Page 65 of Take Her On

“According to the Free Parking England Facebook group, we can.”

Maya laughed. “I still can’t believe you’re a member of that.”

“You can thank me later when we use the money we would’ve spent on the parking on something hot and sugary instead.” She gripped the car handle and flashed Maya a grin. “Ready, Skip?”

Without waiting for an answer, she exited the car, slamming the door behind her.

Maya followed, the wind immediately whipping her long hair around her face. “Jesus.” She shrugged on a navy puffer coat, zipping it up to her neck. “Isn’t it supposed to be sunny at the beach?”

“We’re still in England…and it is December.” Jamie pulled a large rucksack from the boot of the car and flung it over her shoulder. She tugged a navy beanie over her head, tucking her stray hairs underneath it. “Hardly the Caribbean Sea, but it’s all we’ve got.”

She held her hand out. Maya slipped her fingers into hers, and she hauled her off towards the pier.

Turns out December might not have been the best time to visit the seaside. Almost everything was closed. They did manage to find one arcade open towards the end of the pier, the musty smell bringing back memories of Jamie’s childhood. The old, wacky carpets, flashing lights and cacophony of clashing sounds from the machines rekindled that childlike excitement within her—something she’d never really lost.

Maya beat her at two games of air hockey, then Jamie whooped her arse at basketball hoops. They both sucked at the strange alien shooting game, dying in the early levels. It probably didn’t help that they’d spent the time making fun of the developer’s choice to give the female characters abnormally wide hips and breasts.

“And the NPCs never do anything, either,” Jamie said, with a shake of her head. “They must map them to just run in useless circles. It’s so frustrating.”

“Sounds like a nerd alert is coming on,” Maya teased.

They drifted through the arcade, eyeing the games with mild interest. By this point, they’d already been around once, but it was just fun being in Maya’s presence. Even food shopping with Maya would be fun.

Jamie hated losing, but Maya loved beating her. Seeing her smile was almost worth all the shit she gave her, and Jamie didn’t mind half as much as she pretended. She guessed it was small payback for all those games when she was a Harrier.

“You’ve done it now. The inner nerd is going to come out.” She laughed, turning to face Maya. “Did you know that even though women make up pretty much half of video game players, games still include twice as much male dialogue as female dialogue—sometimes even when there are female protagonists?” She leaned back on a two-pence slot machine and shook her head. “Some games don’t even pass the Bechdel test.”

“The Bechdel test?”

“It’s a test to see if a work features at least two female characters who have a conversation about anything other than a man.”

“Jesus.”

“And that’s not even getting started on the over-sexualisation stuff.”

Maya nodded. “Like the famous raider of the tombs?”

“Exactly. The tits on her defied science altogether. And do you know, she started off as a man? Then they switched and were like, ‘Let’s just put some huge, pointy bazookas on her. That’ll fix it.’” Jamie felt Maya’s stare. “What?”

Maya took a step closer, a sheepish grin stretching across her face. “You’re extremely cute when you nerd out.”

Jamie raised an eyebrow, her focus dropping to Maya’s mouth. “Is that so? In that case, I should probably tell you about Bechdel’s comic strip. The longest running queer—”

Maya captured her lips in a kiss, her hands wrapping around Jamie and pulling their bodies together. They fell back against the glass, the whirring and dinging of the machines pinging around them.

A sharp wolf-whistle erupted from behind, and they jumped apart. Maya looked about ready to open her mouth, to tell whoever the noise belonged to to mind their own business, but instead of a prepubescent teenage boy, there was an elderly woman hunched over a glitter-covered walking stick. Her grey hair was slicked back, and she wore an ankle-length camouflage coat draped around her shoulders.

Was this the whistler?

She waved her sparkly walking stick in a gesture of respect and disappeared behind a slot machine.

Jamie turned to Maya, pinching her eyebrows together. “What was that about?”

“I have no idea.”

“Maybe she just loves the gays.” She leaned back on the glass again, looking in the direction of the mystery woman with awe. “I want a sparkly walking stick like that when I’m older.”

“Oh my god!” Maya lurched forward, slamming her hands on the glass and making Jamie jump. “We have to get this for Grandpa.”