Your's, eventually

arcade

I had never imagined that my first proper date would involve Ethan.

Not because he was unattractive. That would have been a lie, and I had enough problems without lying to myself.

It was because Ethan was Ethan.

He was the sort of person who could turn a simple conversation into an argument, an ordinary afternoon into a competition, and a perfectly reasonable question into an opportunity to question my intelligence.

And yet, somehow, I had agreed to go out with him.

A date.

With Ethan.

I still wasn't entirely sure how we had arrived at this point.

When he first suggested going to the arcade, I had assumed he was joking.

"You want to take me to an arcade?" I had asked.

"No, Gabriella. I want to take your imaginary twin sister. Unfortunately, she hasn't returned my calls."

I had rolled my eyes.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I. Your imaginary twin has been avoiding me for weeks. It's becoming insulting."

"Ethan!"

"What?"

"Why an arcade?"

He had shrugged, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

"Because you like games, I like winning, and watching you lose should be an entertaining experience."

"You think you're going to beat me?"

"I don't think, Gabriella. I know."

That should have been enough to make me cancel.

Instead, I had agreed.

And now, on Saturday afternoon, I stood outside the arcade wondering whether I had made the biggest mistake of my life.

My phone vibrated.

Ethan: I'm here. Where are you?

I looked around.

Then I spotted him leaning against the wall beside the entrance, wearing a dark T-shirt and jeans. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked irritatingly relaxed.

I walked towards him.

"Hi."

He glanced at his watch.

"You're three minutes late."

I stared at him.

"Three minutes?"

"Yes. I've aged considerably while waiting."

"You arrived early!"

"That's irrelevant to the suffering I've endured."

I shook my head.

"You're impossible."

"And yet, you came."

I hated that he had a point.

He pushed himself away from the wall and looked at me properly.

For once, he didn't immediately make a joke.

"You look nice."

I blinked.

I had spent nearly an hour deciding what to wear, changing my mind several times, and asking myself whether the outfit made me look as though I had tried too hard.

Now he was standing in front of me, looking perfectly serious.

"Oh."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Was that your entire response?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

A small smile appeared on his face.

Then he added, "I was expecting a speech. Perhaps a few tears."

I immediately regretted being touched by his compliment.

"Take it back."

"Take what back?"

"The compliment."

"Absolutely not. It was a rare moment of sincerity. I refuse to waste it."

I laughed despite myself.

He held the door open.

"After you."

I walked inside.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Please remember this moment when you eventually accuse me of having no manners."

"You have manners?"

"Occasionally. Usually when there's food involved."

I looked at him.

He smiled.

And just like that, our date began.

The arcade was much larger than I had expected.

There were rows of colourful machines, racing simulators, basketball games, claw machines, air hockey tables, and dance platforms. Music played from speakers overhead, while the sounds of games and excited voices filled the room.

I couldn't help smiling.

"This place is amazing!"

Ethan glanced around.

"Yes. A building full of games designed to separate people from their money. Truly, civilisation has reached its peak."

I ignored him and headed towards the nearest machine.

He followed.

"Where are you going?"

"To play."

"Without consulting your date?"

I stopped.

Then I turned around.

"My what?"

He looked at me innocently.

"Your date."

I felt my cheeks warm.

"You don't have to say it like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like that!"

He stared at me for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"Gabriella, if you're going to blush every time I remind you why we're here, this is going to be a very long afternoon."

I turned away before he could see me smiling.

"I already regret coming."

"No, you don't."

I hated that he was right again.

We bought our game cards and headed towards the racing machines.

Ethan immediately chose the most expensive-looking simulator.

I stared at him.

"You're paying for that yourself."

He looked offended.

"Of course. I'm not a monster."

"You look like one sometimes."

"Thank you. I try to maintain a consistent image."

He sat down and adjusted the steering wheel.

"Prepare to witness greatness."

I took the seat beside him.

"I hope you're prepared to lose."

He laughed.

"Oh, Gabriella. I admire your confidence. It's completely unsupported by reality, but I admire it."

The game started.

For the first few seconds, Ethan drove beautifully.

He overtook two cars, rounded a corner, and pulled ahead.

I stared at the screen.

"You're actually good at this."

He glanced at me.

"Did you expect me to be bad at everything?"

"No."

"Your hesitation suggests otherwise."

Then his car crashed into a barrier.

I gasped.

"Ethan!"

He gripped the steering wheel.

"That was deliberate."

I stared at him.

"You crashed!"

"I was testing the structural integrity of the barrier."

"With your car?"

"It seemed the most efficient method."

I burst out laughing.

He glanced at me, looking deeply unimpressed.

"Enjoy yourself. Your laughter will be short-lived."

The next corner arrived.

He crashed again.

I laughed even harder.

"Oh, my goodness!"

"Would you like to drive?"

"Yes!"

He immediately moved aside.

I took the controls.

Within thirty seconds, I had driven off the track.

Ethan went silent.

I looked at him.

He looked at the screen.

Then he slowly turned towards me.

"Well."

"Don't."

"I haven't said anything."

"You're thinking something."

"I think many things. Most of them are about how I came here expecting to enjoy myself."

I covered my face.

He laughed.

"Move over, Schumacher."

"Who's Schumacher?"

He stared at me.

I stared back.

He shook his head.

"Nothing. I'll explain when you're old enough to understand."

I hit his arm.

He laughed again.

And somehow, losing a racing game became one of the funniest things that had happened to me all week.

We moved to the basketball machines next.

Ethan insisted that he would win.

Naturally, I took that as a personal challenge.

"You're going down," I announced.

He looked at me.

"That was almost intimidating."

"Almost?"

"Yes. You sounded like a very polite threat."

I picked up a ball.

"Just play."

The timer started.

I threw the ball.

It bounced off the rim.

I tried again.

Missed.

Again.

Missed.

By the time I had thrown my fifth ball, I was beginning to suspect that the basket had something against me.

Ethan, meanwhile, was scoring with infuriating ease.

I turned towards him.

"Are you cheating?"

He didn't even look at me.

"Yes. I've bribed the machine."

"Ethan!"

"What? You asked."

I narrowed my eyes and concentrated on my next shot.

The ball went through the hoop.

I gasped.

"YES!"

Ethan glanced at the scoreboard.

"Congratulations. One point."

I threw another ball.

It went in.

"Two!"

He nodded solemnly.

"At this rate, you may eventually defeat the machine through sheer persistence."

I threw another.

Missed.

He smiled.

"Or not."

I picked up the ball and threw it at him.

He caught it.

Then he looked at me.

"Violence? On our first date? I knew I should have brought flowers."

I couldn't stop laughing.

He handed the ball back to me.

"Try again."

Something about the way he said it surprised me.

There was no joke in his voice that time.

He simply stood beside me and watched while I tried again.

I missed twice more before finally scoring another basket.

When I turned towards him, he was smiling.

"There you go."

I grinned.

"I did it!"

"You did."

"Did you see?"

"Gabriella, I was standing right here."

I laughed and bumped my shoulder against his.

"You're supposed to be supportive."

"I am supportive. I haven't even mentioned that you lost."

I looked at the scoreboard.

He had beaten me by a considerable margin.

My smile disappeared.

"Oh."

Ethan followed my gaze.

"Ah. You've discovered the consequences of celebrating prematurely."

I folded my arms.

"I hate this game."

"No, you hate losing."

"I hate you too."

He smiled.

"That's more understandable."

The claw machines were where everything went wrong.

I spotted a small purple teddy bear sitting between a pink rabbit and a ridiculous-looking yellow duck.

The teddy bear was adorable.

I wanted it immediately.

"Ethan."

He followed my gaze.

"No."

I turned towards him.

"I haven't even asked you anything!"

"You have the look."

"What look?"

"The look people get before they ask me to participate in something that will inevitably cost me money."

I pointed at the teddy bear.

"I want that one."

He examined it.

"Why?"

"Because it's cute."

"It's a stuffed animal."

"Exactly."

He stared at me.

I stared back.

Finally, he sighed.

"Fine. Let's attempt to acquire the creature."

He inserted his card and took the controls.

I stood beside him, watching with complete concentration.

"A little to the left," I instructed.

He moved the claw.

"Now forward."

He adjusted it.

"Stop! Stop! That's perfect!"

He pressed the button.

The claw descended.

It grabbed the teddy bear.

My mouth fell open.

"Oh, my goodness!"

The claw lifted the bear.

I clasped my hands together.

"You're getting it!"

Then the bear slipped out of the claw and fell back into the pile.

I stared at the machine.

Ethan stared at the machine.

Then he slowly stepped away.

"Well, that's unfortunate."

I turned towards him.

"Try again!"

"Gabriella, the machine has made its position clear."

"Please!"

He looked at me.

Then at the teddy bear.

Then back at me.

He sighed.

"Your powers of persuasion are deeply inconvenient."

He tried again.

The claw missed the bear entirely.

On the third attempt, it grabbed the yellow duck.

I stared at him.

"The duck!"

He looked at the screen.

"Yes. I can see that."

"You were supposed to get the teddy bear!"

"I appear to have misunderstood the assignment."

The duck fell.

Ethan folded his arms.

"I refuse to be humiliated by a machine designed for children."

I burst out laughing.

"You're the one who said you could win!"

"I said we could acquire the creature. I never specified a timeline."

"Ethan!"

He sighed dramatically.

"Fine. One last attempt."

He concentrated, moved the claw, and pressed the button.

It descended.

Grabbed the teddy bear.

Lifted it.

And dropped it directly into the prize chute.

For a moment, we both stared at the machine.

Then I screamed.

"Ethan!"

He retrieved the bear and handed it to me.

I hugged it against my chest.

"You got it!"

"Yes. I noticed."

I grinned at him.

"Thank you!"

He looked at me for a moment.

Then he smiled.

It was a small smile, but it was different from the ones he wore whenever he was about to make a sarcastic comment.

"You're welcome."

I looked down at the teddy bear.

"What should I name it?"

Ethan immediately shook his head.

"Absolutely not."

I laughed.

"What?"

"We are not naming a stuffed animal on a first date. There are limits to my patience."

I considered the bear.

"Ethan."

He looked at me.

"What?"

"I'm naming it Ethan."

He stared at me in horror.

I burst out laughing.

"You're a menace," he said.

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'll take it anyway."

The dance machines were Ethan's idea.

I should have known better than to trust him.

He stood in front of the machine, studying the instructions as if he were preparing for an important examination.

I folded my arms.

"You know how to dance?"

He glanced at me.

"Of course."

"Really?"

"No."

I burst out laughing.

He smiled.

"But I do know how to embarrass myself with confidence."

"At least you're honest."

"One of my many virtues."

We stepped onto the platforms.

The music began.

At first, I managed to follow the arrows reasonably well.

Ethan, however, seemed to be fighting a battle against the machine itself.

He stepped left when he was supposed to step right, missed an arrow, and somehow managed to turn around completely.

I laughed so hard that I nearly missed my next step.

He pointed at me.

"Concentrate!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're dancing like a confused penguin!"

He looked offended.

"Penguins are excellent dancers."

"That's not even true!"

"How would you know? Have you ever asked one?"

I nearly fell off the platform.

The game ended with me achieving a respectable score and Ethan receiving a rating that I was fairly certain had been invented specifically to insult him.

He stared at the screen.

I covered my mouth.

He turned towards me.

"Not a word."

I burst out laughing.

"Your score!"

"I can read."

"You got the lowest rating!"

"The machine is clearly jealous of my natural rhythm."

"What rhythm?"

He stared at me.

Then he shook his head.

"I should have gone out with someone who appreciates my talents."

I grinned.

"Perhaps you should have."

He looked at me.

For a moment, his expression softened.

"Perhaps."

The word was quiet enough that I almost didn't hear it.

Then he turned away and walked towards the air hockey tables.

I followed him, wondering why that one little word had made my heart feel strangely heavy.

By late afternoon, we had played almost every game in the arcade.

Ethan had lost at racing, been defeated by the dance machine, and spent an unreasonable amount of time arguing that the basketball scoreboard was inaccurate.

I had won the purple teddy bear, lost at basketball, and discovered that I was terrible at racing games.

Neither of us was particularly good at air hockey.

We played anyway.

Ethan took his position on one side of the table.

I stood opposite him, gripping my paddle.

"Prepare to lose," I announced.

He smiled.

"You've said that several times today. I'm beginning to suspect it's your only strategy."

"It's worked before."

"When?"

I thought about it.

Then I frowned.

"That's not the point."

He laughed.

The game began.

I hit the puck.

It shot across the table and landed in his goal.

I gasped.

"I scored!"

Ethan stared at the goal.

Then at me.

Then back at the goal.

"That was luck."

I grinned.

"One point!"

He straightened.

"All right. Now I'm taking this seriously."

He scored twice in quick succession.

I protested.

"Hey!"

He smiled.

"You wanted competition."

"Not this much!"

"Would you prefer that I let you win?"

"No!"

"Then stop complaining."

I tried to block his next shot.

The puck flew past my paddle and hit the side of the table.

Ethan scored again.

I groaned.

"This is unfair!"

"Life is unfair, Gabriella. Today, it's simply chosen to express itself through air hockey."

I laughed despite myself.

We continued playing until he finally won.

He placed his paddle on the table and held out his hand.

"Well played."

I shook his hand.

Then he added, "For someone with your athletic abilities."

I snatched my hand away.

"I take it back!"

He laughed.

"You can't. It's legally binding."

"You're so annoying!"

"And yet, you agreed to spend an entire afternoon with me."

I opened my mouth.

Then closed it.

Because he was right.

Again.

And the worst part was that I was beginning to think I would happily do it all over again.

We eventually settled at a small table near the snack counter.

I had a drink, a packet of crisps, and the purple teddy bear sitting beside me.

Ethan had somehow acquired a sandwich and was inspecting it suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Trying to determine whether this is actually food."

I laughed.

"You bought it!"

"Yes, and I'm beginning to regret my decision."

I shook my head and took a sip of my drink.

For a while, we simply talked.

We talked about school, our teachers, the ridiculous amount of homework we had been given, and the possibility that our mathematics teacher genuinely enjoyed watching students suffer.

Ethan made me laugh so many times that my cheeks began to hurt.

But eventually, the conversation became quieter.

He looked at me across the table.

"So."

I raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

"Did you have a good time?"

I blinked.

The question was simple.

But something about the way he asked it made me put my drink down.

"Yes," I said honestly. "I really did."

He watched me for a moment.

"Good."

I smiled.

"Did you?"

He pretended to think about it.

"Well, I was defeated by a machine, publicly humiliated by a dance platform, and forced to spend a considerable amount of money rescuing a stuffed animal."

I laughed.

"So that's a no?"

He looked at me.

Then his expression softened.

"No. I had a good time."

I smiled.

"Really?"

"Really."

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he leaned back in his chair.

"Although, if you tell anyone about my performance at the dance machine, I'll deny knowing you."

I laughed.

"I'll tell everyone."

"Then I shall be forced to change schools."

"That seems a little extreme."

"I have a reputation to protect."

"What reputation?"

He placed a hand over his heart.

"You're hurting me, Gabriella."

I shook my head, smiling.

Then I glanced down at the teddy bear.

"Ethan?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for today."

He stopped playing with the wrapper around his sandwich.

"For what?"

"For inviting me. For making me laugh. For trying to win the bear, even though you nearly got me a yellow duck instead."

He smiled faintly.

"You're welcome."

I hesitated.

"And for being my friend."

Something changed in his expression.

Only for a second.

Then he looked away, picking up his drink.

"Well, don't get too sentimental. I have a reputation to protect."

I smiled.

"I know."

He looked back at me.

"But you're welcome."

And somehow, that simple exchange meant more to me than all the jokes he had made that afternoon.

Because beneath the sarcasm, beneath the constant teasing and the ridiculous comments, there were moments when Ethan let me see the person he was when he wasn't trying to make everyone laugh.

I liked those moments.

Perhaps more than I should have.

But I wasn't ready to think about what that meant.

Not yet.

When we finally left the arcade, the evening air was cool.

Ethan walked beside me, carrying his empty drink bottle, while I held the purple teddy bear against my chest.

We reached the pavement outside and stopped.

"Well," he said, "that was an afternoon."

I laughed.

"You're impossible."

"And you're repetitive. We all have our flaws."

I looked at him.

"Would you do it again?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you asking me on a second date?"

My face warmed immediately.

"No!"

He grinned.

"Disappointing. I was preparing a speech."

"Ethan!"

"All right, all right."

He laughed, then looked at me.

"Yes, Gabriella. I'd do it again."

I smiled.

"Good."

He slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Although next time, we're going somewhere with fewer opportunities for public humiliation."

"Like where?"

"A library."

I stared at him.

"A library?"

"Yes. We could sit in silence and judge people for mispronouncing words. It sounds peaceful."

I burst out laughing.

"That sounds like the worst date ever."

"Then I suppose you'll have to come up with something better."

I looked at him.

And before I could stop myself, I smiled.

"Maybe I will."

He smiled back.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then he nodded towards the road.

"Come on. I'll walk you to your ride."

We started walking.

Halfway there, he glanced at the teddy bear.

"So, have you decided on a name?"

I looked down at it.

Then I smiled mischievously.

"Ethan."

He stopped walking.

"No."

I burst out laughing.

"You said I could name it!"

"I said no such thing!"

"You didn't stop me!"

"I was under emotional distress!"

I laughed so hard that I had to stop walking.

He shook his head, but he was smiling too.

"You're a menace."

"And yet, you took me on a date."

He looked at me.

Then he smiled.

"Yes," he said quietly. "I did."

And for a moment, there was no sarcasm in his voice at all.

I looked at him, wondering why my heart had suddenly begun behaving so strangely.

Then he ruined the moment.

"Now, please get in your ride before I change my mind and demand compensation for my suffering."

I laughed and walked away, waving at him.

He waved back.

And as I settled into my seat, I looked down at the little purple teddy bear resting in my lap.

I had gone to the arcade expecting to have a good time.

I hadn't expected to laugh that much.

I hadn't expected Ethan to be so thoughtful beneath all his ridiculous comments.

And I certainly hadn't expected to spend the entire journey home replaying little moments from the afternoon in my head.

I told myself it was because we were friends.

That was all.

Ethan was my friend.

Xander was the boy I liked.

Marielle was still Xander's girlfriend, and I had no intention of interfering in their relationship.

Everything was perfectly clear.

At least, that's what I told myself.

But as I hugged the purple teddy bear against my chest and smiled at the memory of Ethan's ridiculous dancing, I couldn't help wondering whether the afternoon had meant a little more to me than I was willing to admit.

I pushed the thought away.

There would be time to think about it later.

For now, I was simply happy.

And for once, I didn't need to understand why.