Pen pal

9

"We're here!" Jack yelled as he put the car in park. I looked up to find a small building. It had letters above the door that read A.F.Z.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Have you never been here?" Jack asked. I shook my head, telling him I had not. "It's only the best place on earth, 'Arcade Fun Zone'." My eared shot up. I was always up for a arcade. My body flung itself out of the car as I grabbed Jacks hand and ran inside.

I looked around the room, they had all the original games. Pac-Man, donkey Kong, space invaders, even centipede! Every isle you looked down there was a game. My chocolate brown eyes seemed to sparkle at the sight of all of the games. "Go on," Jack nudged at my arm. "I'll go get us some quarters." My eyes quickly farted to a very specific game, my favorite game, Mario Kart 8. I shuffled myself over to it and entered two quarters. Now, if you had asked anyone that knew me, they would say to not challenge me to a Mario Kart race. I was just too good. But now, Jack was here, he was fresh meat to me, and possibly a worthy opponent.

I clicked 'two players' and saw Jack was coming over. "Choose your character, Jack." I said in a announcer voice that I didn't pull off to well. Jack chuckled.

"I'll be... shy guy."

"What? Shy guy? Really?" I asked.

"Well yeah, I'm surprised you didn't pick him. You guys are perfect for each other!" Jack and I burst out laughing as I chose my signature character, Princess Peach.

The game started, Jack instantly took lead. No problem though, as I could easily side swoop him.
I got a red shell, now I could take him out. I glanced over to him, he had the biggest smile on his face, I shot the red shell back, instantly hitting Donkey Kong behind me.
In the end, with five more meters to go, with Jack in first and myself in second, I slid next to him and pulled a mushroom out, putting me in the lead with half a second to spare.

I jumped back and started doing a victory dance, it obviously wasn't that good because, it's me dancing, but it still got the message through.

"Where did you learn to get so good at this game! You were on my ass the whole time."

"Grew up with it. Nobody I've ever played has beat me, well except my brother, Adrian, but he was four years older than me when I first played him." I said.

"Well, what do you want to do now? Play another game?" He asked.

I nodded my head. "You choose"

Jack looked up, thinking about what to pick. He waited so long to choose, when he finally knew what he wanted he gasped, causing me to jump. Jack laughed at how jumpy I am. "Let's play PAC MAN. Whoever gets more points wins. aka me."

"Don't be so sure Jack." I gave a smirk. I secretly knew Jack would beat me, I was never good at PAC MAN. But hey, it would be cute to see him get excited.

———————

"AH HA!" Jack yelled, pushing his fist into the air. "Guess who won? Jack won. Guess who lost? Dan lost." He sung while attempting to do a cool dance.

I laughed at how obnoxious he was being. "You are a dork. Phil did this all the ti-" I stopped myself. Mentally cursing for even thinking about him right now. I was supposed to be having fun with this amazing guy, who cares enough about me to take me to a arcade when I'm feeling down. Not thinking about Phil.

"Who's Phil?" Jack asked.

"Ex-friend."

"Oh..." he paused. "You should go talk to him."

I looked up to meet eye to eye with Jack. "B- but I'm having a good time here."

Jack chuckled. "Yes, you are, and it's adorable, but you obviously have something else on your mind. Go talk to him, Dan."

"Why are you the wisest person on earth?" I laughed.

Jack shrugged. "Common, I'll give you a ride back to your house. School hours are almost over."

I checked the time on my phone. It was 2:48. Mom and Dad were still at home right about now. Maybe, if we went slow enough, they could leave before we get there. I just didn't want Jack to hear my parents yelling at how shit they are to each other. "O-okay." I said. "Just one thing."

"Yeah?"

"Can I hold your hand?"

Jack smiled to himself. "Sure." He chuckled. He put his hand out for me to grab. I laced my fingers around his, and scooted closer to him. He was really warm. I didn't know someone could provide this much comfort to another human. I liked it.

We soon got to the car, where I had to let go of him. I told him which turns to take and what roads to be on until we arrived at my street. Not before we pulled up to my house, I could see the cars parked into the drive way. I could mentally hear the screams from here. "You are nothing to this family. All you do is work and drink!" I could hear my mother yell. "Yeah? Well all you do is sit on your ass and scream at me for no reason!"

"Everything okay, Dan?" Jacks voice stood out from the screams in my mind like a sore thumb.

"no" I whispered, on the verge of tears.

"Hm?"

"Y-Yeah. Everything is fine. It's the blue house with the black mailbox."

Before jack pulled up to the house, my fathers blue S.U.V rushed out of the driveway.

I sighed. Soon followed by my mothers red S.U.V too.

I opened the car door, and grabbed my bag. "Thanks for everything." I said fast and walked into my front door, ignoring the fact that my parents forgot to lock it. My foot kicked the door closed, as I slid down it, pulling my knees to my chest, and cried. I cried until I couldn't feel anything. Until I felt like a empty beer bottle- which I could use one right now.

I slung myself up, going over to the liquor cabinet to find a vodka bottle. I grabbed it and walked into my room, slamming the door behind me and locking it. I knew I was gunna cry more, and I didn't want to hear how worthless I am, so I grabbed my Bluetooth speaker and played MCR as loud as I could.

My body fell to the floor, the only comfort I had now was to cradle the alcohol in my arms. In a way, it was kinda soothing.

Well, new chapter. Sorry it's been so long. I've been kinda a reck lately. Completely my fault tbh. Sorry if there is typos, it's 12:15 am and I have school tomorrow. fun. Anyway, hru guys?