Bad Boy Chemistry

53. Arcade! Arcade!

Charlie's POV

Anyone would say that this was an awkward situation.

I was seated up against the window, Adam sitting right between Ace and I, eating his fries, whilst Adelaide sat next to Nora on the opposite side.

"Wait, you dated Tyson Pruitt?" Adelaide asked Nora.

They had been talking ever since Adelaide sat down beside her after retrieving Ace from the car. Ace, on the other hand, still hadn't spoken a single word.

"Yeah." Nora replied.

"Oh my god, I dated his brother!" Adelaide laughed.

The way they were conversing, you'd think they had been best friends for years.

I was so anxious that I hadn't even been able to eat my cheesy garlic bread. My lemonade on the other hand was already gone.

"Did that hurt?" Nora pointed to Adelaide's septum piercing. "I've always wanted to get one."

Adelaide gave a smile. "Uh, no not at all. I mean, it stung a little, like any other piercing. But it wasn't too bad."

"Charlie once pierced his septum!" Nora said. "Our parents got so mad at him and made him take it out. They even grounded him for two months." Nora brought up a memory I'd totally forgotten about.

I had gotten my septum pierced in the spur of the moment, earlier last year. At the time, I had thought it would've made me look cool. Thinking back on it now, I'm glad mom and dad made me take it out that very same day, I doubt it would have suited me.

"Charwy had a piercing?" Adam spoke with fries in his mouth.

"For about thirty minutes." I responded, my throat dry.

"You're friends with Ella Jonson, right?" Adelaide asked me, taking a bite of her hamburger.

"Uh, yeah." I said.

"She's a pretty cool girl."

I wanted to ask how they knew each other, but Ella pretty much knows everyone, so it wasn't really that surprising.

"Yeah." I agreed.

I should not have downed that lemonade so quickly, because now I needed to urinate, and I was stuck at the window seat.

Can they just hurry up and leave?

"Are you going to finish your garlic bread?" Nora asked me.

I grimaced at the thought and shook my head in answer.

"You only took one bite." Nora stated, like I didn't know I had only taken a singular bite.

"So?"

She gave me a look before starting up another conversation with Adelaide.

I turned my head around to see if the booth behind me was empty. When I saw that it was unoccupied, I slowly stood up on on my seat.

"Charlie? What are you doing?" Nora asked.

I put one leg onto the other booth seat. "Uh, going to the restroom."

Nora and Adelaide both laughed at me. "Why didn't you just ask them to move?" Adelaide asked me when she stopped chuckling, gesturing to her brothers.

"I didn't want to bother them." I responded, throwing my other leg over into the other booth and calmly making my way towards the restroom.

The lengths I go to to relieve myself.

By the time I got back to the booth, everyone was standing up, ready to leave.

"Are we going?" I asked Nora.

"We were thinking of heading to the arcade." She responded.

What the hell is going on? Are Nora and Adelaide besties now? They literally just met!

"Arcade! Arcade!" Adam chanted, hopping up and down with excitement.

"Oh." Was all I could manage to say.

Thankfully the arcade was literally just around the corner, so it was an easy walk from The Harpy's Nest.

Nora and Adelaide talked the entire way, while Adam and Ace walked in front of me as I ambled behind.

Maybe I should just call an Uber and head home.

When we finally reached the arcade, everyone disappeared into the maze of coin-operated games while I sat down on the first chair I could find.

I pulled out my phone and earphones and began to listen to music. I have about a thousand songs in my playlists, all for different moods, so I could literally wait here all night.

A text from Ryan came through, explaining that they lost their game by a few points, then he went as far to say that it was because he didn't have his good luck charm, which apparently is me?

I highly believe that my presence at a football match does not affect the outcome whatsoever.

I texted him back with a simple sad face emoji before forcing myself off of the bench.

I guess I could play a few games.

I walked deeper into the arcade and went straight for the Pac-Man machine. I used to come here often enough that I held the highest score, of course, it was now gone.

I began playing, my music still playing through my earphones as I used the lever to steer.

Thirty minutes later, though it felt like a century, I'd finally beaten the high score. I honestly thought it would have taken me all night to beat the highest score.

I gave a victorious sigh before I started walking to find the rest of the unlikely group.

Nora, Adelaide and Adam were playing games, meanwhile Ace was leaning his back against the wall, one foot on the ground, the other placed against the wall. His hands were in the pockets of his leather jacket, and his chocolate-coated swirls drooped down over his eyebrows before he kicked himself off of the wall and brushed his right hand through his hair.

He ambled his way towards me, shoving his hands back into his pockets as he approached.

"Do you wanna play air hockey?" He asked awkwardly.

I scoffed. He's joking, right?

Whatever happened to the whole 'we aren't friends' speech.

I rolled my eyes before giving him a glare. "I thought we weren't friends, in fact, you were pretty clear on that." I spat.

"I didn't mean it." He said, nonchalantly, his voice lower and huskier than usual.

"You were a complete jerk to me!" I stated. "And why?" I clenched my jaw before speaking again. "Because of what happened after the pillow fight?" My voice quiet.

He let out an extended sigh, shifting his posture before continuing to speak.

"I was told to stay away from you."

I knitted my brows together as I looked into his eyes. "Who?"

He looked upwards, his hands still in the pocket of his jacket. "Ryan."

Ryan told him to stay away from me? Why the hell? What gives him the right to tell people not to be near me?

"He's clearly jealous, I mean, look at me." Ace chuckled, giving his best model pose.

I couldn't help but slightly chuckle at that before my face fell.

"So, you were really going to stay away? Because Ryan said so?" I asked him.

He stifled to speak. "No." He took a breath. "He said something else, that uh..... made me feel a little uncomfortable." He paused.

"What else did he say?" I asked, slight anger creeping through.

"He said that you maybe have a thing for me?"

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Here is today's chapter! Hope you enjoy.

I might release another chapter later today, I'm not too sure at the moment.

Feel free to comment and vote :)