Life as a high school graduate was peaceful. We had all the time we could ever want to do anything.
With that time we ended up creating a very intense Mario Kart tournament that lasted multiple days.
The entire event was hosted at our house. We created rules that official games could only be played between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm. This was to ensure that everyone who needed sleep actually slept. It was the only rule Esme had enforced throughout the tournament. Of course, there was an argument made that no games should be played outside of those times, but Emmet somehow convinced everyone that he would die of boredom if he couldn't play Mario Kart throughout the night.
For days, we played an intense bracket-style competition with everyone we knew. There was a giant whiteboard that Noah had bought that was temporarily mounted onto the wall. That's where the bracket was laid out for all to see. When I say everyone was playing, I mean everyone was playing, pack and Cullens all together, but without Jacob and Bella.
Once everyone gathered in the living room for the first day of the competition, I stood in the front of the room to read the official rules. "Okay. We have decided that one full game will entail four races, and for each round, a different amount of people would get out. The exact rules for eliminations will be explained before each round. Within the game, you can sabotage however you want, but everyone who is not actively playing can not interfere, or they will be eliminated immediately. There is no actual prize, just bragging rights that you are the best at Mario Kart. Per Esme's requests, there are two additional rules. Games will only be played from 9 am to 9 pm, and there will be a lunch break and a dinner break where everyone has to stop playing, whether you eat or not."
"I will also have snacks that you can eat when you are not playing," Esme added happily. For her, this had become the opportunity of a lifetime to make random food for us to eat.
"Can we start now?" Emmet asked me, ready to go.
"Yes," I told him before looking over at the whiteboard. "First up is Sam, Rachel, Bree, and Esme."
Those four took the remotes, set up their karts, and started the race. Nothing exceptional happened, and Esme lost all four races, making her the first person out of the tournament. Of course, she didn't mind; she was happy to make snacks for everyone else.
Our first full round of races took all day. This was because in between every race, there was a break where everyone ate and talked. The rest of that day went smoothly.
Carlisle, Noah, Paul, and Seth played together, only for Paul to lose overall. Then Leah, Claire, Alice, and Rosalie played, and Claire understandably lost. Seeing as she was a lot younger than all of us, we figured she would get out first, but she was adamant that she wanted to play.
We had a big lunch break at this point before Emily, Quill, Emmet, and Edward played. Going into the last race, Emily and Quill were tied, but Emily ended up winning, so Quill was officially out of the tournament. He was happy because he could just hang out with Claire. The last race was between Embry, Kim, Jasper, and me. Kim lost all four races and was out as well.
After an entire day of competing, Esme, Paul, Claire, Quill, and Kim were out.
Then we all ate dinner together where Paul was furious that he was already out of the tournament. "Why was Esme the only Cullen that got out today? I feel like it's rigged."
"Paul, you literally helped me create the brackets yesterday," I told him.
"Doesn't mean it isn't rigged," he mumbled.
The next day we had our second round of competition with five more races.
Sam, Rachel, and Leah played in the first round, which was probably an oversight on all of our parts. Immediately Leah started arguing with Sam, which created a tense house for the rest of the morning. Rachel ended up losing anyway since she wasn't that good at the game.
The next game was also super tense. Carlisle, Noah, and Emmet were playing against each other. The three of them were very aggressive, and Carlisle pushed Noah over at one point, but Carlisle still lost. Noah and Emmet had played way too many video games to lose to Carlisle.
We decided to stop there and have lunch to ease the house's tension. I have a feeling the food half solved the problem, and Jasper half fixed everyone's moods.
The next race was between Edward, Bree, and Jasper. The two lovebirds worked together to ensure Jasper lost, and they succeeded. Jasper did throw the remote as he lost and sulked over in the corner for 10 minutes while Seth told him he was a good player and that Edward should be disqualified for a random reason.
Then Embry, Rosalie, and Emily played a round. Emmet kept distracting Rosalie by trying to give her good advice, but she lost because of it.
Our last race of the day was between me, Alice, and Seth. Now that Jasper was out, he sat beside me and quietly cheered me on while smack-talking Alice. In the last race, Alice had a vision making her lose the whole round. As soon as she came out of it, she and Edward looked over at Jasper in excitement, letting me know he decided something to distract her. She wasn't even mad at him, but he wouldn't tell me what he decided to make her have a vision.
With round two over, Rachel, Carlisle, Jasper, Rosalie, and Alice got out of the tournament.
As we were eating dinner, I decided to make fun of Paul. "Why was Rachel the only Quileute that got out today? I feel like it's rigged," I told him.
"Ha. Ha. Laugh it up," he told me. "Wait till you get out. You won't be laughing then."
The next day we actually decided not to have the tournament to give everyone time to relax and to give the Cullens a chance to go on a real hunt. We all agreed that waiting a day was in everyone's best interest.
The day after, we had our third round of competition. It was another five races of only two racers. To make it more entertaining, we let those who got out play as another two competitors for fun. This introduced a lot of aggressive playing, but it made it more interesting for the spectators.
First, Sam and Noah played. Emmet played for fun and ruined Noah's entire game with a red shell attack making Sam the winner.
Then Emily and Bree played. Alice and Rosalie also played, but Bree ended up winning.
Leah and I played against each other, and Carlisle and Sam played with us. Both guys were trying to ruin both of our games, but I ended up winning since I had so much experience playing with Emmet.
Then we had a lunch break where Emily and Esme worked together to make everyone sandwiches. It was Leah's favorite type of sandwich, which helped ease her pain.
Then Seth and Edward played against each other. Theirs was the closest game we had by far. Jasper and Paul had decided to play, making it even more chaotic. It came down to the last race where, much to everyone's surprise, Seth pushed Edward off the couch, letting him win. As the rankings came up, everyone was surprised to see Seth had won. Edward sulked in the corner for a minute and Bree made fun of him.
Emmet and Embry were the last race of the night. Edward had gotten over his pity party to yell around Embry in an attempt to distract him. He wasn't allowed to yell at him because Esme had added that rule on day two of the tournament. Emmet ended up winning by a lot, so it didn't really matter.
Day 3 of the competition was over, and Noah, Emily, Leah, Edward, and Embry were out.
Going into the last day of the competition, this left only Bree, Seth, Emmet, Sam, and me. We had two rounds of competition that would happen on our final day as we crowned a winner.
First, I played against Bree and Seth with no fourth player. Bree fell behind as Seth and I teamed up against her for some reason, making her lose and get out in the second to last round. Then Emmet and Sam played, and Sam lost.
We took our last break for lunch as everyone made bets for who they thought would win between Seth, Emmet, and me.
Once our race started, we all played like our lives were on the line. Our final race was heated.
"Emmet, don't you dare hit me with that shell!" I yelled.
"I will do whatever I need to win!" he yelled back, not backing down.
I shoved him slightly, trying to make him upset, but he shoved me off the couch in response. As I landed on the ground, I completely turned to face him. "Emmet!"
He looked down at me with a shocked expression. "I didn't think you would fall off the couch."
"I win!"
Emmet and I's argument was ended as we both looked at the screen to see Seth had secured first place. Our characters crossed over the finish line, but Seth had won for sure.
The entire pack was celebrating as Emmet started sulking. I decided to use it against him. As I started laughing, I said, "You lost!"
After 5 days, Seth had beaten all of us at Mario Kart.