My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter 6: Alexander

"Let's go bowling first." I suggested and there was a general chorus of agreement. "Alright then, you lot go ahead and get the shoes and balls, Amie and I will be right back." I pulled Amie away from the rest of our group and started in the direction of the food court. She'd seemed a little tired but Dylan had also said that she'd not felt well the night before. I felt bad that I hadn't even noticed her leaving last night or that she hadn't been feeling well.

A few wolf whistles and laughter could be heard coming from behind us. I shook my head; our friends could be ridiculous sometimes. I didn't let go of Amie's arm until we stood in front of a counter in the corner of the small food court.

"What are you doing?" Amie asked once we came toa stop. 

"We are getting you a coffee."

"Why?" She even sounded tired.

"Because," I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, "you need it." She didn't argue with that. I paid for the coffee before she even began to reach for her wallet. She quietly thanked me but otherwise stayed silent as we made out way back to the bowling alley. I frowned lightly and draped my arm lightly across her shoulders, giving her a small squeeze. It wasn't like her to be so silent and disconnected.

A competitive bowling match ensued as soon as we got back, temporarily driving all other thoughts away. After two games, we decided to call it quits in favour of trying out the racetrack. Christian won the first game but I came back and beat his arse in the second. I was quite proud of the two strikes I got in the last frame that secured my victory. Dylan was decent throughout but the two cousins competed for last place each time. It was a little funny how absolutely terrible they both were at the game.

The racetrack was a completely different story. As soon as we got the green flag from the operator, we were off. Some of the turns were very sharp and I think we all almost crashed at least twice. After the first loop around, when we'd gotten a feel for the track, Will, Christian, and I started trying to make the others crash.

The girls didn't seem keen on joining in but I did get shunted sideways a few times because one of them couldn't resist taking a shot at me. On the last loop around the track, I decided to go for broke and slammed my car into Dylan's in the hopes that it would send her off course. She was in the lead and I was right behind her. However, I may have overcompensated somewhere because when I sent my sister crashing into the side of the track, I went spinning into Will who in true domino effect then hit Christian. Amie sped by the four of us and claimed first place. Dylan, Will, and Christian whined to me about making them all crash while we sorted out our cars. I wasn't really listening though. Instead, my mind kept drifting back to Amie. I'd kept an eye on her since buying her coffee and I was sure there was something more going on than her just being tired. Seeing her trying not to doze off while waiting for us on a bench nearby only further confirmed this in my mind. Upon seeing Amie, Dylan immediately sat in her lap and proceeded to pout over losing the race but Amie only laughed.

"Amie..." she complained, "you're supposed to be on my side."

"Mm...am I?" The boys and I stayed quiet while we watched their exchange.

"Yep. But since you aren't then you can have Alexander as your partner in laser tag." My sister decided and grinned, hopping off Amie's lap and pulling her to her feet. "But you'll be sorry when we beat you." I smirked, already looking forward to the challenge.

"When you...wait a minute. It's the three of you against us?" Amie asked, furrowing her brow a little. Even though I knew she was not feeling well, was tired, and confused, it looked cute. My evil twin just beamed at her. "That's not fair."

Will chose that moment to break in. "Haven't you heard Ams? Life's not fair." She merely stuck her tongue out at him.

"Alright people, let's go play some laser tag!" Christian tagged his hands loudly. "Let's go!"

He bounded off back toward the building where we'd bowled, leaving the rest of us to follow him. Amie took maybe two steps before jumping onto her cousin's back. Because she'd had a penchant for doing this growing up, he simply grabbed her legs and continued walking. Dylan and I brought up the rear.

"Ready to get your arse kicked?" I asked.

She only scoffed. "As if. Amie is rubbish at this game. The only way you'll win is if we somehow trip over our feet and shoot ourselves."

I stuck my foot out, making her stumble. "Looks like an easy win then."

We continued to banter back and forth until we reached the laser tag area. Dylan gleefully ran off to find herself a vest and gun. The vests were all black with clear plastic pieces on each shoulder and silver pieces on the front and back—those were the target points. The guns were attached by a cord to the side of the vest. We all chose one and signed into the computer on our respective sides so that the system would keep score while we were inside.

Team A was Spider Monkey and Gangsta—Amie and I—while Team B consisted of Ace, Hulk, and The Exterminator—Christian, Will, and Dylan respectively. Once we were all suited up, the man in charge gave us a rundown on the rules and layout of the game before opening the door and letting us inside the playing field. The warning bell rang, informing us that we had two minutes to spread out and hide. Dylan, Christian, and Will immediately took off.

"Come on," I grabbed Amie's hand and started jogging in the opposite direction. We'd only ever played laser tag a handful of times but I always got pretty competitive. Amie and I had just reached the top of a ramp when the second bell sounded, signalling the start of the game.

The place was huge! There were at least two orthree levels and there were twists and turns and ramps everywhere. There wereeven a few tunnels and bridges. I started shooting as soon as I caught aglimpse of one of the others. Amie got hit a lot as she tried to keep up withme but I think I almost made up for it with how many shots I landed on Dylan,Will, and Christian. Three rounds later, red lights went off throughout theroom signaling the end of the game. I'd lost Amie somewhere along the wayduring the final round. Even though I knew we would all meet up again in theprep room, it wasn't until I noticed Amie wasn't behind me that I'd realized  she'd been having trouble keeping up with me. I'd been too caught up in the game and adrenaline rush to notice. She was the last one to come back to the prep room so waited for her while she hung up her vest and gun.

"Sorry sunshine. I didn't realize I'd left you behind." I told her as we followed the others outside to see what the final score was.

She smiled softly. "It's okay. It's a game and you get super competitive. I held my own."

A yell from Dylan kept me from replying. Before I knew it, I had my sister's finger I my face. "Ha! In your face Alexander Isaac Kipling! We won!" she yelled, poking my cheek with her finger.

I pushed her finger away. "Let me see the score you weirdo."

The final score was displayed on a small screen mounted behind the counter where customers paid for the laser tag.

Team A: 150

Team B: 210

I shrugged. "Well, I think we did alright considering there were only two of us."

"But we still won," Dylan sang.

"Yes, yes, you won. Would you like a cookie?" I teased her.

"Yes! And you're paying!" Dylan exclaimed before grabbing Christian and Will and leading the way toward the food court.

I turned to Amie. "Come on sunshine, how does some food sound?"

"Oh thank God." She muttered before clearing her throat and saying a little louder, "Yeah, food sounds good."