Is now the right time to make a run for it because maybe Aiden is secretly a psycho killer and I'm his next victim?
"Uh... where are we going?" I ask.
Aiden takes a moment to answer, "The arcade."
"But I thought-"
"Do you really want to go to my house with Naomi inside?" He asks, raising his eyebrow.
"I really don't think your sister would mind us." I say. "I mean, we won't disturb her, right?"
"Uh... we probably will." He replies, and I swear I see his ears go red.
"What do you even- you know what? Never mind. Let's go."
Arcades were never my thing.
To be honest, I've only ever been here a couple times; Lyn kept pestering me to check it out. It was good, I'll admit it. I even won a cute narwhal keychain (that I still have.) There's no reason for me to go there again, though.
Its not like I have a shit ton of friends to play with anyway.
But today, as I see it, it might be the brightest, most beautiful place ever.
It's literally glowing, like a beacon in the midwinter night.
But its not the type of brightness that blinds you with its intensity. Its the type of brightness that is simple yet pretty and easy on the eyes. Purples, blues, and reds clash but still look like they belong together. The atmosphere is lively with the sounds of games and the lights of the machines, as well as the people chattering about.
Dang it.
Now I wish I was on a date with someone other than Aiden.
Because somehow, he seems to suck the joy out of everything.
As beautiful as the place is, I have zero hopes for this date.
We enter the arcade, and Aiden pays the entry fees (even though I told him I'd pay it. He's stubborn, that guy.)
"So, what do you want to play first?" Aiden asks, glancing at me. I look around at the various kinds of games; there are so many to choose from. From vintage and retro to modern and contemporary, all of them pique my interest.
I point to the skeeball game nearby.
"Pretty basic but alright." He smirks.
"Seriously? Let's see you try it then."
We start our game, and the competitive banter begins. I throw my first ball, and my aim is true; it sails straight into the high-scoring racks.
"I'm telling you, I'm a natural at this," I brag, a victorious smile on my face.
Aiden narrows his eyes and says, "Yeah, a natural at losing." He throws his skeeball, but it ends up landing a couple points lower than mine.
I raise my eyebrow. "You were saying?"
And so, we focus on getting high scores, trying to outdo each other.
We play a few more games; whack-a-mole, air hockey, and this weird racing game I'd never seen before. It had prairie dogs on blimps, and we had to race against time to save some meerkats from imminent death. Aiden won that round. I guess his love for meerkats was too much or something.
And of course, who would leave the arcade without playing Dance Dance Revolution? No one, that is. I'm surprised Aiden knows how to dance, even remotely. Its safe to say I won that game. Dancing lessons with Lyn really helped.
And now for the main part, the whole reason I came up with this 'actual' date idea: we clicked photos and posted some on my socials. Let's hope everyone sees them—especially Brandon—so that all this doesn't go in vain. But now I'm thinking... it wouldn't go in vain.
At least, not everything.
Because as much as I hate to admit it, I actually enjoyed our 'date'. The old me would have never imagined going out with Aiden (willingly), much less pretending to do so. I even forgot Brandon existed for a while.
But now I remember. I remember that he is the reason I'm here in the first place.
"Can we like, eat something now?" Aiden asks, as we're leaving the facility. And just as he says this, the adrenaline within me from earlier dies down, replaced by hunger. We ate some donuts that the arcade provided (for free!) but that seems like years ago now.
"Alright. But we're splitting the bill." Because even if I had said it was, this is not an actual date, and we're doing this for... science. And for proof.
So this is just a forced meetup that I happened to enjoy a little too much.
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