chantelle & liam

chapter 09.

they walk into the arcade. there are no lights on. it's so dark. the games aren't even on yet.

"why is it so dark?" chantelle asks clutching onto her bag. george looks over at her.

"it's because there's no one playing the games." he says quietly. she nods. "when we all start playing the lights on the floor with turn on."

"that's.." she starts slowly. george looks over to one of the games on his left.

"strange? i know." he says finishing her sentence. she nods.

chantelle watches as matt and liam face off playing one of the games. liam is biting his tongue, in concentration. matt is so calm and relaxed. his fingers glide over the controls, freely. his expression is like stone, never faltering.

he looks as if he's played the game a million times.

chantelle moves closer to the two of them. liam groans out of frustration. matt has a smug look on his face.

"ha! i told you i would win." he says placing down the controller. liam rolls his eyes, annoyed.

"it's because i'm not wearing my lucky jacket." he mumbles walking over to chantelle. she looks up at him, curious.

"don't you think i would've won if i had it?" he asks pouting. she chuckles.

"i don't know.. maybe." she says with a grin. her eyes flicker back to matt, who is now over at the neon air  hockey table. she leaves liam's side and goes over to him.

"what? do you want to play?" matt asks looking up at her. she nods going over to the left of the hockey table.

everyone else comes over to spectate. liam cups his hands around his mouth and makes a trumpet noise.

"it's the match of the century, between matt and chantelle. who's going to win?" he says his voice booming. her eyes flicker towards him and she notices his wide grin.

"me, of course." matt mumbles with a small shrug. she snickers and regains focus on matt.

"we'll see." chantelle says cracking her knuckles loudly. rachel gets her phone out to video this epic event. 

"how are going to decide who goes first?" chantelle asks looking up at the others. james scratches his head, slowly.

"rock, paper, scissors?" he says looking at chantelle. matt shrugs and holds his fist out towards her. chantelle holds hers out too.

"rock, paper, scissors shoot!" liam shouts. chantelle puts out paper but matt puts out scissors. matt won.

he smirks, lazily and crosses his arms. chantelle rolls her eyes and sneers at him.

"are you ready?" liam says his voice loud. they both nod and stare at each other. the lights on the floor, turn on and shine upwards. they illuminate the area where the stand.

liam places the green hockey puck in the middle of the table. matt grabs his paddle from the left of the air hockey table. chantelle does the same.

"first person that gets three points wins!" james says looking towards the two of them. they both nod in agreement. liam comes forward.

"go!" liam shouts stepping away from the table, slowly.

matt makes the first move. he quickly hits the puck towards chantelle's goal. but it doesn't go in, chantelle has great defense.

she hits the puck, harshly towards matt and he misses it. it goes in.

"one point to chantelle!" alisha says clapping, excitedly. matt shrugs, nonchalantly.

chantelle narrows her dark brown eyes at him, cautiously. she grabs the puck and bites her lip, planning her strategy. 

she hits it, the green object flying towards matt's corner steadily. he somehow manages to block it and shoots it back over. it flies so fast chantelle doesn't even see it. it goes in.

"one point to matt!" keira says hands on her hips. matt looks up at chantelle, waiting for a reaction. she stares at him, blankly.

matt takes the puck and gets ready to score again. he hits it. it slides over, slowly and carefully. chantelle catches it just before it reaches her goal. she glares at him, annoyed.

she slides it back, much harder. matt tries to block it but he misses. it goes in.

this is too easy.

"two points to chantelle!" alisha says smiling. chantelle leans backwards and observes matt. he's looking up at her his vibrant blue eyes blazing. she gulps, slightly and looks away.

she grabs the puck and places it onto the table. she moves it around in circles. matt follows her movements, carefully. she bashes the puck harshly towards matt and prays that he'll miss it. matt makes a small attempt to stop it but it goes in anyway.

"three points to chantelle!" alisha says jumping up and down. chantelle looks towards rachel, who is videoing it, and smirks.

"i won!" she says before sticking her tongue out at the camera. rachel laughs.

chantelle looks over at matt, who is leaning against the air hockey table. she leans next to him and grins at him. he looks over at her, his blue eyes full of admiration.

"i thought you said you 'win every game'." she teases. he sighs, in fake defeat.

"i let you win." he says shrugging. chantelle scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"you're just mad because i beat you." she says smiling. he chuckles.

"i am." he says looking at her. "you did well though, you're the first person to ever beat me."

"really?" she asks slightly surprised. he nods. "well, i'm honoured."

"you should be."