The Deal || Luke Hemmings

A Game and a Few Shots

Luke

       How could I be so careless to even talk to her that day? But then again, I know I shouldn't have been angry anyway, since it was my fault from the beginning. Cara probably hated me even more and I didn't blame her for it.

But I had other things to attend to now.

"Hey Luke," Calum waved his hand in front of my face. "Stop dozing off, will you?"

"It's hard not to do that when the person in front of you is so boring."

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe if I punched someone, you'd find me more entertaining then."

"No one's stopping you," I shrugged.

"Luke," he looked at me like I was some sort of naughty child. "You should calm down a bit."

"Right, because walking casually around the hallway doesn't make me calm." I told him sarcastically.

He kept quiet and continued walking. It looked like he was trying to think of what to say next.

"That was one hard punch though," he finally said. "I'm pretty sure the next time we'll have band practice, Ashton will give you a hard time with his drums. He'll bang on it so loudly you won't be heard singing."

"Not if Cara's there," I simpered.

He didn't push it any further, so we headed to our lockers without talking.

"Tell you what," he whispered. "Let's grab something to drink later."

"I think I'll pass." I shook my head. "I've got plans."

"Suit yourself. Just make sure you won't punch anyone," he snickered. "Or better yet, make sure you won't be the one to take the hit."

-

I had received a text from Calum telling me the name of the place he was going to for a drink, but I didn't reply.

Standing right in front of me was a sign with the words:

             Gamers Central

And so I walked inside.

"Nice seeing you here." I took a seat next to the person dressed in all black. He kept his hands firmly planted on the device.

"What made you come here?"

I took hold of one of the controllers and replied, "The usual, Michael. I wanted to, you know, play some games."

He shifted in his seat and slowly went back to resume his game. I watched as he moved his fingers quickly against the various buttons to avoid getting hit. Several minutes had passed and he finally knocked down his opponent.

"Hey, good job," I said.

"Thanks."

"Do you play games often?" I asked, pausing my game the moment it started.

"Yeah," he laughed nervously.

"Why don't you do it at home?" I pressed on.

"Mom isn't a huge fan," he said. "How about you? Why are you playing games here?"

"Same reason as you," I lied. "You come here by yourself all the time?"

"No," he spoke slowly now. "I sometimes bring Ashton along."

"I didn't know he was a gamer like you."

Ashton didn't even play FIFA. How was he supposed to have a sudden fascination over Gamers Central? He wasn't in to these things, unless he found a virtual drum kit somewhere here.