"Well, I have once or twice," she backtracked. "It was … kind of fun."
Silas perked up at this. "Yeah? What game?" he called out, making his way into the kitchen to get something to drink.
Joy's frowned as she tried to recall the title. "Uh, Grand Theft Auto, I think."
Returning to the living room, Silas handed her one of the two craft beers he was holding before collapsing back down on the couch beside her. "Which one?" he asked.
"Um, there's more than one?"
Silas laughed, but surprisingly, there was nothing mean about it. If he was being honest, he found her obliviousness somewhat endearing. "More like ten," he said, smirking.
"Oh." Joy's eyes widened a bit. "In that case, I have no clue. All I remember is shooting everything that moved."
With that in mind, Silas flipped on the TV and handed Joy one of the Xbox controllers sitting on the coffee table. "Well I guess I'll just have to teach you a thing or two, now won't I?" he said, pressing down on a button on his own controller to power the system to life.
As the start screen music began pouring out the speakers, Joy looked down at the controller in her hand rather uncertainly. "Um, okay," she said, obviously skeptical. "I might not be very good though … "
Silas hit start and watched as his character stepped out of his in-game house and entered the world. "Here," he said, handing her his controller. "We'll just take turns. Press this button to shoot. And these two here to walk."
Joy did as she was told, and within ten minutes she was having the time of her life robbing cars and driving everywhere but on the road.
Silas grinned. "Awesome, isn't it?"
Joy nodded, too immersed in the game to meet his gaze. Another ten minutes later and Silas was beginning to suspect that she just wasn't meant to play video games. She'd managed to get the hang of it pretty quickly, and now she was getting cocky killing people he considered to be his friends even though he'd never met them outside of Xbox live. "Maybe we should do something else," he suggested, wanting to mitigate the damage.
Joy wouldn't budge though. "No," she said, keeping her grip tight on the controller. Silas was taken aback by the determination in her tone. "Not until I complete this level."
Silas grinned, partly because of her enthusiasm, and partly because he was curious to see just how much chaos she could ensue. It was just a game, after all. "You sure?"
Joy nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely."
Silas shrugged and reached across her lap to hit start again, unpausing the screen. "Okay."
An hour later, he could no longer say she was the worst gamer he'd ever encountered. She was better than Vincent at any rate. All on her own, she'd even managed to make it to the bank to deposit her stolen money, at which point he finally convinced her to call it a night.
"Nice work," he congratulated. "You've finally completed level one."
His sarcasm was evident, however, and Joy gave his shoulder a firm shove in retaliation. "Ha-ha," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "How many levels are there anyway?"
"Uh, like thirty."
Joy glanced at the TV, then back at Silas, looking sheepish. "Okay, you're right. Maybe we should do something else."
Silas nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I don't think I have the patience to get you through level two."
None too amused, Joy whacked him over the head with a couch pillow. She clearly garnered way too much enjoyment from causing him physical pain. Wanting to avoid further injury, Silas stood up and started for the kitchen. "Want a snack?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Joy said, going to follow him. She bumped her hips against his as she did, and while the gesture threw him somewhat off balance, he was too distracted with eyeing her backside to care. He was a red blooded male, after all.
"Here," Silas said, handing her a plate before pulling a platter of cheesecake from the fridge and helping himself to a slice.
"Thanks." Joy cut out a small slice for herself, letting it sit for a moment before taking a bite. "I kind of feel bad for killing all those people. I mean, I know it was just a game, but still..."
Silas laughed. "You're like my mom in that way. Except she kept apologizing to people while she was killing them the first time she played GTA," he said, laughing in remembrance. There was something sad about it, however. "You shouldn't feel bad though," he added, shaking the memory. "After what that prick Dallas did to you, I don't think you can really be blamed for wanting to take out your anger on a bunch of faceless strangers."
Joy's face fell, and she gave him a weak, "yeah," before focusing her entire attention back on her half-eaten slice of cheesecake. Silas mentally kicked himself, realizing that, while Dallas was the entire reason she was there, that didn't mean she necessarily wanted to talk about him. He wanted to apologize, but he could already see her blinking back tears, and he didn't know if he could handle her crying again. So instead he remained quiet, taking another bite of his cheesecake as he began plotting out a plan to get her in good spirits again.
***
Joy spent the rest of the night in a Dallas-induced funk. She didn't mean to, and she realized that it was probably rude, but she couldn't help it. Curled up in the guest room bed, she cried her eyes out for the better part of an hour, unaware that Silas was downstairs acutely aware of why she'd disappeared.
Shaking herself from her self-pity, Joy changed into her pajamas, silently vowing to put in more effort the following day. A knock on the door broke her train of thought, and she turned just in time to see Silas stick his head in the room. "Hey … " he trailed off, falling quiet when he noticed how red her eyes were.
Joy gave him a half-hearted smile. "Hey," she replied, pleased to note that she didn't sound nearly as bad as she felt.
"Try not to sleep in too late tomorrow," Silas said, making a point not to mention her tears. "Dad suggested I show you around, which, let's face it, pretty much just means I'm taking you to beach."
Joy smiled again, this time more enthused. "That actually sounds great," she said, genuinely meaning it. She was looking forward to a day in the sun. She figured it could only do her good.
"Good," Silas said, backing away from the door. "Well uh … sleep well."
Joy watched him go and collapsed back in bed once he was gone. Yeah, she thought, closing her eyes, tomorrow would be nice.
Chapter 5
Joy was surprised to find that instead of a town car, a bright red sports car was waiting for her out front when she made it outside the following morning. Not only that, but Silas was already sitting in the driver's seat waiting for her. Smirking at her reaction, he called out to her. "Hop in, Price. We've got a lot of ground to cover."
Joy nodded, coming around to the passenger side. "Is this yours?" she questioned, buckling herself in.
"Sure is," Silas said with a grin, patting the steering wheel affectionately. It was almost, kind of, maybe just a tad bit adorable. "I've been dying to take her out. I figured today would be the perfect day to do it."
Joy took a second to admire the interior, remaining quiet as Silas backed out of the driveway. "So, where are we headed again?" she asked him, disregarding the fact that she already sort of knew. She was more so looking for specifics.
Silas shrugged. "It's really your call. There's some stores and stuff we could check out if you want to do some shopping."
"You'd be bored to death though, wouldn't you?"
Silas shrugged again, which Joy took to mean yes regardless of what came out of his mouth next. "It wouldn't be that bad."
Joy looked thoughtful for a moment. "There's a boardwalk here, isn't there?"
"Yeah, there is. It's super touristy though."
"Sounds good to me," Joy said, leaning back against the leather. "Makes for good people watching. Lots of sunburnt WASP types."
"True," Silas said, chuckling slightly. He turned out of the subdivision and started for the pier, slowing down when something occurred to him. "Oh yeah," he said, rummaging in the console between the seats for the CD his father had given them to listen to. "Here," he said once he found it, handing it over to her. "We might as well see if it's any good."