I passed the third tissue to Ellie. To say she's been in a bad mood since yesterday was an understatement. She literally managed to chase Evan out of a room mad. However, when I told her exactly what happened, she believed me.
"From here on out, let's make a pact...never to date jerks!" Ellie pronounced. I laughed.
"That's a little problem, considering I'm dating your brother,"
"Then I make a pact with myself...can I do that?" Ellie sat down. We were outside, and school had just come to an end, but we had a little get-together, before I left for the mall. Mr Rogers was picking me up, and my mother was thrilled at the thought that I was going to make a few more friends. She forced me out of the door almost when I mentioned it.
"I think you can," I said. I leaned in to hug Ellie, and she sighed. "I'm so glad to have you..."
"Well, me too," I said and Ellie sighed.
"I mean, many of my other friends are dating, and others well, they steer clear of me because of my brother...I mean, he did stop the bullying, but this was one of the painful drawbacks," Ellie sighed. "Which is why I am so glad you are dating him."
I laughed. "Yeah, but even if I wasn't...you were the first one to welcome me to this school...that really counts for something."
Ellie nodded, and she looked up. "Oh, Evan is at the car...coming?"
"Actually, I'm going bowling with Keith and some of his pals..."
"Oh?" Ellie smiled. "You go enjoy that..."
"I will do my best," I said. I watched as Ellie ran off and smiled. She was such a good friend to me. She did not deserve such treatment from Tyler. He manipulated her, and after Saturday, his intentions were crystal clear. He may have been drunk then, but it certainly made him more honest.
One hour later, Mr Rogers dropped me off at the mall. "You sure you know the way?"
"Yeah, I've been here before, thank you so much for the lift, sir," I said and Mr Rogers shrugged.
"Anything for Keith's friend...trust me, he misses you at work," Mr Rogers spoke, and I nodded.
"I miss working there," I waved goodbye and walked inside. It wasn't too busy, considering it was a weekday afternoon. I made my way to the Arcade, where the bowling alley was situated.
"Agnus?"
I turned and frowned and a girl with a smaller frame and pixie cut approached me. "Hey, you must be Agnus...I'm Cara...Keith asked me if you came before he returned for me to bring you to the group...wow, you're as pretty as he describes..."
"Wait, what, he's been talking about me?"
Cara nodded and smiled. "All good things though," she winked. "Nice to meet you..."
"Same," I said and smiled back. Cara nodded her head. She had perfect winged eyeliner and bright blue eyes. She motioned me to follow her, and we headed inside the Arcade.
It was loud, reeked of oil, popcorn, drinks and more. The machines flashed many lights, and it was all rather bizarre. Cara led me to a quieter corner, where and I saw the bowling alley. There was a group waiting, and I took a moment to study them all.
It was a mix between guys and girls, most of them my age. I noticed one of the guys had a bright red-hair, and wore a sport jacket the same at our school. He was one of the jocks. Next to him was a girl with afro hair, styled leather jacket and jeans. Another was a guy slightly pudgier, but a grin so wide it was contagious.
"Hey guys, this is Agnus, Agnus, this is the group...we'll exchange names slowly as it's quite a shlep...and won't be able to remember them all, so...yeah," Cara introduced.
The red-haired guy stood up and approached me. "I'm Joey, so you should be able to remember that..."
"Hey...we go to the ..."
"Same school, yeah, no offence, I might have approached you sooner, but with Evan..."
I nodded. I fully understood. Evan was no easy person to be around unless he wanted you around.
We were half way into intros when Keith returned.
"Hey, you're early," Keith gave me a side hug and looked at my arm. "How's the wrist?"
"Better," I said and took a seat.
Cara stared at me. "What happened to it?"
"Better question yet,who'd you punch?" Joey asked. My eyes widened at that question, andJoey burst into laughter.
"Wow, girl, you've got guts," Cara laughed with, and I only shook my head.
"You didn't tell me Agnus was a fighter," one of the other guys spoke.
"Yeah, um," Keith awkwardly scratched his head. "Yeah, well, it slipped my mind..."
"But nothing slips your mind when it comes to...ow," Joey rubbed his shin and I glanced at Cara who only winked at me.
"Well, game on, I guess," the afro-haired girl spoke. Her name was Lisa, and she had a sweet smile.
"Game on," I said nervously. We were divided into teams, and I ended up with Keith, Cara, Lisa and Joey. Keith managed a spare on his first turn, Cara a strike, and it was my turn. I picked up the ball, and winced as the pain shot through my hand. I gritted my teeth, and threw the ball. It flew straight into the gutter.
The second round, I did not do much better.
I sat down dejected. "I'm so sorry guys, maybe this was a bad idea."
"Nonsense," Cara huffed. "You're trying, that's what counts."
"Besides, you nearly knocked out our adversaries with your last throw...that's got to mean something," Keith joked. I punched him softly with my uninjured wrist.
The next few rounds did not go so well for me either. After another attempt, I hit two pins, and I laughed.
"Guys, I'm making you lose..."
"Cheer up, it's just took seven attempts to get two, give it another hundred, and you'll be a pro, that is...if you don't knock me out again...that last attempt when I stood in front of you with that bowling ball was too close..."
Cara laughed, and a blush seeped up my cheeks. "You guys know?"
"It's a classic," Lisa responded. "Don't worry, I accidently ripped out a guy's extensions once."
"Wait...a guy's?" Joey frowned.
"Yeah, it was this boy with beautiful lush golden locks...I tugged a little to tease him, and it came off...that was a real buzzkill...to think, I had a crush on him," Lisa laughed.
"Bye bye all chances of that happening," Cara laughed with.
"You guys are crazy," I said with a smile.
"Yeah, we are," Cara and Lisa agreed in unison.
"Guys, I really got to go to the bathroom...wait for me hey?" Keith stood up and walked out. The rest of us took a break from the bowling match, and I decided to sit next to Cara.
"So...did you know Keith before or after he was homeschooled?" I asked and Cara pursed her lips.
"Kind of before...but definitely more after...that guy was real popular back in the days..."
"Popular?" I asked with a frown and Cara nodded.
"Yeah, really fit well in with the in crowd, but then...he disappeared for a while, came back, pulled out of normal school and went into home-schooling," Cara spoke. "It's weird...and he doesn't talk much about it...trust me, I'm the master interrogator, and I got nothing out of him."
"That's strange," I said and Cara nodded.
"Yeah," Joey took a seat close by.
"I'm guessing you were friends with him at the school?" I asked him.
Joey nodded. "Unfortunately not even I really know what happened...so, don't come drilling me like Cara has."
I laughed, and we carried on our conversation. I exchanged numbers with Lisa and Cara, and spent the next few minutes trying out the different bowling balls.
"Hey guys, you can imagine my huge surprise at bumping into Keith..."
My heart froze as I heard that voice. It was familiar, and the last person I wanted to hear from. Even though I may like him so much. I turned around to see Keith's grimace, as Evan stood next to him. Evan's eyes caught mine. "Hey Agnus, wow, this is really strange...I had no idea you were going to be here..."