The Arcade

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CHAPTER 19: THE ARCADE

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Ren invited everyone to the arcade on Saturday.

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"The arcade is a place of great importance," he said, on the roof, at lunch. "It is where I, Ren Sato, became the rhythm game champion of the sixth grade."

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"Nobody cares," Yuki said.

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"You care. You just don't want to admit it."

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"I don't care."

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"You're coming."

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"I'm not coming."

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She came.

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Hana came. Mei came. I came. Even Charlotte came, though no one had invited her. She just showed up at the arcade and stood at the edge of the group like she belonged there.

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Ren didn't ask.

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He just said, "Cool, you're here," and went to get tokens.

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The arcade was loud. There were flashing lights and beeping machines and a crowd of middle schoolers who were too young to be there without a parent.

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Ren was weirdly good at the rhythm games.

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He stood in front of the machine with his feet planted and his hands moving and his face serious. He hit every note. He didn't miss once. The crowd of middle schoolers stopped playing their own games to watch.

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"Where did you learn to do that?" Hana asked.

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"I don't know," Ren said. "I just always could."

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He didn't look happy. He didn't look proud. He just looked like someone who was good at something he didn't care about.

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Yuki got competitive about everything.

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She played the racing game and lost to Ren. She played it again and lost again. She played it a third time and finally won, and she didn't smile. She just said, "Finally," and looked at the clock like she was late for something.

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Hana played the claw machine. She spent ten minutes trying to get a stuffed rabbit. She didn't get it. She laughed and said, "I'm so bad at this," and gave up.

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Mei sat in the corner and watched. She didn't play anything. She just watched.

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Charlotte stood at the edge of the group and watched me.

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I played one game. A shooting game. I was terrible at it. I didn't care.

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At the end of the afternoon, Ren announced that he was going to buy everyone ice cream.

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"My treat," he said.

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"You're broke," Yuki said.

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"I'm not broke. I'm financially challenged."

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"It's the same thing."

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"It's not. One is a fact. The other is a lifestyle."

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He bought ice cream anyway. Hana shared hers with everyone. She didn't eat hers. Mei held hers and didn't touch it. Charlotte took one bite and then threw the rest away when she thought no one was looking.

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I ate mine.

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We walked home together. All six of us. Nobody talked about anything important. We just talked about the arcade and the games and the middle schooler who had tried to fight Ren for beating his high score.

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For a moment, it felt like we were real friends.

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For a moment, it felt like everything was fine.

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I didn't know it yet, but that was the last time everything would feel that way for a long time. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Es4RYY2ib

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