Special thanks to vampireninja09
I can always count on her super long reviews, packed with useful feedback.
For example: the laser tag teams- her idea.
Pure genius.
Chapter 14
"Are they waterproof?" Emmet asked Tristan. Now they were finalizing the little details of the game.
"Of course, we do live right next to the water," Tristan answered.
"We should all change then," Emmet decided. Now he was being completely serious, when it came to games, he always won. Everybody nodded, agreeing that somebody was getting wet.
"Now, what should we do about teams?" Tristan speculated.
"There are seven of us, so it wouldn't be even," Alice commented.
"Well Tristan should count as two people because he is the most experienced," Jasper said. We all agreed; Tristan would count as two players, making the teams even in number.
"How about you play against your significant other?" Emmet suggested, he sounded so odd using such formal language.
"Thanks guys," Edward rolled his eyes. We couldn't help but laugh, even if it was at Edward's expense.
"Edward will just be opposite of me, then. I do count as two people," Tristan stated. Edward immediately locked eyes with Tristan.
"Sounds good," Edward settled, though it sounded more like a challenge. I must have been imagining it, though.
"So team one with be Tristan… Rose… and Jasper," Emmet proposed, everybody approved.
"That leaves team two with Bella, Emmet, Alice and Edward," Tristan smirked. I couldn't tell if it was at me or at Edward, who was standing behind me.
"Lets go then!" Emmet jumped up off of the sofa.
"How about everybody goes and gets changed into whatever they want and then meet in the game room when they are finished?" Tristan got nods from everybody and we filed out of the family room.
Tristan and I made our way up the stairs and to his room. He got his stuff from the closet and went to change in the bathroom to give me some privacy. I went to the closet and shut the door behind me.
I decided to dress in all black, it was night and dark so I should blend in. But all I could find that was appropriate for the game was a pair of black converse. I pulled out my navy blue bikini- I brought it, but didn't tell Rosalie and Alice. I put it on and decided to search through Tristan's closet for something dark to wear.
I grabbed a black shirt that was in one of Tristan's drawers and pair of his black basketball shorts. The shirt wasn't too big, it must have been old. But the shorts… they went down past my knees and I had to pull the drawstrings on the waist band out so much, I could tie a large bow with them. After putting the clothes on, I grabbed a pony tail holder and exited the closet.
Tristan was sitting on his bed, waiting for me. He started laughing when he saw me in his clothes; I stuck my tongue out at him and went to the bathroom. As I was looking in the mirror, putting my long hair into a messy pony tail when Tristan came behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"What?" I asked him, looking at him in the mirror. His face with filled with amusement.
"Have you seen the back of the shirt?" he raised his eye brows at me and I turned around to see it in the mirror. I saw the 'Ashburn' and '12' on the back in royal blue lettering. I giggled.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he put is arms around my waist, looking down at me. It was like we were slow dancing without moving or any music.
"No mercy tonight, Isabella," Tristan teased me, though it was the truth.
"Don't worry I'm not giving you any," I smirked up at him. He raised and eye brow at me.
"Okay, but don't worry I won't focus too much on getting you… I have other people to nail," he informed me, whispering in my ear. I got the chills his breath in my ear. It was quiet and I heard footsteps coming from the hall. I released my hold on him and grabbed one of his hands.
"Come on," I tugged at him, going to the door but he didn't budge. When I looked back to see why he wasn't moving he was smiling. In one swift movement, he was kissing me. I reacted immediately, wrapping my arms around his neck and tangling my fingers in his dark brown hair.
But I needed to breathe.
And that is where the kiss stopped. I opened my eyes, meeting Tristan's dancing blue ones.
"Just needed one before the game starts, I don't know how long this is going to last." He stated, smiling. I involuntarily blushed.
"Okay," I mumbled quietly, not knowing what else to say. Tristan chuckled at me and pulled me out of the door to the game room. When we got there Alice and Jasper were there, waiting.
"Let's get started," Tristan opened the closet and grabbed seven of the ten vests and seven laser tag guns he put all of the equipment on the pool table. Alice grabbed one of each, as did Jasper. Tristan put one on me, showing Jasper and Alice how to strap one on.
Rosalie, Emmet and Edward came in right when we finished. Wordlessly, they grabbed a black vest and play gun from the pool table and Tristan showed them how to put it on while putting on his own.
"Okay, see how the vest isn't lit?" Tristan asked us. We all nodded, they were a flat black.
"They glow red when you're shot by somebody else three times." Tristan got out of the closet one of the spares, and shot in its' general direction three times in a row. It made a binging noise three times. Then the vest lit up red.
"Perfect," Emmet breathed. Tristan switched something on the back and the vest turned back to black.
"You have to be within twenty feet and have a clear shot for it to count. It'll sound when you hit it." Everybody seemed so ready for the game to begin, the adrenaline was running through my veins already.
"Also, if you get a kill on your own teammate, it'll still count it," Tristan added.
"Waterproof?" Emmet checked.
"100" Tristan assured him with a brief smile.
"We should make a safe zone, just in case for any emergencies," Rosalie put in. I was the first one to second it,
"Yeah, once you get inside the gates of the back yard, you're safe." Everybody's eyes were on me, nodding.
"Okay, teams get to meet where ever they want and discuss for five minutes before the game begins. I will signal the beginning of the game by blowing this whistle," Tristan pulled a whistle out of the pocked of his shorts.
"Okay, let's go," Emmet said in a low, competitive voice. We all went back down stairs and then out to the back yard. It was a silent walk around the pool and finally through the metal gate door that separated the back yard from the beach.
Emmet led us to the right while the other team went to the left. I turned around over my shoulder and gave Tristan a small smile before walking on. He didn't see me though; he was glaring in our team's general direction…
Emmet and Alice led us into the more woodsy part of the beach, covered in shrubs and trees. When I looked back, Tristan's team was nowhere in sight so we were secluded enough from them to talk strategy.
"Okay, here's the plan… Alice you take down Jasper, I'll get Rose, and Edward and Bella get Tristan…" Emmet instructed us. He was smiling mischievously at Edward; well Emmet was always up to something so I ignored it.
"Oh and take these…" Alice handed us each a small, wrist-watch looking black strap. We all gave her confused looks.
"They're walkie talkies… duh," Alice informed us, shaking her head. I strapped mine on around my wrist.
"Just press the green button to talk and then release when you're finished," she told us, using her own as an example.
"Can we have code names?!" Emmet was jumping up and down…which was a scary sight.
"It can't be obvious, though, what is the use of them if they are?" Edward pointed out.
"I get to be… Black Bear," Emmet said seductively… he was anything but seductive right now.
"Edward can be… jealous jaguar," Emmet suggested. Edward punched him hard in the shoulder.
"Fine, fine… you can be… cunning cougar," we all gave him questioning looks. Did he seriously just say 'cunning cougar'? What the hell kind of name is that? We went on to Alice,
"Alice is chrysanthemum," Emmet simply told us as if it were a normal name.
"And Bella is… the beast!" He bellowed, flexing his muscles as he said it.
"There is no fucking way I am going to be called the 'beast'," I shook my head defiantly, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Just so along with it, Bella…" Alice told me understandingly.
"Better than cunning cougar," Edward whined. Alice and I laughed, Emmet just stood there like an idiot.
"Okay, so once you take down whoever you are, or you get killed three times, use the walkie talkie to tell us," Alice reminded us. We all nodded and then heard a whistle blow in the distance. We all nodded at each other once before taking off on our own.
Edward led the way into the dense forest, clearing the way for me. Once we got a good way in he turned around to me.
"Okay, here's the plan- I am going to get you into the safe zone and you stay there, okay?" he told me in a hurried whisper constantly looking out into the surrounding woods.
"No, I wanna play," I refused, shaking my head. Edward smiled at me warmly.
"Nobody can get you in the safe zone… but that doesn't mean you can't get other people… when they go by the gate, shoot them once or twice then hide," Edward explained to me. I smiled widely in understanding.
"Gotcha."
"Let's go," Edward turned back to the direction we were heading in and continued on our way. I heard the binging of the vests once or twice but that was all. We were about twenty feet from the metal gate… the only problem was that it was a clear shot, just sand.
"I can make it," I promised Edward and ran to the gate as fast as I could. I saw Jasper jump out from the woods, instinctually, I pulled the plastic trigger on my gun once. I heard the binging of his vest and heard one come from mine. Then I heard two more come from Jasper's and heard him scream out,
"Damnit!" I saw graceful little Alice come out from the trees with a big smile on her face.
"Nice try, Jazzy, but leave this game to real players," she blew on the tip of the gun and gave him a big smile. Jasper's vest was glowing red in the dark and I couldn't help but laugh. He looked like a tomato.
I rushed over to the gate went inside. I heard Edward's voice over my walkie talkie,
"I'm going now." I nodded, knowing that he would see me where ever he was. I saw Jasper coming over to me, walking through the gate.
"What up, Jazz?" I teased him with a smile. He scowled, huffed and sat down in one of the lounge chairs.
"I can't believe I got out first… I mean I've had three years of Military History," he sighed sadly. I went over and patted his back twice.
"It's okay… if it's any consolation, I think I'm cheating," I told him. He looked up at me in confusion.
"I'm supposed to shoot people from here when they come by, maybe nobody ever said it wasn't allowed… but it's deceiving in my opinion," I explained to him.
"So why don't you just leave and go play?" he asked me, shrugging his shoulders. I thought about it for a moment… who said I had to stay in here? Nobody, that's who. Well, Edward did say so… but I really was past caring, my conscious was too monumental for my own good.
"I think I will," I said to nobody confidently, looking out to the open beach.
"Here, you can have my gun," Jasper offered, handing me his identical black gun. He was so sad, I felt bad for shooting him.
"Thanks," I smiled at him and went back through the metal gate, running out to the beach. I had decided I'm going to hide in the water. I mentally congratulated myself in my brilliant idea.
Surpisingly, I got to the water untouched. I waded into the water and laid down flat in the sand. The water came up to my neck the swelled back down to my knees, the action was somewhat soothing.
"I'm going to go help Emmet take down Rosalie," I heard Alice over the radio.
"Be on the lookout, I can't even find Tristan," Edward warned. It was then I saw a dark body come out of the trees, I heard him talking to Jasper.
"Have you seen anybody?" he asked, noticing that his vest was glowing red.
"Yeah…" Jasper answered vaguely. I hoped he would help me…
"Where did they go?" Tristan asked eagerly.
"I saw Bella running along the water, she told me she was heading back that way," Jasper lied, pointing his finger to the right.
"Perfect," I could practically see his smile from here. Automatically, I saw Tristan turn towards where I was hiding and begin running to the right, coming right about in the range of 10 feet.
Once he was in range, forgetting that I had two guns, shot him with the one that was in my right hand. His vest sounded off from the kill. Immediately, he jumped back into the trees.
"Shit," I heard him hiss. And I giggled… a little too loudly. I shut up quickly and then my vest binged twice. It began to glow red; I stood up from my place in the water, trying to get some off the seaweed out of my hair.
"Nice try, Bella," Tristan laughed and I huffed.
"Well I got you too," I reminded him. I saw him come out from cover in the trees.
"Once," he clarified. He came to me and untangled a green stand out of the side of my head.
"Go change, you're going to get sick," Tristan instructed me, looking at my wet figure.
"No way, not until this is over," I disagreed, shaking my head violently.
"Fine, then get a towel and dry off at least. There should be some under the counter by the barbeque," Tristan said, his blue eyes seemed to be glowing under the moon light.
"Fine," I agreed and trudged off to join Jasper.
"And Bella," I turned around. "Have you seen Edward anywhere?" I shook my head and saw that his blue eyes were once again dancing. I heard him curse under his breath and run back off into the trees.
"Welcome back," Jasper greeted me, he cheered up a bit.
"We should get a consolation prize," I suggested to him. I went over to the barbeque and grabbed a thick orange and yellow striped beach towel.
"When I was younger and played soccer tournaments, I always called the consolation game the constipation game." Jasper was looking at the water in remembrance. I laughed twice,
"That's classy, Jazz. Very mature," I was trying to dry my hair and at least some of my clothes, but it was impossible. My hair was too thick and my clothes had to dry on their own; I gave up. I took off my soaking shoes and socks.
"I wonder who's winning…" he sighed.
"Well obviously it's tied," I scoffed.
"I mean, maybe somebody else is out. They're just not coming back to the house to wait for the game to be finished." I never thought about that,
"Oh."
Jasper took once look at me and began to laugh.
"Big Bear and chrysanthemum have taken down the blonde," Emmet's voice rang out through my walkie talkie.
"Going to find cunning cougar and the beast" he continued. I blushed bright red when Emmet emphasized my 'code name'. Jasper raised an eyebrow at me,
"'The beast'?"
"Don't ask." I told him simply.
"Bella is back at the house with Jasper," I sighed solemnly into the radio.
"The vest is red?" Emmet asked me, surprised.
"Yes," I replied angrily, "the vest is red," I repeated.
"Chrysanthemum says hi to Jasper!" Alice's voice rang through the speaker. I cracked a smile and looked up to Jasper who was smiling widely.
"Rose is coming to join you," Alice added and then they were gone.
A few minutes later we saw Rosalie come up from the beach with a bright red vest on. She slumped unhappily into the chair nearest me.
"It wasn't fair they gung up on me," she huffed.
"They did that to me too," Jasper sent an accusing look to me. I put up my hands in surrender.
"Hey you're the one who shot at me, it's not my fault Alice was right behind you." Rosalie rolled her eyes at Jasper, who was sporting a pouting face.
After a few minutes, Rosalie went inside the house to try and find some drinks for us. I was too wet to go help her so Jasper went joined her.
"Cunning Cougar has taken down Big T!!!!!" my wrist was vibrating from Emmet's booming voice. I jumped in surprise, squeaking out a yell.
"Is the game over?" I asked nonchalantly into the radio, slightly upset for being so frightened.
"It's over and we annihilated them!" Emmet reply was a shout, once again getting me to jump in my chair.
"We're on our way back, now," Alice informed me, definitely more composed.
"…to celebrate the victory!" she added yelling, completely loosing composure. I heard Emmet's cheers in the background before she released the talk button. I saw Rosalie and Jasper come back out from the house, three cans of soda in Jasper's hands and Rosalie had some plastic clear cups of ice.
"Found it," Rosalie stated and set down the cups of ice. Jasper started opening the sodas and poured them into the cups.
"The game just ended," I informed them coolly, looking at the soda that was flowing into the cup placed in front of me. It abruptly stopped. I looked up, Jasper and Rosalie were looking at me expectantly.
"And…" Rose prompted. I shrugged.
"We won, Edward got Tristan," I replied. They let out big breaths that they'd been holding in.
"This sucks," Rosalie sulked, sitting down into her chair.
"They're on their way back now," I added. I got no response, they were so competitive.
"What time is it?" I asked after a moment.
"About 1am right now," Jasper answered after swallowing a gulp of Dr. Pepper. My eyes widened for a second.
"That game went by fast," I pointed out.
"I know, it would have been better if I hadn't got out so early," Jasper moped.
"Build a bridge and get over it, Jasper," Rosalie ordered coldly.
"I just hate losing…" he mumbled. I took another drink of the Dr. Pepper and nearly spit it out when I saw Emmet, Alice, Tristan, and Edward walking up the beach. Edward and Tristan were soaked; they must have been in the water. Edward's hair was pointing in all different directions and Tristan had a black eye.
"Oh my God!" I screamed out when I saw Tristan in the light. He gave me a sympathetic look.
"Accident, Bella," he informed me as I rushed over to him.
"What happened?" I demanded. We were playing laser tag, this wasn't necessarily a contact game.
"Oh, we just got into a tangle and Edward accidentally hit me with his gun. That's all," Tristan reassured me, sending a smile in Edward's direction. Edward returned it and I calmed significantly.
"Oh… okay," I answered.
Emmet had put down Alice and now was chugging down my soda. I sent him a glare.
"I'll get you another one?" he said sheepishly, it was more of a question. I laughed once.
"It's fine. I was done anyway." Emmet shrugged and finished it off with another big gulp.
"Who's up for a swim?" Tristan asked peeling off his vest.
"I'm in," Emmet began pulling off his shoes and socks. Soon everybody around me was undressing and jumping into the clear blue pool. I took a seat in my chair hesitantly.
"Come one, Bella!" Alice called to me from the pool. She was currently sitting on Jasper's lap in the shallow end steps. I shook my head,
"I don't have my swimsuit on." Rosalie scoffed from the deep end, treading water easily.
"Bella I can see the ties on the back of your neck." Tristan was now shirtless, in his board shorts, and turning on the spa. He came over to me, tugging at my glowing red vest lightly.
"Come on, B," he encouraged me. His blue eyes were gazing at me intensely, making me blush. I couldn't say no to him… it was a disease.
"Fine," I grumbled and pulled the strap off of the walkie talkie on my wrist and undid the vest's buckles. I slowly took off Tristan's black shirt and basketball shorts, revealing my navy blue bikini.
"Bah chicka wah wah!" Emmet cat called from the pool with Rosalie. I blushed crimson. Tristan's wrapped an arm around my bare waist.
"Ignore them, Bella. You look stunning," he breathed into my ear. This only made me blush even more, but it also gave me some confidence. Tristan took his hand in mine and we walked out to the edge of the pool. There was about a five foot drop into the deep end.
Tristan looked over at me and I smiled at him. He jumped high, pulling me after him. We sunk deep into the unexpectedly warm water, our hands releasing and I swam back up to the surface, gasping for air.
"Whoo Bella!" Alice called to me from the other end of the pool. I smiled and swam until my feet could touch the bottom so I could stand.
"Let's play colors!" Emmet proposed. And before I could even comprehend what he just shouted I found myself 'it.'
"Not it!"
"Not it!"
"Not it!" Everybody else shouted… except me. I was so late that I didn't even bother trying and just pulled myself out of the pool.
I could hear everybody swim to the side of the pool I was on.
"Ready?" I asked. I hoped that they could say no.
"Lets play!" Emmet cheered… darn.
"Blue?" I heard splashing so I turned around. Nobody was moving so all I saw was six child-like smiles. I sighed and took a step forward.
"Red?" there was no sound.
"Green?" there was a bunch of splashing, and then I heard it from more in the middle of the pool, I turned around to find all of them halfway across the pool. At once, I dove and swam to the closest person, which was Emmet. I reached out and tagged his foot.
Exhausted, I stopped and so did Emmet.
"I HATE MY LIFE!" he screamed out to the sky. I swam to the side of the pool to grab onto the ledge. I saw Emmet jump out of the pool and go back to the side I was at, standing out of the water.
"Way to go, Bells," Alice chimed in congratulations to me. I smiled in return, my pride swelling. Tristan swam so he was next to me, he could touch the bottom but I couldn't. He plastered a wet kiss on my cheek.
"That's my girl." I blushed pink and we half swam/walked back to the started position. Emmet took his position, facing away from us.
"Oran-" Emmet was cut off my Rosalie's ear piercing screech. Emmet whipped his head around, facing panicked.
"Gotcha," Rosalie winked at him and motioned for him to take another step forward. Emmet growled while we all hooted with laughter.
"Purple," he growled… uh oh, my color. This time they all splashed and I silently ducked my head underwater then pushed myself off of the wall with my feet like a torpedo.
When I met the surface of the water, I looked back to see Emmet still standing up there. They were all still making noise while signaling with their eyes to hurry it up. I quickly began to swim as fast as I could to the other side of the pool.
"What?!" I heard Emmet exclaim and then a splash into the water.
Oh, crap.
I swam frantically, and amazing reached the other side untouched. Emmet was only a couple feet behind me.
"How the heck did you out swim me?" Emmet asked, eyes wide. I shrugged and stayed put, holding myself above the water with a hand on the cement. Emmet huffed, stumped and then reluctantly began making his way back to the other side to start all over again.
On 'pink' Emmet caught Alice easily. He claimed that it was because of his swimming skills. But we all knew that it was because Alice always chose pink… it was her favorite color.
"I'm bored," Rosalie sighed, looking at her nails. I was loosing interest in this game also.
"Yeah, Colors is officially over," Jasper announced and we all went to sit in the oversized, and now steaming spa. I was closest too it, so I hopped into the hot water and quickly took my seat in the deepest section. Emmet jumped in next, splashing water everywhere and Alice took a seat gracefully. Tristan and the rest of them came after a few seconds. Tristan immediately waded into the spa and sat down right next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. His skin was still cool from the pool water.
"Having fun?" he asked me in a quiet yet bright tone. I nodded enthusiastically.
"Good." He stated. I nuzzled myself into his side, completely at ease. The rest of my friends all cuddled with their partners, except Edward. Edward just laid his head back onto the cement behind him, relaxing. That's when I noticed the faint, light purple bruise placed right on his jaw.
"Edward, what happened?" I asked him, concerned. He lifted his head and gave me a confused look. I noticed how his bronze hair was slightly in mesmerizing green eyes. I pointed to my own jaw to clarify. He shrugged back at me nonchalantly.
"I guess I got it when Tristan and I got tangled up… didn't noticed." He moved back into his previous position, looking towards the sky.
Something wasn't right… and I didn't know what it was. But I let it go, I was probably making something out of nothing… I had that habit.
It was quiet; but not that awkward kind of silence. The soft sound of rolling waves filled the empty spaces. I looked up at the clear, dark sky that was accented with tiny spots of light. The stars were there, though they always were. Even in the day time… you just couldn't see them. It was remarkable to me how stars were miles and miles away, yet their light pierced through the darkness and was visible to us.
Maybe Tristan and I would be okay.
I don't want to sound like one of those writers where all they care about is reviews,
But I barely got any that last chapter.
It was a huge let down because I love reading your reviews.
And if you don't enjoy any chapter, I appreciate all forms of feedback… good or bad. I want to become a better writer and your corrective criticism is most helpful.
So I will end with saying that I have pictures up of Tristan's house, Bella and Tristan's cars, and a new poll up.
Also I still want your opinion on Edward vs. Tristan. Has it changed?
Go check em' out and vote on my poll, may determine how the story ends.