The girl was starting to slip. She was still readily destroying the opponents, but Anna could see she was getting tired. Or perhaps nervous? Either way, she was shaking. The boys were actually getting in a few hits. Unfortunately, it didn't look as though the crowd was going to clear. There were possibly even more people there than before. She could see them placing bets, stacks of quarters lining up next to the machine. [i]Idiots. They're not gonna win.[/i] Even if she was slowing down, the reigning champion of their tournament was far out of their league. Anna wanted to play. It was strange really, she usually preferred to play games by herself. But it had been quite a while since she'd seen anyone with that level of skill, and between this girl and the guy at the Third Strike cabinet, it seemed there could be some fascinating battles here. AIs were predictable, people were not.  She glanced nervously at the group of boys surrounding the machine. Would they let her join them? They seemed busy setting up some sort of turn order... And even if they were willing to let her have a turn, what if she messed up? Or worse, what if she won and the girl got mad at her? Anyway, playing the game would require approaching the crowd, making herself seen. Even thinking about it made her shiver.

She looked away from the young gamblers, returning her attention to the screen. It was loading. The girl had turned around in her seat, staring strait back at Annabelle. Glaring. Anna realized with sudden terror that she'd been spotted. She hadn't been hiding or anything, but she was so used to going unnoticed that it hadn't crossed her mind that the Blazblue player might see her watching, much less be offended by it. Her face flushed, hands sweating again, and she averted her eyes. [i]I'm an idiot.[/i] Of course the girl was offended! She had every right to be. There she was, minding her own business, destroying a dozen or so opponents, and Annabelle had been standing there gawking. Perhaps she relied too much on the fact that other people tended not to see her. What should she do now? Should she run? No, then she would look like a creepy stalker person. Or maybe she already did, standing there watching like that...

Anna felt the glaring eyes leave her as the next match began. Still, she stood frozen. Would it be rude to leave, or more rude to stay? Maybe if she just didn't look over there... She turned back to the Third Strike game. Dudley was still tearing apart the AI opponents. Did that guy know she was there. He'd acknowledged her existence earlier, but that was when she had still been playing Delta 3. Now she had moved, but did he still see her? Would he, like the girl, be mad at her for watching? He still focused on his game, but in her mind he was now glaring too. As were the boys in the corner. Everyone glared, everyone hated her.

The girl was approaching now, two bottles in hand. One soda, one water. Anna pressed back into the wall, her pale skin turning even whiter with fear. Her hands, now drenched with sweat, were shaking uncontrollably. Nobody approached her- ever. Not unless they needed her to do something... or if they were mad at her. Yes, that must be the case. Was she going to yell? Anna certainly deserved it. She imagined the girl yelling, calling attention to their area and broadcasting to the entire arcade what Anna had done. Her head reeled with panic.

But the girl only came up beside her and smiled. She wanted to play.

Anna's muscles relaxed a bit. It wasn't a crowd of angry people ready to tear into her. Just one girl, a nice girl. Another gamer. She didn't usually talk to people, but she really did want to play. And now it was just her, not the crowd of young Blazblue players. 

She smiled nervously, speaking in a voice so quiet it could have been mistaken for a whisper. She hoped her anxiety wasn't too visible, but it probably was. [color=bc8dbf]“Um... sure... you're good too. I mean, I was watching... uh...”[/color] She glanced over at the Blazblue console, still surrounded by the boys. [color=bc8dbf]“What game do want to play?”[/color]