Last Kiss

Chapter Five

Olivia Lane

Chapter Five

“CAMERON! MY MAN, ITS ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED UP!” One of the boys with spiked brown hair shouted as he came bounding over to us. “We’ve been waiting for you forever, but I see why you were taking your time,” he winked as he glanced at me. Cameron just shook his head and chuckled at his friend.

“So are you going to introduce me to the beautiful girl…or nah?” He asked and I giggled while Cameron rolled his eyes again.

“Nash, this is Liv. Liv, this is Nash.” Cameron sighed and we shook hands before heading over to where the group was standing.

“Hey Liv!” Shawn spoke up, shooting me a big grin.

“Hey Shawn," I smiled back as I scanned the other faces. As I reached his face my eyes lingered for a second, savoring the beautiful face I had missed for so many months. He looked exactly like the same Jack I had loved, but his eyes looked different, emptier. They were dark and unmoving, locked upon an object in the distance. After a prolonged moment, I flicked my eyes from his face to the adjacent face belonging to the other Jack. He wore a friendly smile and his pacific blue eyes were comforting.

"Long time, no see, huh?" I giggled at him as his smile grew.

"Yeah, when I said we should hangout soon, I didn't mean this soon. I can only take so much of you in one week." Jack joked and I contorted my face into one of mock-hurt.

"Ouch, I'm wounded." I gasped as I clutched at my heart. "I thought we were best friends."

"Yeah about that..." he scratched his head, sucking his breath in. I pushed my lip out and looked up at him with my eyes wide. His serious face cracked into a smile as he gave my shoulder a shove. "I'm just messing with you, I love you Liv. Now let’s play some laser tag."

Cameron introduced me to the rest of the boys and they all sent me welcoming smiles, except for him. He kept staring into the distance as if he was refusing to acknowledge my existence. I wanted so desperately to talk to him, but he wouldn't even lay eyes on me. The head of laser tag center came over and informed us that the arena was ready, so we all got the equipment and divided ourselves into teams of five, preparing for an intense battle. Nash, Shawn, Cameron, Matthew, and I were huddled together, strategizing for the upcoming war. We were determined to win at all costs and we were creating formations for attacking. We broke from our huddle and set up in our designated positions, awaiting the game to start. A buzzer sounded, signaling the match had begun and Matthew sprinted out into the center of the field, attempting to lure the other boys from their hiding spaces. Immediately Cam grabbed my waist and hoisted me onto his shoulders, from where I could peek over the top of the wall and pick off the opposing team as they scattered and charged at Matt. Shawn and Nash were both planted behind walls, sprawled out in their stomachs as they also sniped at our enemies. Matthew was hit by lasers and he dramatically fell to the floor, enacting his death, but each of us hit our targets and the buzzer went of signaling our victory. Matthew jumped off the floor and we all ran into the center to congratulate each other. We cheered loudly and gave each other high-fives as the other team sulked and prepared for round two.

Our laser tag war went on for another hour as both teams battled for the overall victory. Everyone was yelling excitedly and beaming, except for him. I tried my best to ignore him and enjoy this time with Cameron and all his friends, but my eyes kept wandering to him. Regardless of how hard I tried not to, I still saw every move he made from the corner of my eye and I saw the grimace on his face when Cameron's hands slid around my waist. I saw the way he avoided looking at me and I saw the frown that never left his face that night. I wanted the frown to go away and I wanted my smiling Jack to return, but he wasn't my Jack anymore. He looked like my Jack, but he acted nothing like him. My Jack was the life of the party, but this Jack hung back on the edge of the group. My Jack was always showing off his beautiful smile, this Jack looked lifeless, like he wasn't even here at all. This shell of a person is all that's left of my Jack. My Jack doesn't exist anymore.