A Tongue Like a Nightmare That Cut Like a Blade

For some reason, Alex wanted to make himself look good for when he took Aurora out. He made sure to straighten his hair just the right way and to wear clothes that he hadn’t worn yet. He would never care so much if he was going out with one of his friends. Normally, Alex would only do this if he was going out with a girl that he liked.

Did he like Aurora? He kept asking himself that as he got ready. He didn’t think that he did. Alex just thought that he was doing all this because she was so fascinating. Aurora was like a mystery novel. He just had to keep telling himself that. He was not attracted to her. He was attracted to the fact that he knew nothing about her.

When he exited the bus, he found the autumn haired girl outside waiting for him. He just loved how her hair reminded him of fall. It was a mix of orange and browns. It looked just like the leafs that painted the grass before Winter. That was why her hair could only be described as being autumn. Alex also liked her eyes and how one of them was blue and the other was green. It was interesting how Alesia and her were first cousins when they didn’t even look that much alike.

“Hey,” Alex said as he came up to her. “I was thinking we could go to the arcade that’s in town and then go out to eat.”

“Ok.”

“The arcade isn’t that far away. I was thinking that we could just walk if that’s ok with you.”

“It is.”

“Well, um, let’s go.”

They started walking down the sidewalk to their destination. Alex would take glances of her, but Aurora didn’t even look at him. She was looking ahead the entire time. She didn’t want to get attached to anyone other than her cousin.

The thing was that she actually found Alex to be attractive. Aurora had thought that the very second that she saw them which was when she looked up All Time Low after she had met Jack. The one thing that she could not get out of her head was his voice. His voice was perfect in her opinion. Although, she was never going to tell him that. She didn’t want him to get close to her. She only wanted her cousin close because she understood what it’s like to lose someone.

When they got to the arcade, Alex took her over to one of the machines and put some money in which resulted in coins coming out. Aurora gave him this look that told him that she wanted to pay for her own coins, but Alex gave a face back that told her that this night was his treat. Of course, this kind action caused the girl to blush. This was why she walked away after he gave her a handful.

Aurora went over to the shooting games. She put a coin in the slot and picked up the gun. Alex stood behind her and walked as this girl started to get every point that could be gotten. He had never seen such skill. It was like the girl could secretly be some kind of agent for the government.

When the game was over and she had the new high school, she turned around to find that Alex’s mouth was still ajar. What had she done to make his face like that? It wasn’t like she was the ultimate gamer or anything. Aurora gave him a confused look, so Alex answered her question with another question.

“How did you get so good? You’re amazing at this game!”

“I used to play this game all the time with someone that was very close to me.”

As soon as she signed it, she regretted it. For some reason, Alex had a way to get her to open up more than she normally would. She might even tell him what happened if she kept that up. Of course, she was never going to tell anyone, so she had to make sure that she did her best to not get close to the him. Aurora would hate it if anyone found out about her past.

“Well, I learned something new about you. You’re good at shooter games. Remind me to never make you upset. I’d hate to die over something small like taking your last cookie.” Although, Aurora made no sound, she did smile. This caused Alex to do the same.

“Oh before we start playing anymore games, I wanted to ask you if you were ok with eating where I had planned.”

“I’m sure that any place that you picked will be fine. I’m not picky.”

“Well, ok. What do you want to play next?” The girl’s finger pointed over to a two-player dancing game. “That’s two-player.”

“I know.”

“Do you really think that I’m going to play that game with you?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know that I like to dance?”

“I’ve seen you do it a bunch of times on the bus even though the tour just started.”

“Aw, well are you sure that you can take down this dance machine.”

She shrugged. “I’ve never played a dancing game before. I just thought that it would be fun.”

“Well, let’s go have some fun.”

Alex grabbed Aurora’s wrist and dragged her over to the game. He put the right amount of coins in before the game came on. He motioned for Aurora to pick the song using the arrows on the ground. She picked one that was actually the hardest one on the entire game. Of course, she didn’t know that. This was the first time after all.

The arrows started coming on the screen. Alex was having a difficult time getting all of them, but he was able to get almost all of them as good or great. He just happened to glance over at Aurora and found that she was getting all perfects. Her body moved like flowing water. It was very elegant but fast as well. She would probably make a good dancer or martial artist.

Alex was not going to be beaten by a girl though. Dancing randomly was one of his things. He tried even harder to get the steps right. He started to get all greats and some perfects, but Aurora was still getting all perfects. She was even getting them when the hard part came on!

When the song finally ended, Alex was completely out of breath. It’s not easy to move your feet so fast especially when you’re not used to it. Aurora came over to him with a smile on her face. How was she able to not be having a heart attack?! She patted Alex’s head as if he was a child, and she was the master or something and strolled off to the next game. There was no way that that was her first time playing one of those games. She had to have played them a lot for her to be that good at them. Especially since she got the new high score on that game too!

They had tons of tickets in their hands when they walked up to the prize table. Alex nudged her to let her know that she was the one that was going to be getting something. She just nudged him back.

“You’re the one getting the prize,” Alex told her.

“What about you?”

“What about me? You’re the one that got most of the tickets. It’s only fair if you got the present that you wanted, so go ahead and choose.”

“I want the bird.”

“The bird?”

“The stuffed bird that’s all alone in the corner.”

Alex looked over and saw a black and white bird sitting there on the corner of the shelf. “We’ll have the bird.” The man nodded and handed it to him after taking the tickets. Alex gave it to her.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Why’d you get the bird though?”

“Songbirds are my favorite.”

“That’s another thing that I’ve learned about you. You’re amazing at shooter games, dancing games, and you’re favorite animals are songbirds.”

“Yep.”

“Let’s go get something to eat now. I’m starving.”

“ Same.”

Notes