Broken

Chapter 33

Ethan

The sound of video games and teenage laughter filled the air. All around me were people with their eyes fixed on big screens, playing a variety of different games.

The arcade looks a bit different than it was when I was a kid.

The poorly painted walls now have a nice purple wallpaper. That one broken ceiling light that dad and I joked would never get fixed in a million years is now replaced with a sleek hanging light like all the others. There are new games available now. The guy who used to run this place was an old friend of my dad. However, I heard he moved away and so someone else owns the business now. Of course, things have changed...

The loud thud made by Rachel as she slammed the mallet on top of a mouse popping out of the whack a mole machine, makes me flinch.

"You know, you don't need to hit it so hard," I tell her calmly as I shift her bag and the tickets between my hands.

"Shut up, will you? Let me focus" She answers with an irritated look.

I sigh, trying to calm myself. How did we end up in this situation?

The game comes to an end with a string of tickets coming out of the machine. She takes them out and hands them to me.

"Ok next game. Give me a coin." She demands with an excited look on her face.

"We're all out. That was the last one. How about we call it a day and go home?" I say to her. I need to follow her if I ever want to find out if she's actually Morgan or not.

Her excited look gets replaced with a grim one.

"Then why are you standing here like an idiot? Go and get more."

I stare at her for a few seconds with an annoyed expression.

"Excuse me!? I already wasted a lot on these coins. We've been here for more than an hour. It's enough now!"

All of a sudden she grabs my collar and pulls my head towards hers. The motion surprises me has me feeling frustrated. She silently stares at me with a smirk, our heads just inches away from each other. Unable to look her in the eye, I turn my gaze left as the warmth on my face makes me uneasy and I could smell the scent of her citrus perfume.

What the hell is she doing!?

"What? You did say you wanted to be my friend, right? Well since we're 'friends', and friends would do aaaanything for each other, can't you do this for me? Or is it that in your books, money is more precious."

I frown and manage to look back at her. Her big brown eyes.

"What are you trying to do here?"

She flashes a devilish grin "Just trying to have fun. You have a choice too, Ethan. Either leave and stop bothering me. Or stay here, be a good friend and do as I say. But if you won't leave or obey me...well, you remember that buff looking manager we saw earlier? He's an ex-soldier. Rumour has it that he once sent a guy who was harassing a girl in his arcade to the hospital. You get what I'm saying right?" She lets go of my collar and steps back.

Seriously? While I would say she has me trapped, I can think of many loopholes. If she really is Morgan, all I'd take for me is one call or shout. She's the one at a disadvantage here but yet she's acting like she's got me all cornered.