The Hitting Zone

"What time do I need to pick you guys up?" Dave asked as he drove us to Alisha's on Friday night. Alisha had given us the green light to come over Friday night with Kaylee. Mom and Dad weren't onboard with us being at a girl's house unsupervised, but Alisha's parents called them and explained they would actually be around, holding their own date night in their backyard.

"Don't know. Just have your phone on." Noah answered Dave.

"That's not very helpful." Dave rolled his eyes.

"Sometime between not too early and not too late." Noah elaborated. Kind of.

Dave could only give a small shake of his head. He pulled into the driveway and let us out. "Later losers."

Noah and I waved as he drove away. Then we walked up the driveway to the front door.

"I always forget how rich Alisha's family is." Noah said under his breath. "Like we have money, but she has moneyyyyyy."

"She's also an only child." I pointed out. Less money to be spent.

Noah nodded and rang the doorbell.

The door opened within seconds revealing Alisha and Kaylee.

"Hey! We just ordered pizza, come in!" Alisha grinned.

Noah reached for his wallet in his back pocket. "Oh, I didn't even think of food. Want us to pitch in?"

"Nah. My dad paid and he wouldn't want your money." Alisha pulled Noah's arm so he would go into the house. She reached for me, but I hurried on by. "Sorry, Jake. I won't grab."

I gave a small smile. "Force of habit."

"Kaylee and I already started setting up the media room downstairs." Alisha told us. "Blankets and pillows. Snacks and drinks. And a few board games."

"Media room?" Noah laughed. "Sounds fancy." He glanced around. "Should we say 'hi' to your parents first?"

Alisha turned a little red. "No. They're swimming in the backyard. Trust me, it's better for us to wait for them to make an appearance."

Noah laughed even harder. Kaylee also giggled. I mimicked Alisha and felt my face heat up. I guess her parents are super close.

Alisha took us downstairs and showed off her media room. Basically just a living room in a basement: couches, big tv, movies on shelves. A few game consoles pushed in the corner. Then a stack of games.

"I say we teach Jake the easy stuff as we wait for the pizza to come." Noah sat down on the carpet and started to go through the boxes. "Come here, Jake. Tell me what ones you don't know."

I didn't know much...Connect four and Jenga.

Kaylee sat down too and pulled out one of the longer boxes. "Start with Life. It's fun and interesting."

"Not really easy though because it has so many rules." Noah rubbed his chin, thinking. "We could do monopoly first and that'll prep him for it."

Kaylee hesitated. "But monopoly takes forever."

"First one to go broke, loses and it'll end the game." Noah suggested. "The rest of the placements can be decided by the value of cash and properties."

"All assets mortgaged to find out total value of each player." Kaylee nodded. "Okay. It can be done. And it'll be easier to eat while playing."

With the rules decided, the two started to prep. Clearing space on the ground and placing down the board and game pieces.

"Pick your player." Noah held out a handful of silver pieces towards me and Alisha.

Alisha picked the dog piece.

I raised an eyebrow. "Does it matter?" Because all these pieces look strange. A hat, a thimble, a car, a shoe, a wheelbarrow... "What does these mean?"

"It's not that deep, Jake." Kaylee said while setting up the fake money. "It's just who you are on the board."

I picked the hat. Noah and Kaylee picked theirs next. Kaylee took charge of the bank while Noah was in charge of the properties. They gave me a quick rundown of the game and it sounded simple enough. Roll dice, move your piece, try to buy properties, avoid rent, and save money.

It was an easy start. We were still in the early phase of trying to buy up all the properties when the food arrived. Alisha and Noah volunteered to get up and go get it, along with some plates.

"You getting it so far?" Kaylee asked me. She sat on my right, while Noah had the spot on my left.

I nodded.

"After the properties are all bought up, we can start trading." She glanced at the stairs. "Never take the first deal. Whoever takes the initiative is usually the guy who wants it all. I know you like Noah and all, but play a little fair for me and Alisha."

I nodded obediently. I was having fun. It wouldn't be fair if I just let Noah run off with all the properties.

Alisha and Noah came back. We took a short break to get food separated, then resumed as we ate. Turns out...Kaylee should have warned Alisha. I was new to the game but from the sighs and groans that came out of Kaylee every time Noah and Alisha made a trade, I could tell it was lopsided.

"Kaylee, can I-" Alisha was about to make a trade offer.

"Absolutely not." Kaylee cut her off. "I'm blacklisting you and Noah. I'll only trade with Jake now." She looked at me. "I suggest you blacklist them too. Let's team up and make one of them the losers."

"Sounds like you're the sore loser already." Noah laughed.

"You're practically stealing her properties." Kaylee complained.

"It's just at a discount for me." Noah smiled.

The two went back and forth continuously while Alisha and I played the role of spectator. That was, until Kaylee dragged me in.

"Give me your yellow and green properties, Jake." She instructed. "I'll give you my red and purple."

I complied.

"Hey! That's not a fair trade at all." Noah gave me a look. "Jake, why would you do that?"

"Because...she said so?" I looked at the properties I was given. "And she gave me the ones I needed."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Uh, no one's, right?" I looked around. "I'm just trying not to be the first loser."

"Good answer." Kaylee grinned and complimented me. "Though aiming for first isn't too hard either. It's all about the luck of the roll." Kaylee picked up her dice and rolled them for her turn. She safely landed on her newly acquired property.

As the game went on, it was apparent that Alisha was at a disadvantage. She quickly had to mortgage her properties to start paying rent on other's properties. Then finally she ran out. Ultimate loser.

I was in a better position. My properties weren't worth as much as Kaylee's and Noah's but I was safe. Kaylee beat out Noah just by a couple hundred dollars. She started gloating immediately. Noah rolled his eyes.

The two of them went back and forth as they cleaned up and packed the board game up. Then the pair pulled out the Life game and started to set up. Noah wanted to up the stakes between the two of them, but Kaylee vetoed the idea because we were all individual players again.

"Not everything has to have a consequence or reward." Kaylee said. "What if Alisha or Jake become the first loser again? Their loss doesn't matter but if I lose to you, I have to face a punishment? No thanks."