Red, Blue, Me, and You

Arcade Games

There's an arcade just off the main street of town where Olivia, Hannah, and I hangout from time to time. The games are all years old, and everyone knows they're rigged, so even though we all hold out hope that we'll win something, we're never disappointed when we don't. Leah, and I decided to meet here this Sunday afternoon, and I'm starting to think it may be a bad idea.

Leah is currently walking towards an air hockey table. She just bet me at 3 other games and is completely rubbing it in my face. I reach out to grab her arm to stop her.
"Can we take a break from the games for a second?" I ask, with fear that the new friendship we've developed may disappear if the afternoon continues like it's been going.
She just smirks, "you scared I'm going to beat you again?"

And with that, it's game on. Leah inserts a coin into the machine, and suddenly this table is a war zone. The puck, that's supposed to drift across the surface, is violently hit back and forth across the table, each of us not wanting to be the first to concede a goal. I'm the first to get a shot in.
"I thought you were good at defence?" I jokingly question. She rolls her eyes at me, and within 10 seconds she manages to equalise the score, before sending another in straight after.
"I am, and good at attack too apparently."

The game continues to go well, until Hannah and Olivia walk into the arcade. They stand behind me, and start cheering me on. This draws a crowd in. I'm naturally competitive, but there's nothing that motivates that competitive nature more than a crowd. Leah's got mates from her school backing her, I've got mates from my school backing me, and we both don't want to disappoint people.

The game continues until we're 6-6. Match point. The intensity just increases from here. Air hockey isn't really about skill, but any skill that we have disappears as we put as much energy as  we can into hitting the plastic puck towards each other's goals. Suddenly Leah hits it so hard it flies off the table, and across the room, landing behind an arcade machine. The group runs towards it, and I can see where it is wedged between wires, and know in that moment that we're not getting that puck back.

"It's too stuck!" I shout for the crowds benefit, and they quickly trickle away at the anticlimactic end to our game. Hannah and Olivia continue to stand beside me, while Leah lingers in the corner hesitantly.

"Why is she still looking at you?" Hannah asks me.
"Because we're sort of hanging out here together," I explain.
"Wait, you actually made plans to be here with her?" Liv asks, "that explains why we didn't get an invite."
I look across at Leah, who's moved towards the door, obviously assuming that I'll stay with my friends now that they happen to be here. I want to go after her, but I don't. She probably wouldn't want me too.

Hannah, Olivia, and I get a can of coke each, and chill out in one of the two booths near the counter. It turns out they came here to spy on a boy Olivia likes. Of course I instantly join their mission. The way we're sat perfectly positions us to be able to see the entire arcade.

"So who are we looking at?" I ask.
"Freddie. Doesn't go to out school. I think he's in year 12. Don't know much else," Olivia rattles off the facts.
"We've come to find out more about him, but the question is how do we go about doing that?" Hannah chips in.
"Why don't you go talk to him?" I suggest, and Olivia almost spits out her drink, while Hannah looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Georgia! Are you serious? Go talk to him?" Olivia's tone gets more intense, but her voice stays low as she doesn't want to draw attention.
"Yeah," I say not quite understanding why this isn't a good idea, "that way you can find out more about him."
"Georgia, have you ever tried to talk to a guy you like? It's sorta, kinda, a little bit, very scary," Hannah says in exasperation.

It occurs to me that I've never had a crush on a boy. It hasn't really been something I've focused on, as I've alway had football as something to think about. I mean, football takes up most of my social life, but I'm okay with that because I know the effort and dedication that needs to be put in for the my career to work out.