Time Is All We Need

Chapter 18

The loud noises, the bright flashy lights, the giant never ending puff of smoke: a mixture between cigarettes and cigars, were not something Emily liked being around. But of course, Alison had dragged herself as well as Toby and Spencer to the casino in Philadelphia. Since it was officially Emily's birth month, Alison wanted her to take advantage of her opportunity. The casino gave out ten dollars in free play for your birthday.

Emily vowed to herself that she wouldn't spend a dime of her own in this place. She knew the odds of winning at these machines were very very low, and most likely she'd walk away with less than she came in. She knew she'd end up having to make the ten dollars stretch, since Alison, Toby, and Spencer were going to be spending some of their own money. And not to mention, they would be likely be consuming some alcoholic beverages. It was one thing she really hated about casino's, aside from the smell, the lights, and the giant crowds of people. They offered cheap booze in order to induce people to shove more money down the machine's throats, and thus, creating more profit for them.

For most of the time, Emily walked around. Her eyes fell onto all the older people, sitting at the quarter machines. She was happy to witness one of them win a decent chunk back from this rotten place. She sipped on her free water, and wondered how the other three were doing. They had split fairly early in the evening, Emily watched as the all three of them pushed buttons, seemingly not winning much.

"I think I'm going to walk around and find a machine." She claimed, but she wasn't even sure if anyone heard her. The constant ringing and buzzing of those who won, along with the chatter and laughter, made it almost impossible to hear.

So here she was, almost an hour later and she still hadn't used any of her free play. She spotted a machine in a corner, much of the area vacant of people besides a few couples and an older man. She sat down next to the older man, seeing he was up about thirty dollars, she smiled at him.

By some odd chance, she managed to sit upon a machine that was due for a payout. Although it wasn't a large payout since she was betting the bare minimum, she still ended up making fifty bucks out of the ordeal. She stood up, took her receipt, and was prepared to walk away with fifty bucks in hand, but she caught sight of a machine she was sure she could add to her winnings.

It was a simulated poker machine, the player against three other "computer" players. She sat down next to a man and presumably his girlfriend, not paying attention to the pair beside her, who were on the exact same machine as her.

Emily sat on the chair, feeling her head already starting to pound from the mixture of smoke and all of the lights. She was winning some money, not a whole lot since the machine was not a real person, but non-the-less, she was practically pulling in a dollar winning with each hand.

"Christ, we were playing on that machine, and you stole it from us. That's our money." She heard the gruff, annoying voice that she knew so well. She cringed, ultimately she tried to cash out and dash from the scene before his head turned but she couldn't leave during the middle of a round. "Oh, lucky day, it's just Fields the Freak." He smiled, facing her, a smirk on his face. She could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"James." Emily shot him a shy smile, and returned to playing out final portion of the hand. She had every intention of getting up and searching for Ali once this hand was over.

"Oh no, you little dyke." He stopped Emily from cashing out, gripping onto her wrist tightly. "You won't slip away with my money that quick" His grip on her wrist tightened, but luckily for her she was saved.

"Hey, how about you lay off?" Alison came behind Emily; Toby and Spencer watched it all unfold from behind Alison, her hand rested on the tanned girl's shoulder. She was giving James her best glare, feeling successful when he released Emily's wrist.