Hopeless Desires

After having breakfast at the diner and then getting kicked out for being too rowdy, we piled back into the wonderful white van and made our way back to Amber’s. After arguing over what to waste our time doing, Garrett’s suggestion won out and we settled down in Amber’s den to play video games.

“Jared, tell your evil cousin to stop being such a bitch!” John yelled, glaring at Amber as she laughed at his horrible video game skills.

“It’s not her fault she’s so cool,” Jared shrugged, not once looking up from his phone. John’s jaw dropped and I giggled at him when he crossed his arms really high on his chest, a stingy look on his face. He heard the laugh escape through my mouth and looked over at me, dropping his arms and pouting out his lip.

“Chesna,” he whined.

“Jared’s right…” I trailed, fighting off a smile.

“I thought we were friends. Guess not!” He kept a straight face, and I decided to play along.

“Aw, JohnO, I’m sorry. We are friends.”

“Not anymore. I disown you.”

“Can’t I do anything to make you forgive me?” I jutted out by bottom lip, making myself have puppy-dog eyes.

“I’m sure I can think of a few things.”

“Name it and I’ll do it.”

He thought for a moment, looking up at the ceiling and stroking his invisible beard, before smirking at me and patting his lap. “Come sit.”

I looked at Amber who smiled and raised her eyebrows at me. I shrugged, standing up from the couch and walked over to him, sitting down on his lap. I looped one arm around his neck to hold myself up, the other resting on my leg.

“Am I forgiven now?” I asked, trying my best to look sweet and innocent, batting my eyelashes. He smirked at me, wrapping his arms around my waste, still holding the game controller in one hand.

“Almost,” he replied, grinning. He turned his cheek to me, tapping it with his finger, “Plant one right here.”

I hesitated, “John…”

“I’m waiting,” he sang.

I leaned in and kissed his cheek, a simple peck that barely lasted a second. “Now are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

I grinned and moved to get off of him, but held me down. “John, let me go.”

He shook his head and moved so he was holding the game controller in both hands against my waste. “No, you’ve now been dubbed my lucky charm,” he said. “Garrett, stop messing with Pat and let’s go. I’m ready to kick your ass.”

I sighed and leaned against him, knowing it was futile to even try fighting him. If there’s one thing I learned about this kid in the time we’ve gotten to know each other, it’s that he’s stubborn and likes to get his way. After two hours of nonstop game playing, shouting out random insults and grumbling, John ended up winning the game by a landslide. He yelled victoriously, tossing the game controller and squeezing me.

“I knew you were a lucky charm!”

“Now I will be my own lucky charm. Amber, get the DDR mats.” She jumped up from her seat on the couch and went into the small game closet next to the TV, coming back out with two black, rubber mats. I slid off of John’s lap despite his protest and grabbed one mat from her. We laid them out side by side, plugging them into the PS3. I stuck my hand out to John and after pulling him up off the ground, we each took a mat.

I gave him a cocky smirk, an evil glint in my eyes. “Prepare to lose miserably, bitch.”

“No one can beat me at this game. I am the champ.”

“You’re about to be the chump.”

“You talk the talk, but can you live up to your words?”

“There’s only one way to find out, yeah?”
John was about to learn the hard way how good at this game I am. Amber and I used to play it religiously every day after school all throughout high school.

After a few rounds, all of which I had a better grade for, John realized that I really was not going to lose. I was points away from beating him again. He attempted to blindside me by throwing his arms in front of my face, but it was futile as I pulled a very tricky move, racking up some extra points, my feet moving furiously over the mat’s arrows. He threw a fit when the screen flashed ‘Winner’ on my side of the screen, professing my victory. He turned to face me and without warning lunged. I screamed, laughing all the while as he pinned my arms down and straddled my waist.

“You cheated.”

“No, I’m just better than you.”

“How did you figure out that last move?”

“Years of practice. You seem to have underestimated just how big of a dork I really am.”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah. You teach me that move and I’ll teach you how to swim.”

“And who said I wanted to learn how to swim?”

“No one, but why wouldn’t you want to learn? We’ll be swimming almost every day that we’re here and every time you’ll have to sit on the side. That’s lame.”

“Will you buy me some cute swimmies?” I asked with a cheeky smile.

He rolled his rolled with a wide grin stretching across his face, nodding his head. “Yes, I will buy you some cute swimmies.”

I took him off guard and pulled my arms free from his hold, wrapping my legs around his waist and flipping us over so I was now straddling his waist. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Johnny boy.” I stood up and held out a hand, which he grabbed and pulled himself up off the floor. We stood staring at each other, my hands on my hips, John’s hands hanging casually by his sides.

“The amount of sexual tension in this room is disgusting.” Pat’s voice cut the silence that had settled. Little laughs erupted about the living room and I turned my eyes to Pat who was cracking up.

"The amount of sexual tension in this room is disgusting," I mocked.

Everyone continued laughing, Garrett even falling off the couch as he held his sides. I haven’t laughed this hard in I don’t know how long. These guys made me feel so comfortable and at home and the smile was impossible to wipe off my face.