a cigarette for cade | ongoing

09 | game night

"Big or small, lies are lies."
- Unknown -

[ N I N E ]
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"EAT SHIT, GABRIEL!" hollered Andrei as he frantically pressed the buttons on his controller. Gabriel, who was sitting beside him, was growing redder by the second.

"Yeah!" Andrei screamed when Cade's character had his head blown off. "Hell yeah! Take that, Everett."

I turned to Naomi. "Are they always this competitive?"

"You wouldn't imagine the things my little brother has called me while playing video games," she laughed, and scooped some guacamole onto her nacho. "Bad things."

Perhaps yelling profanities at a TV screen was a way to display masculine dominance.

"So," she said again after a while. "Going anywhere tonight?"

My head snapped towards her direction. She couldn't possibly know that I was hanging out with Eli, right? The last thing I needed was Naomi to bug me about it in front of Cade. Not to mention he was probably going to get all moody again.

"Nope," I said in my best I'm-totally-not-lying-about-hanging-out-with-Eli voice.

"Well," she smiled, and grabbed my shoulders. "There's a Football Game tonight. It's Eastwood against St. Grove Milton."

"Eagles versus Mustangs," added Gabriel.

"Interesting," I said.

"We're going," she said. "Wanna come?"

"I'm not a big football fan," I shrugged. It was a white lie. "And I've got to study for exams. I think I'll pass."

She looked at me suspiciously for a while, before shrugging and shoving another chip into her mouth.

I met Naomi in the summer of grade 8, and even at that time, she was drop dead gorgeous. I didn't get how someone could eat that much and still be built like a model.

Subconsciously, I poked at my stomach. Before high school started, I used to be so active. Mom had signed me up for everything - ski, volleyball, and even a bit of gymnastics.

So it's not a mystery that I've gained a bit of chub.

"How about you, Cade?" Naomi asked. "Wanna go?"

"Yeah, why not," he said gruffly, without looking in our direction.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" she turned to me again.

"Yeah. Sorry."

Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but-

"That's right," growled Cade, which made us all jump. Andrei's character had just detonated into a massacre of dismembered limbs and blood. "You can go kiss my-"

"Enough!" Naomi laughed, waving her hands around. "No more video games!"

"Stop being so inconsiderate," Andrei argued, his eyes never straying from the TV.