Player One

- 9 -

"Y'know, you're lucky to have two guys crushing on you." Kayla hummed, making me spit out my soda. It was a balance of carbonation too. And it was now on my bed sheets, great. Thanks Kayla. I had invited her over just to talk, I mean, she was the first girl to join. Even then she was the only one I could probably relate to since Maryli was a senior. Besides, she seemed cool overall as a freshman. Though, her blunt words caught me off guard.

"W-What?" I stood up and began walking out of my room to grab a rag. When I returned, Kayla was moved from the dry side of the bed to my chair. She gave a blank look, one with slight surprise. I began to work on the stain while she just sighed.

"Don't you see that two of the boys in our group happen to fawn over you? Y'know, you should focus on your teenage life too. The game isn't everything." She huffed. "I mean, honestly, I can't believe you didn't notice. Even if you were invested with stopping the game, with a simple glance you should've been able to tell."

"It's not like I know how to tell. I don't delve into the world of romance." I retort, a snort of reply from her. I finished scrubbing at the stain before just pulling the sheets off to put in the laundry. I walk to put those up and Kayla follows.

"You don't need to delve into romance, you just need to pay attention. You're probably killing both of them without noticing! You're giving both of them attention whilst ignoring their pleads for more just to one up the other." Kayla continued on. "Of course, if you're not going to act upon it then I'm just not gonna tell you who. Though, it's painfully obvious."

"Fine then, I don't even care. I created a small group to stop the games, not worry about love." She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. I mean, I wouldn't mind dating someone but I don't think right now would be the best time. I'm still working on a plan to stop them! So far, I've been improvising and it was horrible improvisation.

"Whatever you say. It doesn't matter to me." Kayla replied calmly. "I should probably warn you that boys start to get clingy after their feelings aren't noticed for so long. If there's sudden initiation for getting closer it's because they want you to notice."

"Okay, Kayla. Now help me go and find something to write my notes on for biology."

~

I knew that Kayla warned me but for it to occur so soon was a surprise. So, my brother and I invited the group(Ace, Maryli, Kayla, Hugo, Wolf, Kyan, Jeremy, Lucas, Ren, and Elliott) to have some fun at a local carnival. I mean, we barely get a chance to all hang out together after school; and some of those people aren't even confirmed to be in our little group to stop the games.

We went as planned (though Maryli was unable to come due to National Honor Society taking up her time) and we ended up splitting up. Kayla, Ace, and Lucas walked off to go ride one of the rides, and Hugo, Wolf, and Ren made a dash for simulation type rides. Caleb and Elliott went off to the Ferris Wheel which left Jeremy and Kyan with me.

"Let's go to the boardwalk!  I heard they have games there." Kyan suggested. Jeremy shrugged his reply and I nodded enthusiastically.

"The boardwalk here is really fun too. I love the prizes you can get like stuffed animals." Jeremy's eyes slightly widen before giving a small smile.

"Don't you have so many at home? I mean, your room is overflowing with stuffed animals." Jeremy chuckled. I just nodded in agreement but also wanting more. I mean

"I want to have a world record for most stuffed animals, Jeremy." I laugh. Kyan laughs too but it sounds forced. We all agreed to the boardwalk and began to make our way there. I quickly dash over to one of the booths. It was the one that you threw plastic balls towards the bottles to knock them down. The prize was a large stuffed red panda. Red pandas were my favorite animal, though normal pandas were okay. "Look at the large red panda~!"

"Want me to get it for you, Maze?" Kyan grinned. I nodded with my own smile. The blonde paid the booth owner and threw the ball. It brushed pass the top bottle, but it stood cockily. Jeremy held his hand out towards Kyan.

"Let me try. You don't just lazily throw it." He bluntly stated. Kyan lightly growled but handed it over. He reeled his arm back before hurling it towards the bottles. He had missed the goal too, barely missing the bottles.

"Could I try? Hand me a ball, Kyan." The blonde smiled at me and handed me one. I narrowed my eyes to match it up before throwing it. It landed right in the middle, knocking all three down. The two boys beside me had their eyes widen in surprise and I smiled innocently. "Had I not mentioned that I have spectacular aim?" The man handed me the stuffed animal and I motioned the boys away from the booth. "There's plenty more, don't worry."

Thus, the rest of our walk consisted of multiple games of which either try to impress me; few have succeeded. To give specifics, Kyan tried the rings, the strength, darts, and the clown throwing. The only one that had me impressed was the rings. I'm pretty sure the ones he got were by luck too. Jeremy did the weight guessing, horse races, bean toss, and he gave a shot at the clowns too. Once again, the only one that caught my eye was the weight guessing game. He was pretty accurate!

I had fun too, not only with the few prizes they won me(Kyan earned me a flower and a banana; Jeremy got a dolphin and penguin). I actually got access to go in the small arcade they had. It was with traditional games, which were fun to mess around with. We played Space Invaders, Pacman, Centipede, and all those other games. 

"Hey Maze, I'm getting hungry. Want to head over to the food with me?" I nodded. I was really hungry. Watching the two of them trying to one-up each other got tiring. Especially when they were failing horribly.

"Is there something you want to eat, Jeremy?" The black hair nodded. We went over to the food stand. I was originally going to get a hot dog but when my eyes landed upon the sugar laced cotton I couldn't help myself. I got blue cotton candy, Kyan got some fries, and Jeremy stuck to some chips. "Ah, it's 4:36 we should start heading back."

We began to walk back towards the entrance. I unconsciously was walking near Kyan but an arm wrapped around my shoulder. Jeremy pulled me closer to his side with a light blush on his cheeks. I didn't bother moving though. I liked it, it felt comforting. Kyan just glared at Jeremy.

Maybe I should act upon obvious feelings of Jeremy and Kyan's, or even my own.