Feelings Incarnate | ✓

10 | Arcade Mirth

Kiara࿐

A few minutes later, we arrived at the gaming arena.

Rows of machines with glowing screens and multiple controls filled the area. The floor was polished, and neon lights trimmed the ceiling. The games beeping, kids laughing and cheering filled the air. Kids and adults swarmed the place, but thankfully it wasn't too crowded.

My eyes instantly fell on a claw machine filled with adorable stuffed toys where a purple unicorn caught my eye. I scurried towards it and gazed at the unicorn.

"I wanna play this!" I gushed, hands clapping together like a child.

"I'm going to play that apocalypse shit over there!" Rose giggled and dashed over to a machine with two plastic guns stacked beside it.

I searched for the coin exchanger. Once I caught sight of it, I was about to rush towards it when Hayden stopped me.

"I'll get the tokens, and you wait here." He blocked my way, shooting me a stern look. "Someone else might take over."

I nodded as he stalked off to the coin exchanger. I turned around and eyed the little buttons on the claw machine. There was one that had an arrow facing forward and another with the arrow facing the right. I've never played with one before so, I wasn't exactly sure how it worked.

"Here." Hayden returned, handing me some tokens.

"Thanks," I beamed, taking them from him.

I inserted a token into the slot, and lights began blinking on the machine.

Taking a huge breath, I pressed the forward arrow, keeping my eyes on the unicorn staring at me with its beady eyes. I noticed Hayden watching me out of the corner of my eyes, a hint of amusement dancing among his features. But I decided to ignore him and focus on the claw instead.

I removed my finger from the forward button and pressed the button with the right-facing arrow. The claw stopped a little in front of the unicorn. I was just about to press the forward button again when, to my surprise, the claw dove in.

"No, no, no! You weren't supposed to go in yet!" I cried as I watched the claw close in on thin air.

Meanwhile, Hayden was guffawing beside me. I glared at him, wondering what on earth was so funny.

"You can't press on the same button twice, idiot," he blurted out between hiccups.

"What?!" I screeched, "You didn't think to tell me that before I started? I just lost a precious token!"

That just made him laugh even harder. I grumbled under my breath and turned back to the machine.

This time, when I popped another token into the slot, I pressed the forward button carefully, making sure that it aligned with the unicorn's position. Then I pressed the right button and made sure to lift my thumb only when the claw was above the unicorn. Exhaling, I removed my thumb from the button and brought my hands together, hopefully as I watched the claw plunge in.

The claw clutched the unicorn unstably by the head and ascended. Both Hayden and I were gawking at the claw, our eyes wide. But to my disappointment, the unicorn slipped out of the claw's grip just as it was about to be dropped into the chute.

I groaned in frustration and crouched down. "Why does this machine hate me?" I sighed exasperatedly, slapping my hand on my forehead.

He chuckled before saying, "Let me try." He walked up to the machine and inserted a token into the slot. "You want the unicorn, right?"