Specifically, Regan’s boobs.
She was shaking her head, disgusted with her inability to control her thoughts, when Maia called her out.
“Ava. What are you shaking your head about? The fact that you’re gonna lose to me?”
“Yes,” Ava said. “Exactly that. It makes me question the entire point of my existence.”
Maia barked a laugh as Madison broke out in a horrible rendition of Billie Eilish’s song “What Was I Made For?” Then she pointed and laughed harder as the van slid into the parking lot of the arcade and she saw the name: Joysticks. “You know a guy owns this place,” she said good-naturedly.
They piled out of the van. Their driver was named Jimmy, and hewas big and quiet. “The strong, silent type,” Vienna had said, trying to get a smile out of him. Spoiler alert: She did. Ava saw him touch Vienna’s arm, then hand her his card. He turned to get back in the van and Vienna met Ava’s gaze, then smiled. She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug as she walked up to Ava. “What can I say?”
Ava grinned and shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything. He’s cute.”
“Right?” Vienna tucked her hand through Ava’s arm, and they followed the others to the front door of the arcade. “He said he thought I looked responsible, so I should just call him when we’re ready to go to dinner.” She suddenly stopped walking and looked at Ava, stricken. “Wait. Ew. I look responsible? Not hot? Not fun? Just…like I could house-sit for him or do his taxes?”
Ava laughed and opened the door for her.
They caught up to the others, and Regan said, “Oh my God, this is like walking into my brother’s room when we were kids. Dark and a little creepy, with lots of blinking lights.”
“If I find any damp socks lying around, I’m outta here,” Madison said, followed quickly by Paige’s “Ew!”
Being an only child with a hardworking mother and a father who always had other things to do, video games and such had become Ava’s babysitters. There had been a community center within walking distance from her house, and she spent many afternoons there during the summers, playing games with other lonely kids. Looking around Joysticks now, she saw new games and old—Ping-Pong, air hockey, pool tables, foosball—in addition to all the video games, Skee-Ball and claw machines. The clientele was of all ages. Small children jumped in the bounce house, older kids and teens played video games, as did some adults. The sounds of bouncing Ping-Pong balls, slapping air hockey pucks, and cracking billiard balls filled the air and mixed with the bings and bongs and ray guns and music from the video games to create a soundtrack that reminded Ava a lot of her youth.
“Holy crap, I love this place already,” Regan said softly, seemingly to herself. When Ava glanced at her, Regan’s eyes were wide, and she looked like a little kid on Christmas morning.
“What should we do?” Madison asked.
“Who’s up for a tournament?” Maia asked, and Ava was beginning to understand that this was the person who liked taking on the role oforganizer. Ava was fine with that, as she absolutely didn’t want that job. “If anybody wants to do video games, go for it. I thought maybe we could do some tournaments on the tables. Like, air hockey, pool, Ping-Pong? I don’t have the first clue how to play foosball, so I’m out on that one.”
Murmurs and head nods went all around, everybody agreeing.
“Poor foosball,” Regan said. “Ousted from the games before it even had a chance to get started.”
Ava grinned and shook her head. “So sad.”
“I see a free Ping-Pong table and an air hockey one,” Maia said, almost to herself.
“I bet there’s a way to reserve next play,” Vienna suggested, then headed toward the pool tables to talk to the guys currently playing.
Maia headed to the front desk to get the equipment they needed, and within ten minutes, they were ready to go. “Who wants air hockey?”
“I’ll play,” Ava said, holding her hand out for the mallet.
“Who’s taking on Ava?” Maia asked.
“I will,” Vienna said, raising a hand.
They turned on the table.
“Wanna warm up?” Vienna offered.
“Sure.”
They spent the next few minutes tapping the puck back and forth to each other. It floated effortlessly between them, bouncing off the sides of the tables until it slipped past Ava’s mallet and into the goal. The table beeped and the little electronic scoreboard gave Vienna a point.
“Thanks, table, but that was just a warm-up,” Vienna said, and reset the score to zeroes. “What do we play to? Ten?” She glanced at Regan and Madison, who were spectating between Ava and Vienna on the air hockey table and Maia and Paige playing Ping-Pong.
“Ten works for me,” Ava said.
