“God, I feel like a kid again,” I muttered as I propped up my chin with my hand, my elbow using the open window as a ledge to lean on. The warm afternoon air blew against my face with enough force to make me squint my eyes, the September heat could be brutal in the valley sometimes. It would be days like these when me and Clar would ride our bikes out to town and go to Rivera’s to bum their AC.

“Oh shut up, I'm your girlfriend so of course I’m going to drive you.” Abby huffed as she tugged at the collar of her hoodie, my eyes trailing a bead of sweat as it ran down one of the many hickies dotting her pale neck. She seemed to notice my gaze as a small flush covered her cheeks and I swore I heard her say ‘monster’ but I couldn't really hear much over the rushing sound of the wind.

“Don’t get me wrong, Abbs, I really appreciate it but this was kind of going to be a guys-only thing ya know.” Ricky and Billy had seemed to be the most distraught about my kidnapping, the short skinny blond had even gone so far as to bury his snot-covered face in my chest when he hugged me. Billy cried like a stoic man having to put down a dog he’d owned since he was little, his trembling shoulders making it obvious to everyone that the big man was upset. So I had proposed going to the arcade to take their minds off of it but now I had Abby wanting to come too.

“If you think I’ll get between you and your friends…what did you call it again?” She sounded like a Dad trying to bond with his son by asking him a question about the weird ass hobbies he’s into. Her sidelong glance and quirked eyebrow only added to the effect.

“A bromance.” I supplied, crossing my arms over my chest. I was wearing a Space Jam T-shirt that Abby had lying around, and on her, it would be like a dress but for me, it’s just a smooth-feeling shirt. Though with Lola Bunny prominently displayed on the shirt I doubt I’d wear it beyond just this once. It could send a bad message about my preferences as I was more a fan of Jessica Rabbit than an actual bunny. 

“Right, anyway, I don't plan on bugging you three while you play your games or whatever.” She waved dismissively at me like I wasn't the person with all of the high scores at Rivera’s. I would probably have to reclaim some of those titles considering Keith and Jason had probably been playing non-stop to try and dethrone me, my name on the leaderboard a stain for them to clean up.  

“Then what do you plan on doing?” I looked up at the Atari-colored stripes of the Arcade’s sign looming in the distance as we drew closer to it.

“Havin’ a girl’s chat.” Ominous.

“With just Liv right?” Hope.

“…” Ominous x2

“With just Liv right?” Pleading.

“…” Despair.

***

“Uh, hi Mr. and Missus Rivera.” I gave an awkward wave to the mountain of a man glaring at me from behind the kitchen window, his salt and pepper pompadour hidden behind a myriad of paper order slips strung along a fishing wire at the top of the opening. His face was set in a deep scowl as his villain goatee really completed the whole ‘you mess with my daughter and I kill you look’.

Mrs. Rivera was sitting at the counter just in front of her husband and his wrathful visage, he’d be whistling a different tune if his wife knew he was giving me a death glare. Despite looking like a slightly older and thicker Liv (don't tell her I thought that) she was 100 times more of a menace than her husband. Her eyes were crinkled in amusement though, a small smirk playing across her plump lips.

“Hello, Ethan, your friends are already playing.” She shooed me away with her hand as her eyes settled on Abby trying her best to sneak past her to get to the stairs. “Abby, my daughter and her…friends are waiting for you.” 

I felt a shiver run down my spine at her tone, Mr. Rivera seemed to agree as he scuttled back into the depths of the kitchen to begin working. Before she could change her mind about sparing me from one of her scathing lectures I had bolted through the corral doors of the arcade, the creaking sound of the galaxy-painted doors filling the air.

Unlike the light and warm atmosphere of the restaurant portion of Rivera’s the arcade was a dark void. The flashing neon lights of a few machine demos illuminated my path as they tried enticing me to spend my quarters, my threadbare wallet with only a twenty dollar bill meant to buy gas for my car made the temptation more than manageable. Though as I looked at the stars and strange planets painted in glow-in-the-dark paint on the ceiling I really wished I had brought my quarter jar.

“Hey, Ethan!” Ricky yelled over at the skeeball machine, his fingers flicking one of the white-colored orbs up the lane before it ramped back into the air. A wide grin grew across his face as he was doused in the rhythmic glow of the lightbulbs around the machine, a little chime playing for him hitting one of the 100-point holes in the corner. 

“Not bad Ricky, not bad. Maybe one of these days you’ll—” I could only watch as the timer went off signaling the end of Ricky’s turn, the leaderboard appearing on a screen above the numerous skeeball lanes. My initials EDL, standing for Ethan Daniel Langston had been at the number one spot since I was twelve years old. It was a six-year streak of dominance uncontested by the local kids and yet now that glorious run was over.

“Who is PNS?” I grabbed Ricky by the shoulders as I peered into his widened blue eyes. Shaking him back and forth I hoped it would rouse the man's two brain cells to come together and form an answer that would get me one step closer to reclaiming my title.

“How should I know, their name was here before me and Billy got here.” Ricky (with my assistance) shrugged his shoulders, his blue eyes swimming as he grew dizzy. With a sigh, I released my grip on him and it was just in time too because Momma Billy had finally gotten done with his racing game. I didn't want to be scolded by the big curly redhead right now.

“What are you guys goin’ on about?” His voice was tired as he used the back of one of his massive fists to rub his left eye. A yawn leaked from his lips and that sent off a chain reaction that had all three of us yawning.

“Ugh…he wanted to know who PNS was but I already told him we had no clue.” Ricky spoke as his eyes drifted over to the old House Of The Dead 2 machine, his favorite arcade game.

“Yeah, sorry E but when we got here every game we played had PNS at the top of the scoreboard.” Billy was looking at the basketball hoops beside the skeeball machines with a gleam in his eye. He always had an unfair advantage in the game because of his long arms and now that I had been dethroned he smelt blood in the water.

“Are you gonna make a run on all of them to get your spot back?” Ricky asked over the killer soundtrack of the game he was playing, his finger already itching to pull the trigger on any unlucky zombie to get in his way.

“Nah, I don't have the money on me and my quarter jar is still at the hou—”

*Clink*

Billy pulled out the very Mason jar I was talking about, the clinking sound of the coins rattling together filling the air. How he fit that in his cargo shorts without it making a sound while he walked will forever remain a mystery. Even more of a mystery was how he got the jar in the first place. All I knew though was that a wicked gleam overtook my eyes as I looked at the machines. I would reclaim my crown!

(Olivia Jade Rivera’s POV): 

“Mierda…Ethan, we don't have enough chairs for all of these girls.” I muttered under my breath as I looked out at the seven other girls sitting/standing around my family's dining room table. Abby had just crept up the stairs, her naturally pale face looking even paler. Mama must have gotten to her.

“Ugh, Abby why are we here again? I haven't slept since I took Camilla to work.” Rachel rubbed her tired eyes as she gave Abby a scrutinizing look. The girl had her sock-covered feet propped up on the table, her slender legs gleaming under the ceiling fan light just above us. If Mama saw her doing this she’d be so fucked.

“Because we need to discuss what happened last night.” Her words snapped me right back into the memories of last night. The blue sisters, villainous scum that were looking to take advantage of Ethan had almost succeeded in their plans. Had Becky not found their location—I don’t want to think about it.

“We should've just killed ‘em!” Clara’s words seemed to get a few nods of agreement mainly from Elsie sitting right beside her and Rachel.

“And then what, wait for the cops to come put us away until we’re nearly sixty? I know you are used to doing things…outside of the normal bounds but that doesn't mean we can just go around killing our problems.” Veronica’s rebuttal was scathing, and Clara looked thoroughly licked. It seemed little Roni gained a bit of a spine last night standing up to Clar.

“Roni’s right guys, we can't end up in jail or Ethan would do something stupid like trying to bust us out.” He’d get those two idiots downstairs to help him too, and as sure as the sky is blue they’d get caught. No matter how clever Billy and Ethan were they couldn't make up for Ricky and his stupidity. 

“But those girls aren't going to just give up, you saw the way they looked at Ethan right?” Clara’s words had all of us nodding, Larmina, Ethan had called her that, looked nowhere near ready to give up on her ‘marriage’ scheme. They’d be back and if Ethan was to be believed they were as strong as bears making them particularly dangerous opponents.

“And that’s why I called you all here as this group for one reason or another is close with Ethan. We need to work together to make sure we don’t have a repeat of last night.” Abby’s words had everyone looking at her intently, a stirring undercurrent of…something in the air. It felt like the beginning of a change, a new season for all of us here.

“What are you proposing?” Elsie asked.

“An alliance between us to keep out any new nuisances in his life. Ethan, for better—” She looked to her sister with a tender smile “—or worse—” She looked toward Elsie who glowered at her. “—attracts way too many girls to himself.”

“Isn't this just you outsourcing your work on us and for what—a thank you? Me and Clar have been doing just fine in this department before y’all showed.” Abby grimaced at Elsie’s harsh tone, her face scrunching up like she was eating lemons as she prepared to speak.

“No, I’m not so cruel as to do that to you guys but—damnit, we did it last night!” Her confession had all of us looking bewildered as she blushed tomato red.

“Uh, congrats Abbs for finally poppin’ your cherry but why are you telling us?” Rachel scratched at the back of her head as she spoke, her lips quirking in a wry grin. 

“B-because he fucked me into unconsciousness three different times while we did it.” Now everyone was blushing because she pulled down the collar of her hoodie to reveal the multiple hickies left on her neck, the bruised purple flesh prominent against her pale skin.

“Stop braggin’ and tell us how this fits into the conversation!” Elsie was fuming at the sight, her eyes tracing each bite mark with jealousy. 

“I-I can overlook his infidelity if it’s you guys.” Her words were so quiet that I could barely hear her, it was unnecessary however as the loudmouth Rachel decided to yell.

“Wait so you’re sayin’ we can get frisky with little E!?” She seemed really excited about the thought, and honestly I wondered if her look was mirrored in my eyes.

“…You all came to his aid when he needed it, plus better the enemy I know than the one I don't but first let me lay out some ground rules. One, I am his number one and I will be Mrs. Langston. That means I get exclusive rights to him when I want. Two, Ethan has to agree to it so work hard on that. He’s stubborn about it being only me so good luck trying to get in his pants. And three, you must keep him safe at all costs. If you can follow those three rules then I can turn a blind eye to your relations with him.” 

“You’re crazy.” I don't know who said it but I'm pretty sure we were all thinking it.

“It was bound to happen, better rip of the band-aid quickly to limit the sting.” She shrugged her shoulders as she leaned up against the kitchen sink.

“B-but sis—” Veronica looked like a lost puppy as she looked at her sister.

“10.” We all looked confused at the number she randomly spouted out.

“Huh, what?” Veronica asked.

“He fucked and cummed in or on me ten times. It hurts to sit and when I sneeze I can literally feel how sore my pussy is.” We all kind of just sat there stunned by her vulgar words, a few girls uncomfortably squirming with blushes on their cheeks.

“Did it feel good?” Rachel asked with a wistful look in her eyes like she’d found Prince Charming.

“Incredible, the best thing ever but by around the fifth round I was growing too tired to do anything other than lay there and take it. I don't think it’s possible for any other guy to replicate so if you take the plunge expect to be ruined for other guys.” I think we all gulped trying to grapple with the odd mix of fear and arousal her words brought. She was basically saying that once we cross that line with Ethan we will never want anyone else in our life. 

“That sounds good and all but there might be one hiccup in your plan though Abby,” Elsie smirked at the girl acting pious like she was making a huge sacrifice. Last night must've been rough for her because now she’s tossing us at her boyfriend to act as release valves for his lust. Something about that thought though sent a tingle down my spine.

“What is it?” 

“Ethan already promised Roni the spot.” What followed was a really loud yelling match that was only stopped when Mama yelled that if we didn't stop she’d come upstairs. Despite being given the green light to seduce Ethan we made no progress in terms of working together as a team. 

Abby was already plotting something I could tell and alliances were being drawn. I just think she was getting ahead of any potential fallout if Ethan ended up sleeping with one of us. The swirling madness in her eyes told me that she wouldn't let him go no matter what he did.

“Chica loca.” I needed my own alliance it seemed as I doubt this uneasy truce would last. Ethan is exempt from punishment for being a horndog but that doesn't mean the girls surrounding him won't take out their anger and jealousy on the girl he slept with. My eyes accidentally made contact with the honey-colored orbs of Elsie, a wicked grin growing across her lips. Not her!