Hell & Back || TYLER SBG

Chapter 14: Dave & Busted Lips

One thing was making Danica feel better, and it was that they all collectively blew that history midterm.

Apparently it was hard to cite the year that some random guy claimed land that wasn't his when your friend almost died the night before via unearthly monster. If it wasn't bad enough that they were knocking on Heaven's door every night, they were also all gonna be stuck at summer school at this rate.

At least they'd be there together, she supposed.

Ashlyn's dad was kind enough to drive them to the arcade. He actually was kind enough to upgrade the Jeep to fit all of them too. It was weird knowing that at the beginning of the year, the only person Danica tolerated was Taylor, and now Ashlyn's family treated all of them like they were their own bonus kids. Her dad even wanted to have a barbecue with everyone's families.

It was weird being around someone's loving father sometimes. Last time she saw her dad, she was six sitting at the top of the stairs watching the door slam. But hey, good to know that they existed.

Life was changing fast, in more ways than just the paranormal shit that they were dealing with. She just couldn't tell if it was for the best yet.

"I've actually never been to an arcade before," Ashlyn said, putting on her headphones to tune out the inevitable noise.

"Me neither, actually," said Logan as they walked in.

Danica had always loved arcades. Actually, the last time she'd been at this particular one was when Nora somehow convinced the manager to let them play there last summer. It'd been fun, until Ryland threw a fit about the lyrics to some song that she didn't even write. Ahhh, sweet sweet memories. What was better, she wondered, constantly dreading death or still being with the guy who considered arguing to be a positive form of bonding.

"I bet I can beat you." Aiden had a smug grin on his face, looking at Ashlyn as he nodded his head towards the Dance Dance Revolution machine in the corner.

"How much?" The redhead replied, and Danica could've sworn that she saw that blond idiot fall in love on the spot. God, he was not subtle at all.

It was a popular choice though, except for with Ben who preferred to have attention off of him at all times, and Tyler who was just way too cool for it apparently.

They did end up having fun, though. She wondered how they looked to the small amount of other people scattered in there. The jock, the nerd, sunshine as a girl, the loner, the psycho and his cousin, and the girl who used to be relevant. Their own real life version of The Breakfast Club. Just without the weed.

Danica was drawn over to Guitar Hero across the arcade. She played actual guitar all her life, so naturally she'd always tried to be good at the game. The mechanics of it were pretty different though. There was a big difference between buttons and frets.

She found holding the plastic guitar in her hands to be comforting though. She hadn't picked up her real one in a while.

"Going solo on this one? Kinda sad."

She jumped at the sarcastic comment behind her. Before she realized that it was Tyler. Because of course it was.

"You're welcome to jump in, if you want," she said with a shrug. "Not sure you can beat me though."

She could've sworn she saw a slight smile on his face. A dimple...a light in his eyes...

Get a grip, Danica. God, she could not be doing that right now.

"Really?" He asked, putting a coin into the machine next to her, shrugging the faux guitar strap across his shoulder. "You're on, Evan's."

She still found him hard to read. She wanted to find him as annoying as she always had so bad, but technically they were all friends now. And somehow they kept getting stuck together every time that the group hung out. Which could mean nothing. And probably did to him, considering that they only tolerated each other now since their lives kinda depended on it. All the unwanted thoughts were just basic psychology—her brain was messing with her cause they were around each other all the time now.