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Excuse the mistakes

The picture on the side is from pluckmystrings, to whom this chapter is dedicated to

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You know that feeling when your legs are like jelly, and you can barely stand up?

Yeah, I had that feeling.

Parker and I had been on his motorcycle for about ten minutes before he had to stop at a gas station. It took me a few minutes to get off his motorcycle, and when I had, I began pacing to calm myself down and to regain a normal feeling back in my legs.

“You okay there, Reed?”

“Huh?” My head snapped up from where I’d been staring at the ground as I walked, and I found Parker staring at me. He was fueling his motorcycle, and I found the amusement in his eyes annoying.

“You look like you’re going to be sick, Reed,” Parker stated simply, “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” I replied, waving a hand dismissively, but Parker didn’t look convinced, which honestly didn’t surprise me. However, I didn’t want to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of his motorcycle. I decided to change the subject.

“So, what are we going to do for the next couple of hours?” I asked as I watched Parker stop the gas and pull the nozzle out of his motorcycle. “I mean, if you want, you can just drop me off at the library or the mall while you go do whatever.”

“Why would I do that?” Parker replied, giving me an incredulous look as he paid for the gas. “Reed, aren’t we on a date?”

“It’s a fake date,” I said slowly, “We don’t actually have to go do something together.” At my words, I noticed Parker’s face fall slightly, and I frowned and added, “But, I guess we can still hang out.”

“Sounds good,” Parker said, a grin returning to his face. “I have a place in mind.”

“Oh?” I replied, “And where is this mystery place?”

“That’s need to know information,” Parker stated, holding out the helmet I’d been wearing, “And you, Reed, don’t need to know.”

“Um,” I drawled as tapped my fingers on the top of the helmet, “If you’re going to take me into a back alley, slaughter me, and then paint pictures with my blood, I think I deserve to know.” Parker just looked at me, and I sighed. “Fine,” I said, “But if my hunch is right, my ghost is going to want a cut of the profits.”

“Just get on,” Parker said, shaking his head and patting the seat behind him.

I pursed my lips and pulled the helmet on over my head. I tightened the strap of my purse across my chest, and with Parker’s help, I swung my leg over the side of the bike. As my hands closed around Parker’s abdomen, the motorcycle came to life. My feet left the pavement, and then we were moving.

I buried the side of my head into Parker’s shoulder as we drove through the streets, and every time Parker turned a corner or his motorcycle tipped to the side, my life flashed before my eyes. This wasn’t like those stories where girls hate motorcycles, but after their first ride, they love them. I was not, nor ever would be, someone who liked motorcycles.

After what seemed like an eternity, Parker turned down an alley and parked between two crappy-looking cars. As I got off the motorcycle, the jelly leg feeling became a little less prominent, I looked around as I took off the helmet. The dingy, sketchy looking parking lot was pretty creepy. “Okay, Parker,” I said nervously, glancing over at him, “I may have teased you a lot, and been slightly abrasive, but—”

“Relax, Reed,” Parker said with a laugh, and he took the helmet out of my hands, “I’m not going to murder you.”

“What?” I said, and the chuckle I managed to produce came out more like a stammer, “why would you think I was talking about that?”

“Other than the fact that this place looks like something out of a horror movie?” Parker replied, arching an eyebrow, and I sighed. “C’mon,” Parker said, putting the helmet in the case on the back of his motorcycle. “I promise, this place isn’t as gross inside as it is on the outside.”

“I doubt it,” I replied, but I followed Parker as he walked towards the back door of the building we’d parked behind. Parker yanked on the door handle, and it came open with a sharp, metallic sound that sounded suspiciously like screaming children.

“After you, m’lady,” Parker said, smirking at me.

“If I die, it’s on you,” I stated, pointing at Parker and giving him a stern look. Then, I stepped into the building. I found myself in a dark hallway, but before I could turn back, the door had closed and Parker was behind me.

“Keep walking,” he whispered, his voice surprisingly close to my ear.

“Right,” I said, and as I walked towards the curtain at the end of the hallway, I felt the palms of my hands starting to sweat. Parker wouldn’t kill the mother of his fake egg child, would he?

As we came to a curtain, Parker reached in front of me and pulled it back. I reluctantly stepped through the threshold and was shocked at what I found. Instead of finding some terrifying torture chamber, I was face to face with an old school arcade.

“Not what you were expecting, huh?” Parker asked as he walked past me.

“No, not at all,” I replied, stepping further into the arcade to get a better look at the games. There were all these awesome, vintage games like Pac-man, Mario, and variants of pinball. “You come here often?” I asked Parker curiously. I didn’t exactly see him as someone into video games like these.

“Whenever I’m bored and have time to kill,” Parker answered simply, “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid.”

“Oh,” I said, and the corners of my lips curled up into a small smile. I’m not sure why, but I found the fact that Parker was into these games pretty cute. That said, I wasn’t going to admit it to him. His ego didn’t really need boosting.

“So,” Parker said, clapping his hands together, “Let’s get some tokens and play some games!” He led me over to a machine that exchanged dollars for tokens, but when I started to pull my wallet out of my purse, he put his hand on mine to stop me. “Don’t bother, Reed. I got this.”

“I can pay for myself, Parker,” I replied, once again trying to take out my wallet.

“Reed, don’t be silly,” Parker stated firmly, once again stopping me from retrieving money, “This may not be a real date, but I’m still going to do my best to be a gentleman.” Then, before I could protest further, Parker fed a ten dollar bill in the machine, which started to spit out tokens.

“Hand me two of those cups,” Parker said, pointing towards a stack of red Solo cups on top of a machine a few feet away. I grabbed two and handed them to Parker, who then divided the tokens between them.

“Thanks,” I said as he handed me one.

“No problem,” Parker replied, shrugging. “Now, let’s get to the games, because I have been itching to play Space Invaders.”

“Do you realize how much of a nerd you sound like right now?” I asked with a chuckle as I followed Parker to a stretch of games.

“Make sure not to tell anyone,” Parker replied, giving me a sideways glance, “I wouldn’t want my bad boy image to be tarnished.” I laughed and sat down on the stool at the game next to Space Invaders. Turns out, it was Sonic.

As Parker started to play Space Invaders, pretty aggressively if I do say so myself, I timidly slipped a token into Sonic. As soon as the theme song started, I was hooked. When I was younger, I was what some would call a game nerd. I own an old Gameboy advanced, and pretty much every Sonic game made for it.

It took all of ten minutes, but I got very much into the Sonic game I was playing.

“Die, Dr. Eggman!” I hissed, jabbing my finger against the jump button as I jerked the joystick violently, “Those are my fucking chaos jewels!” As I lost the game I was playing, I became suddenly aware of Parker staring at me. I turned my head to face him and demanded, “What?”

“You’re getting a little intense there, Reed,” He commented, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t judge me, Parker. I’m in the zone.”

*

“Thanks for tonight, Parker. It was fun.”

“Yeah, it was,” Parker replied, helping me off of his motorcycle. “I kinda wish my phone took videos because you get amusing when you get intense.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment, sir,” I stated with a laugh, and I handing Parker his helmet. Suddenly, without warning, Parker placed the helmet on the seat of his motorcycle, wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me close.

“You’re mother is watching from the front window,” Parker whispered as I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he was thinking. “This is a boyfriend kind of thing to do.” Then, he kissed me. It wasn’t a long kiss, but when he pulled back, I could practically feel my mom’s glare burning into my back.

“She’s gonna hate that,” I stated, and knowing that gave me a slight rush.

“I know,” Parker said, grinning.

“Well,” I replied after a moment, “I’ll see you around.”

“Wait!” Parker called, after I’d already taken a few steps towards my house. I stopped and turned around to see him fishing around in out of the compartment on the back of his motorcycle. Finally, Parker pulled out something wrapped in what looked to be a couple layers of toilet paper.

“Here,” he said, handing it to me. I gave him an incredulous look and started to peel back the layers of paper. Nestled in the middle, I found Benedict. I was confused until I picked him up, and I felt the change in weight.

“You hard-boiled our child?” I asked, my head snapping up to see a proud-looking Parker. “I’m pretty sure this is against the rules of the assignment, Parker!”

“What can I say?” Parker said with a shrug, “I guess I’m an overprotective parent.” Then, with a grin on his face, Parker remounted his motorcycle. He gave me a mock salute and pulled out of my driveway, leaving me alone with our egg child.

I shook my head after a moment before turning and walking towards my house. I let myself in and found my mom waiting in the front hall, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “How was your date?” she asked, the words coming out angrily.

“I had fun,” I stated lightly, and without waiting for a response, I hurried up the stairs. I wasn’t really in the mood to be glared at by my mom. That happened a lot, especially when it came to boys.

I walked into my bedroom and dropped my purse on the end of my bed. I looked down at Benedict and tipped my head to the side. “You, little man, need a makeover.”

I grabbed my pack of Sharpies out of my dresser drawer, and I sat down on the rug with my legs crossed. I hadn’t wanted to do this before, since I was scared that I’d accidently break the egg. However, Parker seemed to have taken care of that problem.

I pulled out the black Sharpie and started doodling a face on Benedict. As I started to outline the eyes, there was a knock at my door. I looked up to see Thomas standing in my doorway. “Hey Reed,” he said, “Can I come in?”

“Sure, Squirt,” I replied, closing the sharpie, “What’s up.”

“Can I borrow your colored pencils?” he asked, “I’m working on a science project, and all I have are crayons that make everything look messy.”

“Crayons do suck in that way,” I said in agreement, and I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my colored pencils off of the top shelf of my book case, which was where I kept my coloring books. Hey, I might be months away from turning eighteen, but I had an inner child who loved to color. I wasn’t going to deprive her of that joy.

I handed the tin of colored pencils to Thomas and watched as he looked through them quickly and nodded. “Thanks, Reed,” he said, smiling at me with his slightly crooked teeth.

The kid was going to need braces, which I knew from experience were awful. They were like torture devices in your mouth that made you want to rip your teeth out. However, I planned on being the awesome sister who snuck him gum and his favorite candy, Laffy Taffy.

I can be somewhat of an instigator.

“Wait, Reed,” Thomas said, turning to face me just as he reached the doorway. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I replied, running a hand through my hair, “ask away.”

“Was that the boy from the grocery store?” Thomas asked, and I frowned in confusion. “You know, the one who said he liked my shirt,” he clarified, and I nodded as I remembered Parker’s comment.

“Yeah, that was him,” I stated, and I curiously asked, “Why?”

“I was just wondering,” Thomas replied, and as he continued out of my room, he called over his shoulder, “He was nice.”

“Yeah,” I said to myself, since Thomas had already disappeared back into his room, “Yeah, he was.”

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Here's the new chapter! So, what do you guys think of the chapter? How did you like their fake date? I personally think old arcade games are awesome, and I absolutely love Sonic. I might've mentioned this, but Reed is an extension of myself. 

The video on the side is literally my favorite youtube video ever. I can't even explain to you how much I laughed the first time I saw it. 

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