" You look tired."
I yawned and glanced at Cory sitting on the swing next to me. Truth be told, I didn't get a wink of sleep last night due to horrible nightmares.
" Yeah, kept having bad dreams." I replied, stretching. Cory frowned and squinted at the ground in thought.
" About what?" He asked, looking back at me. I stared at him for a moment before shrugging.
" Eh, zombies wanting to eat my innards and other things like that." I replied, brushing off the question. Cory narrowed his eyes at me.
" Jack says you're lying." He huffed, crossing his arms in a pout. I chuckled and pushed myself on the swing a bit.
" Yeah? How does he know?" I inquired, watching Cory look to his invisible friend for an answer. After a few seconds, he shrugged and looked back at me.
" He says that he knows by in… intu…"
" Intuition." I finished, smiling at the boy as he nodded quickly.
" Yeah! Intuition!" Cory repeated. " He says you're lying about your dreams." I hummed in thought for a moment before sighing a bit.
" Yeah, he's right." I muttered, staring at the ground. " I get nightmares about some… stuff that happened a long time ago. I just don't feel too comfortable talking about it, you know?" Cory nodded in understanding before jumping off his swing.
" That's okay, Jack doesn't like talking about his past either." Cory stated and I looked up. That caught my attention.
" Why not?" I pressed, standing up and following the boy as we made our way back to the house. Cory shrugged and put his hands behind his head.
" I dunno…" He replied honestly, sounding a bit sad. " He just says that he's done stuff he's not too proud of and I didn't need to know about it." I furrowed my brows in thought. Not too proud of what he's done, huh? That's interesting. I kind of figured the guy would brag about all the crap he's done.
Or he didn't want to scare Cory off.
Somehow, my gut was telling me a different story as we entered the house, going into the kitchen for a snack and a drink. My aunt was there as well as the old croon and I nearly groaned out loud as the two adults looked at us.
" What are you two doing in here?" Ms. McOlsen asked sharply. I heard Cory take a quick breath. I rolled my eyes at her and glared.
" We're hungry and thirsty unless you want us to starve and get dehydrated." I deadpanned.
" Allie." My aunt warned and I huffed, turning away. Cory quickly grabbed a snack and a juice box before bolting out. I returned my glare at the old woman before grabbing my own snack and drink and following the brown haired boy out.
" How do you do that?" Cory breathed once we were a safe distance from the kitchen. I tilted my head at him in confusion and furrowed my brows.
" Do what?" I asked as I sipped my drink.
" Stand up to her so calmly." He sagged his shoulders. " You're so brave. I don't think I can ever do something like that…" I laughed a bit awkwardly, rubbing my neck.
" It just takes time and practice, bud." I replied thoughtfully. " I was always taught to stand up for myself against something that isn't right. I'm not about to let a cranky old woman walk all over me." Cory blinked at me, tilting his head a bit.
" Did you… go through something really terrible?" He asked suddenly and I raised a brow.
" …Like what?" I asked carefully. Cory looked away, sipping his juice.
" I dunno, Jack said that you'd have to go through a lot to be able to have the willpower to stand up to things like Ms. McOlsen with the com… composure you had." The boy replied, turning to me. " Did you go through something bad?" I hummed in thought. Well, one thing I'll give Jack credit for is that he's sharp alright. That didn't mean I would just spill my guts to Cory.
Or anyone for that matter.
" Can't tell ya, Cory. It's something I'd prefer not to remember." I finally replied. Cory looked a bit disappointed, but nodded anyways.
" Okay, I understand Allie." He said and smiled at me. " We all have secrets, right?" I grinned and nodded at the boy.
" Right." I agreed, ruffling his hair a bit. He whined and batted my hand away, smiling behind his little irritation façade.
" Don't ruffle my hair! I'm not three…" Cory pouted and smooth his hair as it began to stick up from the static electricity. I laughed and patted the boy's back, smiling at his childish attitude.
" Whatevs, kid." I chirped. " I'm bored as frick, wanna do something fun?" Cory smiled up at me and nodded eagerly. I tossed the boy a smile and started walking off the property and towards the center of town.
" S-Shouldn't we ask Ms. McOlsen—" Cory started as he timidly followed me, but I waved him off, pulling out my phone.
" Relax, I'll just text my aunt and tell her that we went out to town for a while." I told him as I left the property. The boy quickly followed, looking at the house once more before looking at the road ahead.
" Are you sure we won't get in trouble?" He whispered and I nodded, smiling at him.
" Yeah, we'll be fine. How about we head to the arcade?" I suggested, heading towards the direction of the building. Cory's eyes lit up in excitement as he nodded as the two of us made our way to the arcade.
0o0o0o0o0o
I smiled lightly at the look of awe and wonder on Cory's face as we entered the arcade. Games upon games were lined up along the walls, RPG game cabinets facing back to back in rows to fill the large building.
" You act like you've never been here before." I chuckled, ruffling the brunette's hair. He whined and batted my hand away.
" I haven't." He replied dully. " Mrs. McOlsen says arcades are a bad influence." I scoffed.
" That lady probably thinks 1% milk is a bad influence." I muttered and Cory giggled, lightly elbowing me in the side.
" So, what do you wanna do first?" I asked, looking at all the machines. Cory looked around as well, a bit intimidated by everything, before pointing to a basketball game. God, I hated those.
" The hoops? Sure, let's go." I smiled and began to walk over. I stopped and mentally face-palmed when I realized that we needed tokens before we could actually play the game, so I quickly went over to the token machine and got us five dollars' worth of tokens and gave half to Cory.
" There you go." I said as I inserted the tokens into the machine next to Cory's. " Knock yourself out, kid. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean." I winked and grabbed a ball, shooting it towards the hoop. Just my luck, it bounced off the backboard and away from the hoop, missing the shot. I frowned and grumbled to myself as Cory laughed lightly, taking his own shot. The shot missed as well and I chuckled.
" Looks like we both suck at basketball." I mused, picking up another ball. There was the sound of a ball being tossed and I looked up to see the basketball on Cory's side fall easily through the hoop, like a pro. I blinked and looked at Cory in surprise.
" I-I didn't do it!" He protested, waving his hands in front of himself. " Jack did!" I looked at the hoop before looking back at Cory with a sly smile.
" That's cheating, Jacky-boy." I said, turning to my own game and tossing the ball. This time, it bounced off the rim and off into the 'out of bounds' thing below it. I squinted and debated if the game was rigged or not. Cory giggled and we tossed a few more shots before our turn was over and we got a few tickets for our winning shots.
After playing a few more games with the basketballs, ski ball, a few RPG arcade games, and a racecar game, we decided to take a break and eat some delicious fast food that they served in the arcade.
" This is so much fun!" Cory exclaimed as he bit into his hamburger. The kid looked like he was in heaven before he continued to talk. " I never get to eat any fast food… Ms. McOlsen says that it's not real food."
" I don't care, it tastes good." I replied with a grin, happy that Cory was having a blast. Cory nodded and devoured his burger and fries, giggling occasionally. I shrugged, figuring he was talking to Jack. I scanned the arcade for any other games that would be fun for the two of us to play when my eyes landed on a certain machine.
" Dude, Cory!" I beckoned, lightly slapping at the boy's arm. He looked at me, confused for a moment as he finished his food.
" What?" He asked, tilting his head. I got up and practically dragged him over to the machine I was looking at.
" This thing's a blast!" I told him, walking around to see the vividly colored arrows on the ground of the machine. " I used to always play this when I was a kid with my brother." Cory looked at the large machine, brows drawn together slightly. He looked really confused and I laughed lightly at his expression.
" You've never played DDR?" I inquired, crossing my arms and leaning against one of the railings. Cory shook his head and looked at me.
" No, what's a DDR?" He questioned, pretty curious now. I smiled and nodded to the machine.
" DDR stands for Dance Dance Revolution. It's a dancing game." I explained. " You just tap the arrows on the floor when they approach the hollow arrows on the top of the screen. The closer to the center of the hollow arrow you get, the more points you earn." Cory nodded at the explanation, but seemed a bit reluctant to play.
" Sounds weird." Cory said at last, looking at the game.
" It's a blast, come on!" I urged. " Play a song with me!" Cory immediately shook his head, a light blush on his face.
" N-No way, I can't dance!" He argued, crossing his arms. I nudged him lightly and laughed.
" Neither can I, let's suck at dancing together." I replied and stepped onto the left platform. Cory still refused and I rolled my eyes at him.
" Fine," I huffed playfully. " Jack! Dance with me!"
Cory stopped and stared at me in shock before looking at Jack in confusion. I raised a brow and looked at the boy and the empty space beside him.
" What? He's here too, isn't he?" I quipped, leaning against the rail again. " I bet I can beat him at DDR." Cory blinked at me before looking at Jack for an answer. I smirked. If this was the Jack I thought it was, then challenging him should get under his skin.
" Unless he's scared of losing to a girl." I huffed, turning my back to the brown haired boy. I heard Cory speaking to Jack before the lights on the right platform lit up as if someone had stepped onto the panels to play. I grinned in victory.
" Jack says he's gonna make you eat those words." Cory giggled and watched with glee. I smiled at the challenge.
" Bring it on, Jack." I said as the game lit up and the music started playing.
