Capítulo 79: Chapter seventy-seven
It takes Ben and Emily a solid ten minutes to locate the laser-tag arena again, because they seemingly managed to just wander into it the afternoon before (my money's on the idea that they went out for drinks beforehand). Emily was reckless before, but she's even more so around Ben, and it's good to see her come out and be even more crazy, but there'll come a time when lilli's eyes will witness too much cray cray and she'll say something about it.
The room we walk into has darkly-coloured walls but is filled floor to ceiling with an assortment of arcade games, painting little rainbows all over the room, and I roll my eyes when Lilli whips out her phone to snap a photo. It seems we came at the wrong time, because kids are everywhere. Five boys are screaming at a single arcade game, and we have to walk slowly to make sure we don't trample on small feet.
Charlie pokes my arm. "You've never been here before, even though you've been on, like, a million cruises?" he questions.
I shrug. "For all I knew, laser tag didn't exist on cruise ships."
"Huh," he replies.
Lilli shuffles over in the dark and bumps herself into Charlie. "Are we gonna race, or what?" she beams enthusiastically.
"It's not a race. It's just… competing. And we don't even know if we're gonna be on opposing teams."
"Backing down already?" Lilli teases, slipping away in the dark.
"Never!" Charlie calls after her.
We reach the end of the arcade room, where there's a counter and a bored-looking man, not much older than us, on his phone, and occasionally glancing up at the televisions live-broadcasting the laser tag round going on just behind the black door. It takes him an entire minute to notice that we're there, and even then, Ben had to cough twice to actually alert him to our presence.
"So, you're here for a laser tag game, are you?" he asks plainly. "Well, you're gonna have to wait until another…" he counts our number in his head. "... six people come to play a proper round."
"And how long is that gonna take?" I ask.
"It could take five minutes." He checks his nails and pauses as if he has all the time in the world. "Or it could take a few hours."
We all groan in unison, and after ten minutes of just waiting, Harry and I offer to stay back while the others go ahead and play on the arcade machines. I keep my hands planted firmly in my lap, worried about what could go wrong next, feeling uneasy. It's frustrating how much Harry makes me think and rethink things.
A few minutes later, a pair of young boys show up, asking if they are allowed to play a laser tag game, and the bored guy gives them the same reply as us like he's some tacky pre-recorded radio station. This pair take their seats beside us, glancing minutely past us and at the entry door of the arcade room.
I'm staring at the ground, then at my feet, then glancing over to where the others are having fun, then back to the bored man nearby. I peer at Harry, who just happens to be looking my way, and I smile but quickly flick my head away. I train my eyes on the ceiling. Out of the blue, Harry's warm hand wraps around mine. He caresses my fingers, admires the ring.
"Uh – Thanks again for the ring, Harry," I say awkwardly.
He shakes his head. "It's the least I could do."
The next moment, I hear a soft murmur, and a soft squeeze on my knee. Looking down, there's little Seb again, beaming adorably at me.
"Seb! Hi!" I glance at the kids rushing out of the now open door. "Did you just play a game of laser tag with your friends?" I ask him.
"No," he says, hopping up onto the seat, between Harry and I, who raises an eyebrow at me as if to say, 'Really? Right between us, kid?' "I don't know them, but the kid's club grown-ups said that they were going to take us to laser tag last night, so my parents said I should come. I didn't want to, but I liked it," he informs me seriously.
"Yeah?" I'm both shocked and thrilled by how many words he just said aloud.
"Yeah," he replies.
"Aw, Seb," I whine. "If you had come a little later, Harry and I would've been able to play with you on a team!" I tell him, actually regretting getting seconds at breakfast and coming here earlier to play with little Seb.
His eyes lighten up. "Can I stay and play with you?"
"Sebastian!"
A "kid's club grown-up" comes over and whisks Seb away, apologising sharply to us. Seb turns back to us and waves sadly, and I shout, "Bye, Seb! See you again soon, okay?"
I hear him yell something in response, but his words are muffled by a new commotion. Coming towards Harry and I are our saviours. Well, a random group of four teenagers looking ready for battle.
Emily somehow makes immediate friends with the three girls and a boy who had rocked up a minute earlier, all of which are wearing what seems to be anime merchandise, and demands to be on a team with them. Charlie insists on both versing Lilli and having what he calls "the boys" on his team, but as I'm crossing to join him, Ben and Harry, Charlie shakes his head and nods towards Lilli, who's standing beside the two young boys from before.
Presentes
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recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
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