Vance Hopper x Reader

III

I look at the clock, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring. There should be only a minute of school left. I've been doodling stick figures for the past thirty minutes and I have no idea what was going on, but it's fine. I look over my page of "notes", which is half full of doodles and half full of my attempt at actually trying for the first ten minutes of class.

I pick up my stuff as the bell rings, rushing out the door. My locker is close by, and I get my backpack and start walking to the door. The second half of the day was very boring, I didn't get to talk to anybody and the only good class was English, which was after lunch.

I make my way outside, finally breaking free from school. It's hard to imagine I'll have to go here almost every day for the next 9 months, but I don't have to worry about that right now. It's only been one day.

15 minutes pass, and I get to my house. I walk inside, knowing I'll have to do chores before I go anywhere. I put down my bag and look around for my mom. She isn't on the first floor, but her car was in the driveway, so she's definitely home.

"Mom, I'm home." I hear footsteps upstairs, and my mom appears a few moments later.

"Hey, how was your first day of school? It wasn't that bad, right?" She had a smile on her face.

"It was alright. The people there are pretty nice." I hadn't spoken to much people, but 'nice' was kind of pushing it.

"That's great. I don't have any chores for you right now, so you can help me with dinner later." She starts walking back to her room.

"Wait, I'm gonna go out now, is that okay?" She seems to be in a pretty good mood, maybe I'll be able to stay out later.

"That's fine. Where are you going and when will you be back?" She stops walking and turns to look at me.

"I'm just going to bike around town, I'll be back in an hour." She nods, and I grab my wallet before going out to get my bike.

I try to remember what streets I went on yesterday to get to the place with the pinball machine. It's not that far away, but the farther I go, the more I'm convinced I'm lost. All the shops look the same, there's nobody outside to help me, and it's so hot outside. Finally, I find it, pulling up to the front and putting a lock on my bike.

I walk inside, seeing Vance at the pinball machine. Ignoring the fact that it's been at least 3 hours since he said he was going here, I walk up to him.

"No way, I can't believe you're here!" I say sarcastically as I walk up to him.

"I'm trying to focus." He doesn't look at me.

"Right. Have you beaten your high score yet?"

Silence.

"Do you have any classes with me?" He changed the subject, but I'm still surprised he's asking about that.

"How would I know? You didn't show up today." I think back to a conversation I heard in English class. "Actually, I think we have English together, I heard two girls were talking about when you'd come back." I don't tell him that they seemed happy he wasn't there, but he might already know.

It's quiet again for a few minutes. I want to say something, but I also don't want to distract him too much, he seems to get very angry a lot. Suddenly, he gasps. "YES!" He keeps playing, but it looks like he beat his high score.

"Wow, it only took you a few hours," I say, but I smile.

"Shut up. I'm better at it than you." He keeps his eyes on the pinball machine, still trying to focus.

"Are you sure?" I joke, there's no way I'm better than him, I haven't played in years.

Beside me, Vance snorts in laughter.

"Are YOU sure? I could beat the shit out of you at this any day." He's probably right.

"Okay, fine, you win. I'm going on a walk." I leave the store, getting on my bike and going around town. I'm a bit more used to the streets now and can find my away around. I'm technically not on a walk, but it's basically the same thing.

After about 15 minutes, I go back to the store to find Vance still there. He isn't playing anymore, though, and when I walk inside he turns to look at me.

"You're still here?" I look at him. He's still wearing that weird jean jacket he's worn for the past two days, and he's glaring at me as if he's angry. Which he most likely is.

"Yes. I lost the game 5 minutes ago."

I glance to the side of the store where a stand is sitting on the ground, it's been knocked over. I can tell he lost.

"Oh." I nod, not sure what to say. He stays standing, looking at me, and points to the machine.

"Your turn, since apparently you're just so great at it."

"Uh, sure." I walk over to the machine. I have no idea what I'm doing. Starting the game, I start playing.

It lasts 2 minutes.

Maybe 1 minute 45 seconds.

As soon as I lose, Vance bursts out laughing. "I knew it, you were fucking bluffing! Oh my god, you lasted 2 MINUTES."

I scoff. "Okay, I'm just a bit rusty." He keeps laughing and I cross my arms. "Is this really that funny to you?"

"You're so bad at it," he says after he finally stops laughing.

"Well, I bet I could beat you in a bike race," I tell him. I'm being a bit sarcastic, as he's obviously way stronger than me.

He cracks up again. "Really? You could? I would leave you in the DUST, you'd be shit compared to me."

"One pinball game and you're acting like this."

"I ONLY NEED TO SEE ONE, ARE YOU SERIOUS?" He pauses, laughing again. "You're funny."

I turn to find a clock in the store, feeling my cheeks turn a bit pink. "Oh shit, I need to go home, I was supposed to be back by now." I walk out of the store, getting back on my bike.

1078 words

A/N- sorry for the wait for the update, im kinda busy right now and might not update daily, but i'm still updating it :)