Chapter Fourteen

" What is going on here?" Zina asked as she came closer.

"Thanks." I said and collected my icecream, it was a combination of Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry flavour. " Zina meet Lucas." I introduced her to Lucas,who stood beside me. "And Lucas, meet Zina my best friend." I said and smiled at Zina who let out a small grin when our eyes met.

Zina watched him for a while with a stern face before walking up to him.

"Nice to meet you." Zina said and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Lucas stated ,his hands firmly gripping hers and then turned towards me. "I guess i will be seeing you later." He whispered to me.

I gave him a firm nod.

"Nice to see you Zina." He said and turned to go.

"Wait." Zina called. "Why don't you join us." She rushed out.

Lucas turned towards me, his head tinted to the left in a silent question.

I gave a quiet. "Yes." And licked from my ice cream.

He smiled and turned to Zina. " I will love to." He stated with a grin.

Zina let out a whooping cheer and came in between us, her hands hooked on both my and Lucas'arm as she dragged us to a nearby game center.

"A game center by this time?" I asked Zina shocked and exchanged eye contact with Lucas over her head.

"They normally open from 11pm to the next day." She explained cheerfully.

The door made a ding sound when we pushed it opened. A man of about twenty nine_ Thirty from his light grey hair was seated on a chair visible to anybody coming in. He was busy typing away on his computer, he stopped amidst his typing his hands in the air immediately he heard the ding.

"Welcome to the nightly game center." He said with a warm smile and sprang up from his chair.

"Hello." We greeted in unison.

"Hello Peter." Zina said and unhooked her arms from Lucas and I.

"Zinapple." He called,a toothy smile on his face.

Zina let out a loud groan. "I have told you not to call me by my full name." She whined. "It is Zina not Zinapple."

Peter let out a deep throaty laugh. "If you like call yourself Zina,your name will always be Zinapple."

I was laughing uncontrollably, my hand on my stomach.

Lucas let out a soft chuckle.

Zina turned to us with a glare. "Stop laughing. " She warned.

I made a gesture of zipping my mouth and throwing away the key.

"And i am going to change that name." Zina stated with a smirk to Mr Peter.

"If you say so." Mr Peter dismissed. "Come on in." He said and opened the door by swiping his key card.

"Thank you Peter." Zina said and entered inside.

"Thank you." I said before following behind Zina, Lucas beside me.

"Wowww." I let out at the marvelous sight in front of me. They were different corners with different kinds of game,they even had a medium wrestling ring,where two teens were have a match.

"This place is beautiful." I gushed looking around.

"I know right." Zina said standing in front of me. "Come on."

Lucas and I followed Zina while my eyes scanned the place,though it was noisy it was also quite entertaining.

"This place is filled to the brim for a nightly game center." I commented while I looked around.

"Of course,most of the people here ran away from their parents disturbance to have fun." Luke stated with a shrug.

I stared at him in shock. "You sound like someone who has been here."

"That's because i have." He said.

"Then i am sure you must have seen Zina in passing." I said and looked around.

He shrugged his shoulder. "I guess."

"Over here." Zina called from behind a computer desk.

"Come on, let's go." I said to Lucas and made my way over to Zina. "What are you doing?"

"Playing a game." She stated,her fingers clinking continuously on the keyboard. "Grab a seat." She said and motion to the seat beside her. Her eyes not leaving the computer screen.

I stared as Lucas who just shrugged his shoulder and grabbed a seat.

I grabbed the other seat by Zina's right and plopped down,my hands on the keyboard.

"So basically this is not just a nightly gaming center but a nightly gaming earning center,which means the amount of games you win is the amount of money you get." Zina explained. "Though i know you already have money, but then just play for fun." She stated and looked at me.

I gave a slow nod and then face my computer screen,this would be my first time playing game for I was not a fan of games I looked over to their direction and saw how much fun they were having, especially Lucas who kept on yelling into his headset with a smile on his face.

"Guess, I should also give it a try." I muttered and selected "start" on the computer screen.

By 2am I bade Zina and Lucas goodnight and made my way home, I could not believe I stayed outside till 2am, Dad will be so furious.

I sneak inside and was greeted by the dark and silence of the house,Guess Mum and Aunty May got tired of waiting.

"Where are you coming from Missy." A deep voice echoed in the dark.

I stood still,my hand of my rapidly beating heart,then inhaled and exhaled slowly before I turned around.

The light flick on,and there seated on the chair with his hands folded and leg crossed was Dad.

"Da...d." I called in a shaky voice.

"I asked you a question young lady." Dad yelled and stood up from his seat. "Where are you coming from.?" He yelled and sent me a disappointed look.

"I... I.. I." I stuttered out,I was finding it hard to formulate words.

"Do you know what time it is?" He asked and looked at the clock on the wall. "It is 2am." Dad said ,his angry face staring at me.