Chapter 37
"Man, this game is tight! Just two balls left. If it's still a tie, we might be here all night."
"Can you believe that? This little girl’s tiny but plays like a pro!"
"That dude is so hot! I need his Facebook."
David was floored by Alice's skills matching his own.
Remembering her earlier comment, David's face twisted a bit, "Alice, what did you used to do with bowling balls?"
"Blow off steam and smash people." Alice tossed another ball, nailing a perfect strike.
She clapped, put her hands on her hips, and stood tall, "But chill, I don't smash heads. Just taught some jerks a lesson. Haven't tried smashing a head yet, but it's tempting."
The crowd and David went dead silent.
Desmond nudged Dylan. "Is Alice really that badass?"
For the last ball, Alice let David go first.
Alice clenched her fist and gave David a cheer, grinning, "You got this, bro."
That "bro" was just like when she called anyone else "bro," no extra flair, and it wasn't annoying. Just a simple "bro," but it always stirred something in his heart.
But the small ripples quickly settled.
David eyed the ten pins, took a deep breath, and swung his arm. As the ball left his fingers, that "bro" echoed in his ears. His hand shook, and the ball rolled into the gutter.
Dylan was stunned. 'What the heck is David doing?'
David stared at the zero score, feeling all sorts of things.
Meanwhile, Alice seized the moment and scored another perfect strike with her last ball!
"I won!" Alice ran to David, grabbed his arm, and shook it like crazy. Her eyes sparkled like a sky full of stars, "I won!"
David laughed, letting Alice shake his arm, and brushed her hair off her forehead, "Yep, you won. What's your request?"
"It can't be too easy for you." Alice thought of all the times David had messed with her and got a mischievous idea.
David, feeling defeated, put his clothes back on and turned Alice's head to face him, "I'm gonna rest. You play on your own. Come find me when you're tired, and we'll head back."
Alice slapped David's hand away, wrapped herself in her clothes, and plopped on the couch, deep in thought.
David sat on the couch with Dylan and Desmond to chill.
Desmond had the waiter bring over some snacks, making sure to get some for Alice too.
While munching on some snacks, Desmond asked, "David, did you mess up that last ball on purpose? No way you made such a rookie mistake."
"Alice was serious for this." David dodged the question, but his words made Desmond even more convinced that David threw the game on purpose.
Dylan wasn't buying it.
He was closer to David at the time and saw more clearly. Something had thrown David off, causing that big screw-up. It wasn't hard to guess that the distraction was Alice.
"I gotta hit the restroom," Dylan said.
Dylan walked into the restroom, checked all the stalls to make sure no one was around, then pulled out his phone and dialed Gavin.
Gavin was out walking a neighbor's dog. Seeing Dylan's name pop up, his expression shifted but quickly went back to normal.
"Hey, Dylan," Gavin answered.
"Mr. Tudor, I'll keep it quick. David's been acting kinda weird," Dylan said.
"Weird?" Gavin tugged on the leash, and the golden retriever trotted back, sitting obediently, "Spill it, what's up?"
Dylan rubbed his nose, turned around, and leaned against the sink, feeling a bit down, "Gavin, you know, ever since that incident, David's been off. People say you can't change habits of over ten years overnight, but David did."
"After the car accident, he seemed like a different person. He changed all his habits and got super polite with us. But we all know that beneath that politeness is a bone-chilling coldness," Dylan explained.
And today, he noticed a change in David. Even though it wasn't obvious, he'd been watching David closely for years on Gavin's orders, so he saw it clearly.
"David... is acting different towards Alice," Dylan said slowly.
"Alice?" Gavin exclaimed, "What's that brat doing to Alice? Is he yelling at her? Or hitting her? Dylan, if that brat lays a hand on Alice, you hit him back! Put him in the hospital! I won't hold it against you!"
"No, it's not like that..." Dylan's mouth twitched, "Mr. Tudor, it's not what you think. David's being really nice to Alice, too nice, you know? It feels like they're dating!"
After a few seconds of silence, Gavin asked, "Dating?"
"Yeah."
"That's awesome!"
"Huh?"
"If it's Alice, I support them 100%!"
Dylan thought for a moment, "Mr.Tudor, I still think, before it's too late, we should pull David out of this. After all... no one knows when he'll relapse."
Gavin went quiet.
The topic was too heavy.
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