for, liar

Chapter 96

"You bet."

Before Miles can even ask, I turn to him and briefly explain the traditional game that dominates our New Years party.

"The concept is simple. We head out into the wooded area right behind my mom's house that's been blocked off by ropes and markers hanging on the trees. Everyone splits up into teams of two with our cheap Dollar General flashlights. The goal is to hide and eliminate other team members by shining your spotlight on them when you find them. Last team standing wins."

"So it's just a cheaper way of playing laser tag?"

"Yeah but instead of competing for the highest score, we're competing for this." Rayna says and picks up an envelope from the table.

"What is that?" Miles asks.

"No one knows. Every year our parents change up the prize. When we were kids it was usually movie tickets or arcade tokens. The past couple of years they went bigger with gift cards. Last year was a beach trip for the weekend."

Henry snatches the envelope from Rayna and pinches one of the corners. "This year is different. Possibly the biggest prize yet. At least that's what my dad told me." He says.

"He's not supposed to be hinting at what's in there." Sandy snaps.

He shrugs and slaps the envelope back on the table. "Doesn't matter. It's ours anyway." He says with a wink.

His cockiness makes Sandy smile. Miles stares at the envelope and crosses his arms.

"So are you in?" I ask him.

"Yeah, why not? I'm up for some harmless competition."

"That's the spirit!" Henry yells and climbs off the floor. "When shall we get started?"

We don't want to play Spotlight too late because if we don't finish, we risk missing the actual event we all showed up for. I've teamed up with Rayna every year until Maddy came last year and completely ruined any chance I had of winning the beach trip. She's amazing at many things until it comes to games, then for some reason her mind goes blank and she forgets everything we're supposed to be doing. We were eliminated first.

She wasn't apologetic and even disparaged me for taking it too seriously. We were in our last year of college and my stress was at an all time high. I really wanted that trip. Thankfully good karma came back around and I got exactly what I needed with Miles only half a year later.

As much as I would like to win and be able to do whatever bizarre treat is hidden in the envelope, it's not my priority. I'm completely content with just having a great time with my friends.

"They're goners. I was the top in laser tag at the fair for as long as I can remember. It's embedded in my bones." Miles boasts.

I hand him a drink. "Wow, I love this confidence. Too bad they've all been playing this since we were nine."

We finished playing Cards Against Humanity two hours ago. Henry and Tyler are in the back setting up for Spotlight behind my mom's house, making sure everything is aligned correctly. It's going to be really dark so we have to make sure no one strays too far from the borders.

"How big is the arena?" He asks.

"There's a stretch of land right outside my mom's house that got cleared out for construction. They never did anything with it so we used to go back there and play. It's pretty big, you just have to be careful because we have it roped off so you don't go into the ditch."

"Do you know your way around? I feel like we're going to have a disadvantage since I've never seen it."

He really is taking this seriously. That's cute.

"Of course I know my way around. We will be fine. Don't worry."

He bites down on his lip and takes a sip from his cup. He flinches and yanks it away from his mouth. "Holy shit, that is way too much vodka. What is that?"

I look into my cup and laugh. "I thought it was water. Sandy is an alcoholic."

I take his cup back from him and hand him a can of Pepsi from the cooler. He thanks me as he cracks it open and takes a small sip. Henry and Tyler walk inside the front door.

"Alright ladies! Who's ready?" Henry yells.

Aaliyah and Rayna get up from the couch. Sandy grabs the bag of flashlights from the table and heads over to them.

"My partner isn't here yet!" Rayna says.

"She's outside. She got here twenty minutes ago and got distracted by Pamela's dogs." Tyler tells her.

Rayna huffs and walks out the door. I finish off my drink and walk Miles out behind everyone. We walk next door to my mom's house and back behind the wooden gate of her backyard. There's a small dip that I try to warn Miles about but I'm too late when he faceplants into the grass.

I sharply draw in a breath. "Shit! Are you okay?"

Sandy shines one of the flashlights over him so he can see enough to be able to stand. He wipes the grass off his jeans and nods.

"Sorry, I tried to tell you." I assure him.

"A little too late." He teases but assures me he's fine when he squeezes my hand.

We walk down to the clearing that is overly consumed by the night darkness. It's pitch black outside and even the moonlight is hidden away behind the trees.

"Wait on me guys!" Peyton yells, running up behind us.

Rayna groans and tosses her a flashlight. "You're with me." She says.

"Really? Yay!" Peyton cheers.

Rayna hands out the rest of the flashlights when Henry starts talking again. "Alright, I'll go over the rules again since we have a newbie. Everyone splits up separately and lights are off for the first 5 minutes. Your goal is to find your teammate without getting spotted and spot others trying to find their teammate. If the light hits you, you're eliminated. Don't cheat and don't lie. This is a game. Tyler, you're up first my man. You have one minute before we let Peyton in. Go!"

Tyler takes off into the woods as Henry eyes the timer on his phone. We hear the crunching of the leaves at first but it slowly fades out as Tyler disappears into the woods. The timer dings when the sixty seconds are up and he resets it for Peyton to run in. She giggles and jogs past the rope.

I can hear Rayna facepalm. "I'm going to lose this year." She sighs.

"You won last year. Suck it up." Aaliyah says.

"Suck my fist." Rayna fires back and lifts it in the air.

"Settle down children!" Henry yells as the timer goes off again. "Sandy, you're up. Go!"

Sandy takes off and disappears instantly. She ran track for eight years. She's insanely fast and a rough competitor.

"Okay, Mason. It's your turn." Henry calls out.

"It's Miles." he corrects him.

"I'll remember it at some point. You got sixty seconds. Go!"

Miles grips the flashlight in his hand and runs into the woods. This is definitely unfair since he has no idea how bumpy the area is. Hopefully I don't have trouble finding him.

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