Lazer Tag Life

4

After Paige told me that she had everything covered, even though she looked horrified of the middle schoolers that were double her size, I rushed to the front and flipped open the MacBook sitting at the desk. I was going to start streaming my new and improved playlist I had made for the place, but I needed to get everyones approval first.

∆ Work Group Chat ∆

Paulie: hey everyone! made a new playlist for us! link - https://play.spotify.com/user/allid10/playlist/19Kd9Ydg1OVmAP0RONLgbj also i had to make it on my sis's account, ok

Bob Bob: its great!!!!!!! loving the paramore ;) 

Alex KapriSun: its ok

Paulie: THANKS ITS NOT LIKE I SPENT HOURS ON IT OR ANYTHING

RockyTheMovie: GET BACK TO WORK THE THREE OF YOU!!!

Bob Bob: geez ok

Nickly: hmmm, needs some troye sivan

RockyTheMovie: NICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NICKLY: OKOKOKOK SORRYSORRYSORRY

Panicking because of the possible murders that Rocky could commit today, I clicked the play button and darted to the back, making a mental note to add more songs eventually, maybe some Troye, like Nick suggested. 

On the way there, I managed to steer myself out of the way due to the sudden group of moms that was starting to form outside the paintball area. After regaining my composure, I went up to one of them.

"Uh, excuse me, is there a problem?"

"Yes. Young man, do you know if there is a rice cake substitute for the bread here? And if so, are they gluten and meat-free?"

Oh no. These moms were the weird hipster vegan moms. It's going to be hard to talk to them.

"Well," I mumbled, trying hard to not let my uncertainty show. "We do have bread, but I don't think its possible to have gluten free bread. But it is meat-free, like all breads are."

"Ok, that's fine. I brought my own rice cakes for Mackaylah anyway, just in case," she said reassuringly, putting a cold, disinfected hand on my shoulders. 

How do you even spell that child's name? I wanted to say, but I just nodded and mouthed a "no problem" before jogging over to laser tag. 

"Where have you been?" Alex hissed at me as soon as I arrived. "We've been waiting for you to get to the control panel. The kids are inside, ready to start!"

"Sorry, a weird vegan mom got ahold of me."

"Oh. That's understandable. Now get your butt over there and start it!"

I did as I was told, and locked myself in our new and improved Control Room, now with cup holders. I pulled over the microphone that was on the shelves and yelled to the boys. "Who's ready for the best laser tag game of their lives?!"

The boys responded by screaming and jumping, the exact reaction I wanted from them.

"Let the games begin!" I pulled the lever in front of me, and the room on the other side of the window lit up. There were flashing lights, strobe lights, colorful lights, and lights that were probably bright enough to light up the entirety of space. It truly was a beautiful and well-kept facility, thanks to all of us.

I even turned up the music a notch, Melanie Martinez's new single, Soap, playing now. I hummed along as I flipped and switched various buttons that caused monsters and aliens to pop up in random places. I could tell which ones came up by where I heard screaming, laughing, and the vests making the Hit sound.

Wait, hold on.

I didn't hear the normal Hit sound.

What was that?

Did that vest just go...Mm whatcha say?

I shot up, and looked at Bob and Nick, who were sitting outside the entrance. It looked like they had heard it too, because they were both looking at me the same way. I could only imagine the possible scenarios that were replaying in all of our heads at that moment. Maybe one of the kids hacked into the system? Maybe Rocky did it as a prank?

Then, we all realized who was on Total Vest Duty.

"Alex!" I cried, slamming my fist down on the table. "That little weasel!" I glared over at the vest section, where, of course, he was cackling like the evil villain he was. He gradually stopped when he saw me staring at him, my gaze getting deeper and my face getting more red with anger with each "mm whatcha say."

I put the course on Co-pilot mode and ran out to him, ready to kill.

"Look, look," he pleaded, trying to defend himself. "It was just a joke, ok?"

"I know, and I would think it was funny and all, but Rocky can fire all of us! I understand that you don't need the money because you're filthy rich, but I need it, ok? The rest of us need it." I was on the verge of tears at this point. If I got fired from this job, I really would't be able to provide myself, or worse, my family, with any extra money that we could use on things that we wanted, and didn't need.

Alex got what I was trying to say, and a little sympathy shined through. "Ok, I'll turn it off."

"Thank you."

I walked back to the Control Panel, and started pressing buttons again, but it didn't feel the same. There was a huge lump in my throat and I felt like if I said another word I would start to cry. 

I don't like to talk about my money situation at all, and this was no exception. But yeah, it's not the best. We're lucky we got through Christmas with more than five gifts for everyone. Since I was the oldest, I had to supply most of these gifts with the money I get from working here, which isn't a lot. It's about $150 a week, which would be a good amount, but a lot of things cost money.

I wouldn't call Alex a bragger, because he's not. His parents work as set designers for huge blockbuster movies, and he lived in a pretty big house. He rarely mentions it, and he gets really made when people put him higher because of his money status. He really was a nice guy. He can just be clueless at times.

Eventually, thinking about it made my tears stop, and I was nearly back to my old self. The rest of the game went smoothly, and Bob and I kept the vegan moms under control through cake time. We stopped them when they tried to put kale on the cupcakes. 

When the crowds were gone, we had our hour break, so we all chilled on the Big Couch for a while. 

"Wow, those paintball kids were a handful!" Paige exclaimed as she collapsed next to us, her long brown hair all over the place, despite being held with a headband.

"So were the kickball ones." Rocky muttered, furiously typing on her laptop.

"So I'm guessing the laser tags were hard, too?" Paige asked, looking at me.

"Yep," I replied.

"Wow, I am so ready to go home," Nick moaned into a pillow. "I'm so tired, I need a Frapp."

"I'll get some, for all four of us," Bob got up and walked to the freezer behind the snack stand counter. He took out four Mocha Frapps, our favorites. When we got back, we had a little cheers, and chugged them together. We sat in silence, all four of us, next to each other, knowing that this was the only quiet we were going to get and therefore, enjoying every minute of it.

It was like that for the rest of the hour.