Smile Like You Mean It (One)

Chapter Four

"It's a nice house," Sal smiled, as he followed Bryony up the stairs to her bedroom. He took a seat on the edge of her bed, as she dropped her schoolbag to the floor, and sat beside him. Sal looked around the walls, seeing poster after poster covering the surface, his eyes coming to land on a Star Wars Return of the Jedi poster. "I like your posters."

"Thank you." She smiled, before an uncomfortable silence came between them. Bryony stood from the bed, walking over to her desk, as she switched the computer on. She turned back to Sal, gesturing for him to take a seat, as the PC booted up. "You can play some Rebel Assault...if you want to, of course."

Sal nodded his head, as he made his way over to the desk, taking a seat in the chair, as she set up the game for him. He started a new game, letting level one load up, as he turned back to face the girl.

"But it's only one player? Don't you want to have a go as well?" He asked, as she shook her head.

"I've already completed it multiple times, you enjoy it while I go and get us some food." She smiled, walking out of the room, leaving the boy to it.

Sal stared mindlessly at the monitor, focusing on his task at hand, as he smashed at the buttons on the keyboard. Passing level one, the game moved him up a level, the difficulty of the game already increasing. Sal fought against the enemies, his health slowly decreasing down to one bar. As Bryony re-entered the room, with a handful of snacks for them both, Sal's character died. He cursed under his breath, slamming his fist against the desk, soon coming to realise that Bryony was behind him laughing.

"What's so funny?" He chuckled, admiring her smile once more.

"Rage much?" She teased, as his cheeks blushed wildly. Sal went to swap places with her, when Bryony took a seat on his knee, taking her turn on the game. His breath caught in his throat, the moment taking him by surprise. His feelings towards the girl were still a conflict inside of his mind, battling with himself to refrain from doing or saying anything that he'd regret. Beating his score, and reaching level five before even losing any health at all, Bryony displayed her skills at video games. Sal stared in awe from behind, his heart racing – not only down to the adrenaline pumping through his veins over the excitement of the game itself, but also down to how this girl was even more impressive than he originally thought.

As her character died, after a nasty battle against the Empire TIE fighters, Bryony turned to find Sal smiling proudly at her. He stumbled, trying to find the right words to say, but to no avail. He stammered hard, the shock evident across his features, causing Bryony to laugh lightly.

"You're...incredible." His eyes shifted to meet with hers, before he saw the time shown on the clock on the wall. He jumped up from his seat, causing Bryony to follow suit, as he grabbed his bag, slipping one strap over his shoulder. "I'd better get going, or Ma will be worried about me. I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?"

"Of course." Bryony answered, as she led him back down the stairs to the front door. Sal stepped outside, turning back to look at her, his eyes studying her face. He soon realised that he was staring, as he shook himself out of his daydreams, a nervous smile pulling at his lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." He announced, turning to walk down the path. He reached the sidewalk, smiling back at the girl, as she waved to him, closing the door to her home.

Sal started on his walk back home, his mind whirling over the day. His feet shuffled along the concrete, with his hands stuffed into his pockets, soon arriving back at his house. He stepped through the front door, as his mother met him in the entrance hall.

"How was your first day back, Darling?" She asked, as he dropped his bag to the floor, removing his sneakers from his feet, and pulled his hoodie from atop of his shoulders.