Chapter 15: The Game Center

The weekend could not have come fast enough. I was tired. Balancing school, friends, Chase, and, of course, my fake social media profile was getting to be a lot. I wished I could be one of those teenagers who stayed up all night, but I just was not. There was only so much time in a day, and I was not great at balancing. Friday afternoons were the best. This one in particular was because it was officially Halloween break. For some reason, this school got a few days off to relax and have fun. I had never heard of it before, but I was not complaining. Most of the students at my school hung out in the city center around now, and so did Hannah and me. But she texted me saying she had to handle some affairs and asked us to hang out early. Chase and I decide to meet up at the city center. I sent a text to Emma yesterday asking for her to come. Emma brought a friend with her as well. I kept forgetting her name, but she seemed nice enough. "Well, this is… spooky," Chase said, stepping out of a black Jeep. Emma jumped up, and he gave her a piggyback ride into the city center. The town had spooky festivities every year around this time to bring some life back into the streets. "I can't wait to check out all the new Halloween costumes inside of the mall," her friend said, jumping with excitement. There were booths lined with festival games. They even set up string lights along with the trees, although it was still light out. "So Emma, I meant to ask you the other night, is violin the only instrument you play?" I asked, wanting to keep our connection strong. She shook her head. "Actually, I play trombone in the school band. I'm not really into it, but I'm good at it, so it will do for now." "Nerd." Chase fake coughed, and Emma slapped him. "At least I'll have my pick of colleges," she said. "You're too young to think about college." He rolled his eyes. "You're never too young to think about college, especially if you are considering law school." Emma shifted herself so she was standing upright. Chase knocked her off, and she tipped, catching her footing before she tumbled. "Oh heck yes! Games! I'm going to kick your ass," I said, punching Chase in the arm playfully and changing the subject. We went game to game. Sometimes I would win, and sometimes Chase would win. Emma and her friend tried to play, but they weren't competitive. I occasionally forgot they were with us. "You're not so bad, but I'm glad we didn't place bets. I would be out a lot of money." He laughed and set the squirt gun down. "Dang, now I wish we did bet on this. I wouldn't have to find a job!" It was my turn to wink at him. I only wished my actions gave him the same feeling as when he did it. Probably not, but a girl could dream. "Chase! Okay, how cool would it be if you won Aria and me a stuffed bear from that game?" Emma pointed at the game booth across from us. It was lined with stuffed animals of all kinds, such as bears, horses, and penguins. Some of them were cute but extremely large and in colors you would not typically find those animals in. I laughed. "Unless you think you can't handle this game," I challenged him. Chase scoffed, and Emma played into it. "Heh, that's true. Maybe Aria should try to win them for us instead." Emma's friend snickered at the comment and then started eye flirting with a boy standing a few feet away. "Oh, is that so? Are you going to play me like that?" he asked and shook his head in disbelief. "Stand back and watch the master!" He approached the game booth, and the attendant handed him five balls. The objective was for Chase to hit as many clowns as possible with the balls. For him to get points, he needed to knock them over completely. "I might need some help ladies." He held out two of the balls, and Emma gently tapped it like it was a puppy. Chase looked at her like she was crazy. He threw the ball and knocked over a clown. I walked up next to him and rubbed the top of the ball, making eye contact with him. It was coming off more sensual than I anticipated. He was locked in on my eyes, and I felt he was going to miss it completely. With locked eyes, he threw the ball and knocked over a bigger clown, giving us extra points. Emma and her friend started jumping and hollering out of excitement while Chase and I were locked on each other. The attendant cleared his throat. "Uh, dude, you have a few more to throw, and there's a line," the kid said. He looked familiar, maybe a junior. The next few balls he threw were hits. He only ended up missing one, but the points were high. He got enough points for Emma and me. Emma picked out a pink bear. "Which one do you fancy?" he asked in a fake English accent, causing me and a few of the girls behind us to laugh. "You pick for me." I smiled wide. This was so cheesy, but I was loving every second of it. He ended up picking a blue penguin. It was so big he had to carry it for me. Chase quickly knocked out a faster and small game, winning Emma's friend a tiny lion. "Thanks!" She beamed, and she and Emma ran off. "I guess Emma and Tiff didn't want to hang around us anymore," he said, lifting the penguin high above my head. That was her name. She was lovely and didn't even try to flirt with Chase. I liked her. "We should show them what they are missing," I said as I pulled him into a photo booth with the stuffed penguin. A few snaps later, we got pictures of us making funny faces. My favorite was the last photo in which I kissed the penguin, and Chase kissed my finger. "I love the way you think, Aria." The look of pure happiness radiating off of him was making me high. I never thought I could feel this giddy and excitable about a silly stuffed penguin and a cute boy. "So, I like your sister," I said. His eyebrow lifted. "Do I have to worry about you switching teams?" he joked. "No, no, I just mean. She's great, and I like that we are close in age. I feel we could get along." I shared with him. It made me feel good that he was comfortable sharing parts of his life with me. "You seem to. Just do me a favor." His tone got serious. "Yeah, what is it?" I asked, curiosity running through me. "If you are going to be her friend, be her friend. She's a good kid, and I don't want to see her get hurt if things between us don't end the way you want them to," he said softly. "I know you aren't looking for a girlfriend. I'm not concerned about it. Emma is great, and I am not looking to hurt her or you. Whatever happens between us is between us. I won't take that out on anyone, especially your sister." I went to grab his hand but stop. Maybe it was too much. "Hey! You two need to check out these costumes!" Emma shouted across the parking lot, forgetting we had our own in the car. We caught up with her. A few people were walking around in costumes, ranging from kids to grown adults. Some were funny or gross. There were even a few confusing ones. As we people watched others in their costumes, I looked at him and thought about how funny it was that I was here with him. "I saw you here once," I said. He looked at me. "What do you mean? Here at the mall?" he asked. I nodded. "I was here with Hannah. We passed by, and I saw you in the game center with some of your friends." "Yeah, we come here a lot when we're bored," he responded. "It's crazy to think that was just a few weeks ago." I started to reminisce in my head. "Hey, is that your friend Hannah?" he asked and pointed across the crowd. Hannah was talking to some guy dressed as a pineapple. We laughed. "She has interesting tastes, to say the least." I shook my head. I couldn't wait to make fun of her later. Emma and Tiff pulled out their bags for trick or treating later. "Don't you think you are too old for this?" Chase asked. "Don't judge. You know you're taking half of my candy anyway," she pointed out. "She's got you there, candyman," I joked.