's your brother?" I hesitated as I carefully ignored her question. Tears formed in her eyes as she forced a smile.

"He's still breathing from what I've heard." We then realised the curious glances and she blinked several times before smiling.

"Guys, this is Claire, a close friend of mine." Her friends smiled at me and introduced themselves. Jennifer, Zeia and Ethan. I raised my eyebrow at Ethan who had a hand slung casually over Tricia's shoulder.