Catch Me When I Fall

Arcade

"What if we go to an arcade? I've never been to one before but I've heard they're fun."

"Tyrone, yes! They are! I've been to one with my mom when I was younger! It was really cool!"

The enthusiasm in Khai's voice makes it official.

He jumps up in his excitement and runs off to find him mom, probably to seek her permission.

I laugh quietly again. I'm really looking forward to this, too.

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Since Khai and I aren't experienced enough to drive completely on our own, Hazel brings us. She's told us she needs to run a few errands anyways, so once she drops us off, she drives away again.

Khai eagerly rushes ahead, and I follow him closely, fearing he may trip on something – or even nothing – in his enthusiasm.

We enter the arcade, and Khai looks around, exhilarated by all the neon colours.

It 's like he's a little kid in a candy shop. He seems to be in a really good mood today. But then again, he's almost always in a good mood, or he at least appears to be.

***Khai's POV***

"What should we do first, Ty?" I call above the noise.

"I don't know, you're the one who's been to one of these before." Tyrone replies.

"Oh, I know what you'd love! There's this dance thingy-"

"Say no more." Tyrone says, then laughs.

Of course, this isn't the same arcade I've been to when I was a kid. I have no idea where this dance thing is or if this arcade even has one. But I'm sure it does, it's pretty big.

In the end, I'm not even the one who spots it.

Tyrone finds it, though he does need to quickly confirm if it's the thing I was talking about.

And it is, so we head over there first.

Tyrone is a talented dancer. I knew that already.

But I'm surprised at my score, too. Sure, Tyrone was ultimately the winner. But I didn't do nearly as bad as I thought I would, and that's a win to me.

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

After we're done dancing and Tyrone has won a bunch of tickets, we play a game of basketball. This one doesn't go quite as well as the dance one did, and I only win a few tickets. Tyrone, on the other hand, is wildly successful yet again. 

Maybe it's a good thing, since he doesn't have money. He can just use his tickets to get everything.

We play an immersive racing video game next. Tyrone tries to go slow to give me a chance, but I can't steer for the life of me and I keep crashing my car. 

Tyrone still ends up winning.

We play some other sort of game that requires a good aim, which I have no more luck at than any of the other games I've tried so far, excluding the dance one.

After we try a few single-player games, we decide to take a little break and redeem some of our tickets. Except that I don't really have any.

Tyrone seats himself next to me, a chocolate bar in hand.

"Are you alright, Khai?" He asks.

I nod my head.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

Tyrone shrugs.

"I don't know, you haven't won any games yet."

"I don't care. I get to hang out with you and I'm having fun. That's all that matters. Besides, it's been one of the best days I've had in a while."