Drawing the Wildcard

Chapter 7: Ditching

The arcade is a great place to hang out after or during school hours. Good junk food, great games both new and old, and an overall friendly atmosphere. A 21 year old woman was leaning on the counter, playing with her purple streaked black hair in boredom.

"Seriously Jake, how did you trash those guys like that?" a familiar voice says, causing the woman to smile.

"A voice in my head told me what to do." Jake replies as the trio walks into the arcade.

"So you're crazy now? Well, crazier." Kit says with a smirk.

"Bite me, Garfield." Jake says, flipping the bird at Kit, though not with any malice in his voice.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite trio of truants. How's it hanging?" the woman greets with a smirk. Jake's eyes light up as he grins at the woman.

"Becky! How's my favorite arcade manager?" He asks with a grin, hugging the woman. Becky chuckles slightly and hugs him back.

"Bored until you three finally showed up. So, the usual ditching class?" She asks, making the three of them nod.

"Yeah. We just needed to get away from it all." Ari says. "That redhead isn't here, is she?" she asks, unconsciously holding Kit's arm a bit tighter. Jake snickers at the possessive behavior that Ari is showing.

"Haven't seen her today, Ari. You guys want the usual?"

"You know it, Becky." Kit says with a smirk. Becky smiles and writes something down on a notepad.

"OK. So one large half meat, half veggie pizza, buffalo wings, cheesy bacon fries, and 3 root beer floats." She says with a smile. "Coming right up." The trio nods and takes their seats at a nearby booth while Becky heads into the kitchen.

"So, what are we gonna do for Homecoming?" Kit asks.

"Well, I know for a fact that you and Ari are gonna be doing each other." Jake says with a snicker, only to hiss in pain slightly after Ari kicked his shin from under the table.

"Ass." She mutters with a blush on her face.

"Love you too, sweetness." Jake says with a grin, only to snicker when Ari flips him off. "I don't know, Kit. Probably just gonna hang out by myself. Everyone else has a date."

"Does Peter have a date?" Ari asks. Jake snorts slightly at this.

"Nope. Petey is way too scared to ask Gwen. If I was attracted to her, I would've asked her to go."

"Wait. You don't like Gwen? How come?" Kit asks.

"She's just not attractive to me." Jake replies, sparing a glance at Ari for a second. "Besides, Gwen isn't exactly my type." He says, only to smile once Becky arrives with their order.

"Here you go, you guys. Enjoy." She says with a smile and walks away. The trio thank her and begin to eat.

"What is your type anyway, Jake?" Ari asks. Jake finishes his slice of pizza before looking at her.

"You know my type, Ari. Remember that we dated for a while before Sylvester came to town." Jake replies with a smile. Ari nods in understanding. After all, she was his type of girl to date. Despite having to deal with Jake's jokes about her and Kit's sex life, Ari is thankful that the two of them haven't stopped being friends. She wouldn't know what to do if Jake decided to leave.

"You know eventually I'm gonna have more embarrassing nicknames to call you, right Jake?" Kit pipes up, bringing Ari back to reality.

"Good luck, pussycat." Jake replies cheekily, sipping his root beer float. Ari whispers something in Kit's ear, making him grin deviously.

"Thanks....Jay-Jay." He says, making Ari snicker slightly and Jake look at him in slight annoyance.

"Of course you know, this means war, Felix." Jake says with a smirk, making Kit's cat ears twitch in mild annoyance.

"Bring it."

"To the 'Street Fighter' game!"

"You're on!" And with that, Jake and Kit got up and rushed to the nearest 'Street Fighter' game. Ari only smiles and shakes her head as she gets up to follow them.

'They're my boys. And I wouldn't want it any other way.' She thinks to herself as she watches them play the game while shouting obscenities at each other.