I'm getting really bad at updating… I need to get myself motivated to do it again. xD

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Chapter 10 – Bowling Down Memory Lane

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It took us half an hour to go through the next holes, all because of Duncan trying to work out the fairness of a shot I made. And after all that effort, I ended up losing. I was ahead for sixteen holes, but I was knocked off my winner's perch the hole after. That was all done though, and we were headed back to the apartments.

"So…" I began, trying to recall if there was anything we missed, "today was fun, I guess. I wish I had done some more though. Like bowling, the cinema…"

"We could do bowling tonight." Duncan said, almost out of the blue. "Get the others to come along too."

I thought for another few minutes about what could happen tonight. Bowling sounded great, and if we went to the right place, we'd be able to get dinner there as well.

"Yeah, alright. Bowling tonight." I nodded, a bubble of excitement swelling up inside me. Out of all the activities in Pasadena, bowling was the one I did (and missed) the most, and we always went to the same alley. If I decided to not go bowling tonight, it would most likely end up as my biggest regret of the day.

"Just going to stop by and tell Geoff what's happening tonight." Duncan said, dragging me out of my thoughts.

I looked around and saw that we were nearing the shopping centre where I'd gone with Izzy and Zoey. We found a park in the underground parking lot, and quickly went through to the café. But Geoff had apparently already left, according to Amy, who was still there. So it was back out and onto the road.

"He'll probably be on his way back to the apartment, right?" I wasn't sure what was happening, or whether either of the guys had planned anything for the afternoon.

"Er… wait, no, he'll be… maybe at the airport by now."

"The airport? Did he… go somewhere or something?"

"Oh, no, he's just gone there to pick up DJ, the other guy that would be at mine and Geoff's apartment. He'd been to see family for a few days."

"Okay then… so they're… going back to the apartment themselves?"

"They were, but I got a message at mini golf to say that they'd need picking up… so I guess it'll just be a bit of a longer drive."

"Uh… right." I sat back and stared out the window.

Once we got to the airport, we had to wait for at least an hour, as the flight had been delayed by some stupid amount. Geoff was still there, however, and had been waiting for two hours already.

"Dude, I thought this was gonna take a while, but then I saw a heap of my old buds coming off a Dallas flight!" He told Duncan, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh man, it was great to see them again."

Being the only girl there at the time, I just watched all the people go by with their luggage, either off to some place in the States (or the world for that matter), waiting to be picked up, or waiting for other people off other flights. But eventually, DJ did come – a massive Jamaican guy who I was told by the other guys was a big softie. Then it was out of the airport, and back to the apartments for only half an hour.

I grabbed my card from my bag, but before I could unlock the door, it was opened by Leshawna.

"Girl, where the heck have you been?" She asked, looking and sounding surprised to see me.

"Well… I went out to Pasadena for the day." I replied, realizing that I should have left a note behind, just in case.

"By yourself…?"

"Oh, course not. I'll just… get inside first."

"Hang on, who'd ya go with then?"

"Is it not okay if there's a little more privacy for me to say it?"

"Uh… oh, I know who." Leshawna let out a laugh. "Come on in girl," she ushered me inside, shutting the door behind me, "you gotta tell us about this day out."

I looked over to the living area and saw Bridgette on the sofa, looking back at me expectantly.

"What did you do with who?" She asked, sitting up. "Tell us!"

I decided to tell them the other thing first. "Not before I drop a bombshell to say that we're going bowling tonight." I couldn't help smiling as I said it.

"We're what?"

"Girl, you did just not plan a bowling night behind our backs!" Leshawna hooted as she walked past. "Where'd that come from, hm?"

"Well it actually wasn't… really my idea." I could feel a blush creeping onto my cheeks, which was embarrassing.

"Hold on, lemme get this one. You went to Pasadena for the day, did stuff there, and… by that face…" Leshawna started laughing again, and I could only roll my eyes, but smile at the same time.

"It was Duncan, wasn't it?" Bridgette giggled.

"Busted." I said with a sigh. Of course I ended up being caught red handed… or red faced, really. "It was great though, we had pizza for lunch and then went to play mini golf."

"Well… Imma wantin' to ask more questions, but we gotta get ready for tonight if we're goin' bowling!" Leshawna quickly ran out to the hallway. "How long until we leave?"

And exactly half an hour later, all three of us were ready to go. Although Bridgette and Leshawna both changed their outfits, I just decided to redo my make-up, as it had faded a bit. Now we were waiting outside for the bus, and the guys.

"Where are they?" Bridgette asked, pulling down the sleeves of her blue hoodie. "I thought Geoff and Duncan both always said that girls were slower at getting ready than guys. But we're out here, and they're… still in there."

I looked over my shoulder, just in time to spot a bus at the very end of the road, followed by another one. I watched them as they got closer, waiting to find out what was headed where. The front bus was headed for Anaheim, whilst the second one… Pasadena.

"The second bus!" I called, running out onto the pavement.

"Here they come!" Leshawna shouted, a loud, faraway exclamation of shock echoing out afterwards.

I continued running towards the second bus and waited outside once I reached it, as Bridgette had offered to pay for our tickets. Once the others all appeared to be out on the street, we all got on. The bus was completely empty, so it was straight to the back seats for the guys.

"Did you do a lot of bowling when you lived in Pasadena?" Bridgette asked as she sat down in the seat next to me.

"I did, actually." I replied, nodding. "And I really missed doing it… it's been so long…"

As exciting as it was, the bus ride seemed to drag out quite a bit. But just as I was deciding to sit back for a quick nap, we'd arrived at the closest stop to the bowling alley. It was then a couple of blocks' walk until we were finally there.

"Dude, I remember this place!" Geoff exclaimed, letting out a loud whoop. "Last one at the counter's paying for it all! And, uh… first there gets waited on by the last person!"

And just as he finished saying that, I ran like hell. I didn't know who was behind me, or who had caught up, but I didn't really care. With what sounded like Geoff and DJ jokingly pushing each other out of last place, I found myself starting to laugh as I burst through the open doors. The counter was in my sight. I ran the last twenty or so metres, but due to slowing down as I came in, I was only just overtaken by Bridgette.

"Damn it!" I yelled, yet still laughing, as I reached the counter just after her.

"Thanks for slowing down." Bridgette giggled. "Now wait for Mister Bet Maker to lose. It happens almost every time."

"Oh, shut up." I gave her a friendly shove. "And really?"

Geoff did, in fact, end up in last place, which was quite funny – he'd be waiting on his own girlfriend. But once all was paid for, including meals, drinks and a few nibbles, it was game time.

I looked up at the screen of the lane we were allocated to, and saw that I was between DJ and Bridgette. I stepped back and turned around, only to nearly bump into Geoff.

"Crap, sorry dudette!" He said hurriedly, adjusting his hat.

"It's okay." I laughed. "Oh, you're first."

"Sweet! Oh yeah, that's right, we're gonna do another bet!"

"Another one?" I was almost certain that he was going to lose it again, whatever it was.

"Duncan's idea this time. He said to me and DJ that you were apparently pretty good… so let's see who can get the most strikes, out of the four of us." Geoff almost looked smug for a few seconds.

"Not Bridgette and Leshawna? And do points matter?"

"Oh, they turned it down, so it's just you for the ladies, if you wanna! And nope, it's all about the strikes!"

I wasn't exactly too sure on what to say, but a bet like this I could not turn down. Even if it had been a few years since I played.

"I'm definitely in." I declared, nodding and grinning.

Geoff grinned back before calling out to the others. "Alright, game on, people!"

It was completely crazy for even the first round. But for a start, neither of the guys were doing that well. Duncan failed in trying to get a split, whilst Geoff and DJ both got spares. It was then my turn, and with the guys messing up, I was feeling pretty confident.

"Go Gwen!" Bridgette cheered. "Win that… uh, what is the prize?"

"Winner gets ten bucks from each of the other three!" Geoff replied.

I grabbed a ball from the station and moved towards the alley. I knew it'd been a while since I last played, but I felt like I also knew exactly what I was doing. So I bowled the ball straight ahead, and stepped back to watch. Surprise, surprise, I got the first strike.

"Woohoo!" Leshawna shouted, laughing. "That's it, girl!"

The victory was sweet, but pretty short lived, as Geoff got a strike in the next round. But just before round three, the drinks were ready for collection. Each of us went to get our own, except for Bridgette, who of course had Geoff bring her drink over. Once the game resumed, the only one to not get a strike for the third round was Leshawna, who was constantly saying that she was the worst out of all of us at bowling. Round four, Geoff missed the strike, and the girls were yet to go.

"You think ya got this one?" Leshawna asked after taking a sip of her drink.

I looked at the scores, and saw that I'd be one ahead if I got a strike.

"I hope so." I replied, standing up. "I've only gotten one spare so far, so I don't know whether that amount's gonna increase by a lot in the next few rounds or not." I was about to go and pick up a ball, but stopped as I heard our buzzer go off. "That's our food, right?" I looked over my shoulder to the small table, where the buzzer was flashing madly. "What do I do?

"Bowl first, then get your dinner, maybe." Bridgette suggested.

"Alright." I turned back around, and within ten seconds I got the strike. Now it was time to go and get my burger. And I was starving already.

We took a bit of a longer break to start off on our meals, and didn't go back to bowling until at least fifteen minutes later. It gave me enough time to at least enjoy it, and make me remember how great they were even now. But once that fifteen minutes had passed, it was game on again.

The next four rounds were just as crazy as the first four, with a large variety of scores popping up on the screen. Leshawna surprised herself with her first strike. DJ scored a rather difficult-looking split. And I got a turkey, which bumped me up to five strikes, and by round nine, still one strike ahead of all three guys, who were tied on four. That did change, as Duncan managed to score a strike in his turn Once it came up to my turn again, I could hear the guys talking amongst themselves.

"Better get the ten bucks ready, dudes." Geoff said, sounding a bit dejected.

"Man, one of us has gotta win." DJ sighed.

"Just wait, we'll get there." Duncan told the other two.

As soon as I bowled the ball down the alley, I realized that I wasn't going to get a strike this time –the ball had moved too far to the left. It ended up knocking down six pins, which wasn't bad, and knocked down the rest in the second turn. But then I realized what it meant: the strike score was tied.

"Oh man!" Geoff laughed, whooping in delight. "This is it!"

I could only look back at Duncan as Bridgette went up for her turn, a smirk creeping onto my face. He looked up from his burger and smirked back. It was definitely on.

A strike from Bridgette, spares from both Leshawna and Geoff, and it was Duncan's turn again. I stopped chewing for a few seconds to see what he ended up doing. I was more or less expecting a strike to pop up, just like he overtook me in the round of mini golf. I watched the ball the entire time, from the moment he picked up, to when it struck the pins… and one was left standing. Which he then got next, but didn't really seem to be worried. I for one was – what if it ended up as a tie anyway?

"C'mon girl, the world ain't waiting 'till Christmas for this!" Leshawna told me as she lightly pushed me towards the end of the bench, just as DJ walked back from his turn.

"Okay, I better get this done with." I stood up and grabbed the ball which I had always been using, and stared at the skittles for a few seconds.

"Thirty dollars, Gwen!" Bridgette called, reminding me of what I was playing for. "Thirty dollars!"

I exhaled deeply and maintained my grip on the ball. Whether I would get it or not, it was all a matter of luck and chance. So I stepped forward a couple of feet and let it loose. The ball made a streamline down the very middle, only changing course ever so slightly. Closing my eyes and looking down, I drew my lips into a thin line as I heard whatever amount of pins tumbling down.

"No way!" I heard Duncan exclaim.

"Gwen, look up!" Leshawna said frantically.

I looked up at the screen and gasped as the word 'strike' flashed up on it. I shook my head quickly before letting out a loud cheer.

"Yes Gwen!" Bridgette cheered. "My turn now!"

I turned back to walk over to the table, just in time to see Duncan walking off. He obviously wasn't happy about the loss, so I decided to run over and stop him.

"Hey, come on." I said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back slightly. "You won the mini golf, I won the strike bet. We're even now."

Duncan stared ahead for a few seconds before seeming to come to terms with it. "Yep, we are." He nodded, grinning.

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Alright, hopefully I can update more regularly without procrastination.

Now I'm gonna sound like a newbie, but don't be shy/afraid to leave a review c: only if you have something nice to say about this story. If you don't, then don't even bother reviewing, just leave.