Make it Big, Nevada

A Real Life Problem (Seriously)

After one long hour of hiding in my room, my mother finally retrieved me.

"It's time to go to the Arcade, missy. Are you still up for it?" Mother said from behind my closed door.

I had totally forgotten about that! I had been practically counting down the seconds until the Arcade for a week. The whole breakfast trauma had sidetracked my thoughts. I hopped onto me feet and swung the door open.

"Is that even I question?" I laughed.

"Okay, well, we need to head out. I think you're lucky that I'm even taking you. After this morning, and all," she purred, looking from her phone to see my reaction.

Knowing exactly what she was looking for, I smiled. "Thanks, mom." Nevada knows how to play it smooth...

~~~

A few minutes later, we were driving in my moms ugly, green mini van. I personally thought this car looked, smelt, and felt like driving vomit down the road. I guess that could've been a psychological thought, because the exact shade of the car was a color my friends and I called "intense vomit".

I bounced in my seat out of excitement. We were driving to pick up my best friend, Mandi. She was going to the Arcade with me.
Mandi and I were in the same grade. We actually met at preschool, and have been buddies ever since. I loved her so much! She was super funny, and seemed to truly love life. She also gave the best advice. Once, I scraped my knee on the playground. I swear, I was going to die! But then, perfect Mandi soothed me and assured me I'd be alright. But not only did she have the ideal personality, she had got the looks! She has long, black hair and a lovely heart shaped face. I thought she was really pretty.
The vomit mobile pulled up to her driveway. I skipped to her porch and anxiously knocked.
The front door ripped open before me. There stood Mandi.
"Let's get out of here!" She chirped.
We ran back to the van. We settled in and both sighed at the same time. We chuckled at each other.
" It's been too long, Nev," Mandi giggled.
" Tell me about it. My mom has been to busy with her girls nights, and driving me to dance, and all that," I complained, rolling my eyes.
I noticed my mother's eyes in the mirror watching me. They looked a little hurt, and slightly annoyed. She pursed her lips and looked away.
"Yeah," Mandi sighed.
I wondered what she thought of my mother. What she looked like to outsiders. My thoughts wandered away until they were abruptly interrupted.
"Look! The Arcade!"
All heads whipped around to see the Arcade waiting for us on the side of the freeway.
The two of us practically screeched out of excitement the rest of the way. We flew out of the van the second we were parked.
"Woah, Woah! Slow down! Nevada, come back!" Mother yelled from the car.
I moaned and stalked over to her.
"Drop the attitude, missy," she said. "Here's some money, okay? Stay with Mandi. I'll pick you up around, say two hours."
I just looked at her. "Aren't you coming with us?"
She shrugged, " Well, I was actually planning on going to find some clothes at the new mall down in West Ambertown," she said all innocently.
"Okay, if you feel alright leaving two second graders by themselves for two hours at a public center, then I guess that's okay with me!" I said. "Bye mom!"
We ran back to the massive building and entered through it's giant glass doors.
"Woah!" We both gasped.
Colorful arcade games lit up the spacious room. Sounds and music echoed off the walls. There was a corner filled with an assortment of prizes, from stuffed animals to cheap plastic slinkys. Glowing signs advertised activities, like laser tag! And bowling! This was going to be...
"Nevada?"
I shook my head, remembering I existed. "Hmmm?"
" You up for the little boats?"
I hadn't even noticed those! They had an indoor pool with little boats that had built in water guns!
"Yeah! Let's go!" I said.
We were one of the only people here, surprisingly, so we didn't have to wait in line. We climbed in the boats . It jiggled as Mandi and I sat down.
The unenthusiastic Arcade man paced around the pool to make sure everyone was secure.
"Alright, everyone," the blonde practically moaned, "keep your hands, objects, and other body parts in the boat at all times. Get out when I tell you to." He ran his hand through his beautiful hair. "And most of all, have fun. Woo," he waved his arms pathetically in the air.
"You're hot!" Mandi called.
He winked at her.
"What was that?" I demanded, holding back laughter.
"Don't tell me you don't agree," she sassed, pretending to be appalled.
"Gosh," I scoffed," you know my taste a little too well."
An overhead recording boomed, "On your marks, get set, go!"
Engines roared to life and water splashed into the air. Mandi seized the steering wheel and drove the boat forward. I yanked the water gun and began blasting water at everyone and everything like my life depended on it. Teenage girls shrieked as I pelted their faces with the freezing pressurized water and ruined their makeup and hair.
Some people decided they wanted fight me back and sprayed the water at Mandi and me. Everyone was laughing and had water dripping off of them.
"This is great!" I yelled.
"I know, right?" Mandi agreed.
It seemed like I could do this forever. I was very disappointed when the Arcade man said it was time to leave.
We were all giggling as we walked outside the pool boundaries.
Mandi had her eyes closed and was trembling with laughter.
"That was fun," she sighed and took in a breath. She opened her eye. She looked in my direction and pulled a horrified face.I thought what could've been wrong. She saw someone from school maybe? I looked behind me and didn't recognize any faces.
"What?" I asked, more confused by each second.
"Um, your...your...your," she stuttered.
"What?"
I didn't see the problem. She weakly pointed to the top of my head. I felt around my hair. It was cold, and wet, and very tangled.
"My hair! It's a disaster!" I cried.
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