Chapter Eleven - Fair Trade

~Ace~

"This is close to my dream job," Matthew sighed, gazing into the distance where two girls were giggling and talking.
"I probably don't want to know what your dream job is," Ace replied.

The two girls walked over to where Ace was standing. The brunette said, "I don't think this machine is working." She gestured to the claw machine.
"Uh okay, just give me a minute, I'll check it out," he replied. The girls went back to the machine while Ace grabbed the set of keys from behind the counter.

"You're quite the lucky one aren't you? I stand around all day and yet whenever there is a problem, the girls talk to you," Matthew said.
"It's because you're creepy."
"You know what? You can have the brunette, I'll take the blonde one."
"I have no interest in either of them."

"Are you even straight? They're totally hot and you have /no interest/?" He exclaimed.
"Whatever, I'm gonna go check out that machine."

Ace walked over to the claw machine and asked the girls, "What is the problem with the machine?"
"When you put the token in, nothing happens and it won't release the token," the brunette answered.
Ace pulled a token out from his pocket and inserted it into the slot. The machine gave a quiet whir. Ace twiddled the knob and positioned it over a white bear before pressing the 'drop' button.

It picked up the bear and dropped it down the prize chute. "Well, the machine seems to be working properly," Ace concluded. "I'll go grab you some refund token though."
"Instead of a refund, could we just have the bear?" the brunette asked.
"Let me ask my manager," he replied, glancing over at Matthew who was staring so much he would probably be able to burn holes into the girls' heads.

Ace arrived at the counter and put the keys back. "They want the bear instead of tokens, is that okay?" he asked, gesturing to the white bear in his left hand.
"Give them both," Matthew sighed dreamily, still gazing into the distance.
"You sure? If I get fired, you're giving me everything you get paid."
"No worries," Matthew said carelessly, waving off Ace's concerns.
"Uh...you can go give it to them."

Ace slowly began to walk away, hoping that the girls would distract Matthew for long enough until Ace's shift was over. The plan failed miserably.

"Oi, it's your turn to take out the trash," Matthew said before passing a black trash bag to Ace.
"Of course you choose the weekends to make me take out the trash," Ace laughed.
"You can't blame me," Matthew replied. "The girls come on weekends," he added.
"Yeah, with their boyfriends." Ace dragged the bag of trash towards the bin next to the bench in front of the cinema.

He swung the bag upwards and while looking upwards, he made eye contact with a pretty girl in a red coat.

Their eyes met and they froze. It was then that he realised who she was.

"Cathy!" A male voice exclaimed. Ace realised it was Archer. Cathy got up and walked towards him. Ace dropped the trash bag into the bin and slowly walked back to the leisure centre.

"Who was that?" Matthew asked eagerly.
"Girl from my school," Ace replied vaguely.
"So, who is she?"
"Who is she what?"
"Name?"
"Oh?" Ace paused. "That'll be a secret," he smirked.
"Anyway, I got their numbers!" Matthew exclaimed, waving around a small slip of white paper. "I ain't giving them to you," he said protectively,
"Wasn't interested,"Ace replied.
"We can do a trade."
"Trade what?"

"The girl in the red coat," Matthew replied simpley, folding his arms.
"Nah man, that will be my secret," he grinned.

Despite saying focused on work throughout the afternoon, there were questions that Ace could not avoid. What were Cathy and Archer doing together at the movies? Why were they together? More importantly, why did Cathy look so different out of school uniform? Most importantly, why did it even matter?

Two hours later, Ace saw Cathy and Archer come out from the cinema entrance. "Matthew, cover for me," he said as he ducked into the storage room.
"So...her number?"
"I don't know her number."
"Seriously?"
"I don't even know if she has a phone."
"Whatever. You owe me one," he groaned.

Ace grinned and went into the storage room. Meanwhile, Archer enthusiastically led Cathy to different arcade games. Cathy glanced around, not knowing the reason for her sudden cautiousness.

Matthew smiled at her and she quickly looked away, wondering what kind of a weirdo he was.

Eventually, Cathy and Archer left and Matthew gave Ace the 'okay' to come out. "Why are you hiding anyway?" Matthew asked as he emptied the till.
"Certain reasons," Ace answered, helping to sort the money. The customers in the leisure centre had slowed and there were only two children left playing air hockey.
"Embarrassed?"
"Uh no. I'm not that immature."
"Then why?"
"That's a secret."
"Someone's a man of many secrets," Matthew joked.

If only he had any idea, Ace thought.

Work came and went. Sunday came and went. Then Monday came. The problem that had been weighing down Ace's mind had to be solved, no matter what the cost.

He waited at the roundabout with his hands in his pockets, scuffing his shoes as a lame attempt to stay warm. Every time he breathed, he could see his breath and his face felt frozen and stiff.

Cathy crossed the road with her neck shrunken into the school jumper, arms folded and blazer buttoned up. Even from there, her shivering was visible.

"Oh good, you're finally here," he said loudly. She seemed rather surprised, her neck shooting straight out of the jumper.
"What are you doing?" She said slowly, backing away.
"Hey, I'm not a criminal."
"You sure seem like one, blocking people off on their way to school."
"I needed to talk to you."
"And you couldn't do that on school grounds?" She was such a paranoid nerd sometimes, he thought. "Anyway, we'll walk and talk. If you get weird I'll run."
"Like you could outrun me," he scoffed.
"No, but I can yell quite well."
"Anyway, about," he began,
"Tuck your shirt in!" She suddenly snapped, pointing straight at the tail of his white shirt that stuck out.
"Jeez, what are you?"
"Tuck it in or I'm walking."

Grumbling, he finally tucked his shirt in. "This must be pretty damn serious. You actually tucked your shirt in," she laughed.
"On Saturday..." He started. She stopped laughing. "You found out where I worked, and well, about that, you need to keep it a secret."
"Why?"
"That's a secret. Just, I need you to stay quiet."
"Why?"
"It's a secret."
"Why?"
"Just keep it a secret!" He unintentionally raised his voice and this seemed to prove his seriousness to Cathy.
"Fine, fine. Who would I tell anyway? You owe me though. One favour."
"What is it?"
"Who knows. You'll know when I find something to tell you to do."

"Did Archer see?"
"I don't think so. He was um, up on the step when yeah and you weren't facing him, I think." Recalling the event proved to be rather awkward. " I can find out discreetly or something."
"This is a deal by the way. Fair trade. Keep the secret and I owe you one favour. Shake on it," he said, sticking his arm out.
"Fair trade," she grinned, vigorously shaking his hand. "Happy now? Don't worry, I don't have anyone to tell anyway."