Running Away

chapter ten: a date's a date

Edited.

T E N : A DATE'S A DATE

- Taylor -

I had a total of five minutes to ingest as much pizza and soda as possible, before Derek was on his feet again. I stared at him, uncertain and incredibly untrusting, as he held his hand out to me. My gaze flitted from his outstretched palm to his reassuring face, which was wound into the most encouraging smile he could manage.

Had the elderly woman at the table adjacent to ours not shot me the most astounded look, I would've rejected Derek in an instant. But—with less reluctance than I was willing to admit—I accepted his hand in mine, and only chewed at the inside of my cheek when he intertwined our fingers. My heart leapt into my throat once butterflies seemed to erupt in my stomach, and I swallowed back the urge to discard Derek's oddly comforting grip.

"Where are we going?" I demanded through gritted teeth, struggling with the fact that bones in my knees were suddenly transforming into the slippery consistency of jelly.

"Well, I figure, as long as Devon's busy in the back with Adriana—"

"—I really don't want to hear about that—"

"—we'll have at least half an hour to kill. They're usually locked up in the broom cupboard for a while." Derek's lips twisted into an amused smirk as an involuntary shudder flooded through me. But completely unfazed, he led me over to an enormous counter that was laden down with cheap toys and candies and rows of tokens. Grinning at the woman standing on the other side of the register, he gestured to the coin-filled plastic cups, "Two of those, please."

"That's fifteen dollars," she chirped immediately, pushing the small containers forward swiftly. Her eyes roamed from our faces to our clasped palms, and I felt my insides squirm when I realized that she was probably assessing us as a couple. As if to confirm my thoughts, she winked at me, "He's lucky to have landed a pretty one like you, isn't he?"

Before I could deny her assumption, Derek slid a few bills over to her. "Thanks, Connie."

He yanked me toward the arcade room before I could utter a single syllable. Raising a brow, I glanced at him. "You know her?"

"Connie? Yeah, we've been friends for some time now—probably since about when Devon and Adriana started dating." Derek barked a short laugh. "She's...interesting. And she obviously liked you a lot."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's got a girlfriend." Derek waved off my question with ease, still tugging me along behind him.

I blinked, both flattered and taken aback. I opened my mouth to respond, but whatever words I would've said died on my tongue before I could use them. The arcade was amazing. It was a gigantic, circular room, covered from floor to ceiling in glow-in-the-dark felt fabric. Stars and planets and spaceships were patterned on the walls, sparkling in various shades of pink and blue and green against the black lights. An impressive variety of games was packed into the space, lined around the edges of the room, scattered in the middle area, all of them adorned with flashing light bulbs and blasting nonsensical music.

"Take your pick." He made a great, sweeping motion, and I followed his arm, stare falling on all of the colorful machines.

I opted for the easiest-looking game there was—bowling.

Derek scoffed, taking his position at the lane next to the one I'd claimed. Sliding a pair of tokens into the payment slot, he beamed at me, raising his voice over the clatter of balls that rolled toward him, the machine having started the game. "You must be joking, Taylor." He drawled, scooping a ball up and cradling it in his palms. "I guess Devon didn't tell you I'm the bowling champion."