Okay, this is my first DDR fanfic. And yes, the characters in this (so far) are me and my friends, except the boy at the end. Oh, and The dPad is an actual place.

Disclaimer: I do not own DDR, or any of these songs. I only own this fanfic.

A girl with semi-long black hair ran through the door of The dPad, forgetting to shut it as she did so. The Console Area, as they called it, was full of teens playing Halo 2 mostly, a few others playing various games people paid no attention to. The girl went past there, through the area where you could buy games, and straight to the back where the DDR machine could be found. Nobody was back there, and that was exactly how she had planned it. She had it all to herself. She adjusted her black tee shirt, pulled up her official DDR'ing jeans a bit, and slipped off her shoes next to the old school arcade game in the corner. One would think she wouldn't play DDR with her dangly earrings, or her fourteen rings on her fingers, but she was no ordinary girl. "Calm down, dearie." another girl who looked about her age told her as she walked into the room. "I can't help it! I always get hyper when we come here." she told her. The other girl brushed her curly auburn hair behind her ears and replied, "Sure... By the way, Emily, you forgot to close the door. Pay more attention next time." Emily set her bag of quarters down and jumped onto the second player side, with seventy-five cents in her hand. "Rightio!" she cried. The girl with the curly hair pulled out a small yellow hat and stuck it on her head. It had eyes and a tension mark on the front of the hat, and small ears poking out of the top. She rolled up her jeans, and stretched out her legs, looking almost like a ballerina. "Hurry up, Kapey!" Emily whined. Kape stood up and walked over to the first player side of the machine. "Okay, fine." she said as she put her money into the machine. Emily then put her quarters in, and pushed the start button five or six times, while Kape just laughed and slammed her hand down on the button.

"Select your style!" the voice from the machine yelled. Emily hit Versus, and then chose Light mode when the voice said to 'select a difficulty'. Kape of course chose Standard; she barely ever showed off on Heavy mode in public. Emily felt ashamed that she had been playing for almost a year, and she remained on Light mode. She felt even worse that her nickname was DDR, and people laughed at her when they heard that. But she loved playing, and nothing would change that. "Is this song okay?" Kape asked. Emily stopped spacing out and looked at the screen. Gentle Stress AMD Sexual Mix. "Yeah, sure." Kape pushed the start button and stepped back onto the stage. Emily took a deep breath. "Let's see how much I suck today." she mumbled, as she always did before she started a game at The dPad. Actually though, she played that song fairly well, as did Kape. "We both got A's." Kape informed. Emily shrugged, "Eh. Could've done better, I guess." She was never satisfied with the grades she got, unless they were AA's. "My turn to choose!" she said happily, bolting forward. Kape knew the song she was going to pick, and as soon as she heard

We are the cartoon heroes,

woah-oh

and Emily pushing the start button, she smiled. It was obvious that Emily would choose that song first. It was her favorite song... For more reasons than one. Emily was smiling too, and as the arrows started appearing on the screen, her smile grew wider. She was no longer focusing on her un-satisfying grades, or the fact that she only played on Light mode. All she cared about was the song and hitting the arrows. Kape seemed to be having fun, as well. That song was easy for her, so she was actually able to dance a bit as she played. The song ended after what seemed like seconds, and their grades came onto the screen. Emily's smile turned into a grin as she saw her grade. "AA! Yes!" she yelled happily, jumping up and down. Kape was happy with her grade too, an A. "Cartoon Heroes? You play that song every time you come here." a voice commented. Emily looked over. Her friend Kathleen/Kity stood there, wearing a black tee shirt, and jeans as well. But she wore no jewelry. Instead, she wore make-up. Her hair was a dark brown, almost black, except about an inch of her blonde hair had grown out. "Hi!" Kape greeted, and then started going through the songs, not sure which one to pick.

Kity slipped off her three-inch heels on the opposite side of the machine where Emily's shoes were and sat in a chair behind them. People had seen her come in, and they walked to the back. "Oh, you're not playing?" a boy asked. "No-" Kity started, but then Emily interrupted, "She is. I was just playing until she got here." She stepped off the stage and motioned for Kity to play. Kity stood up and asked, "Can I choose the song?" Kape nodded. Only a few seconds were left, and Kity quickly chose the song she wanted and changed the mode to Heavy. More people started crowding around the machine. "She's playing Across the Nightmare on Heavy!" a girl whispered to her friend. Emily snatched the chair Kity had been sitting in and watched them play the song that she couldn't even pass on Light mode. Kape seemed to pass it with ease, as did Kity. But everyone stared in awe at Kity's feet as they moved, and as they saw all the perfects showing on the screen. Emily was proud to call both of them her friends. Kape got admiration for her Standard mode skills, and Kity could only be beaten by one person who regularly came to The dPad. Finally, the song ended, and a panting Kity glanced at the screen. "I got a AA." she said happily, smiling a bit. "And I got a B." Kape stated. People clapped for the two, and then Kape chose another song.

Emily didn't play again that night. She watched as her friends played, and she watched other regulars to The dPad play. They all played well on either Standard or Heavy; not one person played on Light mode that night that she saw. After Kity's sixth game that night, she sat next to Emily. Her face was covered in sweat, and she drank a whole bottle of water in seconds. "Having fun?" Emily asked. Kity nodded. "Yeah. I'm doing pretty good today." she replied, wiping her forehead. "Why aren't you playing? I mean, your nickname is DDR, and you're not even playing!" Emily shrugged as the people who were currently playing stepped off the stage. "I dunno. I guess I'd rather just learn how to play better by watching others instead of practicing." Kity looked at her. "Come on, just play one more time before you have to leave." Emily shook her head. "Nah, I don't think I should." A boy standing behind Kity leaned over. "But you know you want to. Why don't you play me?" Emily thought for a moment and looked at the boy. She had never seen him before. He wasn't much taller than her, and he didn't look too much older, either. He had blue eyes that seemed to shine, and blonde spiky hair. "Okay... But I'm only on Light mode." she said, getting up. He walked over to the stage and deposited his quarters. "Cool. I am too." he told her, smiling. Emily couldn't help but smile back. She walked over to her bag of quarters and took out seventy-five cents. "Mind if I pick the first song?" he asked as she put in her money. They both pushed the start button, Emily pushing it a few more times than he did. "Not at all." she replied, stepping back after they chose the modes they played. He scrolled through the songs until he found the one he wanted.

Some just say the world is changing,

many people will agree,

many changes we are seeing...

"Can you pass?" he asked. Emily nodded happily. "Yeah, this is one of my favorite songs. I play it all the time." He pushed the start button and stepped onto the second player side, and Emily remained on the first player side. "Alrighty, here we go." he said. Arrows started appearing on the screen, and Emily began shaking. "Don't shake... Don't be nervous. I can do this." she thought. After about thirty seconds, Emily started to get careless and almost missed an arrow. She could hear the boy next to her counting the arrows, something Emily did when she was having a hard time passing a song. She began listening to him count, and it helped her focus more. Finally, the song ended. Biting her lip, Emily waited for her grade to show on the screen. "I got a AA!" she screamed triumphantly. Her second AA of the day, certainly something worth getting congratulated about. She looked over at the boy's grade. He got an A. "High five!" she said happily, clapping her hand against his. "You owned him, DDR!" Kape said a bit loudly as she walked back into the room, carrying a bottle of Fuse. Emily was hyper again, and ready for a good game of DDR. "Can't Stop Falling In Love Speed Mix?" she asked, grinning.

What do you think? I'm quite satisfied with it, though I do think this chapter is a bit short. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review! I'd love to hear all comments on my fanfic.