My Girl || Cole Palmer

|| 9. ||

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As Michaela made her way through the bustling arcade, the vibrant lights and sounds of the games surrounded her. Her eyes scanned the colourful array of machines until they settled on a basketball game at the far end. Excitedly, she turned to her friend Cole and suggested, "How about we try that one?"

Cole flashed a mischievous grin and replied, "Sure, but don't say I didn't warn you when I came out on top." Unfazed, Michaela quickened her pace to the basketball game.

"You're in for a surprise, Cole," she retorted with a playful smirk as they reached the machine. Standing side by side, they each inserted a pound coin into the machines, ready to try and beat each other at the game.

As the game commenced, Michaela swiftly seized a basketball, skillfully aiming and tossing it straight into the hoop. With graceful precision, she repeated the action with the remaining basketballs. Observing Cole's advantage with his longer arms, Michaela acknowledged his lead in points. Determined to close the gap, she intensified her throwing. After about three minutes, the game concluded, with Cole achieving a score of three hundred and thirty-four and Michaela securing a score of three hundred and two.

She groaned and walked away from him, unsure of where she was supposed to go but she knew she wanted to avoid him and his stupid smirk. He quickly followed after her and stopped her from going any further, "C'mon, don't be a sore loser. I'm sure you'll be better at bowling, plus it was only a thirty-two point difference."

Michaela hesitantly looked up at the blonde man and she turned away from him before pointing at a 2p game machine. "How about we play that to pass the time?"

Cole looked at the machine before shrugging his shoulders, not bothered about which game they played. He followed Michaela as she walked to the machine until she stopped and looked at him, "I'll go change some money into 2p's, you wait at the game." He nodded.

Michaela strolled over to a machine that converted coins to 2p and inserted ten one-pound coins. She observed as the coins tumbled into a small cup she had positioned under the dispenser. When the last coin came to rest, she carried the cup over to Cole and set it down on the glass surface between them. He extended his hand to pick up a few coins.

Michaela did the same, she had her eyes fixated on a blue and green reversible octopus plush, and she needed to get it, she thought. As she inserted the coins into the machine, she watched as the coins started to build up at the edge until they all fell and dropped into the holder at the bottom. She looked over at Cole's machine and she noticed a small plush, that he was probably trying to get.

It was a small minion plush, and when she saw it, she couldn't help but chuckle. Her laughter caught his attention, and he turned his head to look at her. "No luck so far?" he asked. Michaela shook her head, but then added, "No, but I did manage to get a lot of coins to drop back out. Oh, and I also pushed some teddy further." She shrugged. Cole simply nodded and peered into her machine.

After about another ten minutes of playing, Michaela squealed and tapped Cole's shoulder eagerly. "I got it!" She squatted down and took out the octopus plush, she pushed herself back up and gave it to him. "Have it." Michaela insisted, pushing it into his arms.

"Are you sure?" Cole looked at him, not arguing back for once. "Mhm." She smiled at him. He turned to face his machine before reaching down and taking the minion plush out of the bottom. Cole hands her the plush, "Now, this is my gift to you."

"Cole, no-" He cuts her off, hushing her. "You remind me of a minion." He joked, laughing out loud at the comparison.

"How dare you?" Michaela gasped, acting jokingly offended by his comment. "I'm just kidding, Michaela," he said, watching as her eyes twitched at his remark. Despite her reaction, he found it rather amusing.

She stared at him, admiring his freckles for a few seconds too long before indecisively grabbing his hand and dragging him to one last machine that they had a bit of time for. Michaela gently grabbed the plush from his hand and stuffed it inside her purse, doing the same with the minion.

As the pair stood by the machine, they were faced with a motorbike racing game. The brunette reached into her purse and retrieved two one-pound coins, handing one to Cole. With the coin in hand, she gracefully mounted the bike, leaning forward as she inserted the coin into the machine. Her dress lifted slightly, brushing against her back as she prepared to begin the game.

Cole quickly noticed that Michaela's dress was lifting as she leaned forward, and he immediately reached out to pull it back down and held it in place until she was sure it wouldn't happen again. As he touched the fabric on her back, Michaela shivered, feeling the coolness of his thin hands. She moved back, making sure her dress was covering her properly.

The sound of his hurried movements reached her ears as he inserted a coin into the machine and then mounted the motorbike. Michaela turned to look at Cole and caught him biting his lip as he gazed at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the game's screen. The paid 'raced' one another in the game, Cole constantly bumping into her trying to make her crash, and Michaela constantly calling him a cheater.

The game ended with Michaela winning and jumping off the motorbike pointing at Cole, and then strutting off and mouthing 'I won' to Cole. He just rolled his eyes and smiled, following after her. The pair walked to their assigned lane and Cole typed in their names, 'cold palmer' and 'mickey mouse'.

They stood in front of the screen and took a picture together to set it as the home screen, Michaela stood in front of Cole and held two fingers behind her head. She clicked the 'take photo' button and then set it as the picture. Cole's turn was first and he picked up the ball before throwing it towards the pins.

Cole knocked seven of the pins on his first go and then on his second go, he knocked down the final three and ended up with spare. He walked back to Michaela and jokingly pushed her softly and then whispered, "Look who's winning now."

Michaela scoffed and walked past him, she picked up a ball and eyed up the pins, trying to get her throw as accurate as she could. She waited a few seconds before throwing the ball. She knocked down... none. Instead, the ball rolled down the side of the lane.

She twisted back around straight away and picked up another ball, throwing it down the lane. This time, she hit four pins and she smiled before waking back to Cole and mumbling, "I'm just warming up." Cole raised his eyebrows and walked forwards, secretly grinning.

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                   i finally got my
                   palmer shirt!!!!