[HIATUS] Malls and Arcades | Max Mayfield

Chapter One

「 "The day that I met you, I started dreaming" (Kingston, Faye Webster). 」
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What the hell was punctuality? That must be the question running through Haydn's mind. He was thirty minutes late to their hangout, and Talia knew for a fact he didn't live more than ten minutes away from the record store. What was taking him so long?

She shifted her weight from the back to the front of her feet as she waited impatiently. What could he be doing that was more important than meeting on time for their hangout? Didn't he know that it was essential to be punctual?

Talia groaned. She actually couldn't take this anymore. She'd just go inside the arcade for a bit and wait for him, at least she'd have something to do. Even if she did spend her money here, she would have Haydn pay for whatever movies she wanted to rent. It was the least he could do for showing up late.

She walked into the arcade and the first thing she noticed was how loud it was. Given there were about 30 people in the enclosed space and they were all playing games, this wasn't much of a surprise. Talia wished she had trusted her gut when it told her to bring her Walkman.

Talia walked around the arcade and fiddled with the loose change in her pocket as she looked around for an open game. It didn't take her long to find one, but it just so happened to be one of her worst ones. Dig Dug.

The fact that she wasn't good at the game didn't stop her from playing it. Her first try at the game ended horribly and the score that flashed on her face disappointed her. She thought it was impossible to get this low of points.

And she wasn't the only person to think that. "Wow, you suck at this." A voice from her right chaffed, they leaned their head to get a closer look at her score.

Besides the fact they were making fun of her, the one thing that surprised her was their fiery red hair. The next thing would be their pretty face, maybe even their smile. But Talia couldn't think about that of all things. This person was making fun of them for crying out loud. "Who put you on the planet?" Talia muttered, and the girl laughed upon hearing her.

Talia noted that she would like to hear it again.

"I'd like to see you do any better." Talia challenged. She spun around and used her elbows to lean against the game.

Their challenger smirked and took her place in front of the machine. "You're on."

Talia quickly became impressed with the girl's skills. She showed her things that Talia didn't even know could be done in this game. But Talia could just be really bad at this game.