Lost in the Shadows

14

Once I got out the shower I put on my bra, underwear, leggings, and the shirt that Wes gave me. I would have just worn the shirt I had brought over here, but it was wet with pool water. I wrapped my hair in the towel to dry it off quicker than walked out into the vacant bedroom.

How could he still be talking to that man? I wondered if I should just leave and head back to my apartment, but I had a feeling he wouldn't be too thrilled if I walked downstairs to interrupt their conversation to walk home alone. So after fighting with myself I decided to just sit on his bed and wait for him to come back. As soon as I sat on the bed I heard a knock on the door following with an intruding David. "Hey, we heard the shower turn off so me and the other guys were wondering if you'd like to play video games with us," he laughed as I hesitated. I'm the worst at games, I grew up playing with barbies and Polly pockets not an X-box or PlayStation. "What else are you going to do while you wait for Wes?" He asked, making a valid point.

After tossing my towel into a load of dirty laundry, I stood up and followed David into what seemed like a game room. A leather sofa was placed in the center of the room facing the tv while all sorts of arcade games flashed against the wall. I saw Pac-Man, and truth be told that was the only one I recognized, since that was my favorite game at the skating rink. The top of the walls were also in use by a variety of posters like the man cave rules or just simple movie posters like Jaws. However, they did have a few posters that made me uncomfortable, which were the pinup girls, most topless. I didn't like that.

"So have you ever played Farcry?" They asked as the told me to sit between David and Luke. I quickly came to realize that Matt was the quiet one, he didn't speak much at all throughout the whole game. The boys attempted to explain the game to me multiple times but failed miserably, I didn't catch a single word. They just kept saying A This X this Y this, jump with Y, shoot with X, or something like that. I didn't want to embarrass myself so I told them I was fine with just watching.

The first ten minutes Luke murdered a guy by shooting him in the head causing me to flinch at the sight of the gore. Matt laughed as David asked, "I thought you wanted to be a doctor? You can't even handle a little bit of blood."

"I want to be a doctor, not a sniper you jackass," I laughed along with the rest of them.

"Dani, do you want to play pool with me?" Luke asked as he stood up walking over to the pool table that was behind the couch. I nodded and followed him. I may not be good at video games, but I've had many years of practice in pool, that's what we do for fun on the weekend in Georgia.

I decided to act like I wasn't too sure how to play, I wanted to see if he would go easy on me or doubt me just to see the results. Might as well have a little fun. "I'm not too good at pool either," I laughed as Luke focused on setting up the balls.

"Have you played before?"

"A couple of times," I lied, I've played this game more than Wes playing his mind games.

Luke went first because he wanted to show me how to "properly" hit a ball. He ended up hitting a stripe ball in, so I ended up with solids-my favorite. My first hit, I blew it, I wanted to miss because it'll be funnier when I start beating him. "That's okay," he told me as he hit another ball in. "Try holding the stick like this," he explained as I watch him imitate proper hand placement. He told me to be in control of the stick and always keep me head down so that I could keep a steady eye on the ball I'm trying to hit into the hole.

This time, I decided it was really time to play, I did exactly what he told me and I ended up shooting my ball into the hole I wanted, I looked at him, "is that how you do it?" He just stared at me with a confused look on his face trying to figure out if I played him or if it was pure luck. It's the first one Luke. I ended up winning the game, and I knew he tried, he didn't let me me and he didn't go easy on me. Once he realized I knew what I was doing the whole time, he started getting competitive.