"And... it seems that girlfriend number three and six are tied!" And the crowd roared.
I opened my eyes, squinting in the light. My heart was accelerating. I was more than glad that there was only one more mini-game left. The rest of the couples left the stage and I realized that the final mini-game was the tie-breaker. Crap, even more pressure, and that was the last thing I needed.
"Congratulations!" Ivan cheered on as I got off the inflatable playground and took off my giant snow suit.
Bambi approached her boyfriend, Tyler grasping her in a tight hug. They leaned in forward for a small smooch and continued snuggling. Wow, what love could do to people.
"Okay, for the final mini-game, we will have the boys compete now. Wrestling is what it is!" the announcer pointed in the direction of where the first mini-game was, now set up in a rather small wrestling ring. To the right stood staff members holding armour and those big foam sticks. Red and blue. Ivan stood up and took the blue one while the grumbling Tyler attached himself to the red. I could feel tension rising as they both stepped into the ring. This whole time, I've only been scared of what would happen instead of placing my eye on the prize. I retraced my eyes to the banner. San Francisco, here we come? I tried acting enthusiatic but obvious I was meek-- even to to myself. Ivan winked at me when he caught my eye.
And then... the whistle blew!
It happened all before our eyes. A giant demon versus the sports captain of the school.
It was incredible. I've never watched sports before but I could tell from the audience that the excitement was stirring also.
Ivan leaned in and stabbed his giant Q-Tip into the guy's nuts. I laughed loudly, though I knew I couldn't be heard since the crowd was doing the same.
Tyler got pretty ticked, I could tell, and he went full-on, ramming his stick in with an unnecessary warrior cry. Ivan dodged unsuccessfully while the stick pounded on his left hip, making him fall to the ground.
I could feel the sweat forming on my forehead. I was nearly to the point of biting my nails.
"Ring, ring!" My cell phone was buzzing my leg. I flipped it open and read the caller ID: Mom.
I couldn't hear her because the crowd was cheering from Tyler's second victorious hit. I ran off the stage to a bench seat a couple of metres from the event. It felt like I was ditching Ivan but I hoped he could feel my telepathic waves of support from here. I answered the call after the third ring.
"Hello?" I pressed the phone closer to my ear.
"Oh my gosh! Where are you? You need to come home early for dinner so you don't miss your brother's hockey game!" I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly.
"Mom, I'm busy right now. Can't I miss this one game?" Now it was my mom's turn to sigh.
"Amanda." My mom rarely used my full name. When she did, it meant she was being serious.
"But mom--"
"No buts, Amanda, come home immediately. Your brother's more important than whatever you're doing after school."
"But--" "Mand--" "IVAN!" I nearly screeched.
"What?" My mom immediately responded.
"Ivan needs me mom."
----
Amazing how everything changes when I mention Ivan to my mom. She went on for another minute about how this game wasn't that important anyways but urged me to be home before seven. It was five right now so we had plenty of time. I ran back up to the stage finding Ivan and Tyler covered in sweat, but that Tyler was on the ground looking grim and with Ivan on top (sounds wrong, but no, not what you think) with his Q-Tip stabbing him in the stomach.
It looked like Ivan won. The announcer confirmed that.
"Couple three wins a trip to San Francisco!" And the crowd went beserk.
"We won?" I gasped. I glanced over to Bambi where she was narrowing her eyes at me, with hands crossed. Tyler took off his armour and cantered off to his girlfriend. They both left the stage before Ivan returned to me.
"We won!" Ivan clasped me in a warm teddy bear hug.
"Ew, you're wet," I grimaced. Ivan laughed, a good-hearted laugh. The Ivan Laugh, I decided to name.

[Alarmingly short chapter compared to the last two, but sometimes short is good too. :]}