The Watch – Part 81:

We decided to have a go in the bus with the PS3 console first. When we entered, there were a few people sitting on couches, playing a variety of games from racing to first person shooters. Tom and I, preferring the racing genre, decided to commander a console with a GT5 on. I know I have this at home, and we could easily go and play it there, but it is an entirely new experience to play this game in this atmosphere than at home, what with all the music and the cheering of the other people when they’ve won either a race or a battle. The man in charge explained that we were only allowed three races at five laps each to keep things fair, which we thought was perfectly reasonable and by the end of it all, I, with racing being my forte, won all three races, which Tom was not happy about.

‘And my winning streak continues,’ I started to gloat. ‘I’m surprised I beat you with such a strong lead on the second race, considering how close you were on the first, and how close we were when we raced each other at home.’ As I was saying that, I was stretching my arms up to loosen them a bit before getting up.

‘The music was distracting,’ Tom explained. I didn’t believe him. ‘And a group of them over there,’ he pointed to the first person shooter game, ‘cheered at the wrong time, causing me to lose my concentration further, and I couldn’t take the corner as well as I would have liked.’

‘Excuses, excuses,’ I smiled.

‘I’m telling the truth,’ Tom defended.

‘I’m sure you are,’ I said jokingly sarcastically.

‘If you look at the evidence,’ Tom continued, ‘we were so close the last couple of races, and I suddenly did poorly during the next race.’

‘And yet I was able to do brilliantly all the time,’ I stated.

Tom knew that this could go on for some time. He looked at me, wondering whether he should continue defending himself, or admit defeat. Eventually, he said.

‘I’ll get you next time. I’ll race you into the ground. I’ll leave you in my dust.’

‘OK, guys, your three races are up. Please move on to the next game so that other people can have a go,’ the man in charge ordered, making us realize that we had been sitting here for quite some time after we had raced. We both nodded and left the racing game.

‘Shall we go to another bus,’ Tom suggested.

‘I don’t mind,’ I said indifferently. If it was left up to me to decide, I would be here forever and a day.

‘Yeah, I think a difference in atmospheres might do us good,’ and so we left the PS3 bus and moved on.

We decided to play a console that we haven’t played before, the Xbox One. According to a fair few amount of critics this console is just a PS4 wannabe or a glorified TV box, but we haven’t had the chance to see what it’s like for ourselves yet so we decided to play a game on there. The controllers were really weird to get the hang of, with the joysticks being in different places on the controller. We were both used to them being on the same line, so it took us a while before we got the hang of it, which also meant we were rather in awe with the person who was playing a first person shooter with an accuracy that doesn’t seem to be beatable. After we had a go, we decided to leave that one be and focus on the rest of them, making sure to stay clear of the other two Xbox consoles in the process.

Playing Pacman was something I have only ever done once before when I was younger, but being at the time where consoles had gotten way more advanced than anything before it, we never really looked into the past, but the moment we got the taste of playing on an arcade machine, we were hooked for a while. The first time I played it, I was too young to properly appreciate that this pioneered everything that came after it, but here I was able to, and it felt incredible to be in control of those joysticks and buttons once more. There were two arcade machines standing side by side and so Tom and I competed to see who would be able to get the higher score, and much to my disliking, Tom managed to just scrape a win with a couple of hundred points difference. I said that after we’ve had dinner, we’re going to come back and I’m going to beat his butt once and for all, which Tom merely shrugged away in disbelief.

The bus for the PS4 and the Atari had a rather long queue and so we decided that we would go and have some dinner instead of waiting for goodness knows how long trying to play something that, because of the business of the bus, wouldn’t last that long to get the experience that console deserves.

‘So,’ Tom said after we had brought our burgers and had settled ourselves down at one of the tables. ‘Starting from when I left you at the fair the other day, tell me everything.’ I explained all that there was, save from a few details, such as us kissing and waking up on the sofa together. I knew that Tom knew that I was deliberately leaving some content out and it was only a matter of time before he started pushing for them.

‘Anything else you might want to add,’ he said without a hint of modesty.

‘You really want me to tell you,’ I said.

‘Yes,’ he said simply.

‘And you’re not going to wait until we’re back in the privacy of my home,’ I said. He shook his head.

‘Well, in that case,’ I said, ‘you’re going to have to wait until we’re back in the privacy of my home,’ I said.

‘Oh, come on,’ he said disappointingly, knowing that he had walked right into that. ‘At least give me something to get my teeth into.’

‘I’ve giving you enough to chew on for days,’ I said. ‘You’re going to be biting off more than you can chew at this rate,’ I said. How did we start speaking in metaphors all of a sudden?

‘At least let me have one more question,’ Tom protested.

‘Fine,’ I said, giving in. ‘Ask away.’ I knew exactly what question he’s going to ask.

‘Did you kiss?’ he said frankly. I wonder how I knew he was going to ask that, and how am I going to answer that without being so frank myself? Maybe I could just nod and not say anything, or would it be better if I just said ‘yes’ and get it over and done with. I mean, I am talking about Tom who is not only just a friend, but my closest, life-long friend who has been beside me whenever and whatever anything is thrown my way. The least I can do is repay him with an answer.

I nodded gently. Tom’s face broke into a huge smile.

‘Nice one,’ he said, tapping me on the shoulder.

‘Thanks,’ I said failing to hide my smile.

‘So, how did it feel?’ he said.

‘Hey. You only get one question,’ I said.

‘But you can’t let this go now once it’s open.’

‘Tell you what,’ I said, getting an idea. ‘We have one race on the go karts. You beat me, I’ll tell you everything without sparing a single bit of detail. I beat you, you have to do a forfeit.’

‘Deal,’ he said confidently without hesitation.

‘You don’t even know what the forfeit is going to be yet,’ I said.

‘Don’t need to know, because I won’t have to do it,’ he was feeling competitive once more. I might have made a mistake. Tom’s actually quite good at racing go-karts. Well, maybe this time will be different.

‘Well, if that’s the way you want to play it, I’ll make sure that the forfeit is going to be something really embarrassing that you would never see yourself doing in a million years then,’ I said. ‘Because you won’t have to do it so you’ll have nothing to worry about.’

‘You’re mean,’ he said jokingly. Although I could see it in his eyes that he now really wants to win.

***

Tom paid for himself and I paid for myself for the go karts. We were briefed with health and safety and giving our suits and helmets and were now ready to enter the race track and pick our karts.

‘Lucky number fourteen,’ I said nearly running towards that kart.

‘Lucky number ten,’ Tom said, climbing into his kart and settling himself down before strapping himself in.

‘Are you ready to lose,’ Tom said through his helmet, making his voice sound all muffled.

‘Are you?’ I replied.

‘That’s the best comeback you can come up with,’ Tom said. Our banter towards each other showed just how much chemistry we have between us.

‘You’re the one assuming that I’m going to lose,’ I said.

‘I’m not assuming,’ Tom said. I could tell that he was smiling. He was enjoying this banter whilst we waited for the lights to change from red to green.

The green light flashed on and we slammed the accelerator down hard, propelling our karts forward at incredible speeds. Go karts only have one gear and a top speed that can, if you’re daring enough, be hit when going down the straight. The corner following the long straight is very sharp, just to mess with your coordination. Basically, you can go down that straight at top speed to overtake your opponent, but then slam into the barrier at the other end, or slamming on the brakes risking being overtaken by your opponent, resulting in you trying to regain lost ground on the last bit of the track, only to overtake them on the straight, repeating the process once more.

Go Karting, is essentially like racing a virtual car, except in real life, which makes it totally different. I know how to drive a car in a game, and I can put some of that practice when driving around this track, and so can Tom, but there is so much more to think about when driving a real life car, or in this case kart.

We paid for three races consisting of five laps each. The track was fairly long so that we were able to be very competitive throughout the entire race. And incredibly competitive we were. We were close to each other’s bumpers the entire time. We sped through every corner, trying to overtake one another. Our skills were good enough that we were able to stay in control of our karts the entire time yet push them to their limits. Where other people would have hit the barriers or spun out, we stayed on the track.

The first race, I won. If Tom wins this race, then it becomes 1 all and we have to battle it out once more to decide the overall winner. If I win race 2, then Tom can only race for pride in the third.

The second race, Tom won, meaning it comes down to a decider. This is where we up our games that little bit more. I mean, we might have been on the limit of our capabilities this entire time, but now we’re getting serious and upping everything to the next level. I’m not going to let Tom win without a fight and he’s not going to let me win without pushing me up to and beyond my limits either. Tires screeched as we rounded every corner, nearly spinning out and hitting the barriers, overtaking one another about ten times during each lap, making the outcome that much more difficult to predict. Anything could happen at any time and we have to prepare for that when it does. As we came out of the final corner, pushing the accelerator down as far as it could go, forcing our karts to hit their top speed in record time; we were neck and neck whilst crossing the line. Even though we were there, on the front line, we didn’t know who won. From our perspective, we had drawn, and that would be the worst outcome as the deal we struck together would become instantly meaningless.

We climbed out of our Karts and darted over the camera that showed us crossing the finish line in photo format. Our hearts were in our mouths. We didn’t speak nor did we feel confident that we had won. The photo started to render before appearing on screen. The picture showed us both crossing the line at the same time, but it was the ever so slight difference between Tom’s and my kart that makes this picture interesting. It looked to me that it was literally only millimetres between us two, but that doesn’t matter, for who was in front matters the most. I bowed my head in shame as soon as I saw the result and Tom was jumping for joy.

‘YES,’ he yelled, punching the air with his fist. He had won.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)