The back of arcade was pulsing with the noise from the DDR machines. The front was usually guarded by the multitudes of small yelling children keeping the bads from damaging the last intact DDR pads in the city. Only few knew of the hidden pads and even fewer dared to venture into the Chuck-Cheese-like atmosphere. Most stayed away because the shame of playing the game in public was too great.
Fail.
But on a Thursday afternoon during the school year the place was dead silent. I had just gotten done playing five rounds straight of my favorite songs and was stepping off the pad when a cup of ice cold water appeared with a hand attached. I was thinking about taking the hand off at the chance of getting the water but the thought left my mind when I saw who was attached to it.
Long black hair framed the green eyes that smiled at my reaction. The, usually, deep laughter flew through the air as I almost face planted into the skateboarding game next to the DDR machine.
“You laugh, but I can still kick your butt.” I said from the floor.
“Not from the floor you can’t.” he responded, moving outside kicking distance.
I snorted and heaved myself off the floor onto the rowing game. “Can I have my water? Or did you just get it to taunt me with?”
He smiled, “I don’t believe I said it was yours.”
“Ah…I see.” I said to the laughing green eyes. “Dance for it?”
He laughed. “I don’t think so.”
No one was around so I decide to play a little. “Well I’ll just have to take it from you.”
I reached for the cup and as he backed away and ran into the pole between the two DDR machines. I grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the water and wrapped my free arm around his waist. I pulled the hand with the cup to my lips and took a slow drink. The green eyes stopped laughing.
“Aaahhhh. Cold refreshing water. I think I’m ready to go again.” I said and jumped back on the machine. “Care to join me?” I asked laughing at his shocked expression. He pulled back his hair into a pony tail and stepped onto the other pad.
“Loser gets the water?” he asked.
I laughed.
The three songs went fast and we were even on scores until the last one when he won by a few points.
“No fair.” I said breathing hard.
“All is fair in love, war, and DDR.” He replied only a little out of breath.
“Fine. But this water is mine.” I said as I walked by knocking his cup into the trash can.
Laughing I walked up to the front register. No one came in today but DDR players so I yelled back into the kitchen, “Can I get a cup for water?”
The cook’s voice came from the depths of the blinding white kitchen, “You know where they are.”
“Thanks!”
Chuckling to myself I walked over to the pop machine and half filled my cup with ice and proceeded to fill my cup with the water from the lemonade tap. The water was slightly lemony but it was less disturbing than the fruit punch water that came out red.
I turned to go back to the back of the arcade when the front door opened.
My brain stopped and the lemoned water hit the floor.
He hadn’t changed at all from the last time I had seen him. Short, spiked in the front, blond hair and blue eyes. By the distance between his upper and lower jaw, he was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I picked up my cup, refilled it, and walked back to the machines.
“Where's mine?” he asked after a quick glance away from the screen.
I said nothing.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He stepped off the machine mid song and took my hand. Damn those green eyes see through me quick “You don’t lie very well.”
“I lie to myself very well thank you very much.” I said as I stepped up onto the machine to finish the song. After that song was finished I picked a fast song with lots of double jumps, combos, and no pauses.
“You can’t stay on the machine forever.” he commented, breaking my concentration.
“Shush, playing” is all I responded. It was a seven-foot song on standard. Talking and DDR don’t mix so he let me finish the song and collapse on the dance pad.
“You gonna tell me what’s wrong?”
Breathing hard I asked, “You remember how I told you I found this place?”
“A friend brought you here and all but chained you to the machine to teach you how to DDR?”
I chuckled, “Something like that.” I stood up.
“Come here” He commanded.
“No I’m sweaty and I smell.”
He used his long legs to step over the pads on the floor and trapped me between his arms and one of the racing games behind me. “Tell me.”
I spoke to the floor, unable to meet his green eyes. “He came back. I saw him up front.”
He tilted my head up and said, “People make mistakes. Why do you forgive others but not yourself?”
“Ha! You are one to talk. Move I want to dance some more.”
“We can go somewhere else.”
He let me out of the circle of his arms. I touched his frowning face, “Don’t look at me like that, I wanted to come here with you and, because this is the closest I’ll ever come to dancing. I want to enjoy it.”
“It doesn’t help that you have no sense of rhythm.”
“Quite you. Show me your moves.”
“Falcon punch?”
“Dance!”
We played a few more rounds with no sign of my old friend. The laughter returned and the mood lightened. We had just finished a cool down round when a voice came from behind us. “You have gotten better.”
I turned around and he had a new friend with him.
“I’m done so you guys can fight over the machine.” I stated as I stepped off the pad, into my shoes. It was a signal that both blue and green eyes knew.
With shoes on, but not tied, I retreated to the rowing machine to rest rubbery legs. I nursed my water and tied my shoes, unaware of what was happening at the machine. Emotions were swirling so fast that even I didn’t know how to respond. Humor was usually the default, but I wasn’t feeling the funny mojo right now. I wanted to scream, punch, crawl in a corner and cry, become invisible so the green eyes that were glancing at my in concern wouldn’t change to contempt or worse…uncaring.
I jumped as a hang touched my arm. Blue eyes meet mine. I pulled away from the touch. “What’s new?” he asked.
“Same old, same old.” I responded, looking anywhere but at him. SO many questions formed in my head. I knew all the answers, because I knew him. I knew why he left and it was my fault. I didn’t want to be reminded of the person I use to be, and what was lost. I no longer knew how to interact with this stranger that knew me better than anyone else. We couldn’t go back because the trust was broken and I knew that I could never trust someone like that again. I longed to have that kind of trust again.
Blue eyes drew me out of the past.
“So, how was…”
“Excuse me.” Green eyes interrupted. “We’re going to be late.”
I checked my phone, “Crap.” I looked back to the begging blue eyes. “Sorry I got to go.”
And he let me.
We walked out, through the grease and sweat flavored air, into the cold winter. It felt nice to get to walk out on someone for once. It was shallow, but I’d only wallow in the nice for a while.
We walked to his car. “Now what?” he asked.
“How about dinner?” I responded.
“Pizza in there.”
“That’s not the best place to talk, now is it?”
“Talk?”
“You wanted to know.”
“Asian food it is then, you pay.”
I laughed to hide the tear that slipped down my cheek, ”If you make it through dinner without leaving it a deal.”
He lifted my head to be pinned by his deep green eyes. “I’m not going anywhere.”
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