Words with Fiends - 12

Kayla slammed the buttons as fast as she could, "Come on...almost...almost...damn!" The screen flashed 'Game Over'. She'd been so close to getting the high score...but oh well. She had earned lots of tokens. She wiped her game card again but it didn't work, looks like she was out of tokens again.

She walked over to the counter and presented her card, "Hi I'd like a $5 refill."

The man rolled his eyes, "Another one? Wouldn't you rather just put on more?"

"Nope." She insisted.

"Fine, that's 5$..." He took her card and swiped it in his machine, "And with your discount, there. It's free."

"Thanks." She didn't really get it, but nobody seemed to think anything with strange with her discount perk. They just accepted it as natural. So why put $50 for the price of $45 on her card when she reload it for free unlimited times? Of course it was a little annoying, most of the games at this arcade were between $1 to $2 per play, with the most expensive being a whopping $10 so she had to return to refill it constantly but this way she could play for free all day.

It wasn't that she particularly loved the arcade or anything, but it was something she could do (thanks to her perk) all day for some mindless entertainment. She was avoiding her apartment, mostly because Sienna would be up by now, and she really had nothing else to do until she headed to work tonight. Well, it wasn't a regular shift or anything but she'd promised her boss she'd help with inventory and she couldn't let him down, not after everything he'd done for her.

So here she was, wasting the day. At least this arcade did give you tickets, stored virtually on a card, for playing the games. She'd already earned more than 400 tickets which which she could trade in for lots of wonderful prizes like...a single piece of bubblegum...or a bouncy ball...yeah, she wasn't even going to bother.

Eventually though the dopamine hit from the bright shiny lights started to fade and boredom crept in. She decided to take a break and wandered over to their sorry excuse for a concession stand and ordered a small poutine. She took one bite after it arrived and threw the whole thing in the garbage, totally disgusted.

She realized she'd had enough of this place and left, the bright afternoon lights nearly blinding her as she did so. There was a park nearby so she wandered over and sat down, pulling out her phone.

She stared at the screen, bored. She could almost hear Mammon telling her he knew a great way to burst her boredom.

Screw it.

She opened up the app. Her heart had refilled and she was about to challenge him to a game when she noticed a flashing icon on the corner. She clicked it and saw that there was someone available to challenge within Bluetooth range.

She gulped.

Another person? Could she do it? A person might be easier to beat than Mammon because they would be afraid to use the PW tiles too.

She decided to go for it. Maybe they'd fail to notice and she'd win without doing anything.

Of course her starting tiles didn't fill her with confidence. She wracked her brain looking for anything, but the best she could come up with was GEM for 12.

She crossed her fingers, praying they wouldn't notice.

Just as time was about to expire another word appeared. Kayla frowned that she hadn't won, but at least her opponent only just beat her. ARGH for 13. It was anybody's game.

Kayla countered with KIT for 18 points. It was right by the PW tile, but she hoped the other player would be too afraid to use it.

Unfortunately her opponent didn't hesitate, playing KNOT in just seconds for 32 points.

Kayla gulped, just imagining what kind of punishment KNOT would trigger. But she didn't have long to think about it, she was losing now, badly.

Kayla couldn't reach a PW tile if she wanted to. She looked around and decided her best word was POND, for 20. It put her up by 5, but she was a turn ahead.

Her opponent played MOVIE, with the E ending up right beside a PW tile. Kayla was confused, it was only 11 points? Where their tiles that bad, or were they leaving a PW tile open for their next turn?

There were actually two PW tiles available, and Kayla could use either of them. She bit her lip. A punishment either way? Except there was no guarantee her opponent wouldn't use the other PW tile and win, then she'd get two punishments for nothing.

Just as time was about to expire Kayla threw down her Q, for QI and 22 points. Not great.

Then the tiles fell on the screen. U. X.

Huh?

Kayla stared at the placement. UH is a word. XU is a word. But they'd played UH and UX. UX wasn't a word...was it?

Mammon suddenly popped up on screen, "Oh no! Your opponent tried to cheat! That's a big no-no! Guess you win?"

Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. The familiar screen popped up giving her options for rewards:

• Remove 1 punishment of your choice
• Removed 2 punishments at random
• $1000 cash

Kayla didn't even have to think. She tapped on the two punishments. Quantity over quality right now as far as she was concerned. The game showed her what she'd lost.

• HUMORS - You will laugh at any joke, no matter how bad it is.
• OGLED - Excuse me, my tits are down here! Nobody will be able to look you in the eyes anymore, preferring instead to stare into your cleavage. Cleavage which will ALWAYS be visible.

She didn't mind humors, it was just mildly annoying, but ogled was a good one to lose. She would have preferred to lose ZA or Deity but beggars can't be choosers.

Then the game asked her to pick the punishment word for her opponent.

Before she did Mammon had something to say, "Warning this punishment will be **** and PERMENENT. Cheating isn't tolerated!"

Kayla thought cheating was a bit harsh. Wasn't it just an accident? Still, it made her extremely worried about making her own typos or mistakes.

When she'd won against Sienna she had to pick from words used in the game, but it seems this time they were all different options and she actually got to read the descriptions before picking.

CRIMINAL - She must always have her range of motion limited by cuffs on her hands or ankles

CHEATER - She will gain a tattoo of the word 'Cheater' in a spot that is normally visible.

LOSER - She will occasionally 'lose' articles of clothing, never to be found again.

Kayla stared at the list. These were all horrible! Poor girl.

As she hesitated Mammon cackled, "Pick or she gets all 3!"

Kayla tapped LOSER. It seemed the least bad of all.

Kayla heard a woman scream. She looked up and a few seconds later she saw a woman coming around the corner with an angry look on her face. She was holding her phone up and looking around.

She also topless.

Kayla stared at the woman. This had to be her opponent. The rope harness around her chest was probably the punishment for putting KNOT on a PW tile and her bare breasts because of LOSER.

They made eye contact.

Kayla quickly looked away.

"YOU!" The woman shouted, hurrying towards her, "This is your fault!"

"What are you talking about? Why are you topless?" Kayla said.

"Don't try to play dumb with me..." The woman eyed Kayla up and down, "Are you a slut or is that skirt a punishment?"

Kayla stood up and pulled her skirt down as low as she could, "Hey! I'm going to go."

"Wait!" She called, in a softer tone, "I'm sorry. I just...I haven't won a game yet. My ex sent me this game, I think to get back at me, and it's ruining my life."

Kayla sighed, "Wow...I'm sorry, he's an asshole."

"She," The woman correct, "But yeah. How did you end up with it?"

"I...downloaded it myself. I thought I was getting Words with Friends."

The woman shook her head, "Wow...uh, I'm sorry for lashing out earlier. Could we...exchange numbers? It would be good to have someone to talk to about the game."

Kayla hesitated. A second ago the woman was screaming at her, now she wanted to be friends?

But she could understand that desire, both to lash out and to have someone to talk to. She nodded, "Fine, I'm Kayla."

"Naomi. Nice to meet you," They traded numbers quickly then Naomi looked around, "I should run though...I'd rather not have my tits out all day."

"Uh right, of course. B-bye." Kayla waved as Naomi put her phone away and ran off, awkwardly covering her chest with her hands.

Kayla checked the time. She still had a little while to kill before inventory time. She glanced back at the arcade but then shook her head. Maybe she'd go find some real food to eat.