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CHAPTER1

Rachelle

What was I thinking?

I stare at the poster on the wall of the paintball center lobby. It features a weekend warrior dressed in what looks like full paintball gear says, “Motivation is simple. Eliminate those who are not motivated.”

That’s my cue to leave.

“Where are you going?” Kenzie, one of my housemates, asks. She’s had a smile on her face since we left the house this morning.

“I’m just going to run around the block to Dunkin’ and get a coffee, maybe a few dozen donuts. You know, do my part for the cause.”

“Rachelle, we came here for you.”

This is true. Paintballing is an activity that I thought was fun in theory, back when Kenzie mentioned it six months ago. After my sister’s almost wedding, I invited a few people to move into my house so I wouldn’t be so lonely. We swapped relationship stories one night and started the Breakup Bucket List to help me get over my ex-fiancé. Kenzie, Tiffany, Evie, and Millie all contributed ideas for the list.

Sure, it’s been nearly a year since my ex-fiancé, the guy I’d been with for over six years and who was my safe space for everything, broke up with me. So while many people thought I should be back out looking for a new guy a month later, it’s taken me a lot longer to move on.

I turn to her. “Maybe we can just call it good. I mean, I walked into this place.” Which from the look of everyone else in the waiting room, I’m not the target audience, seeing as how some guy lets out a shout every couple minutes, I assume to psych himself up for the battlefield.

Kenzie shakes her head. “Not a chance.”

“How is this supposed to help me get over a breakup?” My voice is a touch whiny, but I’m hoping she’ll get sick of it and let me leave.

“Because it’s nice to go through and shoot things.”

“I’ve shot plenty of things in the past year. Some plates, pieces of wood.”

With a look of frustration, Kenzie pinches her nose and takes in a deep breath. “Shooting a nail gun into wood to create things is cool, Rachelle, but it doesn’t elicit the right kind of adrenaline. And shooting the set of plates you got for your wedding in the backyard doesn’t count. Work with me here. I’m trying to help you.”

She leans over and motions toward the jumpsuit the teenager behind the desk gave me.

Resigned to my fate, I decide to put it on. I struggle to get the suit up and over my butt. Maybe I should’ve asked for a size bigger.

“Is it supposed to be this tight?” I ask, finally getting the fabric up around my shoulders. I might not be able to breathe by the time this excursion is over, but I haven’t quit anything else on the Breakup Bucket List. I might as well not start now.

“Yes, but then you can run and dodge easier. This is going to be so much fun,” Kenzie says next to me, looking like she’s a kid waiting for an amusement park ride.

I give her a fake smile and pull my hair back. Do I tuck it under my helmet so I don’t get paint all over it? It’s not hair washing day and I’ll probably just pass out once we get back to the house.

“Are you ready for the cruise?” Kenzie asks. She’s been gone on a work trip and this is the first time we’ve caught up in a couple weeks.

She ties her hair into a simple braid and then tries on the helmet. I take my hair out again and copy her.

I nod, my smile genuine for the first time since we arrived here. “Almost. I need to do some laundry, but I’ve got my request in for the days off.”

“How didthatgo?” Kenzie bends over to tie the boots she’s brought. I’m hoping tennis shoes will do the trick for me.

I sit down to rest for a minute, feeling the sweat in my armpits after getting dressed. What will I look like by the end of this?

“I’m still waiting to hear back. But even if I don’t get the go ahead, I’m not coming in.”

“For sure. You put a ton of effort into that company and your boss doesn’t even appreciate you for it.”

That’s the truth. The guy is always trying to one-up me.

“Yeah, so do you. I can’t believe how much you do for your boss.”