Only Fools - Chapter 29: Chapter 29
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Margot: Hey
Me: Hey.
Me: (image attached)
Margot: Omg you're such a dork
Margot: Does anyone else know you're like this?
Me: Rude.
Margot: I'm sorry but what was that photo?
Me: It was me trying to wink at you. Because I'm cute like that.
Margot: You sure? Because that picture is for sure you mid blink.
Me: Ok. So I can't wink. You don't have to call me out. You were just supposed to play along and say I'm cute!!
Margot: (image attached)
Me: Wtf Margot?? That's so rude!!
Margot: I guess I'm just more talented. I don't know what to tell you.
Me: (image attached)
Margot: Omg you trying to wink is literally the peak of comedy.
Margot: You can't do wink wink
Margot: You can only do blink blink
Me: You're such a bully and you don't have to be.
Margot: (image attached)
Me: Fucking stop it!!
Margot: :)
Margot: I mean
Margot: ;)
Me: You don't have to be this mean.
Margot: Nah
Margot: But you're pretty cute when you're annoyed
Me: (image attached)
Margot: Ha you still can't wink
Me: Margot!!
Margot: As fun as this is I texted because I have updates about today
Me: ....
Margot: Arcade and laser tag
Margot: You in?
Me: Sure. As long as you're sure that your friends will be alright with it....
Margot: If they aren't then I'll make sure they will be
Margot: On my way
Me: Ok. :)
Margot: ;)
Me: Fuck off.
Margot: ;(
————
Margot: Here
"Bye, Alex," I shout, hoping that my brother can hear me from wherever he may be in the house, if he is in the house currently, that is. I never know with him.
And so with a smile on my face, I tug my shoes onto my feet and exit the house, shoving my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie as I run over to Margot's car, hoping to preserve some type of warmth. However, as I slide into the front seat, I'm suddenly hit with a patch of nervousness that wipes the smile off of my face.
"What's up?" Margot asks me, most likely noticing the slight shake to my hands. I wring them anxiously as I shake my head.
"Just a bit nervous to hang out with your friends. That's all," I tell her with a small laugh. She places her hands on top of mine, putting an end to the shaking.
"You're going to be fine. Besides, they get so wrapped up in their relationship most of the time that it'll probably just be like yesterday all over again. You and me," Margot says, her eyes on me while mine are on the floor.
I nod my head quickly in response and she accepts that as an invitation to go. And so we do.
The drive to Harrison's house is quiet outside of the rock music playing on the radio. Margot taps her fingers along to it at times, leaving a ghost of a smile on my face, but I'm mostly just left to my anxious thoughts over the situation.
Last time I saw Margot's friends was when I first met them. Harrison's words from that still ring in my mind: "Best friend stealer", and I can't help but think that hanging out with their group today might not help ease his mind of that thought, no matter how true or untrue it may be. So there's extra pressure to make sure Harrison actually likes me. He's Margot's friend and I want his approval. Worst case scenario, he doesn't like me and tells her so which causes her to stop wanting to be friends with me.
I glance over at Margot who's mouthing the words to some rock song I've never heard before and can't help but think that's a pretty bad worst case scenario because I've unfortunately enough become pretty attached to this girl.
As we come to a stop in front of Harrison's house, my heart is nearly in my throat. This is it. This is my chance.
I watch out the window as Harrison and Raider walk out the front door hand in hand, though Harrison is more so dragging Raider behind him than anything. Yet the casual smile on Raider's face signals that there's still no place he'd rather be.
"Hey, babes," Harrison says excitedly as he slides into the backseat. Raider stays quiet as he sits next to him, clearly not much of a talker. I turn around in my seat to look at the two and give them a smile, though it makes me slightly nervous to do so.
"Hi, Aspen. It's good to see you again," Harrison greets me, bringing an actual smile to my face and dismissing some of the worry from my chest as I can tell his greeting is genuine.
"It's- It's good to see you again too. And you too, Raider," I respond, earning a small smile from Raider as he nods his head. I then turn back around in my seat, satisfied with the interaction and genuinely excited for the day.
The rest of the car ride is composed of Harrison mostly ranting about someone that I don't think I've ever met, but it keeps Margot smiling and I frankly don't mind too much. I just watch out the car window and let my mind wander to whatever corners it wants to spend its time in at the moment.
However, eventually we arrive at the arcade and make our way in, Margot leading and Harrison and Raider staying together, trailing behind me.
Stepping into the arcade, I actually look at the girl in front of me. Her brown curls are pulled into a messy bun and a few curls are hanging out randomly around her face. She seems to have taken a similar route as me in her fashion choices, wearing a hoodie paired with sweatpants. Yet she still manages to look amazing despite seemingly hardly trying.
As I actually get a good look at the front of her sweatshirt, I nearly scoff.
"You're on me about giving you back the sweatshirt you gave me but you literally own another Rolling Stones sweatshirt?" I ask her with a small laugh.
"You aren't one to talk. You're wearing a cheer sweatshirt right now. So what's your reason for wanting yours back then?" she asks me, not even looking my way.
"Who says I want it back? Maybe I like the idea of you in my sweatshirt?" I say, catching her attention before sending a wink in her direction.
"Wow. Love the energy, guys. But maybe pause the flirting for one second so you can buy me some game tokens?" Harrison interrupts our banter with a mischievous smile.
"Stop bothering them, babe. You know I'm paying for you," Raider reminds Harrison before kissing the top of his boyfriend's head, most likely all too familiar with his trouble-seeking ways.
"Yeah, Harry. Leave me alone so I can flirt with my bestie," Margot says to him before flipping him off, using the nickname he allegedly hates as confirmed by his cringing at the sound of it.
"Oh. Is that what we are? Besties?" I tease the girl for her choice of words despite knowing she only said it in a joking manner. Margot rolls her eyes at me before walking over to the token dispenser and making her purchase. She then grabs my hand and opens it so that she can place a handful of tokens within my palm.
"Oh. Dude. You didn't have to pay for me,"
"Well, I did. And what's done is done.... so you ready to hit some games?" Margot says with a shrug though a smile is threatening to spill onto her lips.
"You mean absolutely annihilate every game we play?"
"Of course,"
The first game we stop at is the basketball hoops. With a smirk, I turn to Margot.
"Wanna play?" I ask her, knowing full well that I'm pretty much a boss at the game as a result of my brother and I's intense competition whenever we would come here as children.
"Only if you're prepared to lose," she tells me. I scoff at her words but we decide to compete anyways. Once the game begins, I don't even look her way. I'm so concentrated on making baskets that I almost don't even notice when the game's ended.
As I look over at Margot, I almost instantly notice the state of shock she's in.
"How the hell....?"
She doesn't finish her sentence as she begins to look back and forth between me and the final score of the game, leaving me nearly forty points ahead of her.
"Did you hijack the game so that it added on twenty more baskets to your score before we started?" she asks me in a genuinely serious tone that slightly damages my pride.
"Wow. The lack of confidence in me.... I'm not sure how we can go on as besties like this," I say dramatically as I collect my string of tickets which I earned from winning the game.
"Oh dear. How ever will I cope?" Margot asks sarcastically.
"Wait. Do you actually think I cheated?" I ask her incredulously.
"Well, I know standing at that mighty height of 5'2 probably doesn't make you a basketball all star," Margot says with a shrug. I gasp at her response, slightly offended that my height was brought into this.
"I'll have you know that my expertise at this game has nothing to do with any type of cheating but instead hard work and practice,"
"Sure," Margot says sarcastically.
"You don't believe me? We can try again. I'll just win," I say confidentially. Margot scoffs before putting the tokens in the game to start again. And as predicted, I prevail as the winner, but this time beating her by more points than before. She rolls her eyes at me and I can tell she finally accepts defeat.
"I have an older brother, remember?"
I then decide to walk away from the game, forcing her to begrudgingly follow after me. That is, until a game catches her eye and Margot suddenly grabs my wrist and begins to pull me into the direction of the large ball drop game, a game I quiet honestly never understood the draw to.
But I stand by as Margot excitedly shoves her tokens into the machine and begins the game, winning the jackpot only a second later.
"What the fuck?" I say under my breath, Margot turns around to send me a small mischievous smile, clearly having heard me. I slowly walk up to stand beside her, curious as to how she could have basically won the game on the first try.
"No. It was a fluke," I tell her, not wanting to believe she actually dropped the ball straight to the jackpot based on talent or some mastered trick.
"Fine," is all she says before she shoves another four tokens into the machine and hits the jackpot yet again after just a few seconds.
"Fuck. Teach me your ways,"
She laughs slightly at my words before putting four more tokens into the game and backing up so that I can stand in front of the machine. She then moves back so that she's standing directly behind me.
"You see that screw on the side of the game?" she asks me as she points her finger to the corner of the inside of the machine. I nod my head as my gaze follows her finger's directions.
"Once the center of the jackpot is lined up, press the button to drop the ball," she explains to me. Margot then wraps her arm around me so that she can place her hand on top of mine which rests on the button. As her hand rests on mine, a small spark shoots up my arm and my heart starts beating a little faster, but I chalk it up to the nerves over winning this game.
And so I wait until she deems it time for the ball to drop and she presses her hand over mine, earning us yet another jackpot.
With a smile on my face, I turn around and give her an excited hug to celebrate.
"We probably shouldn't do this too much though. They don't like it when I take all their tickets," Margot whispers into my ear.
"Hey. I got that last one," I pout in response.
"Sure you did," Margot says with a wink that makes my heart flutter a bit. Wait. What the fuck? Clearing my throat, I choose to ignore whatever that was and begin to look anywhere other than at the girl.
"We should probably go find Harrison and Raider," I say as my eyes continue to scan around the arcade.
"You good?" Margot asks me, concern seeping into her voice.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just figured we came here as a group so...." I trail off, not exactly having an actual reason to go find them apparently.
"Well, they're not at the Dance Dance Revolution game, so I'm guessing they found somewhere to make out," Margot tells me, clearly knowing her best friends all too well.
"Claw machine?" Margot offers, pointing her fingers towards the hoard of stuffed animal-filled machines grouped together.
"Why? You wanna win one for me?" I tease her as a smile reappears on my face.
"Of course, babe,"
————
"Raider! Win me one!" Harrison whines to his boyfriend jokingly as soon as he sees the cheap disfigured stuffed animals in Margot and I's possession. As it turns out, I am also a boss at claw machines, winning prizes for both Margot and myself which are so disfigured that they're cute.
"Don't be too jealous, Harrison, though I do realize Edmund is quite the beaut," I tell Harrison as I wave my stuffed animal in front of his face.
"Edmund?" Harrison questions me, stifling a laugh.
"Did Margot name hers too?" Raider asks, turning to the girl beside me. Margot scoffs at the question.
"Don't let her fool you. Hers is named Preston," I clarify for him, pointing my finger at the blue unidentifiable animal in her arms.
"You gave it that name," Margot reminds me.
"And you love it," I say, sticking my tongue out at the girl. Margot just rolls her eyes, but a trace of a smile dances on her lips.
"We came over here to ask if you two wanted to play a game of laser tag," Raider jumps directly to the point as he nods his head towards the laser tag arena.
"You down for that, Grayson?" Margot asks me with a lopsided smile. I smirk and nearly scoff.
"Only if you're ready to lose," I reply.
"Yeah, right,"
With those words, the decision was made that our group was going to play a game of laser tag. Then after purchasing passes and waiting a couple minutes for our game to be called, I shove my hard earned game tickets into my pockets, squeeze Edmund into the front pocket of my hoodie, and walk into the arena with way more confidence than I should have, mostly stemming off of the desire to beat Margot.
The door closes behind us and the worker, a girl our age with honey blonde hair gives us a quick run down of the rules, not that I pay much attention to them, being the rule breaker I am. Well, I half listen to the rules, but am mostly focused on an attempt to think up a strategy on how to actually beat Margot. I come to the conclusion Raider is my best bet.
We're not the only people in the game. Two boys who can't be more than twelve or thirteen sit in front of me, too busy trying to annoy the other to listen to anything the employee is saying, not that she expects to be listened to as shown by the bored expression on her face.
"Psst. Raider. We should form an alliance," I whisper to the boy beside me. Raider raises his eyebrows at me, likely not sure what to make of the offer. I've barely even spoken to the guy and now I want to be on the same laser tag team as him. It's not much, but it's definitely a base of friendship that we shouldn't have reached yet.
"I was planning on being on H's team actually," Raider responds to me.
"Ok. So don't play hard to get at all then," I say with a indifferent shrug.
"We're in a relationship. I'm clearly not that hard to get,"
"Maybe you should be,"
"Whatever. Do you want to be the red or blue team?" Raider finally gives in, most likely correctly figuring that my badgering wouldn't end until he did.
"What about green?"
"Red or blue," he says decisively.
"Red," I answer him. He gives a solemn nod before turning his attention back to the honey blonde girl who's now telling us it's time to get our laser tag vests on for the game. Just in time.
I practically skip over to the vests, grabbing one with the red lights before handing another to Raider who hesitates slightly before accepting it.
Harrison shoots Raider a confused look as he tugs on a green vest before turning back to say something to Margot, Margot who is looking at me with a mischievous smile dancing on her lips. Silly of her to actually assume she can win this thing.
I'm ready as soon as the countdown begins, and once the door opens to release us into the laser tag arena, a competitive streak flashes through my eyes. I don't even check to make sure Raider is following before I tear through the arena, desperate to set myself up for the best shot to take down Margot.
As I position myself behind a wall, I finally turn around and notice that Raider isn't there. Shit. He was going to be my shield. I'll have to do without one. It's then that my eyes lock on Margot. Aiming my laser gun, I shoot her from behind. A successful hit disables her gun for a few seconds, leaving her defenseless and confused as to where the hit came from.
When she turns around, I duck back behind the wall in an attempt to remain unseen and let out the breath I had been holding in. First hit. Aspen: 1, Margot: 0.
However, as I peer around the wall, the score suddenly changes and we're tied.
"Shit," I mutter as Margot shoots the shoulder of my vest. She just smirks before shrugging.
"Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" she challenges me. So I do the one thing I can do in the moment with a gun that's currently useless and an imaginary wound: run.
I tear through the laser tag arena like there's no tomorrow. In the back of my mind, I vaguely remember no running being one of the rules, but how could that actually be plausible when one is in the heat of the moment like so? I reach the other side of the arena and slip behind a wall, my senses still on high alert as I look around the area I just came from, desperate to find her. But after a minute or so, I stop trying as hard, convinced that I lost her.
That is, until I get shot in the back.
"Fuck you, Margot," I say spinning around to face the girl. However, my eyes widen when I realize it's not the girl at all but instead one of the middle school boys that was sitting in front of us during the mini lecture before the game began.
"Oh shoot. Sorry, kid," I say, guilty for accidentally swearing at the boy. However, once my vest powers back up, he shows no mercy and simply shoots me again. I gasp at his actions.
"Asshole," I say before running away, an attempt to maintain some dignity. However, it's not long before my vest powers back up and almost instantly, I'm shot again. Yet this time, Margot's soft laugh gives her away as the culprit.
"Oh. I'll get you for that," I tell her.
"Try,"
She only says the one word before taking off into the arena. This time, though, I make a plan. Right before we reach the other side, I duck behind a wall, hiding myself from her view. I wait a couple seconds, trying to be sure that she probably thinks she's safe, before peaking out and shooting her directly in the chest. Her eyes narrow in on me as she shakes her head, and I take that as the warning to run away. At least I tied us up again.
I run to the back of the arena, the area I haven't yet entered, but I'm stopped short by a sight that I should've expected to see.
"So much for playing hard to get," I say under my breath as I look over at Harrison and Raider making out in the very back corner of the arena. I hear Margot's footsteps directly behind me and whip around to see her with a confused expression in her face, most likely questioning why I stopped so suddenly. But then her eyes travel over to Harrison and Raider and realization washes over her.
"You wanna?" I ask her with a joking smile, pointing at the two boys.
Margot takes a couple steps closer to me, wiping the smile off my face as she hooks her hand under my chin and tilts my head up towards hers. My breath gets caught in my throat. Her hand then moves, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear before traveling down the back of my neck, to my shoulder, then dropping off of my body entirely.
I've always hated my brown eyes. They're dark, boring, and uninteresting as a whole. Somehow, though, Margot makes brown eyes work, really, really well. I don't break eye contact with her even when she shoots me.
"I'm guessing that's a no?" I whisper to her as a small smile begins to seep onto my face. She just backs up wordlessly from me with a smirk on her face.
"What gave you that idea?" she asks me, pouting her lip slightly before shooting my vest as soon as it powers back up. I let her run off as I look down at my feet. She may have just won this one.
————
"286 tickets. Watch out for this winner," I announce as I pluck out the receipt and dangle it in front of Margot's face.
"Oh yeah. They might ban you because this is practically robbery," Margot says sarcastically.
So maybe Margot and I spent a majority of our tokens on trying to win stuffed animals. I've already realized and accepted that I'm probably only going to get the extremely cheap prizes from the glass case. I'll cherish them anyways.
As Margot and I walk up to the prize counter, the boy working there shoots me a smile. As we get closer, I actually look at him. He's conventionally attractive in a "cute" kind of way. He has brown curly hair and freckles. His smile is the type that somehow exhibits innocence and mischief at the same time. The name tag on his shirt reads "Jamie" and I can't help but think it matches him perfectly despite not knowing him in the slightest.
"286 tickets," I say confidentially as I smack my receipt down onto the glass counter. The boy chuckles before nodding.
"You can pick anything from this section of the case," he explains to me. I nod before scanning the prize options and deliberating which would be the best choices. I glance over at Margot who's standing beside me with her arms crossed over her chest. I should probably get something for her too.
"Two of those bracelets," I jab my finger towards the rubber bracelets on the second shelf. The boy nods before pulling out the container and letting me choose two. After tugging the red one onto my wrist, I hand Margot the green one with a smile. I can almost see a smile threatening to spill onto her face too. After punching the numbers into his calculator, Jamie looks back up at me.
"236 tickets left,"
I nod in response before looking back down at the prize options.
"Two of those dinosaurs," I tell him, pointing to the container in the bottom row. Once I choose my two dinos, I turn to Margot as the boy puts the container back away.
"They're both for me, sorry. I didn't want one to get lonely without a friend," I explain to her. She lets out a small snort before shaking her head.
"How considerate,"
The clicking of the calculator brings me back to what I was doing.
"36 tickets left," the boy informs me. I nod solemnly before I make my next decision.
"Two bouncy balls," I tell him. And after choosing the ones I want, I hand one to Margot. She raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't ask any questions as she closes her palm around it, accepting the gift.
"6 tickets left," Jamie says before clearing his calculator.
"I could round that up to 10 and you could pick anything in the first row. Or.... I could turn that into 60 for your number," Jamie offers.
Dang, the boy kind of has game though. I open my mouth before closing it again, not exactly sure what to say. Margot's just about cracking up beside me at the situation. I narrow my eyes at the girl who I thought was one of my best friends. I'll show her.
I put a dejected look upon my face before shaking my head.
"I'm sorry. I can't do that," I tell him, successfully confusing both Margot and Jamie.
"I'm sure my girlfriend here wouldn't appreciate it. Right babe?" I ask Margot, latching onto her arm before resting my head endearingly on her shoulder. Margot tenses up as she realizes what's happening and the boy's eyes widen as he looks back and forth between the two of us.
"We'll be going then," I say awkwardly as I lace my fingers through Margot's and pull her towards the door where Harrison and Raider are waiting for us.
"Girlfriend? In your dreams," Margot whispers to me.
"How did you know?" I whisper back to her, feigning shock and causing for laughter to erupt from her lips.
"Ready?" I ask the two of them before disconnecting my hand from Margot's. They both nod and I take one last look at the arcade before following the others out the door.
"Hey, Aspen. Can I talk to you real quick?" Harrison asks me once we exit the building. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion before following him to the side of the building. It's only when Raider and Margot continue walking to the car that I get nervous.
"Shit. Is this the part where you tell me to stay away from Margot because I swear I'll try to do better. Or I-"
I'm cut off my Harrison's laughter as he shakes his head at my assumption.
"It's the opposite, actually," Harrison reveals to me. I tilt my head, not exactly sure what he's talking about.
"I think you're good for Margot, Aspen. I don't know how to explain it, but she's different around you. She definitely laughs more, yeah. But she softens up a little bit. She needs that. So maybe try to stay around as long as you can?"
A smile breaks out onto my face at Harrison's words.
"I was planning on it,"
Me: Hey.
Me: (image attached)
Margot: Omg you're such a dork
Margot: Does anyone else know you're like this?
Me: Rude.
Margot: I'm sorry but what was that photo?
Me: It was me trying to wink at you. Because I'm cute like that.
Margot: You sure? Because that picture is for sure you mid blink.
Me: Ok. So I can't wink. You don't have to call me out. You were just supposed to play along and say I'm cute!!
Margot: (image attached)
Me: Wtf Margot?? That's so rude!!
Margot: I guess I'm just more talented. I don't know what to tell you.
Me: (image attached)
Margot: Omg you trying to wink is literally the peak of comedy.
Margot: You can't do wink wink
Margot: You can only do blink blink
Me: You're such a bully and you don't have to be.
Margot: (image attached)
Me: Fucking stop it!!
Margot: :)
Margot: I mean
Margot: ;)
Me: You don't have to be this mean.
Margot: Nah
Margot: But you're pretty cute when you're annoyed
Me: (image attached)
Margot: Ha you still can't wink
Me: Margot!!
Margot: As fun as this is I texted because I have updates about today
Me: ....
Margot: Arcade and laser tag
Margot: You in?
Me: Sure. As long as you're sure that your friends will be alright with it....
Margot: If they aren't then I'll make sure they will be
Margot: On my way
Me: Ok. :)
Margot: ;)
Me: Fuck off.
Margot: ;(
————
Margot: Here
"Bye, Alex," I shout, hoping that my brother can hear me from wherever he may be in the house, if he is in the house currently, that is. I never know with him.
And so with a smile on my face, I tug my shoes onto my feet and exit the house, shoving my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie as I run over to Margot's car, hoping to preserve some type of warmth. However, as I slide into the front seat, I'm suddenly hit with a patch of nervousness that wipes the smile off of my face.
"What's up?" Margot asks me, most likely noticing the slight shake to my hands. I wring them anxiously as I shake my head.
"Just a bit nervous to hang out with your friends. That's all," I tell her with a small laugh. She places her hands on top of mine, putting an end to the shaking.
"You're going to be fine. Besides, they get so wrapped up in their relationship most of the time that it'll probably just be like yesterday all over again. You and me," Margot says, her eyes on me while mine are on the floor.
I nod my head quickly in response and she accepts that as an invitation to go. And so we do.
The drive to Harrison's house is quiet outside of the rock music playing on the radio. Margot taps her fingers along to it at times, leaving a ghost of a smile on my face, but I'm mostly just left to my anxious thoughts over the situation.
Last time I saw Margot's friends was when I first met them. Harrison's words from that still ring in my mind: "Best friend stealer", and I can't help but think that hanging out with their group today might not help ease his mind of that thought, no matter how true or untrue it may be. So there's extra pressure to make sure Harrison actually likes me. He's Margot's friend and I want his approval. Worst case scenario, he doesn't like me and tells her so which causes her to stop wanting to be friends with me.
I glance over at Margot who's mouthing the words to some rock song I've never heard before and can't help but think that's a pretty bad worst case scenario because I've unfortunately enough become pretty attached to this girl.
As we come to a stop in front of Harrison's house, my heart is nearly in my throat. This is it. This is my chance.
I watch out the window as Harrison and Raider walk out the front door hand in hand, though Harrison is more so dragging Raider behind him than anything. Yet the casual smile on Raider's face signals that there's still no place he'd rather be.
"Hey, babes," Harrison says excitedly as he slides into the backseat. Raider stays quiet as he sits next to him, clearly not much of a talker. I turn around in my seat to look at the two and give them a smile, though it makes me slightly nervous to do so.
"Hi, Aspen. It's good to see you again," Harrison greets me, bringing an actual smile to my face and dismissing some of the worry from my chest as I can tell his greeting is genuine.
"It's- It's good to see you again too. And you too, Raider," I respond, earning a small smile from Raider as he nods his head. I then turn back around in my seat, satisfied with the interaction and genuinely excited for the day.
The rest of the car ride is composed of Harrison mostly ranting about someone that I don't think I've ever met, but it keeps Margot smiling and I frankly don't mind too much. I just watch out the car window and let my mind wander to whatever corners it wants to spend its time in at the moment.
However, eventually we arrive at the arcade and make our way in, Margot leading and Harrison and Raider staying together, trailing behind me.
Stepping into the arcade, I actually look at the girl in front of me. Her brown curls are pulled into a messy bun and a few curls are hanging out randomly around her face. She seems to have taken a similar route as me in her fashion choices, wearing a hoodie paired with sweatpants. Yet she still manages to look amazing despite seemingly hardly trying.
As I actually get a good look at the front of her sweatshirt, I nearly scoff.
"You're on me about giving you back the sweatshirt you gave me but you literally own another Rolling Stones sweatshirt?" I ask her with a small laugh.
"You aren't one to talk. You're wearing a cheer sweatshirt right now. So what's your reason for wanting yours back then?" she asks me, not even looking my way.
"Who says I want it back? Maybe I like the idea of you in my sweatshirt?" I say, catching her attention before sending a wink in her direction.
"Wow. Love the energy, guys. But maybe pause the flirting for one second so you can buy me some game tokens?" Harrison interrupts our banter with a mischievous smile.
"Stop bothering them, babe. You know I'm paying for you," Raider reminds Harrison before kissing the top of his boyfriend's head, most likely all too familiar with his trouble-seeking ways.
"Yeah, Harry. Leave me alone so I can flirt with my bestie," Margot says to him before flipping him off, using the nickname he allegedly hates as confirmed by his cringing at the sound of it.
"Oh. Is that what we are? Besties?" I tease the girl for her choice of words despite knowing she only said it in a joking manner. Margot rolls her eyes at me before walking over to the token dispenser and making her purchase. She then grabs my hand and opens it so that she can place a handful of tokens within my palm.
"Oh. Dude. You didn't have to pay for me,"
"Well, I did. And what's done is done.... so you ready to hit some games?" Margot says with a shrug though a smile is threatening to spill onto her lips.
"You mean absolutely annihilate every game we play?"
"Of course,"
The first game we stop at is the basketball hoops. With a smirk, I turn to Margot.
"Wanna play?" I ask her, knowing full well that I'm pretty much a boss at the game as a result of my brother and I's intense competition whenever we would come here as children.
"Only if you're prepared to lose," she tells me. I scoff at her words but we decide to compete anyways. Once the game begins, I don't even look her way. I'm so concentrated on making baskets that I almost don't even notice when the game's ended.
As I look over at Margot, I almost instantly notice the state of shock she's in.
"How the hell....?"
She doesn't finish her sentence as she begins to look back and forth between me and the final score of the game, leaving me nearly forty points ahead of her.
"Did you hijack the game so that it added on twenty more baskets to your score before we started?" she asks me in a genuinely serious tone that slightly damages my pride.
"Wow. The lack of confidence in me.... I'm not sure how we can go on as besties like this," I say dramatically as I collect my string of tickets which I earned from winning the game.
"Oh dear. How ever will I cope?" Margot asks sarcastically.
"Wait. Do you actually think I cheated?" I ask her incredulously.
"Well, I know standing at that mighty height of 5'2 probably doesn't make you a basketball all star," Margot says with a shrug. I gasp at her response, slightly offended that my height was brought into this.
"I'll have you know that my expertise at this game has nothing to do with any type of cheating but instead hard work and practice,"
"Sure," Margot says sarcastically.
"You don't believe me? We can try again. I'll just win," I say confidentially. Margot scoffs before putting the tokens in the game to start again. And as predicted, I prevail as the winner, but this time beating her by more points than before. She rolls her eyes at me and I can tell she finally accepts defeat.
"I have an older brother, remember?"
I then decide to walk away from the game, forcing her to begrudgingly follow after me. That is, until a game catches her eye and Margot suddenly grabs my wrist and begins to pull me into the direction of the large ball drop game, a game I quiet honestly never understood the draw to.
But I stand by as Margot excitedly shoves her tokens into the machine and begins the game, winning the jackpot only a second later.
"What the fuck?" I say under my breath, Margot turns around to send me a small mischievous smile, clearly having heard me. I slowly walk up to stand beside her, curious as to how she could have basically won the game on the first try.
"No. It was a fluke," I tell her, not wanting to believe she actually dropped the ball straight to the jackpot based on talent or some mastered trick.
"Fine," is all she says before she shoves another four tokens into the machine and hits the jackpot yet again after just a few seconds.
"Fuck. Teach me your ways,"
She laughs slightly at my words before putting four more tokens into the game and backing up so that I can stand in front of the machine. She then moves back so that she's standing directly behind me.
"You see that screw on the side of the game?" she asks me as she points her finger to the corner of the inside of the machine. I nod my head as my gaze follows her finger's directions.
"Once the center of the jackpot is lined up, press the button to drop the ball," she explains to me. Margot then wraps her arm around me so that she can place her hand on top of mine which rests on the button. As her hand rests on mine, a small spark shoots up my arm and my heart starts beating a little faster, but I chalk it up to the nerves over winning this game.
And so I wait until she deems it time for the ball to drop and she presses her hand over mine, earning us yet another jackpot.
With a smile on my face, I turn around and give her an excited hug to celebrate.
"We probably shouldn't do this too much though. They don't like it when I take all their tickets," Margot whispers into my ear.
"Hey. I got that last one," I pout in response.
"Sure you did," Margot says with a wink that makes my heart flutter a bit. Wait. What the fuck? Clearing my throat, I choose to ignore whatever that was and begin to look anywhere other than at the girl.
"We should probably go find Harrison and Raider," I say as my eyes continue to scan around the arcade.
"You good?" Margot asks me, concern seeping into her voice.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just figured we came here as a group so...." I trail off, not exactly having an actual reason to go find them apparently.
"Well, they're not at the Dance Dance Revolution game, so I'm guessing they found somewhere to make out," Margot tells me, clearly knowing her best friends all too well.
"Claw machine?" Margot offers, pointing her fingers towards the hoard of stuffed animal-filled machines grouped together.
"Why? You wanna win one for me?" I tease her as a smile reappears on my face.
"Of course, babe,"
————
"Raider! Win me one!" Harrison whines to his boyfriend jokingly as soon as he sees the cheap disfigured stuffed animals in Margot and I's possession. As it turns out, I am also a boss at claw machines, winning prizes for both Margot and myself which are so disfigured that they're cute.
"Don't be too jealous, Harrison, though I do realize Edmund is quite the beaut," I tell Harrison as I wave my stuffed animal in front of his face.
"Edmund?" Harrison questions me, stifling a laugh.
"Did Margot name hers too?" Raider asks, turning to the girl beside me. Margot scoffs at the question.
"Don't let her fool you. Hers is named Preston," I clarify for him, pointing my finger at the blue unidentifiable animal in her arms.
"You gave it that name," Margot reminds me.
"And you love it," I say, sticking my tongue out at the girl. Margot just rolls her eyes, but a trace of a smile dances on her lips.
"We came over here to ask if you two wanted to play a game of laser tag," Raider jumps directly to the point as he nods his head towards the laser tag arena.
"You down for that, Grayson?" Margot asks me with a lopsided smile. I smirk and nearly scoff.
"Only if you're ready to lose," I reply.
"Yeah, right,"
With those words, the decision was made that our group was going to play a game of laser tag. Then after purchasing passes and waiting a couple minutes for our game to be called, I shove my hard earned game tickets into my pockets, squeeze Edmund into the front pocket of my hoodie, and walk into the arena with way more confidence than I should have, mostly stemming off of the desire to beat Margot.
The door closes behind us and the worker, a girl our age with honey blonde hair gives us a quick run down of the rules, not that I pay much attention to them, being the rule breaker I am. Well, I half listen to the rules, but am mostly focused on an attempt to think up a strategy on how to actually beat Margot. I come to the conclusion Raider is my best bet.
We're not the only people in the game. Two boys who can't be more than twelve or thirteen sit in front of me, too busy trying to annoy the other to listen to anything the employee is saying, not that she expects to be listened to as shown by the bored expression on her face.
"Psst. Raider. We should form an alliance," I whisper to the boy beside me. Raider raises his eyebrows at me, likely not sure what to make of the offer. I've barely even spoken to the guy and now I want to be on the same laser tag team as him. It's not much, but it's definitely a base of friendship that we shouldn't have reached yet.
"I was planning on being on H's team actually," Raider responds to me.
"Ok. So don't play hard to get at all then," I say with a indifferent shrug.
"We're in a relationship. I'm clearly not that hard to get,"
"Maybe you should be,"
"Whatever. Do you want to be the red or blue team?" Raider finally gives in, most likely correctly figuring that my badgering wouldn't end until he did.
"What about green?"
"Red or blue," he says decisively.
"Red," I answer him. He gives a solemn nod before turning his attention back to the honey blonde girl who's now telling us it's time to get our laser tag vests on for the game. Just in time.
I practically skip over to the vests, grabbing one with the red lights before handing another to Raider who hesitates slightly before accepting it.
Harrison shoots Raider a confused look as he tugs on a green vest before turning back to say something to Margot, Margot who is looking at me with a mischievous smile dancing on her lips. Silly of her to actually assume she can win this thing.
I'm ready as soon as the countdown begins, and once the door opens to release us into the laser tag arena, a competitive streak flashes through my eyes. I don't even check to make sure Raider is following before I tear through the arena, desperate to set myself up for the best shot to take down Margot.
As I position myself behind a wall, I finally turn around and notice that Raider isn't there. Shit. He was going to be my shield. I'll have to do without one. It's then that my eyes lock on Margot. Aiming my laser gun, I shoot her from behind. A successful hit disables her gun for a few seconds, leaving her defenseless and confused as to where the hit came from.
When she turns around, I duck back behind the wall in an attempt to remain unseen and let out the breath I had been holding in. First hit. Aspen: 1, Margot: 0.
However, as I peer around the wall, the score suddenly changes and we're tied.
"Shit," I mutter as Margot shoots the shoulder of my vest. She just smirks before shrugging.
"Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" she challenges me. So I do the one thing I can do in the moment with a gun that's currently useless and an imaginary wound: run.
I tear through the laser tag arena like there's no tomorrow. In the back of my mind, I vaguely remember no running being one of the rules, but how could that actually be plausible when one is in the heat of the moment like so? I reach the other side of the arena and slip behind a wall, my senses still on high alert as I look around the area I just came from, desperate to find her. But after a minute or so, I stop trying as hard, convinced that I lost her.
That is, until I get shot in the back.
"Fuck you, Margot," I say spinning around to face the girl. However, my eyes widen when I realize it's not the girl at all but instead one of the middle school boys that was sitting in front of us during the mini lecture before the game began.
"Oh shoot. Sorry, kid," I say, guilty for accidentally swearing at the boy. However, once my vest powers back up, he shows no mercy and simply shoots me again. I gasp at his actions.
"Asshole," I say before running away, an attempt to maintain some dignity. However, it's not long before my vest powers back up and almost instantly, I'm shot again. Yet this time, Margot's soft laugh gives her away as the culprit.
"Oh. I'll get you for that," I tell her.
"Try,"
She only says the one word before taking off into the arena. This time, though, I make a plan. Right before we reach the other side, I duck behind a wall, hiding myself from her view. I wait a couple seconds, trying to be sure that she probably thinks she's safe, before peaking out and shooting her directly in the chest. Her eyes narrow in on me as she shakes her head, and I take that as the warning to run away. At least I tied us up again.
I run to the back of the arena, the area I haven't yet entered, but I'm stopped short by a sight that I should've expected to see.
"So much for playing hard to get," I say under my breath as I look over at Harrison and Raider making out in the very back corner of the arena. I hear Margot's footsteps directly behind me and whip around to see her with a confused expression in her face, most likely questioning why I stopped so suddenly. But then her eyes travel over to Harrison and Raider and realization washes over her.
"You wanna?" I ask her with a joking smile, pointing at the two boys.
Margot takes a couple steps closer to me, wiping the smile off my face as she hooks her hand under my chin and tilts my head up towards hers. My breath gets caught in my throat. Her hand then moves, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear before traveling down the back of my neck, to my shoulder, then dropping off of my body entirely.
I've always hated my brown eyes. They're dark, boring, and uninteresting as a whole. Somehow, though, Margot makes brown eyes work, really, really well. I don't break eye contact with her even when she shoots me.
"I'm guessing that's a no?" I whisper to her as a small smile begins to seep onto my face. She just backs up wordlessly from me with a smirk on her face.
"What gave you that idea?" she asks me, pouting her lip slightly before shooting my vest as soon as it powers back up. I let her run off as I look down at my feet. She may have just won this one.
————
"286 tickets. Watch out for this winner," I announce as I pluck out the receipt and dangle it in front of Margot's face.
"Oh yeah. They might ban you because this is practically robbery," Margot says sarcastically.
So maybe Margot and I spent a majority of our tokens on trying to win stuffed animals. I've already realized and accepted that I'm probably only going to get the extremely cheap prizes from the glass case. I'll cherish them anyways.
As Margot and I walk up to the prize counter, the boy working there shoots me a smile. As we get closer, I actually look at him. He's conventionally attractive in a "cute" kind of way. He has brown curly hair and freckles. His smile is the type that somehow exhibits innocence and mischief at the same time. The name tag on his shirt reads "Jamie" and I can't help but think it matches him perfectly despite not knowing him in the slightest.
"286 tickets," I say confidentially as I smack my receipt down onto the glass counter. The boy chuckles before nodding.
"You can pick anything from this section of the case," he explains to me. I nod before scanning the prize options and deliberating which would be the best choices. I glance over at Margot who's standing beside me with her arms crossed over her chest. I should probably get something for her too.
"Two of those bracelets," I jab my finger towards the rubber bracelets on the second shelf. The boy nods before pulling out the container and letting me choose two. After tugging the red one onto my wrist, I hand Margot the green one with a smile. I can almost see a smile threatening to spill onto her face too. After punching the numbers into his calculator, Jamie looks back up at me.
"236 tickets left,"
I nod in response before looking back down at the prize options.
"Two of those dinosaurs," I tell him, pointing to the container in the bottom row. Once I choose my two dinos, I turn to Margot as the boy puts the container back away.
"They're both for me, sorry. I didn't want one to get lonely without a friend," I explain to her. She lets out a small snort before shaking her head.
"How considerate,"
The clicking of the calculator brings me back to what I was doing.
"36 tickets left," the boy informs me. I nod solemnly before I make my next decision.
"Two bouncy balls," I tell him. And after choosing the ones I want, I hand one to Margot. She raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't ask any questions as she closes her palm around it, accepting the gift.
"6 tickets left," Jamie says before clearing his calculator.
"I could round that up to 10 and you could pick anything in the first row. Or.... I could turn that into 60 for your number," Jamie offers.
Dang, the boy kind of has game though. I open my mouth before closing it again, not exactly sure what to say. Margot's just about cracking up beside me at the situation. I narrow my eyes at the girl who I thought was one of my best friends. I'll show her.
I put a dejected look upon my face before shaking my head.
"I'm sorry. I can't do that," I tell him, successfully confusing both Margot and Jamie.
"I'm sure my girlfriend here wouldn't appreciate it. Right babe?" I ask Margot, latching onto her arm before resting my head endearingly on her shoulder. Margot tenses up as she realizes what's happening and the boy's eyes widen as he looks back and forth between the two of us.
"We'll be going then," I say awkwardly as I lace my fingers through Margot's and pull her towards the door where Harrison and Raider are waiting for us.
"Girlfriend? In your dreams," Margot whispers to me.
"How did you know?" I whisper back to her, feigning shock and causing for laughter to erupt from her lips.
"Ready?" I ask the two of them before disconnecting my hand from Margot's. They both nod and I take one last look at the arcade before following the others out the door.
"Hey, Aspen. Can I talk to you real quick?" Harrison asks me once we exit the building. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion before following him to the side of the building. It's only when Raider and Margot continue walking to the car that I get nervous.
"Shit. Is this the part where you tell me to stay away from Margot because I swear I'll try to do better. Or I-"
I'm cut off my Harrison's laughter as he shakes his head at my assumption.
"It's the opposite, actually," Harrison reveals to me. I tilt my head, not exactly sure what he's talking about.
"I think you're good for Margot, Aspen. I don't know how to explain it, but she's different around you. She definitely laughs more, yeah. But she softens up a little bit. She needs that. So maybe try to stay around as long as you can?"
A smile breaks out onto my face at Harrison's words.
"I was planning on it,"
End of Only Fools Chapter 29. Continue reading Chapter 30 or return to Only Fools book page.