heaven has gained an angel

7. Arcade Date

Chapter 7: Arcade Date

Prism

We waited the candle melt down before we leave Thomas and Papa. Pareho kami ni Ayara na nagpaalam sa kanila. Tirik pa rin ang araw, mukhang malabong umulan.

Hinayaan ko na lang ang sarili na sumama sa gustong puntahan ni Ayara. Pumara siya ng taxi. After a while, nakarating din kami agad ng Mall. Nagtungo na kami sa lugar na sa tingin niya ay deserve kong puntahan; sa Arcade.

"Let's go, arcade date!" she joyously shouted. Kinuha niya ang braso ko para hilahin ako papasok. I saw how equally excited she is as me. Hindi ko na itatanggi dahil minsan lang din ito.

"What did you say?" tanong ko sa kaniya.

"Aracade date."

That made me smile. "I'll take that arcade date."

At first, medyo nabano pa ako dahil hindi na pala token ang ginagamit dito. I can't remember the last time I went here but I'm sure when I was in high school. It had been a while. Marami nang nagbago, there's a variety of new games that I'm excited to try them out. Naghanap pa man din ako ng token machine kung saan puwede magpapalit ng pera pero wala. We inquired for a powercard instead, a hassle-free way. We got the welcome card since it was being told by the cashier, this is for the first time purchase. That got me shook a little, I did not expect that it's now kind of more expensive than before, when it was tokens.

I'm the one who paid the cards, tig-isa kami ni Ayara, nag-reload pa kami dahil kulang ang laman nito.

"Doon tayo magsimula!" I followed her finger pointing on something, doon sa bumper cars. It looks fun based on the eye-catching LED lights.

Tamang-tama, weekdays ngayon kung kaya't hindi gaano kadami ang tao. We both swiped the card upon the colour readers at sumakay na kami agad. Isa lang katao kada bump cars. I touched the dual joysticks to study it first, it let me spin around. Good thing, it wasn't hard to control.

Nang maalam na ako kung paano ito paandarin, nilingon ko si Ayara but too late, she has a smirk smile on her face and ready to attack me. She bumped into me and it made my car blown away a little. Sinundan iyon ng hagalpak niya dahil siguro sa naging reaksyon ko.

"Ganyanan pala, ah," paghahamon ko at medyo umatras upang bumuo ng bumuwelo. "Heto na 'ko!"

I eyed her scarily. "No! Stop!" natatawang sigaw niya at nagmamadaling ilayo ang bump car niya sa akin pero ako naman itong humabol sa kaniya para gumanti ng isang bangga. Success, nabangga ko siya with full forced.

"Ang saya no'n!" sigaw niya na parang na-enjoy niya pa. "Isa pa! Banggain mo lang ako nang banggain."

We had a wonderful time there. Wala kaming ginawa kung hindi ang magbanggaan until our belly hurts because of laugh. Para kaming mga batang naglalaro. This is the laugh I've been trying to find again in myself. I found a reason to laugh because of her, she bring the spirit of enjoyment. It's feels relief to let out this. Sobrang saya lang. Sarap sa pakiramdam.

May mga kasama rin kami pero parang hindi sila mukhang masaya base sa ekspresyong nakapaskil sa kanilang mga mukha.

Kami lang dalawa ni Ayara ang bukod tanging maingay at natawa. Maybe it's because of us, we are having fun crazily that made them annoyed. Parang sinosolo na kasi namin ang buong lugar. It wasn't our fault if we only have a small space.

Tuloy lang kami sa pagbanggaan. Ngunit napahinto bigla ako sa pagtawa nang idiretso ko ang paningin ko kay Ayara, it corny it may seems but the whole place went slow as I watched her laugh with the playful color lights throwing over her face. She sparkled with joy.