Chapter Twenty

      “Jules!” my mom called.

      “I’m coming!” I yelled, hopping on one foot, while trying to put on my shoe. I fell to the ground, and tightened the laces, neglecting to fully tie them. I stood up, glimpsed at myself in the mirror briefly, and deemed my outfit appropriate for the occasion. Ripped jeans, purple Converse, and a nice, plain, simple white T-shirt. Perfect. Not overly girly, and not too on the tomboy side. Best part about my outfit? It’s me.

      I opened my closet door in search of a jacket, so I wouldn’t freeze, and took the first thing I saw: a black sweatshirt. It wouldn’t add anything to the outfit, and it definitely wouldn’t upstage or ruin it. I thought about whether or not I was missing anything, and then it hit me. My phone. Yeah, I think that might just be an important thing to bring. I went over to my desk, and pulled it out of the charger in all its black shiny beauty, slipping it into my back pocket.

      “JULIA!” my mom shouted.

      “I’m not responding to that name!” I screamed back, turning the light off in my room, before rushing out. I sprinted down the hallway, and to the front room, only to see my mom standing there with Adam, and Trent, who looked very uncomfortable with the state at hand.

      “Finally! We’ve only been standing here for an hour,” Adam said, looking relieved.

      “Sorry, I couldn’t find my shoes,” I said.

      “Speaking of shoes, why aren’t yours tied?” my mom asked, looking down at my feet.

      “Because I didn’t feel like tying them,” I said. “Oh, and I may have been in a little bit of a rush.”

      “So you and your friend are going out together?” she asked, facing Trent.

      “Yeah,” I said, not sure of how she’d take it.

      “Need I be concerned?” She looked over to Trent doubtfully.

      “He’s a better driver than Adam,” I said.

      “Fine. The two of you- go! Be back no later than ten,” she said reluctantly, kissing me on the cheek.

      “Ew!” I said, wiping away the invisible mark the kiss had left on the side of my face.

      “Jules!” she scolded, giving me one her infamous looks that pretty much said, “Stop it!”

      “Whatever. Bye mom, Adam,” I said, going with Trent out of the house, and to his car.

      “Nice mom,” he commented, unlocking the doors.

      “Weird mom,” I corrected, going over to the other side, and climbing in.

      “Eh, all parent’s have their faults,” he said, getting in on his side. He started the car up, and drove off.

      “So where we going?” I asked curiously.

      “Somewhere,” he answered, turning to smile at me.

      “Both eyes on the road!” I said, pointing ahead of me.

      “Well aren’t you an educated little pedestrian!” he teased.

      “Thanks!” I said. “So really, where are we going?”

      “You’ll see,” he said, smirking at me once again.

      “TJ! Please tell me!” I begged.

      “You know what, how about you put this on,” he said, handing me a bandana.

      “Oh! Are we robbing a bank?” I asked, taking the red piece of fabric.

      “No,” he laughed, “put it over your eyes. I want to surprise you.”

      “Will I like the surprise?”

      “Yes.”

      “Okay then,” I said, doing as he had asked. I put the piece of cloth over my eyes, and tied it in the back, so all I saw was red.

      “Are your eyes closed?” he asked, as I felt the car make a sharp turn.

      “Nope,” I said.

      “Why not?”

      “Because if they were closed, I’d probably fall asleep!”

      “Oh. That wouldn’t be too good. Fine, keep them open. Can you at least not see?”

      “Trent, I’m blindfolded; therefore, I can’t see!” I said, starting to not like the sudden loss of a sense. Wow. Blind people really have it difficult! I feel so bad for them! I’ll have this thing on for at most an hour, whereas they never get to take the blindfold off… Wow. They never get to experience colors, or how hot people like Trent are! That’s just terrible! I’m so lucky to have sight. Wow. Did Trent seriously cause this unexpected revelation? Eh, so what if he did? 

      “Okay, well we just got here, so keep it on, until we’re inside, and I tell you when to take it off,” he said, stopping the car.

      “Fine,” I said. I heard him get out of the car, and slam his door shut.

      “M’lady,” he said, as I heard my door open. 

      “Trent, give me your hand, I can’t see!” I said, wanting to rip the blindfold off.

      “It’s right here,” he said, as I still felt nothing come in contact with my hand. “OH! Whoops! You can’t see that, can you? Ha!”

      “You’re mean, and what exactly is right here?” I asked, as his fingers interlocked with mine.

      “Come on,” he said. I slowly got out of the car, and he closed my door for me.

      “Trent, if you walk me into something, I will not hesitate to kill you!” I said, shakily following him.

      “Don’t worry J!” he said, picking up his pace. My body froze.

      “What did you just call me?” I asked, stopping in the middle of wherever we were.

      “J… Oh shit! I suck! I’m sorry Jules! I wasn’t thinking! I’m such an idiot! That didn’t mean to slip out! You must hate me right now!”

      “N-no, I just h-haven’t heard it in a while, but I think it might be w-worse than being called Julia. J. T-Trenty, don’t call me that again,” I stammered, trying to block out all the memories associated with that nickname. J. 

      “I won’t. I promise. Never again,” he said solemnly. “Now can we keep walking?”

      “Yeah…” I said, walking what I thought to be ahead of him. That was a dumb idea, because I forgot the little fact that I couldn’t see, and had no clue where we were.

      “Umm… Jules,” he said, running in front of me, so I was following him.

      “Sorry,” I said.

      “Okay, now you’re going to step up here,” he said. I stepped up what I guessed to be a curb, and we kept walking. I felt perforated indents on the ground every three or so feet, and figured we were walking on a sidewalk. We went some more, until I heard a swish, and stepped onto a different sort of material. I felt a severe change in airflow, and assumed we were indoors.

      “Are we inside now?” I asked.

      “Yeah,” he said, guiding me through the building.

      “Cool, can I take the thing off now?” I asked.

      “Not yet.”

      “How about now?”

      “Nope. But you can sit down,” he said. I cautiously lowered myself, until I hit a piece of metal, and sat down.

      “Can I take this thing off now?” I pleaded.

      “Yes,” he said. As soon as that word came out of his mouth, I ripped the cloth off, and looked around at the place he had brought me. No. Freaking. Way. This is epic!

      “Trent!” I said, as my head did another 360 of the area.

      “Yes,” he said, grinning.

      “Are we going to play laser tag?!” I asked, jumping up.

      “Yes we are!”

      “You’re the best!” I said, hugging him.

      “I know,” he said cockily.

      “Let’s go play now!”

      “Okay, okay, hold on a sec, I think they’re about to start a new round. What’s your code name going to be?”

      “Uh… Julesyboo!” I said.

      “Fine. Mine’s Trentyboo.”

      “Okay!”

      “Yo! So, everyone who’s going to be playing during the next round, please listen to the instruction video about to be shown to you, and then you can start your mission,” a college guy, who looked less than happy to be working, said at the front of the a large group of people. A video played, explaining the rules, regulations, and restrictions; or the “Three R’s” as the college dude said once it was over.

      The doors in front of us opened, and we all went into a room with black lights, and equipment. Trent and I grabbed two vests and guns, and followed the gush of people.

      “You’re so going down Jules!” Trent said, tightening the sides of his vest.

      “In your dreams TJ!” I said, pointing the gun at him.

      “Oh you’re asking for it!” he said, hugging me from behind.

      “Excuse me, but as of now I’m going to have to ask that there be no physical contact,” the college guy said to us.

      “Oh sorry,” Trent apologized, letting go of me. I smirked.

      “Mkay. So I’m going to open the next doors, and then you’re all going to have a minute to find a hiding spot, before being able to shoot, and be shot. If you get overwhelmed during the game, there are exits, and if you can’t find them, hold up your hands, and someone will come over to you in assistance,” college dude said in a monotonous voice, probably repeating the same speech for the twelfth time today. I would hate this job.

      “Ready Julesy?” Treny asked.

      “Ready Trenty!” I said.

      “Okay, on the count of three, I’m going to let you guys in. One... Two... THREE!” the young employee said, opening the doors. Trent and I flowed into the expanding room with the other thirty some people. It was like a warehouse; hark, had ramps, levels, mirrors, black lights, twists, mazes, and everything! I love laser tag! I always have, and I always will!

      “Okay Jules, let’s do this thing!” Trent said, winking at me.

      “Don’t lose me!” I said.

      “So you want to stay together?” he asked.

      “Yeah.”

      “Fine, but don’t shoot me,” he warned.

      “Fine!” I yelled over the countdown that was blasting from some nearby speakers. 20… 19… 18… 17…

      “Come on!” he said. We went up some stairs, and through a maze of black boards. 

      “3… 2… 1…” the speakers said. All the lights momentarily shut off, and it was pitched black. I heard a few screams, and laughed to myself. Only I, would laugh at some little kid screaming about how dark it was…

      In a flash Trent started shooting the person closest to us repeatedly, until their vest lit up. I shot the person above me, and then we ran through the rest of the maze, shooting, and being shot at on the way. We rushed up to another floor, and decended down a ramp. 

      We kept shooting, and being shot at for a good forty-five minutes until the countdown started again. A minute left, and I still hadn’t done the thing I wanted to. I looked over to Trent, who had been next to me the entire time, and smiled sweetly. I pointed my gun at him, and started shooting the laser at his vest. It lit up, but I just kept shooting. He drew his gun, and in defense started shooting me right back.

      5… 4… 3… 2… 1… All the lights went back on, and we were told to file out and back into the black light room. Trent and I got into the room, and quickly took off our gear. The vest had been digging into my shoulder blade for the past hour, and killed. I hung it back up, and walked out with Trent to view our final scores. We walked out of the room, and to the other room where we had been given the instructions. I looked up at the TV screen as the scores started flashing, with code names beside them.

      “Nice Jules! You shot 512 times, and got only shot 47 times,” Trent said, his neck turning up to view the screen.

      “Yeah, you did pretty well yourself!” I said, spotting his name, “613. Nice Trent. You beat me by… a few!”

      “Yeah, and I only got shot 28 times.”

      “Okay, stop the bragging.”

      “Right. So, did you have fun?” he asked eagerly.

      “Yes I did!”

      “Good! Now we’re going to dinner.”

      “Are we?”

      “Yes.”

      “Okay then,” I said, letting him lead me out of the warehouse type building, this time not blindly. Laser tag- nice Trent. I was surprised. I would’ve never have guessed it in a million years…

Trent’s POV

I scored. I dunked the ball into the net, and totally scored with bringing her laser tagging. Jules doesn’t like expected things. She claims to “hate” surprises, but that’s not the truth. She loves surprises just as much as the next person- maybe even more. She wasn’t expecting it, and that added to the fun I had.

      The first half of the game went well, if I score a few more baskets, I might be able to take the game home, and really score with Jules. God. I can’t believe I’m thinking in basketball analogies. Never again. I hate that sport- basketball. I almost threw my life away playing that game.

      When I was younger, I think around the time I was repeating 3rd grade, my dad taught me how to play basketball. I loved it. Everyday after school it was the only thing I wanted to do. I became addicted, and unfortunately, good. Like, really good. Great even. Basketball was my sport. No one could take that away from me. I always had it as a safety net to turn to. Even when things took a turn for the worst, I had basketball, and basketball had me.

      In about 7th grade maybe, I was living life just fine. I had friends, I was popular, awesome, athletic, cool, and everyone liked me. My parents were convinced that I was going to get a basketball scholarship for college, and weren’t too concerned with how I was doing in school. To them, it didn’t matter that I was suffering in classes with a lack of understanding- no; all they cared about was that I knew how to play basketball. I was fine with it.

      Jules left. I wasn’t too sure what had happened to her, all I knew was that she wasn’t in my life anymore. We weren’t dating, or really involved in anyway besides having a strong friendship, but losing her, was like losing a family member. She was someone to turn to- someone I could trust.

      8th grade came along, and was an utter drag and waste of time to me. I started committing to school less and less, and started getting into trouble more and more. My friends ditched me. They didn’t like the way I was acting, and left me there, alone.

      After that, I stopped playing basketball. I couldn’t go on to play a team sport when most of the guys on the team were from the “popular” group who had abandoned me like I was a balloon they let go, and never expected to see again. My parents weren’t happy, and stopped trying with me. I barely talked to them; I didn’t want to.

      I met Logan shortly after, and he changed everything. For a little dude, he was pretty great. I was used to hanging around kids actually my age, or older, but Logan was different- he wasn’t immature, and knew the world in his own way. I liked that about him. He taught me how to skateboard, and basketball didn’t matter to me anymore. It was just another dumb sport to me, and was gone from my life entirely. I didn’t like it, I didn’t want it, and I didn’t need it.

      “So where are we going now?” Jules asked, bringing me back to the present.

      “Dinner,” I replied simply.

      “Where?”

      “Does it matter?”

      “No…” she said, “but I’d love to know!”

      “Oh, good for you Julesy!” I turned the steering wheel, and heard a faint creek. I’d say I’m a pretty good driver. Not the best, not the worst. I don’t run red lights, and try not surpassing the legal speed limit. I like driving, and having my license suspended doesn’t really sound too fun to me.

      “Tell me!” she pleaded.

      “Nope,” I smiled.

      “TRENTY!”

      “JULESY!” I mimicked.

      “Are we at least almost there yet?” she questioned, looking out her window.

      “Yeah,” I said, pulling into the parking lot I had been waiting to pop up for the past ten minutes.

      “Trent… ARE WE GOING TO SLICED AND DICED?!” she screamed, unbuckling her seatbelt as I pulled into a parking spot distinguished by the yellow lines on either side of it.

      “No, we’re going to the dry cleaners. Yes we’re going to Sliced and Diced!” I laughed.

      “YAY! I love that place!” she said, opening her door, before I had the chance to be a “gentleman” and assist her.

      “I know,” I said, as I got out on my side. When we were in 7th grade, every time our group of friends would go out to eat, Jules would suggest this place. For some strange reason, she loves it. It’s just a normal pizza place, but to Jules, it holds some sort of… meaning I guess.

      “Let’s go!” she said, coming around, and taking my hand. She dragged me onto the rough gray sidewalk, and into our destination. We hurriedly got pizza, and Jules was in a whirl (it seemed as though she was in a bit of a rush to taste the cheese, bread, and saucy combination she had missed oh so much). Amazing what a simple slice of pizza can do to a girl...

      “Over here,” I said, holding our plates in one hand, and gesturing to a table with the other.

      “Okay, let me take those from you,” she said, taking the pizza and placing them on the glossy surface that stood in front of me. She slid into the booth, and I did the same. She passed me my plate, and I could literally see the lustful look in her eyes as she attacked the serving, and happily chewed, with a grin residing on her cute face. God. Did I seriously just call a girl cute? That’s so not me.

      “Is it good?” I asked. She nodded, continuing to chomp down on the greasy item of her affection. I smiled at her, and picked up my piece, folding it in half, about to put in my mouth when she stopped me.

      “NO!” she said, putting what was left of her piece back onto her plate.

      “What?” I asked, the pizza lingering an inch away from my mouth.

      “That’s not how you eat it!” she said.

      “What? Folded?” I asked.

      “Yes! You have to eat it normally, like this,” she motioned to her unfolded slice.

      “Why?”

      “Because… I don’t know- but folding a piece of pizza is just wrong!” she said. I rolled my eyes, and smugly continued the pizza’s folded journey into my mouth.

      “No! Trent!” she said.

      “Jules!” I said, taking another bite of the creased pizza. In her defense, this pizza was pretty damn great. Not the best thing I’ve ever tasted, but it was still good.

      “You wrecked it!” she accused.

      “Did I?” I asked.

      “Yes,” she said decisively, devouring the remains of her triangular food.

      “Sorry,” I said insincerely.

      “Whatever Trent. What do I care that you don’t know how to eat a piece of pizza? You’re loss, not mine.”

      “Okay Julesy,” I said.

      “This was a good... date Trent,” she said, switching the topic of our conversation over to something other than pizza.

      “Yes it was,” I agreed. “Is it something you could see yourself doing again?”

      “Totally! I love laser tag!” she joked.

      “Funny.”

      “Yes, I really am. But to answer your real question- I don’t know Trent. I liked this, but... I just don’t know,” she said earnestly. I let out a deep breath, not happy with the answer I had received. She was supposed to say, “Yeah Trent, I loved doing this, I love you, let’s get married tomorrow!” Well maybe not the last part… But I half expected her to at least say we should do it again! Not knowing, is almost as bad as rejection.

      “Okay,” I said, looking down at the table for a moment, before I felt something touch my face- well, more my cheek. My eyes flew up, and I saw that Jules was indeed kissing me on the cheek. Not exactly the kiss I had wanted, but hey, something’s better than nothing.

      She pulled back, and I could’ve sworn I saw what looked to be a blush rising in her cheeks, but after a second it was gone. Jules doesn’t blush. She doesn’t get nervous around guys, and she just doesn’t get embarrassed.

      “Thanks,” she said, smiling at me.

      “You’re welcome, Julesyboo,” I exhaled, returning the cheerful expression.