𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 | 𝐦. 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐨𝐧

five.

once you finally finished your homework, you snagged a roll of quarters hidden in your parents room and collected all your cash. you called out to your mom and let her know you were gonna go out with a friend. she told you to stay safe and with that you were on your marry way. you counted the money and altogether you had around thirty dollars, not counting the roll of quarters. that was more than enough for you and michael. you ran to michael’s house, being quick so your mom couldn’t stop you if she noticed you had taken her quarters. you walked up the steps to michael’s front door before loudly knocking three times.

michael heard you knock and was up in a flash but he wasn’t able to get to the door before his dad did. you tilted your head back and met the eyes of the tall, lanky man you assumed to be michael’s father. he didn’t look like a nice man. his lips were curled downward into a permanent frown and his eyes were droopy. there was no denying the resemblance between him and michael. however, the man in front of you looked far more miserable than michael. as if he had never experienced happiness even once in his life. if it was a competition on who could look grimmer, he was definitely winning. you gulped audibly and parted your lips to introduce yourself to him but before you could get any words out, michael pushed him away and greeted you. 

“let’s go,” he said before you or his dad could say anything. he pushed you away from the door before slamming it shut and ushering you off his lawn. he glanced over his shoulder to see his dad staring out window in disbelief. william just couldnt believe anyone would wanna be friends with michael after the incident.

“is that your dad? he’s terrifying,” you said and chuckled softly to yourself. “he looks like some wretched creature that crawled out of hell.”

michael suppressed a smile and shook his head. “you’re certainly not wrong. he’s the spawn of satan.”

you shook your head, walking with michael to the arcade. it wasn’t far. only a ten-minute walk, if even that. “anyways, were you able to muster up any money? i have more than enough but i figured i’d ask,” you said and looked to michael. he shook his head in response and you clicked your tongue. “cheapskate,” you teased, moving your arm and jabbing his side with your elbow. 

he rolled his eyes as you teased him, pushing your arm away and letting out an overdramatic sigh. you mocked his sigh, pushing all the air out of your lungs and your jaw going slack as you slouched. you rolled your eyes as well, not missing a single detail. michael punched you in the arm and you snickered to yourself. you were proud of your top-tier acting. 

you continued to tease michael the whole walk to the arcade, poking fun at him and trying to make him smile. it worked a bit, helping him loosen up but he didn’t smile. once you got to the arcade you stepped inside and immediately gave the man behind the counter some your cash for quarters. he quickly counted your few crumpled-up bills and gave you quarters in exchange. you thanked him and gave michael the handful of quarters. 

“now come along so i can kick your ass in all these games. i’ll show you who’s boss,” you said and stuck your tongue out at him. you took your happy ass over to pacman, putting a quarter in the slot as michael peeked over your shoulder. “get ready to watch a master at work,” you said very cockily. you breezed through the first three levels, slipping up on the fourth but managing to make it to the sixth before dying. michael was actually pretty impressed but he still had the audacity to scoff. you frowned, stepping aside and waiting for him to prove he could do better. he stared at you with a dumbfounded look as his face for a moment before you motioned to the game. he just rolled his eyes and stepped forward, carefully sliding a quarter into the slot.

he did just about as horribly as you expected him to, messing up on the first level and barely making it to the second. he died way quicker than you did. he cursed under his breath and shot you a glare as he put another quarter into the slot. 

“aw, sore loser,” you teased and watched as he started playing once more. he died on the second level again and he grumbled to himself before kicking the machine. “hey play nice. you break it you buy it. it’s not the machine’s fault that you’re bad.”

"whatever. pacman just sucks. let's play something else," he mumbled, turning away and looking for something else the two of you could play. he walked off and you followed after him to space invaders. you briefly glanced at him and watched him insert a quarter into the machine. 

“did you just pick a game you’re good at? or do you suck at this one too?” you teased and peeked over his shoulder so you could watch him play. he was better at this than he was at pacman but not by much. he only got to the third level but you knew you couldn't do much better. 

“beat that,” he said after he died, looking over at you with a glare. you just rolled your eyes in response, shoving him out of your way and taking your turn. you shoved a quarter into the slot and started playing, doing only a little worse than him. he still took it as a win, though. you looked over at him after you died, huffing as you noticed the small smile playing on his lips. you just rolled your eyes and let him take the win. 

“don’t get too full of yourself now. just because you beat me by a little doesn't mean you’re all that,” you said, mimicking his glare from earlier. he just stuck his tongue out at you before wandering off so you could play other games

you took turns picking games until there was nothing else left for the two of you to try and beat each other at. you definitely kicked michael’s ass and he was clearly butthurt about it. “one more game,” he insisted as you tried to make your way to the door. you chuckled to yourself and shook your head.

“just take the loss michael, c’mon. i’m simply better than you,” you teased and looked over at him.

“oh shut up. you win a few arcade games and let it all go to your head,” he said and scoffed. he crossed his arms and followed you to the door.

“i still have quite a bit of cash left. do you wanna go get ice cream or something? i think there’s a place not far from here,” you said, looking around after you stepped out of the arcade. “it’s popular, i think. it’s like the place to be or something,” you said and shrugged. you had heard a lot of people around town talking about it. it was a hangout spot for most kids at school. you had never been since you didn’t want to go alone but you definitely could go for some ice cream right now and michael also just happened to be with you. it was a win-win.

michael knew what place you were talking about. he used to go with his friends and torment everyone he could while they tried to eat their ice cream. he sighed to himself, considering whether or not he should say no. the chances of running into people he used to know was pretty likely but he didn’t want to disappoint you either. maybe making new memories there would be for the best. he nodded and your smile broadened as you turned to lead the way to the ice cream parlor. your smile made his usually hard expression soften and he followed after you.