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It's been two weeks. Two weeks and Clarke has yet to keep her name securely seated in the number one slot of the high scores on Pacman, for longer than a night.
Sure, her name had been knocked down on occasion here and there (which she would easily rectify), but this had been going on constantly. This was her game. She had been playing it since elementary school: for fun, to relieve stress, after break ups, and family issues. It was her place to escape and zone out for a while.
But now, oh now this was war.
She's almost tempted to stake out the arcade in hopes to catch whoever keeps knocking her down. Any hope she had of catching someone beating her score while she hung out in the establishment had been unsuccessful. The top five slots of the game now consisted of variations of their names: clarke, heda, clrkes, hedas, etc.
Then one day it happens.
Right there in the top spot.
'UrCute'
Eyes narrowed, she couldn't slam her quarter into the machine fast enough. "Challenge accepted. Cute my ass, I'll show you cute."
--
Lexa wasn't sure what she was doing, really. It started out as a funny little thing to annoy the blonde girl from school: beat her high score, see her fume for a bit about it to her friends at school.
On the rare chance she accidentally came by while Clarke was still playing, she got to see the girl deep in concentration, tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth.
She wasn't cute, not at all.
Lexa easily convinces herself of this, but as time goes on, she keeps finding herself at the arcade, almost every day now for two weeks. She wonders if her friends on the soccer team would think she's obsessed.
Because, that would be the only other explanation, right?
'It's not a crush', she catches herself mumbling as she presses the buttons on the machine.
When the game ends, she finds herself entering 'UrCute' in the scores before she can stop herself.
---
The next day, after securing her rightful place in the number one slot once again, Clarke settles in front of a fighting game, needing to release a little pent up frustration. "Just who do they think they are" she grumbles to herself.
The first week of this 'battle' was entertaining, having an actual challenge against her scores for once. But As time went on though, not knowing who she was battling was starting to get to her.
After playing a round by herself, someone settles into the fighting machine on the opposite side. "A Challenger Approaches!!" appears across her screen. 'Ok, maybe a challenge is what I need to let off more steam' she thinks.
As the digital fighters get into position, she sees it, right under the HP bar.
'PLAYER 2 heda'
"Oh I'm going to kick your ass." It slips out before she can stop it, and prepares herself for battle. Her opponent doesn't say anything, and the first round starts.
Clarke doesn't hold back, biting her lip, mashing buttons and trying to do combo moves as best she can. It's a close call, but the first match she wins.
Second round she loses, and swears under her breath. Third round will seal the deal, and she's ready for this mess to be over.
"How about a wager?" She calls over the high top of the game screen, while they are both choosing characters again.
After a brief pause: "What were you thinking?" Comes back over in an easy tone.
She wasn't expecting a soft voice to be attached to the annoyance that had been following her scores for the past few weeks. It almost catches her off guard, but she's been ready for this showdown. Her blood boils for it. Soft, cute voice or not, she's ready.
The countdown timer for the next round ticks, 10, 9....
"If I win, you stop playing my game."
----
8, 7...
Lexa chuckles to herself, clearly that's what the girl would have wanted in the end, that was to be expected.
"Alright, but what do I get?"
6, 5...
"What do you want?" The blonde replies, her character chosen and waiting on screen.
Crap, Lexa hadn't thought that far ahead. What did she want? To tease the girl with her scores sure, but she knew if she continued doing so, it could annoy the girl into hating her.
4, 3...
She started to sweat lightly. What did she want? What was she doing here anyway? "Uhh.." she unintelligibly replies while her mind screams at her to say something, as the timer continues to tick, she has to say something before the match starts, and she begins to panic.
2
"I want to buy you a milkshake."
1!
"What??" A startled reply comes back. But there's no more time left for conversation. the match begins with a chime through the game's speakers.
-----
Clarke wasn't sure if she heard the other girl correctly, but her focus quickly snaps to the game as the chime sounds. Her palms were already sweaty as their dance resumed, digital kicks and punches exchanged.
'I can do this, I have to do this!' She's biting her lip again in concentration, she can't lose here, especially when her game was on the line.
The character's HP bars continued to take damage, both players health equally matched at half percent.
'Just need to hold on!' Her grip on the joystick shifted as she managed to knock Heda's character over.
'There!!'
Quickly mashing buttons as her opponent was getting up, Clarke manages to press the correct pattern to unlock her own character's special attack, unleashing it and winning the round.
"Yes!!" She throws her hands up as she sees 'Victory!' Flash across her screen. She did it, never again would she have to worry about her high score. She could go back into her normal routine and....
And.... while victory was awesome, she felt a pang of regret, knowing that she wouldn't have this person to challenge her again in the future.
Speaking of, she shifted back from the machine, ready to see who had been giving her a hard time.
The other girl stood up and came to the side of her own machine to meet Clarke, ready to exchange a handshake. "Good game." She smiled lightly.
Clarke halted her step, almost tripping over herself. The girl was cute. Dressed in black jeans and a letterman jacket from -
"Wait, I know you, I think? That jacket is from my school." Confused, she shakes the girl's hand.
The girl grins, giving Clarke's hand a shake before releasing. "I'm a friend of Octavia, we're both on the soccer team. I'm Lexa."
Clarke continues to stare, her brain needing a moment to catch up, very much distracted by Lexa's smile. "Oh my god you're right, I've seen you on the field with her - but wait, what are you doing here? You're Heda?" She gives the girl another confused look.
"Uh" Lexa blushes, how was she going to answer that? She scratches the back of her neck. "I like.. I really like Pacman."
Clarke gives her a smirk. "Clearly"
Lexa coughs, well, there's no way out of this now. "Don't worry, I'll leave Pacman alone, as we agreed."
"I'd like to change my wager, I think." Clarke is eyeing her now, smirk still on her face.
"Yeah?"
"I think I'd like that milkshake after all."