The Etiquette of Smoking

Kawaii

The second Max pulled on the release of his door, George roughly kicked Max in the ribs, effectively shoving his unexpecting Aussie friend to the pavement. As George stepped over Max's crumpled body, Max grabbed onto Joji's ankle, almost tripping him.

"Cunt." Max hissed, though a smile appeared on his face not a second later. Joji grinned before shutting the door, cutting off my view of them. I took that moment to step out of the car as well. Niki slid out of the passenger side, flashing me a smile and a friendly eyeroll at the boys' antics before hooking her arm in mine and pulling me along with her.

"Where have ya fucking twats been? I've been waiting for like 20 minutes." Chad emerged from a tiny silver car that was parked 3 spots over. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail again and his once thick beard was trimmed down significantly. He approached Ian just a few steps behind Niki and I as we all walked through the parking lot towards the arcade.

"And yet, you're still alive," Ian mocked, earning a pout from Chad. "I told you we had to pick up Liv."

"Oh, that's right," Chad mused before spinning to walk backwards alongside Ian and make eye contact with George and Max behind him. "Happy birthday, fag." The sweet greeting meant for Max reached my ears.

"Fuck off ya fat bitch." Max smiled, clearly in a great mood and I was too. Everyone was in a good mood, smiling or laughing with each other. No tension.

The arcade we stepped into was huge, and I mean it was the biggest arcade I'd ever seen in my life. Two stories, a bar off to the side, rows of machines that stretched so far back that I couldn't see the end, and a small food court beside the bar that smelled of fresh popcorn. The arcade itself was incredibly dark, the only light being omitted was from the machines, creating a splendor of varying neon hues.

To the right of us, at the door, was a ticket booth that was completely lit up and visible, where we could purchase admittance and purchase points for play cards that were used instead of change. George pushed his way to the front, just as Niki and I we were about to pay.

"I've got it." He said, pulling a card from his wallet and handing it to the teenage boy standing behind the counter. Any peep of objection I made was swiftly dismissed by him so I sighed and let him get this one. He purchased the party pack, a 12 person admittance that included 999 points for each person's card but since there were only 6 of us, we were all given a 2nd play card, so really it was 2,000 points each. We would never spend all of it tonight but it was a genuine gesture and everyone thanked Joji for his kindness.

"Yeah, that's my birthday gift, don't ask me for shit else." George joked to Max, handing him 2 cards. Max patted Joji's arm with a smile and another thank you before they took off to the floor to go play games.

"What do you want to play?" Niki asked me as we made our way down the rows of pinball machines. I looked around for something we could both do together that would be fun and spotted some air hockey tables up ahead. I squealed, pulling her along with me to the tables. A few other people were occupying them but an open table sat to the farthest right so I made my way towards it.

"I'm not great at this." Niki murmured, picking up the plastic handle and observing it. I swiped my card, watching as the light on the card reader went from red to green and the table dispersed a little orange puck. Air began blowing softly from the holes covering the top of the table, it was ready to play.

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12 minutes later, Niki had won 7 to 5 and was celebrating her victory by dancing around the table. I put my handle down and feigned annoyance, but I couldn't hide the smile that leapt onto my face at her joy.