Chasing Calloway

Eighteen - One a.m.

Song Of The Chapter || Norman fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐄

After dinner (a completely gourmet, totally-not-straight-out-of-the box, batch of spaghetti and meatballs) we gathered around the TV, seated in mismatched couches and chairs that surrounded the screen. A round of Super Smash Bros. was on the TV as Lucas, Nick, Enid, and Garrett smashed the buttons on their controllers.

"Hey, Enid. Did you know you could press A to jump?" Teases Lucas as he thumbs the joystick.

"Did you know you could take your controller and shove it up your ass?" Enid responds. I hold back my laugh, Garrett and Nick do not. In that moment, Enid's character gets the upper hand and knocks Nick's character off the stage. Nick groans and runs a hand through his hair.

"I have fallen, brothers. Win for me." Nick sighs.

"You cheated!" Lucas accuses, but his eyes don't dare to leave the screen-based battle taking place in front of him.

"Or maybe you all just suck?" Enid responds, taking a split second to flip Lucas off before her right hand goes back to smashing the buttons on the controller. She still had to defeat Garrett and Lucas, after all.

Crass, but ultimately the best at everything she wants to be the best at. Whether it be comebacks, video games, school, fashion. Enid Cooke could do absolutely anything she set her mind to. I was so proud to have her as my best friend alongside Garrett, maybe I should show it more.

"Kick some ass, Enid." I holler. She winces a little, considering she's right next to me. But then she smiles. It's so pretty it could blind a whole room.

"Take that, suckers!" Enid brags, her eyes never straying from the screen. "Annie is rooting for me."

"Annie always roots for you." Lucas replies. He tries to act calm, but I can tell he's sweating. His character only has one more life. Though Enid isn't doing much better. All three of them have one life left.

"Because she's smart." Enid bites back. "She knows who will win." Enid grins wickedly as her character jumps out of the way of one of Lucas' attacks.

Lucas lets out a loud swear "I had been charging up that attack for thirty seconds." He mumbles.

"You'll have to wait thirty more." Enid rebutes and I let out a laugh.

My laugh only grows when I watch Garrett's character accidentally walk off the platform. "Damnit." He swears and my laughter cannot be contained at this point. Garrett is usually pretty alright at these games, but he just got himself out of the game.

"Something funny, Annie?" Garrett asks, he looks at me with an intrigued expression at my laughter that has gotten so big it's almost turned into snorts.

"You...you...you walked straight off the stage!" I holler with a cackle. Garrett looks at me, he smiles and shakes his head in response. Enid can't help but crack up at my laughter, she slips up when her eyes turn to me. Lucas takes the opportunity to attack.

Lucas's character hits Enid's right off the stage, she tries to recover but can't in time. Enid can only watch in dismay as her character falls off the stage and off the screen in quick succession. There is a flash and the words 'GAME!" flash over the screen. Lucas gets up and starts running around the room, doing his "victory lap" or whatever he likes to call it.