Pinball

i - space invaders

dedicated to destructive / decolletage x

//

i – space invaders

The day I met you was a completely normal one, there was nothing special about it, and I didn't get any weird feelings in my gut when I woke up. But every day after I met you wasn't anywhere near normal. In fact, it was quite the opposite. There would always be some big exciting thing that would happen, and I felt like a ball in a pinball machine, ricocheting back and forth, hitting targets and bumpers and travelling from one exhilarating event to the next.

//

The bell my dad had installed on the front door of the arcade four months ago rang, and I could only faintly hear it because it was drowned out by the hum and the occasional beep of the machines. I was busy trying to scoop the one dollar coins out from the back of the Space Invaders machine into the blue plastic container mum had given me this morning, so I didn't look up to see who had entered. 

I wish I did though, because then I would have noticed you and Damon approaching me, and I would have had time to compose myself and not look like an idiot, hunched over and hurriedly scooping coins in like a crazed bank robber. 

Why did mum give me collecting duty today? It was so tedious, and it often left my back aching afterwards. 

When two pairs of shoes appeared in front of me, I straightened up to see who they belonged to and sucked in my breath. It wasn't because of Damon, whose looks I had gotten used to since 10th grade, but because of the boy standing next to him. He was, for lack of a better word, hot. 

Of course, that boy was you. 

You didn't look familiar, but somehow I knew you were from around here. You must have been Damon's friend; I knew that for sure, because everyone who had came here to the arcade with him was always his friend. 

You stood there awkwardly and looked around at all the games as I greeted Damon.

"Who's this?" I asked him, jutting my chin out towards you. You didn't seem to notice though, because you were busy fiddling with your coat buttons, trying to undo them. When you succeeded, you shrugged the large navy blue jacket off your shoulders and held it awkwardly there, draped over your arm. 

I didn't blame you though, dad liked to turn the heater temperature up awfully high in here. I mean, it was winter.  

Damon laughed, loud and hearty. He didn't care about making a ruckus, it was an arcade after all, and you were meant to be loud. Besides, there was no one here anyway; it was still pretty early in the morning. 

"Lincoln. My best friend." 

"How come I've never seen him around before?"

"He doesn't like socialising."

"Ah." 

"Is your dad here? I need to ask him something."

"Uh, yeah, he's probably upstairs." By upstairs I meant my house. Or rather, my apartment. It was conveniently right above the arcade, and I lived in it with my mother and father. I was an only child. 

I gave Damon the key and he left for the stairs, muttering a small 'thanks'. I wasn't at all worried about letting him into my house. He was a close friend of mine, and had been up many times before. Dad often treated him like the son he never had.