I've always loved a good game of paintball, I mean, I really do, but this story isn't just about me, it is about other people as well. Let me start from the beginning. It was a very warm day and the sun was shining. The last thing that I wanted to do was to kit up in heavy paintball gear but me and my friends had already hired all of the equipment so it seemed a shame not to take advantage of that. We normally play outside in the woods where we have a cabin; my friend's grandfather owns the land there so it is a really great place for us to play, not to mention that the cabin also provides great coverage for when things get a little hectic. Another thing that you should know about me and my friends is that we always split up the team, and guess what, it is boys VS girls.
Now here comes the complicated part, my girlfriend, who I've only been with a couple of months is now on the opposing team and we have never played paintball together either. The other members of the group are pretty experienced and they will stop at nothing to win, and the girls can be pretty determined as well! So it was a fact that some of us would come home with some hefty bruises. My girlfriend of course wasn't bothered about this and she couldn't wait to get involved, so it was really exciting to see everyone so competitive.
Anyway, let's move on. We were all geared up and we all had our bullets. The girls had the red paint balls and the boys had the blue. We all had plenty of armor on as well, but it can be difficult to tell your teammates apart from the enemy when everyone is wearing black. For this reason, we decided to wear armbands so there would be no friendly fire involved. I helped my girlfriend to put on her armband and I gave her a kiss and a smile before we lifted on our helmets. After a quick high five from the rest of the members, we set off in our different directions and we waited for the sound of the siren. My friend's granddad normally sounded it off because he would normally sit and watch from the tower balcony just outside the cabin. Of course he always had a glass of whiskey in his hand and a baseball cap; he just wouldn't be the same without it.
The game started and we all got into our positions, after some stealthy movements I got one of the girls in my sights. I could tell which one was my girlfriend because her blonde hair was sticking out the side of her helmet, of course, I didn't tell her that though...
After a few quick shots, she fell to the ground. In our game, when someone gets shot, they sit out until the second round and it is normally the best out of three. I looked to the left of me, only to see my friend get shot to the ground with bright red bullets...by my girlfriend. To say she has never played before, she did well with that shot and I knew that I had to congratulate her on that when the round was over. After a few more of my teammates fell to the floor, I noticed that I was the only one left. They went to the tower to watch the rest of the match from an aerial view and I carried on playing. After a while, I found that I couldn't see anyone else on the field, but the siren hadn't sounded to say that the round was over so I went inside the cabin to take cover.
I heard some branches snap and I knew that someone was creeping outside. I jumped out with my paintball gun and I leaped through the window. The gymnastics in that moment alone would be enough to get me into the Olympics, but let's not talk about that for now, let's move onto the next moment in my story.
I noticed that the only person left for me to take out was my girlfriend, and I just didn't feel as though I could do it. I mean, paintballs leave bruises and I didn't want to hurt her so I lowered my gun and laughed to myself at how awesome I must have looked leaping over that window ledge. Before I knew it, red paintballs came flying at me and I fell to the floor. It took me a couple of minutes to come round, but then I noticed that she had been shooting them at my face! This girl was out for blood and she didn't care who knew it!
That was when I decided that in the second round, I would show no mercy. I decided to climb up into a tree and I perched there for the entire round. Of course, the last person left was my girlfriend, but little did she know that I was waiting for her. I jumped out of the tree, swung on the branch and landed on the floor. Leaves spun up into the air and I had her at point blank range. I couldn't be more proud of that moment if I tried and she knew that I had the upper hand in this scenario! I gave her one quick shot to the body where most of the armor was and held her hand as we walked over to the tower, I'm still with that girl to this day, and I'll never forget the time when she stole my heart in the paintball field. That was my life's best moment.