The Secrets We Keep

The Thirty-Sixth Chapter

Hayden

"So have you been doing this every night?" I ask as I slide a puck over the Air hockey's smooth surface. "When you can't sleep, do you just head into town and see what's still open at night?"

Nathan's eyes don't leave the puck as he slides it back over to me again and I just barely return it with a quick motion before it hits my goal. 

"No. Mostly I just stay at home." He grins when I'm too slow to catch his next move and he scores. 

I rest my hands against the edge of the table and tilt my head at him, enjoying the sounds of the arcade around us. I haven't been in one of these places since I was about twelve and it feels nice to be here, surrounded by other teenagers staying up on a Friday night. There's a pop song blasting in the background and between its bubblegum lyrics and the coke I just drank, I'm feeling pretty high on life. 

"Let's pick a new game, I suck at this one," I say and see his body shake with silent laughter as he picks up our drinks and starts surveying the game machines for our next task. 

"Just admit that you're a sore loser," he says and picks up my hand again with his free one. 

"Let's play basketball," I say but he shakes his head as he slides his straw into his mouth. 

"No way am I letting you play that. The sweatshirt will rise up and everyone will see your ass," he tells me and starts leading the way to a shooting game. 

I reach across his body to grab my coke from the cup holder. "I'm wearing sleeping shorts," I say. "And if you weren't so adamant that I sneak out with you, I might've had time to put on more clothes."

His eyes glance down to my bare legs. I don't think I look too indecent. His sweatshirt falls mid-thigh and if I'm being honest, I own shorter skirts. 

"You didn't have to come out with me," he says and I can feel the effort it takes for him to look back at my face. 

I scoff at him, smirking when I see his blush. "Would you have left if I had?"

"Probably not," he says and smiles crookedly down at me. 

"You're such a stalker," I say. We put down our drinks as we start slotting our tokens into the machine. We both pick up our guns and I narrow in my gaze as the forest animals pop up onto the screen. The timer goes off and then we both start shooting as if our lives depend on it. "What did Reyes want to talk to you about?" I ask and my question distracts him for long enough that I start taking the lead. 

"I don't want to talk about it," he says, and then when he realizes how harsh his voice is, sighs and says, "At least not now. I just want to enjoy this evening with you."

"Technically it's morning now," I say. The last time I checked the time it was twelve twenty. "Was that your mom who came to pick you up?" I ask even though Christopher already confirmed that it was. 

Nathan groans when he realizes I've left him in the dust as the game beeps its completion of the round. "Yes." 

Ok, monosyllabic answers aren't good... "I can see where you get your good looks from," I try, thinking back to her black hair done up in loose ringlets. What I wouldn't give to look that well-turned out on any given day. 

"Wow, a compliment," Nathan says as we start shooting again. "Maybe I'm winning after all." 

I roll my eyes as I take out another animated deer. Funny enough, with this particular shooting game, the smallest animals seem to get more points. Maybe it's because they're a smaller target. "Are you guys close?"