The Elf

A Day Out

"So Dakota, where you from?".

Aaliyah snorted, "Good luck getting that out of her, she's more mysterious than the word mysterious."

Kallen raised her eyebrows, "That didn't make any sense".

Aaliyah shrugged, "Whatever, I made my point though."

"I just don't like to talk about my past", Dakota started quietly, "What happened before doesn't matter right now, I just want stick to the present and make my way towards the future."

Kallen looked at her, "That's deep.". Dakota just shrugged her shoulders.

"That's cool though, I can respect that." Zayne commented, nodding.

Alison snickered, "That's just because your past is shadier than Jason Bourne's." Everyone looked at her.

"What, I can make those too." she frowned. Zayne just took a hand off the driving wheel and flipped her off.

Dakota smiled, "So where are we going?".

"See for yourself." Zayne said. The van pulled to a stop in a parking lot, in front of a building that said, "Lucky Strikes" in neon.

"The bowling alley? Ugh laaaaaaaaame." Alison complained. Zayne scratched his head, "Well I was going to take you guys to Laser Tag, but I kinda got fired."

Micah frowned, "You should have told us, we could have all pitched in some money."

"Asking girls for money is lame.", Zayne countered, getting out of the van. Micah just shook her head. The group made their way inside the building. After getting their shoes, they all sit down at an unoccupied spot.

"So, what are the teams?" one of the twins asked.

"Okay everyone pick a number from 1 through 10." Kallen declared. Everyone picked a number, and said it out loud.

"Alright, those who picked even numbers are a team, and those who picked an odd number are a team." The people who picked odd numbers are Micah, Darien, Zayne, Bianca and Alison. Those who picked even where Kallen, Jackie, Dakota, Aaliyah and Veronica.

"Odds, be ready to get your asses kicked." Aaliyah cockily said.

Alison smirked, "Oh it's on."

***

Dakota sat next to a quiet Jackie.

"Are you alright?", she asked. Jackie shrugged her shoulders, looking at the rest of the group still playing.

"Even though I haven't been friends with you as long as the others, you can still talk to me you know." Jackie sighed, shrugging again. After sitting there for another five minutes, Dakota got up to leave.

"I'm just...Tired of being lonely." Jackie murmured. Dakota scrunched her eyebrows, and sat back down.

"Why do you feel lonely? Aren't you surrounded by the group 24/7?" Dakota inquired.

"I don't mean that kind of lonely, I just...I don't know, forget I said anything.". Dakota bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

"It's just, you read all those books about love, and how amazing it's supposed to be, and how as soon as you find it, you feel complete, you feel happier than you've ever felt before. I want that. I want to feel complete, I want that so much it hurts. I want to find someone who will make me happy, someone who would be devoted to me, someone who I'd be devoted to in turn. But I haven't found that, and even though I'm only eighteen, I wonder if I'll ever find it, because some people don't ever find the person they're supposed to fall in love with, and they die alone, and completely lonely.", Jackie said passionately. Dakota just gaped. Jackie bit her lip and stood up.