Devil Inside (Ben Bruce)

5

Ben's POV: 

Since the only other option was to ride in the same van as the crew until we could buy another one, we were all cramped. The van remained strictly for travel and sleeping. That was it. So I was walking down the street alone, smoking. I can't stop thinking about my continuous encounters with Lily. 

Me: lily? 

Lily: yes? 

Me: where r u? 

Lily: work shift's almost over

Me: there's an old arcade here

Lily: do u want to go

Me: will u take me? 

Lily: r u asking me out

Me: ofc not. Loyal only to Alexandria. She's my girl for life

Lily: srsly

Me: yes, fine. I'm asking you out

I drew a long smoke, ignoring my screen. She's not going to say yes. She barely knows me. I barely know her. This is so stupid. I should have just had a one night stand with her and gotten it over with. I dared myself to look at the screen. 

Lily: Yes

Now all I have to do is wait for her to come. 

It was within a half an hour that I hear footsteps approaching me on the sidewalk. I looked in their direction and saw Lily walking towards me. I felt relieved. It could have been a complete stranger. 

"You have money, right?" She asked when she was close enough. 

I dropped my cigarette and stomped on it. "Yeah, why?"

"I don't have any." She looked down at her feet.

"Oh, that's nothing to worry about. I'll pay." I guess a waitress's salary at a shitty diner isn't much to work with. 

We walked inside, and like much of the town, the place was pretty worn out. I looked around for someone else inside of there. There was no one. Lily pointed to a machine that would give change. 

"Is this really legal?" I asked, walking up to the machine as I put a few dollars in. 

"I don't know. There's never many people around town. Everyone hangs out at either the bar or their houses." She shrugged as she spoke. She took the change that came out of the machine and motioned for me to follow her. "I've been here before though. It still works." She sat down at a racing game. When I just stood there awkwardly, she motioned for me to sit at the other one. 

"How did this place become such a ghost town?"

"That's a long story. I don't want to tell it right now." She shivered as she put a quarter into both of our slots. 

"It's against each other?" I asked.

"Yeah, and the computer sucks like nothing else." She smiled. "It's better against someone real."

The screen lit up and announced a race, informing how to use the controls. Before I could finish reading it, the screen went away and a light began counting down the time before the race began. "Wait!" I yelled at it. 

Lily took off way before me, seeing as how she already knew how to play the game. I followed her lead, with the petal and the steering wheel. "I'm going to win!" She announced. 

After the first lap, I finally had a hang of the controls. It wasn't so bad once you knew how to play. In fact, I even managed to catch up to her. I grinned as my car passed hers, putting me in the lead for the final lap. She crashed into me though, throwing me off course and putting herself back into the lead for the win. I followed behind within seconds.