Page 69 of Hating On Riot

Arie

The class decided to play the game on campus. Somehow, word got out that we wanted to end the game tonight so we could have two weeks off. Professor Wilson made up the rules, and they didn’t mention ending the Nerf War early.

Coop and I move as one across the back lawn. The parking lot is empty. “How many left?” I ask.

Coop pulls his phone from his back pocket and checks. “Fourteen. There’s only me, you, Riot, and Emily left from our team.”

“Four against ten. The odds aren’t in our favor,” I say, out of breath.

I hunch behind a tree for cover and catch my breath. Coop scans the area around us. Beads of sweat trail down my face. I’ve removed the safety glasses. They kept fogging up, and I couldn’t see well through the scratches on the plastic. I ditched them on the sign in front of the library.

“They’re all headed here. Look.” Coop holds his phone up in front of my face. Sure enough, red dots are heading our way.

I point to the quad. In the middle are four blocks, large enough to hide behind as we wait for our targets. I text Riot to let him know where Coop and I will be. We’re all red dots on the map. No name is attached to them, so the dots could be friend or foe. It’s the element of surprise, of what a person would do when faced with dots without faces or names. We’ll write a paper to answer Professor Wilson’s question.

When faced with an unknown threat, can a person stay calm enough to take out the correct target? Or will the fight-or-flight response mess with our psyche and make us fire at any target?

“Are you ready to make a run for it?” Cooper asks.

We have to run across the lawn, an open, unprotected space, to reach the blocks. The dots are closing in. Did other teams join forces, or are they all from the same team? Which ones are Em and Riot? The ones coming at us from the right? Or are they in the middle and to the left? My heart starts beating out of control. My breathing is unsteady. My palms get sweaty.

Then Riot’s voice fills my head. Be brave. He prepared me for Nerf War by getting me the gig as the rugby team’s water girl. Sitting in my empty bedroom before I went to stay with Coop, I realized, looking back, that Riot had gotten me the gig for a reason.

Pulling the heavy cart across the field, running along the sidelines, dodging players and the coaching staff so I didn’t get in their way or the referees’ way and get us in trouble, holding my own against large, cocky jocks, and being part of their inner circle, he knew exactly what I needed to not feel so lonely in my last year of college, to be in shape quickly enough to help our team win the game.

Be brave.

He prepared me for everything else.

Now it’s on me to be brave.

To be brave.

I smile. “Let’s go!” Holding onto my blaster, I sprint to the blocks.

Coop follows close on my heels, his laughter echoing in the glow of what will soon be another gorgeous sunset. Crap, we have to get this done now. The game ends after sunset.

Riot and Em come up on our right. I point to the blocks. Riot nods. Before we can reach the blocks, gain cover, and take out our targets as they run toward us, Emily is hit in the back of the head.

“Damn it!” She throws her blaster onto the ground and puts her hands up in surrender.

Riot, that butt, uses her body as a shield but takes out four students as they converge on us. Six to go. I spin through the air and land on my feet next to Emily’s blaster.

I grab it and fire left and right. A dart glides past Cooper’s head and hits an opponent in the forehead. I grimace. Boy, that was close to his eyes. His eyes widen, and he raises his hands. Another of my darts hits a guy in the leg.

Four down. Cooper fires off multiple rounds. He takes down two more targets. One is a crotch shot, the other a boob shot. Laughter bubbles up from me. Smiling, I shake my head. My BFF is a great shot.

“Way to go, Coop!”

My celebration is premature. A dart rushes toward me. I’m about to be hit in the eye when Riot jumps in front of me, knocks the dart away, and aims at the guy who is the same height. I follow the dart’s trajectory. It’ll hit the guy in the eye. I mean, he’s stepping right in front of the dart! Our team will get disqualified for the eye shot, and our opponent knows it with that smirk on his face.

Cooper jumps in front of the dart and takes out the smirking guy, but Riot’s dart hits Cooper in the back of the head.

“One target left, Arie.”

We zone in on the lone girl standing out in the open, blaster pressed to her chest. She’s trembling.

“Don’t let her fool you, baby,” Riot warns me. “Don’t let anyone come between us, Tiptoe.” He’s not talking about the trembling girl. He’s talking about the brunette he saw last week.