Arcade | s.m (✔️)

Twenty-Two

"Why's there a line?" I ask aloud, and the worker there answers my question.

"It's a race. One of you go on this side of the house, and the other go around until you see the second line. You'll only wait for about five minutes."

I give a smile to Shawn as he walks to the back of the fun house, and I can only think about how I'm going to completely beat him and get revenge on when he won the brownie competition.

After about seven minutes, I was next to go in, and I stretched a bit before the woman began to count down, tapping on my back to go when she hit zero.

I sprint into the house, running through a bunch of curtain drapes and going through a turning cylinder, before I stand in front of a hall of mirrors with very dim lighting. As I begin to carefully go through it, not slowing down my pace too much, I feel a hand go on my waist, and jump, turning around quickly.

Before I let out a scream, I recognize the person smiling in front of me as he says a single word.

"Boo."

"Oh, you're too funny." I say, rolling my eyes and trying to keep the smile off of my face.

"Not only am I a comedian, but I'm also planning on beating you. Not the first time I was crowned winner during one of our competitions though, right?" Shawn says, smirking at me.

"I don't think so. You cheated to win last time, and tried distracting me during the whole competition."

"Mind if I use that technique again?" Shawn's voice lowers into an almost whisper as he keeps a hand on my waist, backing me toward a mirror.

"In a fun house? Really? Also, I'm winning whether you like it or not, sorry."

"Did anyone tell you your competitive side is really hot?" Shawn's mouth is so close I can feel his breath on my neck, and as much as my knees feel the need to buckle in, I hold myself together.

"Mhm." Is all I respond with, before getting an idea.

I lean into Shawn and connect my lips with his, and soon enough we're in a pretty heated kiss. After gaining my concentration on what I originally was supposed to be doing, I direct Shawn further back from the finish, and once he hits a mirror we begin to slide down.

The moment he's completely off guard, I separate from the kiss quickly, getting up and sprinting rapidly through the hall, already knowing the path I needed to be going in to get out of here.

I don't hear Shawn's footsteps until I'm out of the hall of mirrors and extremely close to the exit, but they're far behind and I hear him yell two words before I find the drapes that marked the finish.

"Not cool!"

I laugh as I exit, my eyes widening when I realize that when we walked into the house, the sun was setting, and now it was completely dark. Guess I spent a little too much time on my plan to win.

"You're awful." Shawn breathes down my neck, obviously tired from the run he had to do to catch up with me.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you over the sound of my victory." I reply, not turning around to look at him.

However once we're away from the fun house and walking around, I turn to look at him, and hold back a laugh from his disheveled hair, courtesy of my plan.

"You owe me." I say after my eyes spot the Italian Ice booth, and he raises an eyebrow at me.

"When did we bet over you winning?"

"We didn't. But somehow I recall you saying you would get me an Italian Ice if I hung out with you here."

"Glad your company requires payment." Shawn tells me as we walk over and he orders two lemon flavored Italian ices, even after I told him that he probably wouldn't like it as much as I do.

I stand corrected though, as I watch Shawn eat spoonful after spoonful of the treat. After checking the time, we start to head towards the food tent, where everyone else would be in about eight minutes.

"Hey, look at that." Shawn says, directing to a large tent like booth that I hadn't seen before when we walked by here.

"Medium? Isn't that a ghost person?" I ask, skeptical, and Shawn nods, totally believing all of it.

"We can ask about the girl who walks by the beach every night." He says, and I roll my eyes.

"She wasn't a ghost."

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with following me into the mysterious tent, should you?"

Before I can object and mention the time, or say that it was a waste of time in general, Shawn is walking towards the place, like a moth drawn to a flame.

When we enter, I raise an eyebrow at the surroundings. I didn't see any skulls or mysterious bottles filled with questionable liquids on shelves. Instead, a woman with bright red hair and an even brighter smile walks over.

"Shawn! So good to see you. I've been expecting you for a while now." The woman says, and I wonder how she knows his name. Looking at Shawn's expression though, it seems like he's wondering the same thing.

"Um, who are you exactly?" Shawn asks, clearly uncomfortable, and she chuckles, her laugh smooth as silk.

"Oh, I've forgotten that we haven't met just yet. Well, you haven't met me, I haven't met you. Yet."

"Sorry?"

"Call me Mother Reenie. Oh, do sit down. By the way, still planning on that California road trip with your friends?"

Shawn and I both seat ourselves before the woman joins us, a wide smile on her face.

"So, what are we in here for? A palm reading? A connection to the spirit world? I could tell your future if that's what you'd like. Though Shawn, my future is truly your future."

She says this with a wink, and I watch as Shawn's face goes blank.

"Mm, it'll all come back to you at the hotel. 'Till then, she won't remember a thing either."

She adds more. "Though, you haven't even gone yet. You'll forget about this."

Noticing Shawn's confused look, I grab his hand and get up from my seat, smiling at the woman.

"I'm sorry, but we've really got to go. We'll stop by on our way out of the carnival though." I say, and Mother Reenie frowns.

"No you won't. Shame, Rose, I had so much to tell you. Never mind though, you must be off. She should be coming any time now."

Before I even consider asking who "she" is, I say goodbye, dragging Shawn with me to the exit.

I release his hand and as we begin to walk, Shawn bumps into a tan girl as she's about to walk into Mother Reenie's tent.

"Oh I'm sorry." The girl says, and Shawn smiles at her, telling her it was no big deal.

As she walks into the tent and we begin to go, I hear Mother Reenie's excited voice once more.

"Nora! Oh, I've been expecting you!"

ngl out of all the ff I've written I fw the shora/shanora vision the most

also Ramadan Mubarak!!

ALSO: some of you don't know about this, but Hotel Midnight has a sequel!!!! do they remember each other?? Find out in TRAVEL!!!!

that was so cheesy I'm sorry but read Travel lol

And if you haven't read Hotel Midnight, that's fine! you're always welcome to read Travel and then HM! I've got this story planned out y'all