"Hey, Chica!"
Weevil was hiding behind the support wall, trying to get Lilly's attention. They were closing in on the last team. He watched Lilly poke her head out to the side of the hay bale she was hiding behind and he pointed to the guy crawling behind the log just off to her right. Aiming her paintball gun, she hit his helmet.
"Terminated!" Lilly cheered from her hiding spot. "With extreme prejudice. We have one more, do you see him?"
Weevil looked around; he hadn't seen the other player. Deciding he needed a new vantage point, he took off running behind another wall. Crouched down, he looked over the area that he hadn't been able to see from his prior position. Still not spotting the last player, he made his way towards Lilly, ducking and dodging, hoping he didn't get hit. He reached her hay bale and flopped onto the ground next to her.
"Hi," he said with a smile as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm not having any luck, how about you? Have you seen the enemy?"
Lilly turned toward him, her back resting against the hay. "No, he's gone into hiding." She peeked around the hay bale again, scanning the battlefield. "We might have to flush him out." Weevil knew that the guy wasn't back where he'd just come from so he had to be in front of them somewhere. As he glanced around the arena, he noticed a couple of spots that couldn't be seen from their current position.
"Okay, how about I take the right and you go left. He's out there somewhere. If you see something, just call out." Lilly nodded at him in acknowledgement of the plan, keeping her eyes on the scene in front of her. Quickly, they moved forward into the battle zone. Weevil was making a run for a stack of crates when he heard Lilly call out a warning to him. Making a dive behind the crates, he heard a flurry of paint balls hit the crates. When he poked his head out from behind the shield, he saw Lilly walking towards him, their last target standing between them with his arms in the air. Weevil stood up, watching Lilly approach with a big grin on her face.
"Mission Accomplished!" she called to him in an excited voice. Weevil let out a chuckle. I think I might be falling for this girl.
As Lilly changed out of the paintball jumpsuit, she thought about the changes she'd gone through since the summer began. When she came back from Paris, she'd confessed to Weevil that she was tired of feeling weak and scared. He'd encouraged her to join him in doing things that would help her feel stronger and better about herself. She learned how to fight, taken up boxing, and they'd been playing at Paintball Wars Battleground at least twice a week. Weevil had been right; it was making her feel stronger. She finished tying her shoes and raced to Weevil who was talking to a player from the other team.
Lilly wrapped her arm around his to get his attention. "Hey, we ready to go?"
Weevil turned to look at her. "Yeah, let's go." He nodded to the other kid and they started walking towards the beach.
"You sure you're up for this? Taking me out in public and all?" Even though he made it sound like he was joking, Lilly was sure he was asking an actual question. They weren't from the same social circles and, despite her reassurances, she wasn't any more certain how this would go than he was. Her friends knew she'd been spending time with Weevil; she'd been openly talking about it for the last couple of weeks. When she told them she couldn't come to the beach because she already had plans with Weevil, they'd encouraged her to bring him after.
"They told me to bring you along. They wouldn't do that if they didn't want you around." Lilly slid her hand down his arm to take his hand in hers. She wanted to show her friends how important Weevil was to her. As they walked onto the beach surrounded by hundreds of people, Lilly realized she wasn't afraid. She was nervous but it was more about how well Weevil would get along with her friends than the possibility of running into Tommy. She hadn't told anyone who he was and only Weevil knew that there was someone out there who terrified her.
"Lilly! Over here!" Shaking off the thoughts of her attacker, Lilly looked up to see Lizzie and Cassidy waving them over. Mac was the only other person on the blanket with them. As they got closer, she could see Dick, Logan and Veronica out on the water surfing. Mac offered them each a bottle of water from the nearby cooler. "Glad the two of you could make it. Veronica said she wasn't sure if you'd be able to."
Lilly let go of Weevil's hand to grab the two bottles from Mac. She sat on the edge of the blanket and passed one over to him with a smile. "We came down as soon as we were done. We were at Paintball Wars Battleground." Lilly opened her bottle of water to take a sip. "Have you ever tried it? It's so much fun."
Mac shook her head. "That does sound like fun. I bet I could get Dick to go!"
Lilly laughed, no doubt in her mind that Dick would want to play Paintball Wars. "I bet the moment he finds out that's where we were, he'll suggest it before you even have to ask."
Weevil put his hand on Lilly's leg. "Lilly, we should all go sometime."
"That's a great idea! What do you guys think, Cas? Lizzie? Wanna play Paintball Wars?" Involving her friends in one of her new favorite activities made Lilly feel even more like her old self. Hearing Cas and Lizzie agree made it even better. She was sure she would get the others to agree too.
"Hey, V, looks like Lilly showed after all. She even brought Weevs with her." Following Dick's gaze, Veronica turned on her board so she was facing the beach. It took her a moment, but she saw Lilly sitting on their blanket, with Weevil beside her. She couldn't make out anyone's facial expressions but the overall body language of the group looked relaxed and pleasant. She knew Lilly's real friends would accept her choices if given the chance.
Logan's voice brought her out of her thoughts . "Are you ready to call it a day, Ronnie? Head in and laze on the beach?"
Veronica was torn. She did want to spend time with Lilly around Weevil, but she also wanted to surf. "How 'bout one more run, okay, guys?"
"Yes, ma'am." Dick saluted her playfully and Logan laughed.
"Funny, Dick." she called over her shoulder as she paddled out to wait for the next wave.
Veronica made her way towards her group of friends chatting on the beach. After tossing her surf board onto the sand, she sat down. "Hey guys, how's it going?"
"V, you're getting really good at surfing. Your teacher must be proud," Lilly called out as Dick and Logan made their way to them.
"She's my star student," Logan answered with pride in his voice. Logan kissed the top of Veronica's head, then sat down next to her. "I am proud."
Veronica smiled at Logan before turning her attention back to Lilly. "So, Lils, I wasn't sure you were going to make it today. What could possibly be more entertaining than hanging out with us on the beach?"
Lilly began to bounce in her spot, clearly excited to share where she had been all morning. She glanced at Weevil, then her eyes scanned the rest of the group. "We were playing Paintball Wars at the Battlegrounds!"
Dick called out, "We need to do that, Mackie!"
Mac laughed and looked at Lilly. "You were totally right." She redirected her attention to Dick. "Actually, we were thinking maybe we all should do it, together."
Dick nodded eagerly, then wrapped his arms around Mac, squeezing her until she giggled with glee. "So, what do you guys say? Veronica? Logan? Wanna plan a game of Paintball Wars?"
"I'm in," Logan said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Me too," said Veronica.
The friends began to discuss when they should plan such an outing, Mac tossing goldfish crackers in the air for Dick to catch in his mouth as they talked. "Cassidy and I have to be on campus for program presentations this week, so it will have to wait 'til this weekend," she said.
Weevil was watching Mac and Dick's antics, laughing. After a few minutes, he turned to Lilly. "Are they always like this?"
Three voices responded.
"Absolutely," said Logan.
"Always," answered Veronica.
"You don't know the half of it," replied Cassidy.
The whole group collapsed in a fit of laughter.
Saturday arrived and everyone gathered at Paintball Wars Battleground. A fairly large crowd had gathered to play. Word had gotten out that Celeste had rented the entire field so they could have it all to themselves and students from both Neptune High and Junior High had shown up. Lilly and Veronica had decided they wanted to play girls versus boys.
"I guess Mrs. Kane found a way to prove being friends with Lilly Kane comes with certain benefits. The biggest problem she's gonna have in high school is deciding who is worthy of her presence." Veronica sensed that Weevil didn't appreciate this side of the 09er crowd.
"What's wrong, Weevil, feeling out of place?" Veronica caught the annoyed look on his face at her statement. They were dressed in their jumpsuits, waiting for the game to start. Veronica had been keeping Weevil company because, as usual, Lilly was late.
Weevil sat down on the hay bale. "Yeah, not that so much, I've gotten used to being around all of you, but it doesn't change what this really is. Rich 09ers buying popularity." Staring at the ground, he kicked the rocks under his feet. "She is such a princess. What is she doing with a guy like me, huh, V?"
Veronica understood where he was coming from. She still hadn't completely adapted to her friends' lifestyles but she did know why Lilly was with Weevil.
"She told me what you did for her." Veronica kicked at his foot that he seemed so focused on. "I don't exactly know what brought the two of you together, but I do know, you helped Lilly take her life back." Though his head was bowed, Veronica could see the smile that put on his face.
"I didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have done. Then she kept calling me wanting to hang out. It gave me something to do besides hang out with the crew, ya know."
Veronica nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I'm not sure you give yourself enough credit. Not everyone would have done anything for her." She hopped up to scan the crowd. They'd been waiting awhile to get started. She was about to suggest going to look for Lilly when she spotted her talking to Enbom and Shelley. Veronica gave Weevil a shove on the shoulder. "She's here." They walked into the crowd, ready to prod Lilly into action.
"Are we going to get this thing started or what?" Dick's voice carried over the whole crowd.
Lilly climbed on top of a stack of hay bales, looking over the crowd. "Wow, this is quite the turnout. If you haven't heard, it's girls versus boys and we are going to kick your asses! You have three minutes to find your starting position. When they blow the air horn, it's game on! Let's do this!" Lilly hopped down, grabbed her weapon and took off into the battleground.
Veronica felt a familiar arm wrap around her waist, then a brief kiss to her cheek. "Good luck," Logan said, before he ran off too.
Lilly stood behind a tall wall as she patiently waited out the battle that was currently happening right on the other side. She wasn't sure who the two were that were going at each other, but she was glad to go unnoticed. She was sure that, at some point, one of them would get the hit they were so desperately trying for.
She dropped to a crouch against the wall, when she heard Carrie's voice swearing in protest at being hit. That meant the enemy was near and no longer engaged. Lilly watched as Carrie walked back in the direction of the base camp to return her gear. The guy she'd been shooting at had to be on the other side of this wall so she was going to need a new position. Hoping that whoever it was didn't know she was there, Lilly laid down and army crawled to a barrel tunnel a short distance away. As long as no one saw her, she was in a good position to see in almost every direction. Looking out one side, Lilly saw Luke take a dramatic hit to the chest. In the other direction, Veronica was sheltering behind a stack of crates while shooting at someone blocked by a wall.
Lilly crawled around to the other end, trying to see who had hit Carrie. When she finally laid eyes on her target, the shock hit her like a truck. "NO!" Hearing herself scream, she hunkered back into the barrel, feeling the panic envelop her. He was here. Tommy had joined the battle.
Lilly felt all the emotions of that terrible night coming back in a rush. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. Trapped by her emotions, all alone, yet in a crowd of people. She had worked so hard to get beyond these feelings and she knew that she didn't want to go back to feeling scared, and damaged. She started taking slow, deep breathes to calm herself. As she did, she gave herself a pep talk. She would take him out. She could do it. She had been mastering this game of cat and mouse for weeks now and she was good at it. She had felt like she was the mouse avoiding the cat; now, it was her turn.
Lilly inched to the opening of the barrel, steadying herself to take the shot, trying to control her shaking. She had to hit him with the first shot because she wasn't sure she'd have the courage to take a second. Just as Tommy leaned up to take a shot at someone else, Lilly took a deep breath and fired. The red from her paint ball bloomed out over his shoulder.
"Hey!" Tommy cried indignantly, turning to see who had struck him. As his eyes met Lilly's, she saw the recognition and a mean smile crept over his face.. Suddenly Lilly was enraged. All these weeks of being terrified by this creep. No more. She crawled out of the barrel and began shooting him over and over and over again with paintballs.
Veronica watched Lilly walk towards one of the guy players that Veronica didn't know, shooting him over and over again. Everyone around them had stopped playing, watching what seemed more like an act of vengeance than a friendly game of paintball. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Weevil was beside Lilly, trying to take the gun from her.
"Is it him?" Veronica heard Weevil ask. Lilly nodded in response, tears running down her face. He let go of her gun and aimed his at the stranger. "You need to leave. NOW!" The guy backed away, stumbling to the ground as he went. Veronica moved toward Lilly and Weevil, noticing that their other friends were doing the same. Veronica wasn't sure what was going on, but she suspected this was the guy who hurt Lilly. Weevil seemed to know a lot more than she did and it was his reaction as much as Lilly's that made her think she was right. Dick was the only one with the gall to ask what was going on.
"Tommy, man? What did you do?"
Tommy stood up, looking scared. "Nothing, this bitch is crazy," he sneered.
Lilly aimed her paintball gun at him and shot him again, dead in the center of his chest. Tommy groaned and rubbed his hand over the spot. Weevil smirked and took the gun from Lilly's hands. "Stand down, Chica."
Logan stepped out around Veronica to stand between them and Tommy. "I don't know what's going on, and maybe I don't want to, but I think you should just leave, man. This is her thing." Heeding Logan's advice, Tommy nodded, then turned and walked toward base camp.
Lilly was still visibly shaking as she wiped the tears from her eyes but her voice was strong. "Thanks guys." She gave everyone a half smile and turned towards Weevil. Veronica watched Lilly grab his wrists and smile up at him. "I'm okay." She took her weapon and turned to everyone. "Shall we continue?"
Logan turned back to Veronica, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing her head. She hugged him tightly. "Lils and I are going to need another girls' night," she said in a low voice.
He smiled down at her. "Ya think?"
"Yeah. In the meantime though, I think some people might have some frustrations to work out, and paintball's a great way to do that."