Entertain Us

"Hands up".

Dillon and Kayla both turned around. They saw Malakai holding two plastic balls, one in his left palm and the other between his left arm. His stomach looked rounder as if he had a ball in his hoodie pocket. The most noticeable thing was the paintball gun he was pointing at them.

Kayla had a shocked look on her face, "How did he get there? I should've noticed him walk down the hall. How did he silently sneak here?" she thought.

Dillon's mouth gaped a little, "Fuck. How did I forget about him? She stalled for time. Tch. I should've just walked in. But I didn't wanna accidentally hurt her", he thought.

"I said, hands up", Malakai smirked, feeling the power.

Dillon's gaped mouth closed and turned into a smile. He realised what was happening and found it hilarious.

"Ha. What's up, Malakai?" Dillon asked, turning his body around and facing him. "You good?"

"I'm aryt. What you doing? Cuz I know for a fact you're not trying to get into my safe zone", Malakai replied, matching his smile, keeping his aim locked on Dillon.

"I was. I was going to take every ball you had", Dillon said. "But you're here now. Which is even better, because you can watch me do it".

Malakai raised an eyebrow. "Watch you do it? Brudda? You see what's in my hand?" he asked, confused, waving the paintball gun.

Dillon scoffed. "You think I'm scared of a paintball gun?" he replied hysterically.

Dillon turned around and took a step closer to the room, but Delilah was still blocking the door.

"Yo! Don't move".

Dillon turned his head and saw Malakai pointing the gun straight at him. Kayla and Delilah kept quiet and watched. They didn't want to intervene.

Dillon smirked.

"You don't scare me, midget", he said, not taking him seriously.

"I don't care if you're scared or not. If you don't wanna get shot. Leave", Malakai replied.

"Hahahaha", Dillon laughed. He turned to face him again to show how he wasn't intimated. "British boy got a gun and thinks he's the shit. Little boy upgraded from a knife and got a toy gun. He thinks he's a shooter-"

BANG!!

A shot whistled past Dillon's head. Delilah and Kayla flinched at the sound. Dillon didn't even have time to flinch. He was stuck thinking about his speech. He never experred it. Dillon turned around to look at where the shot landed. The bullet hit the wall behind him. Leaving a yellow paint splatter. Luckily, the bullet burst on impact and didn't ricochet.

"If you don't piss off. The next bullet will burst on your stomach", Malakai said with a straight face, staring straight at Dillon.

Delilah felt a chill down her spine. "Somethings different about him", she thought.

This was the first time she'd seen him like this. She'd seen Malakai serious before but never seen him like this. Delilah's camera caught what was happening, but seeing it and experiencing it were two different things. To the people in 1-C, it looked like Malakai was trying to intimidate Dillon, but Delilah felt something different. She didn't even know how, but she felt something. Felt a vibe. An aura. Something was different about Malakai.

Kayla felt the same thing, and she was closer. She couldn't move. She felt like Malakai was talking to her when he wasn't. She didn't want to move in case Malakai involved her as well.

Dillon felt like something was off about Malakai, too. However, he didn't take precautions. He thought Malakai had lost his cool, and this was the perfect chance to capitalise.

"Hahahaha", he laughed. "British boy shot his first shot. How did it feel? Scary right? Who would've thought there were things scarier than knives?" Dillon ridiculed him. "You should really work on your aim. Don't worry, It's fine. Guns are alien to you. How would you know how to use a gun-"

BANG!!

"AARGGHHH!!!"

Malakai pulled the trigger again. He shot his shot. A bullet burst straight onto Dillon's stomach. His stylish grey shirt got a new customisation. A yellow splatter at the centre. Right under the camera vest.

"ARGH!!! FUCK!"

Dillon dropped to the floor. His right hand let go of the ball he was holding while his left hand still tightly gripped onto the other ball he had. His right hand gripped his stomach. Right where the shot hit. The shot burned. Dillon wasn't prepared. He didn't tense or anything. Plus, his shirt wasn't the thickest, so the impact of the bullet wasn't softened at all. He never experred it.

Dillon put his head to the floor. The pain was lasting longer than he wanted. Dillon had been paintballing before, explaining why he wasn't scared of the paintball gun. But without any protective gear, it hurt worse than he had thought. The sting was making his body vibrate. His body was warming up. It felt like he was starting to sweat. Dillon wanted to stay still until the pain reduced, but his body was shaking.

Delilah watched with a hand covering her mouth in awe. She saw a six-foot male drop to the floor like a toddler struggling to stand. Kayla was visibly shaking. Seeing Dillon react the way he did terrified her. The only thought that came into her head was.

I don't want to get shot.

The ball Dillon dropped rolled towards Malakai. He chipped it with his foot towards Delilah. Delilah quickly reacted and caught it. Next, Malakai pointed the paintball gun towards Kayla.

"For wasting my time, I'm taking that ball. And I need something more", he said. "Throw those two balls into my safe zone", he ordered her.

Kayla was shaking more than before. The gun was being pointed at her. Her mind. Her heart. Her everything was losing it. She didn't do what Malakai said. Not because she didn't want to, but because she physically couldn't. Her body was terrified to move. Malakai misinterpreted this and saw this as her standing her ground.

"You think I won't shoot you?" Malakai coldly asked. He crazily smiled and placed a finger over the trigger.

"These bullets are bisexual. They'll hit anyone".

Delilah and Kayla both felt uneasy after he said that. Delilah almost didn't recognise him after seeing his expression.

David saw Malakai's face on Delilah's camera angle. He knew he had to step in. He didn't say anything the entire time when Malakai was pointing the gun at Dillon. The class was chattering, but nothing was said directly into the mic. Now, he was pointing the gun at a girl. David had to intervene.

"Don't shoot her", David told Malakai in his earpiece.

"Do you want points or not?" Malakai replied with no hesitation, keeping his eyes locked on Kayla.

After Kayla heard Malakai say that, her heartbeat ran faster. She slightly moved her head to look at Dillon. Even though he was on the floor, he looked like he was recovering.

"Imma give you ten seconds", Malakai said, still pointing the gun at Kayla.

Despite being terrified, Kayla didn't want to give away the plastic balls she had. She didn't want to get hurt, but she didn't want to lose points for her class. She didn't know what to do. What she wanted the most was to run away. However, that wasn't the right thing to do. She needed to take the bullet and hold onto the plastic balls for the class. That was the right choice.

Another thing she had to consider was whether Malakai was bluffing. Would he really shoot a girl? Surely not. Malakai wouldn't shoot a girl. He had to be bluffing. This is all an act to scare her.

"Kayla, give them the balls".

Kayla heard Sabrina's voice in her ear.

"DON'T!" Dillon shouted, lifting his head.

"Kayla, listen to me. Just throw the balls to Delilah", Sabrina told her clearly.

"Why are you scared!" Dillon said, getting up on his feet with a hand still on his stomach. "He won't shoot you".

He looked at Malakai and took a step towards him.

"Aye", Malakai switched his aim back at Dillon. "You don't wanna get shot again".

Dillon stopped instantly. A shock ran through his body as soon as the gun was pointed at him again. It's true. He didn't want to get shot again.

Malakai pointed the gun back at Kayla.

"Whoever that person is in your ear is a smart person. Listen to them", Malakai said, placing a finger over the trigger and giving that crazy smile.

Kayla was still. She had two people telling her different things, and time was ticking.

"Kayla, just listen to him. He's not bluffing. He will shoot you. Trust me".

After those words, Kayla promptly threw the balls at Delilah. She did as she was told. Dillon watched helplessly. He had no say. And if he did want to voice his opinion and stop them, he knew he had to take another bullet. The feeling was still lingering on his skin. The pain was gone, but that tingling feeling was still there. The pain was bearable, but Dillon didn't want to endure that again.

"Hehehe", Malakai giggled as he walked between them to get to his safe zone. "You lot should get back to your safe zone. The round ends in a bit".

Dillon looked at him with anger, while Kayla looked at him with fear.

Malakai was standing in the doorway of his safe zone. He turned around and pointed the gun at Kayla and,

PAP!

Kayla physically couldn't make a sound. Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out. Her body flinched. Her heart dropped.

"Hehehe. I'm joking. It's on safety", Malakai giggled, showing the safety button was on. "You think I'd actually shoot you?".

SMACK!

Delilah slapped the back of Malakai's head. Quite hard. Malakai's head bobbed forward and back. He turned his head to look at her.

"Don't joke like that! You had no reason to do that", Delilah said, sounding pissed. She saw how scared Kayla was the whole time and felt sorry for her. "If it was one of your friends, it MIGHT've been funny, but she's a stranger. You scared her for no reason". Delilah was telling him off in front of Kayla and Dillon.

Malakai got overexcited again. Not for the first time in a challenge. In the second challenge, he brake-checked a team and got told off by Luna. Now he was getting told off by Delilah for scaring the shit out of a girl. Malakai thought the slap was uncalled for. The slap hurt, too. He only got a telling-off for nearly killing or injuring five people in a car crash, but he got slapped and a telling-off for scaring a girl. Things didn't add up. Malakai thought it was bullshit. He didn't shoot her, so what was the big deal?

"Apologise!" Delilah told him.

"Aryt, my bad", Malakai apologised, shrugging his shoulders and not sounding sincere at all.

"Tch", Dillon walked away. He knew the apology didn't mean shit. Malakai wasn't even apologising to him, but he hated the apology anyway.

"idiot", Delilah mumbled, glaring at Malakai. "Kayla, I'm so sorry he did", she apologised.

Kayla didn't reply to the apology. She silently turned around and followed Dillon. She caught up to Dillon and walked behind him, with her heart still racing.

Dillon glanced at the ball he held tightly in his left hand.

"Why did you tell her to give him the balls? We just lost points", he frustratedly asked Sabrina.

"He was going to shoot her", Sabrina replied.

"No he wasn't!" Dillon said, believing he was bluffing.

"He was. Did you see the look in his eyes?" Sabrina asked. "If we waited any longer, Kayla would've got shot".

"He wouldn't shoot a girl. He's a crazy piece of shit, but he wouldn't go that far", Dillon replied. "He even said, 'You think I'd actually shoot you?'"

Sabrina sighed. "There's no point arguing about it. Either way, we were going to lose our balls. We could only stop if Kayla got shot or not", she said. "It was a bad idea going to their safe zone. I should've told Kayla to leave their safe zone alone. This is on me".

Dillon wasn't blaming Sabrina for what happened. He wanted to raid their safe zone. He thought it was a brilliant idea. It just went completely left. Maybe if it was another safe zone, they would've been fine. Maybe everything would've been fine if he had been quicker and just charged into the room before Malakai made it back. So many things could've happened, but it didn't. Dillon lost three plastic balls and got shot. Everything went wrong this round.

"Tch".

"Why did you do that!?"

Back at 1-C's safe zone, Delilah was still pissed at Malakai.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you see how scared she was!?" Delilah asked.

"It was a joke. I didn't actually shoot her", Malakai replied, raising his arms confused.

"It doesn't matter if you shot her or not! You saw how scared she was, and you still pretended to shoot her", Delilah said. "I thought you learned your lesson from pretending to shoot me".

"Learnt my lesson?" Malakai rhetorically asked. "We're in a challenge. What you want me to do?"

"I told you not to do that as a joke", Delilah replied, clarifying the word joke.

"So you wanted me to shoot her?" Malakai asked.

"NO!" Delilah replied, looking at him like an idiot.

"Bro, why are you pissed though? It's a paintball gun. It's not that scary", Malakai said, getting a little annoyed now.

"It is scary! You did it to me! I should know!" Delilah replied, irritated. "I'm annoyed because I feel sorry for her. You didn't have to do that. She isn't your friend. You can't laugh about it later!".

"Okay, guys, let's calm down", David told them, trying to stop the argument now.

"It's a challenge. I'm just tryna have fun", Malakai said, ignoring David.

"Fun? You scaring people is fun?" Delilah asked. "Malakai, this is why people don't like you. She thought you were going to hurt her, but you pranked her for your entertainment. That's such a dick move. You said getting shot hurts a lot".

"I didn't shoot her!" Malakai replied, making it clear.

"I know you didn't! But you scared her. She thought you shot her even after she did what you told her", Delilah said, pointing at him.

"Oh my days". Malakai kissed his teeth and turned around to go take a seat,

"Scared of a paintball gun. Heh. You Americans should be used to this shit. You got guns everywhere".

"Oi, Malakai. Calm down", David sharply told him.

"I am calm", Malakai replied, raising his voice a little. He grinned, plopped down in his seat and put the paintball gun on the table.

"Mally's pissed", Benjamin whispered to his friends.

"Yeah. He did deserve it", Lucas replied.

"True. He's not pissed because he's wrong, though. He's pissed because Delilah's pissed at him", Benjamin said, happy seeing his friend triggered a little. The whole friend group found it a little funny. Seeing your friend annoyed is an enjoyable experience (As long as it's over nothing serious).

"Do they usually argue?" Emily asked Ray, overhearing their conversation.

"No. This is the first time they've argued. Properly, anyway", Ray replied. "When they argue, it's always play arguments over stupid stuff".

"It's fun seeing him annoyed", William said, rubbing his hands, enjoying himself.

Emily looked at the screen and saw Malakai looking down, smiling and shaking his head from Delilah's camera angle. "He doesn't look annoyed", she said.

"Believe me, he is", William replied. "If he wasn't, he would be talking like nothing happened. He's silent because he doesn't want to talk to anyone".

"Him having that paintball gun is a nightmare for everyone else", Lucas said.

"Yeah, but he needs to calm down. He is too excited right now", Benjamin replied. "I thought when he joked around with Delilah, he would've calmed down, but it looks like he forgot about it when the round started".

"Can you blame him? Most boys would be excited with a paintball gun", Emily said, defending Malakai.

"I mean, yeah, but none of us would do the shit he just did", William replied. "That's crazy".

Emily had nothing to reply to that. In truth, she didn't care about what Malakai did. As long as he was getting points for the class, she didn't see a problem with his actions. She hadn't spoken to Malakai or had any interaction with him at all. Despite being in the same class, she didn't see the buzz about him being first. Like everyone else, she saw him as a lucky idiot. However, seeing how he dealt with Dillon fired her up and made her think.

Maybe this guy isn't a lucky idiot.

Her rank wasn't the best, but seeing how well their representatives were doing gave her hope. Most of the people in the class were looking at Malakai in a bad light after what he did, but Emily didn't care. She wanted points.

"This is the first time I've seen him like this", Maria thought. "It's really cute".

She kept her composure and bit her tongue to stop herself from smiling. She thought Malakai's actions were mean and wrong, but her opinion and feelings for him didn't sway. In her head, she was imagining fake scenarios of how she would've dealt with that situation and how she would've handled Malakai. Even though she found his annoyed mood cute, she wouldn't want to argue with him and be the one to make him annoyed. She would never want Malakai to be annoyed at her. That would be the worst.

"Okay, guys, forget what happened. The next round is going to start soon. I don't want you two to be annoyed at each other for the rest of the challenge", David told them. "Malakai, stop being an idiot. Both of you are doing good. There's no point in messing it up by playing jokes".

Malakai was still grinning. Still leaning back on his chair. Still thinking the telling-off was bullshit. Still annoyed, the class saw the argument. Still pissed the class is seeing him right now.

"Aryt. Whatever man".