STRAIGHT SHOOTER #2
We sneak in. Cleo and I shoot both women before they can get a shot off, and take their flag. Then we run back and claim our victory. Our team heads out of the laser tag area to relax before the next game.
How did it go? I put an arm around Evie. Her toque is off and her eyes are gleaming and green. She must be having fun.
I got shot and had to go to the healing spot, she confesses.
Oh no. I should have been there to protect you. I feel regretful about that. Next session I’ll stay with her at the base.
We head out to the arcade. Andy and Evie disappear to the washroom, while the rest of us gather in to strategize our next game.
That went great, Cleo declares. You guys did a good job of protecting the base.
Well, one of us did. Sinc looks at me. Why didn’t you mention that your girlfriend is a sharpshooter?
What? I thought she got shot, I reply.
Dude, she got shot because when we saw them coming, she went out to attack them from the back. She shot three of them before Swanny got her.
Really? I can’t imagine Evie being able to shoot anyone. She looked scared when I mentioned guns. Maybe it was beginner’s luck.
Sinc shrugs.
But for the next round, Cleo insists we use the same strategy, so I don’t get to see Evie’s supposed skills. We win again.
For the final round, the rules are changed. We have to go as a group and all of us need to hit the opponent’s target and then return to our base. The first complete team to accomplish that task wins the whole enchilada.
Zee, you ready to go down? Grecs demands.
His girlfriend is beside him, and she’s built like an warrior.
I didn’t even know he had a steady girlfriend until he mentioned that Marla was visiting.
From what I’ve seen of his social life here, they must have an open relationship, but I’m not going to ask.
I give him a mocking grin. Think you’ve got that backwards.
He eyes Evie in her ninja gear.
Hi Joe, she says. Is it my imagination or is there a little extra saccharine in her tone?
He nods at her and then turns back to his team. Logan Pederson, Coty, Murph, and his girlfriend Caroline are all on his team. Caroline is on the women’s hockey team, so she’s a jock too.
Cleo and I strategize.
Basically, it’s every man for himself in this game, but maybe we should go in couples, I suggest.
She nods. Not a bad idea, so we can look out for each other. Should we go with the people we date or pair up the strongest and weakest?
I visualize this. How would that change things?
Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go with our partners.
It’s probably more motivating anyway. Sinc will do anything to protect Andy.
Yeah, Sinc. Better look in a fucking mirror, Zee, Cleo mocks.
It’s fun to run through the course with Evie. She’s not particularly fast, but she is good at being stealthy. We’re almost at their base when we get ambushed. Grecs knocks the gun from my hands and tells me to freeze. I look over my shoulder, but Evie has disappeared.
She went that way. Grecs motions with his head to Marla. Get her.
The takes off.
You know, it feels so good to take down our perfect captain, that I’m just going to relish the moment, he tells me with a big grin, gun aimed at my chest target.
A woman’s muffled cry sounds out close by. Shit. Some job I’m doing protecting Evie.
There’s a noise to my right. Both Grecs and I turn, but there’s nobody there. I squint and see a dark blob on the floor.
Fuck! Grecs cries out, and when I turn back, his chest target is flashing. Evie is crouched on the floor with her gun raised.
She stands. Let’s go.
I grab my laser gun and take off after her. We hit the target and head back to our base. Evie’s hair is flowing behind her, and she looks like the total badass that she is.
Where’s your toque? I ask.
Oh, I knotted and threw it as a distraction. I’ll get it once the game is done.
The coup de grace is when we run into Coty on the way back to his base. Before I can lift my gun, Evie shoots from the hip and makes a perfect bull’s-eye.
Evie! You shot me? Coty says.
Oh, sorry, Antoine, she replies sweetly.
But she’s not fooling me anymore. I shake my head in admiration.
Cleo and Mats are already there, so we wait excitedly for Andy and Sinc. When they appear a couple of minutes later, I’m almost certain that we’ve won, given that Coty, Grecs, and Marla were all shot. But we wait until we get the final results before we celebrate.
Way to go, team! Cleo declares happily. I’m also glad that we won, but I have bigger questions.
I drape an arm over Evie. You have a lot of hidden talents.
Like Scheherazade, she replies. You haven’t broken up with me yet because I’m a new girlfriend every night.
I’m struck by how nonchalant she is about our eventual breakup. She never makes plans for our future. Is that why she doesn’t make me uncomfortable? Or is it because I still can’t get enough time with Evie? All this passion is going to peter out sometime, but right now it’s all encompassing.
Where did you learn to shoot like that?
I could I tell you, but I’ll have to kill you. That’s our coded answer when we don’t want to answer a question.
That’s not as funny now that I know you can handle firearms, I reply. But you could have mentioned that you can actually shoot.
She sighs. I don’t like showing off or being the centre of attention. But I knew you wanted to win, and I didn’t want to let down the team.
That’s not really an answer, but it’s all I’m getting.
I pull her by the hand. Come with me. I have to recover my manhood by winning a stuffed animal for you.
After I spend way too much money on a claw machine, Evie walks away cuddling a lavender weasel.
It’s adorable. Thank you, Viktor. She flings her arms around my neck and kisses me, back in her disguise as my sweet, innocent girlfriend.