Game of Bets

The Arcade

"Where are you taking me?" Bella asked nervously. The scenery seen through the grimy bus windows were unfamiliar to her.

"Don't worry, you'll know once we get there," Jave said, smirking. This was one of his greatest tricks in making a girl fall in love with him. Taking her to one of the places she loved best. "We're here,"

Jave pulled on the wire strung across the top of the bus.

Stop Requested.

The bus slowly halted to a stop, and the doors opened. Jave pulled Bella off the bus, sending Larry a glare. Larry returned the look and took off.

"Where are we?" Bella asked, looking at the large green building in front of her.

"Hah! You know perfectly well where we are," Jave smiled triumphantly, crossing his arms.

Bella shot him an irritated and confused look.

"No, I don't. Please elaborate."

Jave was once again ultimately surprised by this girl.

"We are at the mall!" He gestured wildly towards the huge sign that said, Welcome to Greencity Mall.

"Don't tell me..." Jave looked at her in disbelief. "You've never been to the mall?!"

"Nope!" Bella grinned, and Jave shuddered. "I only use hand-me-downs from my sisters and cousins."

"What kind of sister or cousin wears clothes like those?!?!" Jave practically screamed.

"Well, I didn't know what to do, so I just threw on something that smelled okay and I accidentally mistook my Dad's jeans for mine, so that's why they're so baggy." Bella frowned at her clothes, finally realizing how inappropriate they were for the date. "These are the nicest pair of shoes I have. I'm not into fashion and stuff."

Jave smiled tightly, but was slowly dying on the inside. What the hell!!!

"Let's just go,"

"But the mall isn't open yet." Bella said, knitting her eyebrows.

"That's why I have these," Jave said, dangling a huge ring of assorted keys. "My mom's really close to the security guard guy, and my cousin owns a shop here." He unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"But isn't this a bit, I don't know-- ILLEGAL?!" Bella screamed the last word, making the most disgusting face Jave had ever seen.

"Hey, calm down. 'tsokay, no one will notice, and it's really early still."

Bella nodded, but was freaking on the inside. This would not end well.

"So where are we going to go?" She asked, trying her best to distract herself from unnecessary thoughts.

"My cousin owns the arcade. He'll be there, don't worry."

"What are we going to do at an arcade?"

"I'm wicked at air hockey. How about a round of that?" Jave asked, steering her into a colorful-looking shop.

"Well, I'm willing to see how good you really are, so why not?"

Jave smiled. This girl was going to get it.

.oOo.

"Come on, the score is 42-0! I wanna play Space Invaders next!"

"NO! I will beat you, at least once." Jave gritted his teeth, concentrating on the puck. How could he lose so easily, and to a girl at that! And to Bella Galvan at that!!!

"I thought you said you were good at air hockey," Bella easily deflected an attack, and the puck flew perfectly into Jave's unkept goal. Jave groaned.

"I beat everyone except for you. Is there anyone you can't beat?"

"Yeah, one guy." Bella said.

"Hah! So you aren't unbeatable." Jave smirked victoriously. "I've gotta go meet this guy. Who is he?"

"Junior Davis."

Jave's jaw dropped again.

"W-wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. THE Junior Davis?!" Jave practically screeched. "Best air hockey player in America?!"

"Oh, so you've heard of him?" Bella laughed, kind of like a donkey, Jave thought.

"I've heard of him alright. Every person he's played against hasn't come twenty points close to his score. Even when he plays with his left hand!"

"Except for..." Bella prompted him.

"Except for his goddaughter. I heard he always beats her, but only by one point. He name is something like...sausage?"

"Baloney?" Bella smirked.

"Yeah! That's the one!"

"Well, nice to meet you Jave, I'm Bella Baloney, goddaughter of Junior Davis."

Jave's jaw dropped once again.

"Nooooooo..."

Bella just shrugged.

"I beat him once, but it was when he broke his finger, so it doesn't really count."

"Seriously?! You're the dog gotter, er--goddaughter he always talks about?"

"The one and only."

"My brain's gonna explode. Any tips? How did you beat me?"

"Well your method was the same as most people. Defend first until there's an opening. Then, like any other person, after three tries of that method failing, you try to surprise me with a different method. It would either be attack first, or slow it down a notch. I made sure to heavily protect my goal. Your shooting is one of your best aspects, so I tried my best to send it to you as fast as I could so you would have a hard time shooting. Sometimes I would aim for the side, and you would try to catch it there - a rookie mistake. You couldn't really control your puck unless you were trying to score, so when it bounced off your mallet, it flew straight into your goal."

Jave stared at her. The girl was amazing.

Bella smirked and checked her watch. It was already 7:42 am.

"Shoot!! I'm gonna be late!"

"Wait, one more game?" Jave pleaded.

"No, church starts soon, I've gotta go!" Bella gathered her things. Then, she slowly turned around. "You're very good at what you do, by the way. I think...I like you." She turned an ugly shade of crimson before fleeing.

Fifty bucks here I come!! Jave thought, gleefully.

.oOo.

A/N: Yo dudes, forty-four reads?! You guyz are awesome. Goal's one hundred, so recommend and share!!! Still kind of disappointed in this chapter. It was boring--once again. Sorry for missing yesterday's update, not that any of you care, but still sorry. So much to do. But I'm sick in bed today trying my best not to puke my guts out with nothing to do, so I decided to write another chapter. Yay me!!! Anyway, stay totally rad, next chapter, the truth will be revealed to Bella. It will finally start to get a bit more interesting, so keep reading and don't bail on me!!!

Lots of Luve,
Rosetta 😷