The arcade was filled with loud children and a few teenagers, some in private school uniform. It was literally crammed. Courtney was glad she wasn’t claustrophobic.

Duncan whistled lowly near her. “Well, damn, this place is crowded as hell,” he murmured. “I’m going to have to push my way through here by force. I hope the little people won’t get hurt.”

Courtney looked at Duncan with wide eyes. Even though the sentence was a bit on the joking side, she heard a bit of concern in his voice. It made Courtney’s heart flutter for some reason.

Duncan caught Courtney smiling at him. “What?” he asked. “You have something to say to me, babe? Why are you smiling at me?”

Courtney shook her head. “No, it’s nothing,” she replied. “It’s just…not really… It’s nothing.”

“Oh.” He appraised her with criticizing eyes. “Obviously, you don’t seem like the video-gamer type.”

“It was for a science project. I had to study the affects of video games. Like you once said, I thought of it as brainwashing contraptions.” She stared at him. “You know me so well.”

Duncan grinned at her. “Yeah, well, being with you makes you learn things, right? My prediction wasn’t a lucky guess… I just knew.”

Courtney nodded, smiling a bit. “My older brother always plays video games all the time back then. I borrowed his games for my experiment. I just kept playing and playing, and soon, I was addicted. I kept it a secret, though.

“The obsessed video-gamers named me as the queen of all games. It was hard to keep it a secret, because one time I almost got caught sneaking out of the house to go to the annual video game competition.” She sighed, smiling. “I stopped, because I knew that my grades would slip and my parents would find out eventually. My friends—yes, including you, too—and my brother only knows about this secret.”

Duncan slipped an arm around her waist. “I gotta say you being a videogame nerd kind of…turns me on,” he growled in her ear. “Well, sort of,” he added.

Courtney pushed him away, blushing, and went ahead to look for the manager. Frank said he doesn’t know how he looks like now, so she has to look the complicated way. She scanned the crowd of teenagers and little children. She went to the counter and saw a bored female employee.

“Excuse me,” she said politely, “I am looking for your manager.”

The girl—her name tag said ‘Christel’—looked up from her magazine. “He’s in the back,” she said. “Do you want me to call him?” She paused. “Oh, wait, you have to tell me why you need to speak with him.”

“I work in Starbucks.”

Christel’s eyebrows rose up. “Okay,” she replied, smirking. “So you’re going to challenge him… What’s your name?”

“Courtney.”

“Hmm, Courtney. Nice name you got there. You’ll be versing him in the back room.” She pointed to the room with her thumb. “Good luck—you’re gonna need it.”

Courtney smirked. “No. I believe he’s going to need it, Christel.” She winked at Duncan and went inside the room.

--

Duncan leaned against the counter and smirked at Christel. “Wanna make a bet, sweetheart?” he asked.

Christel’s eyes turned lustful and she smirked, as well. “You name it, babe.”

“I’m going for the sexy lady who went inside. Fifty bucks?”

“I’m going for my cuckoo boss in there. A hundred bucks.”

“You’re on, sunshine.”

“It’s been on.”

They shook hands.

--

Courtney walked into the dim room. She followed the videogame sounds which were ahead. She almost tripped on one of the wires. There were so many of them.

The room had multiples of shelves, where games and consoles are stacked upon. There were ancient consoles and some consoles that weren’t even in Canada yet but were in Japan. She would know unfortunately.

She kept walking.

All of a sudden, the videogame sounds stopped and she stopped, as well. She heard footsteps coming near. She would’ve been scared if this was a normal, clichéd movie; but this was reality and she wasn’t like those wimpy girls.

“You’re finally here, Frank,” a deep, mature voice announced. “I’ve been waiting, you know.”

Courtney imagined his voice to be squeaky or something similar to Harold’s vocals.

She cleared her throat. “You’ve assumed wrong,” she replied. “I’m not Frank; I’m one of his employees.”

The man stepped into the dim lights, but Courtney could still see him. She was surprised on how handsome he is—but only quite. He was lanky looking and was an average height. He wore casual clothing, and he seemed like a friendly guy.

He was nothing like Frank said.

“Surprised?” the man chuckled. “Don’t worry, lady—I get that a lot.”

Courtney shook her head, chin up high defiantly. “No, I am not,” she lied. “I don’t judge people by how they look. I used to be a videogame addict, you know.”

The man smiled. “All right, then. I’m Alec Williams. And you are Miss…?”

“Courtney Davis. But let’s not be formal, shall we?” She was using her curt façade. Even though he may seem forthcoming, she still had her suspicions. He could very well be acting right now.

Like Duncan.

Courtney cringed. Now’s not the time to be thinking about that jerk!

“Why are you cringing? Not to sound boastful, but I’m not an intimidating person. People’s first impressions are usually me being a friendly guy, is it not?”

“Perceptive, are we? And I didn’t cringe because of your face. It was something I thought of—which you shouldn’t know. You’re not intimidating, either; I’ve seen worse.”

“Ouch, Courtney. How discourteous you are being. And to think I was going to go easy on you.” He shook his head, chuckling to himself. “Well, I’ll just push that advantage away.”

Courtney glared harshly at him. “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean you can go easy on me. I know I can beat you, so don’t even try. I’ll beat you even if you don’t go easy on me.”

“You’re being very egocentric.”

“It’s called confidence, dear Alec.”

He gestured towards the set up consoles. “Well, let’s see if confidence will help you win, Miss Courtney.”

Courtney followed him towards the consoles and sat down on the black beanbag. She grabbed a controller and took a deep breath.

Alec laughed. “Relax, Miss Courtney—it’s not the end of the world,” he joked.

She was getting irritated by his carefree attitude. “It is for Frank.”

“He’s still the same weak fool, huh? I thought after all these years he’d actually grow up and be a man. Back in high school, people unspecified that he was a girl in disguise, but they made sure he wasn’t. I’m sure you know how.” He smirked.

“You guys bullied Frank?” Courtney asked incredulously. She wasn’t really all that shocked, but it just made her feel pity for Frank. She was never bullied—rather she was the bully, but she doesn’t know that—but she knew that it hurts. “That’s so…immature, Alec. How dare you do that to Frank?”

“We didn’t bully him; we just merely did fun stuff to him. It’s his fault for not enjoying it. And why do you sound so concerned for Frankie? Do you like him?” He shook his head, chuckling. “Well, I wouldn’t be against it given that Frank does need a good dose of strength.”

Snap!

Courtney snapped the controller into pieces. She immediately threw away the broken parts to the side, glaring icily at Alec. Courtney just wanted to beat up Alec so badly, but she controlled herself. She had to do some things.

Alec, on the other hand, looked terrified. Courtney would’ve smirked, but she was too infuriated to do so. Immediately, Alec covered up his frightened expression and there appeared his faux friendly expression.

“Look,” Courtney growled, “I’m not going to beat you up—doing that action wouldn’t satisfy me enough and being in court is too much of a pain in the ass right now. Instead, I’ll crush your pride. You’re considered as the top video-gamer of all or whatever shit, right? I’ll destroy you, Alec.” She looked back at the broken wireless controller. “I need another one—pronto.”

Alec quickly gave her a controller from behind him and threw it at Courtney, which she gracefully caught. She pressed the button in the front to on it.

“Let’s start now,” Courtney announced expressionlessly.

She heard him gulp and start the game.

“We’re playing Call of Duty, okay?” Alec informed quietly. “I’m known as the best sniper in the g—”

Courtney interjected irritably, “I don’t give a shit, all right? Now, shut up and let’s start this damn game so I can go leave, damn it.”

They started with Alec trembling in fear and Courtney enraged—or beyond it.

--

Duncan yawned and stretched his arms hard. “Damn, how long are they going to take?” he asked tiredly. “I wanna go home now.”

Christel answered without looking up from her magazine: “I don’t know. If Courtney is on par with Alec, then it’ll take super long. You just have to wait, I guess.” She peered up at him. “You’re still on for the bet, babe?”

Duncan smirked at her. “Of course, Christel. I don’t have the money, though. I’m gonna have to steal it. There are a lot of stuck-up, rich people here, so that shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“You’re so weird. What if your girlfriend finds out and throws a dramatic fit?”

“She’s not my girlfriend…” He sounded disappointed.

Christel was shocked, but looked slightly relieved. “Oh. Well, I thought that… Never mind. You guys seem close—literally and figuratively. I mean, it’s like you guys are just…you know, automatically together, right? It’s hard to explain.”

Duncan chuckled. “Tell that to her.”

“Holy shamans!” a hoarse voice yelled out. “Duncan Evans, is that you, my old, violent friend?!”

Duncan turned around and groaned out loud, not caring if he heard it. “Aw, great. Like we needed another videogame freak-azoid,” he said. “What are you doing here, Harold?”

Harold smiled at Duncan, pushing his glasses up. “Salutations, Duncan. Are you here to play the new arcade game ‘Battle of the Robotic-Squeatins’?” he asked. “I heard that it’s an awesome game. Excuse me, miss, but may I have your opinions about this game?”

Christel rolled her eyes at him. “It’s a good game,” she said monotonously.

Duncan chuckled. “Look, Harold, just leave your geek crap to someone else. Christel and I are waiting impatiently for Courtney and that obsessed gamer dude in there, got it?”

Harold glared at him. “You cannot tell me what to do, Duncan.” Then he gasped. “Oh! I heard that your manager is one of the top notch videogame legends! May I have his autograph?!”

“Don’t ask me, dude,” Christel snorted. “I don’t even think Alec gives out autographs. And if he did, he wouldn’t want to give it to a low-class, ‘WoW’ paladins-lover like you.”

“O-m-g! You know ‘World of Warcraft’? I love how the paladins have this holy aura surrounding them. They make good—!”

Duncan smacked Harold on the back hard. “Harold, we both do not give a crap about your ‘World of Warcrap.’”

Harold glared at him, wheezing. “It’s ‘World of—’”

Duncan gripped Harold’s neck and began dragging him. He smiled over at Christel. “I’m gonna go dispose the useless nerd, m’kay? Tell me if Miss Sexy Pants and McNerdyFreak is done playing whatever junk.”

“But, Duncan, I can’t leave my—”

He was already gone, torturing Harold in the dumpster.

--

Alec stared at the TV screen, mouth widely ajar. He didn’t utter a single word or sound. Courtney sat there, feeling hugely smug and was waiting for Alec to say something. She knew she was going to win all along.

“But—but—but how?” Alex sputtered out. “I—I—I—I don’t…under—understand! I never—I never lose! This is so implausible! Did you rig the device or something?!”

Courtney rolled her eyes. “I’m a former video-game addict, not a technology whiz—well, maybe,” she replied. “Now, I believe you have some changing to do, dear Alec.”

“But…this is—”

“Stop acting so shocked and change your arcade hours already!” Then an idea popped into Courtney’s mind. “You know, instead of wasting my time beating a lowlife like you, I could’ve just sued your arcade.”

Alec whipped his head towards her. “What?! Why?!”

“Well, because all of these games are corrupting the poor children’s minds. Some consoles and games aren’t even in Canada yet. And it’s completely violating the health code—it’s much too cramped up in here. You’re using artificial cheese for the pizza, as well,” she explained, smirking. “It’s obvious, but only quite to certain minds.”

“How in the world do you know about the artificial cheese? You might be lying, Miss Courtney.” He held up his chin boldly.

“I went to a cheese factory for a prize—damn that competition—and I learned things there obviously. More like they brainwashed me, and forever it will be embedded in my brain.”

Alec’s casual façade was quickly slipping away. It was showing an over-stressed, panicky boy underneath. It looked entirely pitiable in Courtney’s opinion.

“Do you have something to explain to yourself and that artificial crap you call cheese, dear Alec?” Courtney inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Alec glared at her. “It’s not my fault that cheese nowadays is expensive!” he cried.

“Hm, not my problem at all. Now, you better change your schedules or I will sue you. I have powerful lawyers, you know. They will take away everything from you and win.” She began to leave. She looked back and gave Alec a look of huge contempt. “I’ll be watching you.”

Courtney walked to the door, trying not to trip over the tangled wires. I’m going to have to talk to him again about this now, she thought.

When Courtney opened the door, she cringed at the vibrant lights. She was so acclimated to the dim lights back in the room. After blinking her eyes a couple of times, she spotted Christel, who was looking at her with curious eyes along with Duncan.

“What happened, babe?” Duncan asked. “You made me miss you.”

“How sweet,” she replied cynically. “Well, to summarize it, I won.” She smiled smugly.

Duncan chuckled at her, unconsciously intertwining their fingers. Christel’s jaw hung wide open. Duncan pointed at her mouth.

“Careful there, honey—you might catch flies because of Harold’s dunk in the skunk!” He laughed loudly. “And pay up.”

Christel shut her mouth with a snap and walked towards the cash register, taking out a straight hundred dollar bill. She handed it out towards Duncan.

Duncan gladly took it, grinning madly.

“Won’t you get in trouble or fired?” Courtney asked.

“It’s his fault for losing, so I don’t think so. He doesn’t even look in the cash register, anyways. He’s a videogame noob, always confined in his dim, wire-filled office. Ugh.”

Duncan turned to Courtney. “Wanna spend this to useless things, Princess? On me obviously,” he said excitedly.

Courtney yawned. “No, I’m too tired. That freaking creep wasted all of my energy on that game. I just want to collapse happily on my bed.”

He pouted. “Oh, come on. Let’s do something with this amount of money.”

“You betted on me?”

“Hell yeah.”

Courtney pursed her lips. “Take me somewhere special tomorrow night, okay? Surprise me. I don’t want it to be all that clichéd. Make it…you, I guess.”

Duncan kissed her lightly on the lips. “With pleasure, baby.” He looked at her intense eyes. “So it’s a date?”

She rolled her eyes, smiling. “It’s a date.”

--

Harold sat on the sidewalk, leaning against the brick wall. Next to him was a hobo, who was grinning manically at him. The hobo held up a sign that said “World ends in 2012. And you’re pretty…pretty ugly.” Some words have spelling errors, Harold thought.

A convertible, showing a stereotypical playboy surrounded by curvaceous women, music blaring out, pulled up next to him and the hobo. The man grinned at him.

“Hey, hobo! I can smell you from miles away! Why don’t you take a carwash?! Ha-ha! You smell worse than that crazy dude next to you!” He winked at him and then left, laughing out loud.

Harold sniffled and looked at the hobo. “I don’t smell that bad, do I?” he asked, frowning.

The hobo leaned over and smelled him. He fainted.

“I thought so.”