My Heart's Choice (On Hold)

Chapter 14

Mason and I walks inside the arcade building and are greeted by the bubbly laughter echoing inside. I step in cautiously, hoping that this can come to an end as soon as possible.

Mason shoots his arm over my shoulder and pulls me closer. I look at him, my nose scrunching up involuntarily at the aspect of close proximity. He looks down at me.

"Oh trust me, Dana. I am not fond of sticking by your side either," he says matter-of-factly, and waggles his brows.

It looks strange on his face. His mouth sliding to form a tiny smirk and his thick eyebrows bounce up and down. It makes me burst out laughing and push myself off his grasp, which takes Mason by surprise.

"It is not everyday that everyone gets to laugh," a voice says, "so it is best to laugh when it is still possible."

Mason's mouth twitch a bit and he snaps his head to the right to come face to face with Rhea. Their eyes connect for just a moment, and it does not take a genius to understand how much they miss each other.

Seth walks up to Rhea and snakes his arm around her waist, much to Mason's dismay. It appears that he uses all his strength to keep himself from beating the hell out of Seth.

"Hey, man," Seth extends an arm towards Mason, "What a coincidence."

Mason's arms fist up beside him and anger flashes across his eyes. He grits his teeth together. A staring contest continues for a few minutes between Mason and Seth. Mason in anger and Seth in confusion.

"I have to go laugh now," Mason says, his voice cold and posture rigid, "For it is not everyday that everybody gets to laugh."

Seth watches in shock, confusion oozing out of his eyes.

"Wha-" Seth begins, but Mason pulls at my arm and leads me away, towards the game machines.

Mason bangs his fists on a game machine, grabbing its console. But before he can do anything with it, Rhea stomps over to the machine right next to it with a confused Seth following behind.

"Whoa, this is some game that I've wanted to play for some time," Rhea exclaims, placing her hands on the joystick.

The machine which she is at, powers up and a digital space ship powers to life. It hovers in the blue galactic background and on Rhea's command, fires at the oncoming spaceships. A series of futuristic gunshots echo in the air.

"This is so cool," she smirks and gives Mason a short sideways glance.

And the next moment, her spaceship explodes and the words 'Game Over' splash across her screen.

"Freaky machine!" Rhea exclaims, punching the joystick.

"Oh that's fine, let me help you," Seth says, beaming at Rhea.

He walks over to her and grabs hold of her palms from behind her. Placing a quick kiss on her neck, he pulls her fingers over the joystick and together, they begin firing at space-ships.

At the sight of Seth sticking himself to Rhea's body, Mason's fingers ball up into fists and his knuckles turn white. His nostrils flare and it appears that he is making a life-changing decision.

His eyes turn to me, still blazing with anger.

"Play this!" he orders to me, pointing at the game machine right infront of him.

I gulp. I have never played such stuff at an arcade. I come face to face with the glowing screen. Mason opens the game for me and my fingers grip the joystick for dear life.

A metallic space ship appears in the screen, and a few seconds later I spot little 'enemy' ships approaching my way. The screen lights up with them firing at me.