Chương 27: Date (3)

Auralia and Alexander walked around the center of Marison City, occasionally being stopped by Alexander's fans as they wanted to take photos or get autographs. The two soon became tired of this and decided to walk around less popular sites.

After walking around for a few minutes on an empty street, the two came across a few shops and an arcade.

There wasn't anything of interest to Auralia in the shops but as they passed the small arcade, Auralia noticed Alexander kept staring at it.

"Wanna go in?" Auralia asked, curious to know what was causing Alexander to keep glancing at the shop.

To her it seemed like your average arcade, a big neon sign, a claw machine with dolls standing by the door and a bunch of other games inside the arcade.

Alexander looked flustered as she asked him the question. "Oh…it's okay we don't have to."

Auralia tilted her head suddenly understanding everything. "Why not? You seem to want to go. It's not like we have anything better to do."

Alexander looked conflicted for a moment before sighing, "Alright…I guess we can go."

Auralia smiled. "Anything you want to try out seeing as it's your first time going to an arcade?"

Alexander looked at her surprised. "How did you know?"

"Well someone looked like a kid staring at a candy store." Auralia explained as they walked to the arcade. "You reminded me of a friend when we first went to the arcade."

"I see.." Alexander mused. "I've never been so I'm not sure."

He looked at the claw machine. "Maybe I'll try this one first. You can recommend me other games afterwards."

Auralia nodded, opening her purse to grab some coins for the machine. "Sure let me just put some coins in."

"Coins?"

"Yes coins. The machines don't take cards seeing as most users are teens or adults with change in their wallet." Auralia explained as she put some coins into the machine slot. "Not every kid gets an allowance on a black card."

Alexander pouted at the remark as the machine whizzed to life, a light flashing on the control to show it was ready to be used. Alexander looked at the lever before turning back to Auralia for an explanation.

"Let me show you." Auralia sighed, taking the lever. "You press this button and use the lever to move the claw like this…"

Using the claw, she quickly grabbed the nearest doll, it being a rabbit keychain, and picked it up. She then dropped it in the dispenser and the keychain doll came out the machine.

"You see…" Auralia said as she held out the small doll to Alexander.

"Yeah…You seem to be good at using this machine." Alexander replied taking the doll and hooking it to a belt loop on his jeans.

Auralia chuckled. "I've had years of practice."

Alexander grinned. "So it wasn't because you were lucky?"

"No way! I spent years playing around in the arcade. The claw machine is one of the many games I've mastered." Auralia exclaimed. "I want to see you try and get one toy."

A gleam spread in Alexander's eyes as his smile turned into a smirk. "Want to make a bet? If I can get more wins than you playing these games you're paying for lunch. And I get to choose the place."

"And if I win?" Auralia raised an eyebrow as her competitive side took over.

"I'll pay for lunch and you get to choose where we eat." Alexander said. "The number of prizes won will determine the winner."

"Alright you're on." Auralia held out a hand. "May the best person win."

***

Two hours later, Alexander found himself staring at the chicken taco Auralia had gotten them from a nearby food truck. He wondered how he could eat it with his hands when it seemed so messy.

He was regretting making the bet with Auralia. She had completely dominated all the games they had played, him only being able to win a small teddy bear.

He hadn't expected it and now he was stuck eating food truck food for the first time. He turned to look at the truck wondering what the hygiene standards were. He'd never eaten anything that was from the best place…

"If you're going to keep staring at your taco, I'll be glad to finish it for you." Auralia said, bring Alexander back to reality.

He looked at her sitting on the park bench, wiping her hands with a wet wipe. Her plastic container lay empty on her lap.

"You've finished already…How can you eat it so fast?" Alexander gasped in horror.

"Um because it's delicious." Auralia replied, patting her stomach. "It's been a while since I've had Marco's tacos. He seriously makes the best in the city."

"You've eaten this food before?"

"Yeah during my college days. It was cheap and easy to get seeing as the truck was always near campus." Auralia paused for a second. "I'm surprised to see him here. But maybe this is his spot on the weekends. Never did see him then."

"I see…" Alexander murmured, looking back at his taco.

It can't be that bad. Alexander thought to himself. Just think of this as you're experiencing a new food.

With a bit of hesitation, Alexander brought the taco to his mouth and took a small taste. There was a bit of a crunch from the wrap and salad. The chicken was however tender and spicy, melting in Alexander's mouth.

Within a few minutes Alexander devoured the whole thing, suddenly understanding why Auralia had been so quick to finish her taco.

As he dusted off his messy hands, he hear a chuckle. Looking up he saw Auralia standing in front of him holding out an ice-cream cone and napkin.

"You know for someone who wasn't sure about eating that taco, you sure ate it fast." Auralia smirked. "You didn't even notice that I had left."

"I didn't expect it to be that good." Alexander cleaned his hands with a napkin before taking the ice-cream from Auralia.

"Well, you know now how amazing truck food can be." Auralia exclaimed, taking a seat next to Alexander.

As she did a buzzing noise sounded and both quickly grabbed their phones. Alexander realized it was not his and looked at Auralia. Her face seemed a little pale as she stared at the phone.

"Sorry…I need to take this." Auralia murmured. "You mind?"

"No go ahead." Alexander answered, wondering who was calling.

Auralia nodded her thanks and headed a little distance away to answer the call, leaving Alexander alone on the park bench.