Times - h.s.

The Fallen Chopsticks

     "No." I sighed, moving my thumb across the game board.

"Yes."

"No!" My hand swept across the entire thing and knocked over everyone's pawns, making them land on the wood floor with little thuds.

"God damn it, Alexa! I was winning!" Brin shrieked, hands immediately sweeping over the floor to pick up the game pieces. "Nobody move! I remember where we were!"

Mark laughed and gently pushed Brin's stack of monopoly money over the edge of the table, making her scream in horror.

"You guys are so evil! I was winning, I was the queen of Park Place!" Her hands moved in panic but eventually she gave up and sat still, her eyes moving to everywhere but mine.

"You were going to win anyways, why are you upset?" I chuckled, helping her pick up the stray bills that had floated under the sofa. Her only response was a glare at me.

"So," Mark clapped. "Can we eat our take-out now? I'm pretty sure it's almost cold." And it probably was, because we were forced against our will to refrain from taking a food break while playing.

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to facetime Jace really quick." Brin told us, then stood up and headed towards her room in the apartment. "I'll be back losers."

Her voice was faint in the privacy of her room while Mark and I wasted no time in opening our boxes of Chinese food and went ham. I couldn't even focus on how I looked, all I cared about was satisfying the hunger I had.

"How was your day yesterday?" I slowly asked Mark, trying to swallow a piece of broccoli.

"It was kind of a drag, I really wished we would've hung out. Maybe we could've gone to the park together." He spoke, his hand resting the box on the table and slowly grazing my mine for a few seconds.

The sudden contact made my heart freeze and the mention of the park didn't help. I had flashbacks in my mind of the strange girl that I saw, her long blonde locks of hair swaying in my memory, her voice tantalizingly haunting me.

"The park?" I muttered, quickly shoving a spoonful of rice in my mouth to prevent me from stuttering.

Mark reached over to grab his plastic cup and drank from it, then dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "Yeah, didn't you say you were there?"

I did? No I didn't. I really didn't. "Um, I mentioned going to the beach a while ago but no... no park." I clarified. His face set into a frown and I think he realized he must've gotten confused, just as I was.

"Oh, that's right! Sorry, I got it mixed up." He half smiled. The conversation didn't progress more, we just resumed eating.

Eventually, Brin came out of her room and rolled her eyes. "I honestly hate how he thinks he can lie to me and not expect me to find out about it." She rounded the table and pulled out a chair, sitting on her legs and snatching her own box - only rice and noodles inside.

"Who are we talking about?" Mark questioned. He cleared his throat and then finished cleaning his mouth and fingers before shoving the used napkins inside the empty box and pushing it aside.

"Jace. My stupid boyfriend." She said with a mouthful of noodles.

"Ohh. I see, what did he lie about?"

"He thinks that I am so oblivious to him always flirting with girls at his work, but any person with a pair of eyes could tell. I mean, how many times could you give away cups of coffee for free before it becomes more than casual?"