Operation: KYLE

19

"Come on, say it. What, do I have something on my face?" I went ahead, and inspected every part of my face by touch. "No, no, there's absolutely nothing on your face, it looks good." He says, but stops himself. There was a long pause between us. I could spot a nervous flush creeping up on his neck, slowly. "I-I mean, what I m-mean is– is that, uh, you look fine. Shit, wait, no, that came out wrong, er-" He stammered nervously as he scratches his nose. "I, like, mean, that... there– there's nothing wrong... with... your face..." He trails off. He lowers his head, then pinches the bridge of his nose, groaning.

"Sorry, I-I don't know why... I, said that." He chuckled out of embarrassment. I watch him as he embarrasses himself. Is there even a reason why he turned red? I thought to myself, confused. "It's... okay?" I stupidly said, not really even knowing the reason on why he's apologizing, really, I don't.

He quickly changes the subject by clearing his own throat. "So, uh, what else do you wanna play?" I gaze at him a little longer before shrugging it out. I take out my token of coins, and survey my surroundings for a while before deciding on a game. "That one." I pointed over at the game in the center.

"A shooting game? Hell yes." He smirked evily. I smile along for no reason. "Glad you're enjoying yourself." He looks back, and returns the smile. "You, too." We played a lot of games this afternoon, Mario Kart, Pac-Man, shooting games, you name it. It's somewhere seven PM right now, and we're currently doing a game called Dance Dance Revolution. Me being the horrible dancer I am, I, of course, got a D. "B? Awesome! Not bad!" Stan declared. He scored a B, apparently, and he seems to be really happy about it. I sarcastically clap, feeling bittersweet about my final score.

"Yes, yes, congratulations, you're the dance master, wow." He turns to face me, his face full with smugness, and victory. "Yes, thank you." He bows dramatically. Luckily, he's the one out of breath, while I'm still breathing just fine, thanks to me playing a lot of sports. Doesn't make me feel less salty about getting a D, while he gets a B. "How much coins do you have left?" He asks. I pull out my one last token of coin. "Just one left. You?" He flips his one coin. "Same here."

He takes a look around the arcade, then beams up. "Hey, wanna go take a picture?" I blink. I look towards where he was looking at, and there seemed to be a photo booth right next to the Chinpokomon game we played three games ago. I blinked again. "Sure, why not." I followed him over to the booth, waiting for the people in it to exit. When they finally got out of the booth with bright smiles on their faces, we went in next.

"Okay, let's see..." Stan started pressing buttons, until a countdown appeared on the screen. "Oh, there we go! Now smile!" He grinned. I rolled my eyes, and pulled out a peace sign. The flash of light from the camera burns my eyes. I rubbed my eyes, and when I opened them, I see Stan already holding the picture, which is in his hands. He's smiling like an idiot, it almost makes me wants to laugh. "We look good, don't we, Kyle?" He then hands me a copy of the picture.

Stan being the 'good guy' he is, is smiling in the picture while holding up two peace signs, while I look like I'm being held gun point. It's not my fault that I'm not used to getting my pictures taken, I only agreed getting my picture taken, because of him. "I look dumb." I said, not meaning it to sound insecure.

He takes on look at my exact same copy of the picture, then back at his, for some dumb reason. "I think you look great," He flushes. I could tell he was recalling that awkward moment. He shakes his head afterwards. "Relax." He says, patting the back of my shoulder, not entirely sure if he meant to say that to me, or himself.

I take one last look at him, then back at my picture. Easy for you to say, you don't look like you're gonna pass out any moment, I sighed. I shoved the picture in to my pocket, and followed Stan out the arcade. We decided to eat dinner at some nearest fast food restaurant that we came across. We both dropped our parents a message, about how we were coming home late. They were surprisingly okay with it, and eventually left us alone.