After Dusk

1.1

Roslyn

James and I arrive at the arcade for our night out. Since neither of us are going to school tomorrow, there is no need to worry about staying out too late. We can relax out here for as long as we want. The only thing that could stop us is our parents.

We walk into the building and are immediately overwhelmed by the busy atmosphere around us. Neon lights flash on and off, momentarily blinding me. I don't know where to look. My attention is drawn to a different game every time the lights flash.

For a school night, there seems to be a lot of people in here. I'm sure they will clear out within the next few hours. "I'll race ya to the skeeball!" I smile, waiting for him to engage. I hope I can get him out of his shell a little bit and help him relax, even if it is just for a little while.

"Are you sure you should-" before James can even finish his sentence, I am running off towards the game.

I grab a ball and turn around to wait for him to arrive so that I can crush him in this game. I rock at skeeball. He is in for quite the shock if she thinks he is going to beat me at this.

James smirks when he finally reaches the area I am in. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm kind of awesome at this game. I've had years of practice..." he reminds me how old he is.

I nod. "I am as well. Tonight, we get to see who the true champion is." I hand him the ball I had in my hands and grab a new one of my own. "It's on." I say as I throw my first ball, landing it in the 100 point hole.

James does the same, almost landing it in the 100 hole. I nod. He is going to be harder to beat than I thought. My next ball lands in the 25 point hole. James scores another 100. I am going to have to step up my game if I want to beat him. I score as many 100's as I can, hoping he will mess up and get a five or another low scoring hole.

I can't lose.

The final score comes to 1120 for me and 1125 for him. He beat me by five points. He is never going to let me live this down. I don't blame him. If I won, I would do the exact same thing to him. I would be gloating all night.