"No fair," Jeremy muttered.
"You sound like Odd," Aelita teased. "He always says that when he loses… Rematch?" And she let out a laugh as, predictably, Jeremy nodded firmly.
They had been at this for almost two hours. Both of them—well, mostly Jeremy—had the sheen of sweat on their brow, despite changing into more loose and cool clothes almost an hour ago. Aelita wore a simple t-shirt and her gym shorts while Jeremy wore his sweat pants with a blue t-shirt similar to hers. Aelita was the one, however, who had foreseen the need to change a while back in their tournament. She was lucky she had such clothes packed for Christmas break and suddenly thanked herself for the impulse.
This the only tournament Jeremy would ever play, the pinkette thought wryly as she went to reset the game.
Tennis for Wii.
They had played at least ten games already, though it had taken less than half a game to discover that his coordination in simulated sports was just as bad as in real ones. Feeling a small sense of pity for his lack of athletic skill, Aelita thought she'd let up on one—just a little, and on one, mind you. But after that it was on, and even without her playing to full potential, she won most of the games. Though most wasn't quite the right word, a she had won all of them, more accurately, except for about two.
That did not bode well with Jeremy.
He took great pride in his intelligent skill, so a trivia or strategy game would have been a different matter. He held his athletic skill, or lack thereof, in low self esteem. But he thought that he might have had a change at a simulated like this, and so many losses was stinging even his scrap of athletic pride.
Granted, he had given her some trouble on a few games. They were the last few, each increasing in score until Aelita began to get worried. It seemed like all he had to do was catch onto it. For his part, Jeremy was fully convinced he could beat Aelita. If only barely and by a few points, but he could still beat her.
The new game was started. This time, both of the players' brows were scrunched in concentration, both of the players jumped once or twice unnecessarily in the urge to beat the other.
It was a stalemate, Aelita realized. He could actually win this. She couldn't let that happen, of course. She had asserted her dominance and planned to keep it there. Briefly, she considered briefly dashing in to give a startling peck on the cheek.
Then something flew at her head.
She shrieked—her lack of breath reduced it to a yelp—and dropped immediately to the floor, thanking Xana for the quick reflexes the AI's attack had forced upon her. She heard a loud thud as she stood cautiously, glancing at Jeremy. His face was slack and it had turned pale. That was saying something, as his cheeks had been previously flushed with effort.
"Aelita, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Oh, man…my parents are going to kill me," he said in a hoarse whisper, a horrified look on his face.
"Fine," Aelita said, too startled to form a quip for the situation. She followed his gaze to a small dent in the wall where a small patch of paint had flaked off. She was confused for a moment until she saw the absence of the wii remote in his hand.
A grin spread over her face in realization. She burst into laughter quite suddenly, clutching her sides. Some part of her felt guilty for laughing at the stricken look on his face, but it was swept out by the force of her giggles.
"It's not funny," Jeremy said anxiously, averting his eyes in embarrassment. "Oh, man," he whispered again, as footsteps came from the hall. "I'm dead."
It took Mrs. Belpois several seconds to get over the sight of Aelita doubled over on the floor in laughter and her son's horrified face. She almost—almost—asked what that noise had been, or if Aelita could actually breath. Then she thought better of it. Aelita was still laughing, she reasoned, so she must have been okay.
She shook her head and left, shifting the laundry basket in her arms.
Kids these days.