Elizabeth sat quietly on her porch, it was 4:30 afterall, were was he? She checked her sword and her helmet; everything was prepared, ready, and covered in a fresh layer of duct tape. Everyday at 4:30 Eliza would sit on those front steps and wait for battle. Her head jolted up when she heard that tell-tale bike bell ring at the end of the street. Sure enough, there was Gilbert, his long black cape flying behind him and that usual cocky grin. Elizabeth jumped up and ran to the edge of the grass, drawing her weapon.
"Freeze Fiend! You'll never get the princess!" She cried out, it was the same story each time. There was a "life sized" rag doll the Eliza's Aunt had given her for Christmas (unknowing that Eliza despised dolls) and they had put her up in their tree house to pose as a damsel in distress. Elizabeth was the Princess's protector, and Gilbert was the Evil knight who had come to kidnap her.
"Ha! Ya wanna bet?" He called as he jumped off his bike and lunged towards her. Wooden swords smacked together as they laughed and giggled until they both toppled to the ground out of breath. The pair had been best friends ever since Gilbert and his family moved into the neighborhood two years ago. Now they were in the third grade, and still remained in the same class. Gilbert's younger brother Ludwig was two years younger than them, but would occasionally come and join them in their games. Sometimes they would even make him the princess.
Their town was a quaint, quiet town full of small houses with a bustling downtown area filled with small shops and cafés. Elizabeth's house was small with two stories, and was painted white with a faded green porch and matching shudders on the windows. Her Mother stayed home the majority of the time and sold make-up door to door during the summer. Her Father was an up and coming employee at a big company.
Gilbert's House was a few blocks away; it was one story and was painted blue with a big red front door. It had a huge tree in the front yard with the perfect staggering of branches to allow excellent roof access on clear summer nights. The two boys lived with their single mother and their grand-mother. Their Mother was a nurse, working night shifts at the hospital while her elderly mother stayed home to look after the boys. Their father had walked away a few months after Ludwig was born. It was a sad state of affairs, but things seemed to work out all-right.
But right now all that mattered in the world was the fight, but as they lay on the cool grass they called a truce and removed their armor. As they stood up Gilbert shoved her back down again and raced for the door.
"Last one in is officially not-awesome!" he called as her sprinted. With a small cry in anger Elizabeth scrambled to her feet and wrestled her way past him through the doorway. Once in, they continued to playfully beat each other as the sat on the couch, drank Capri-suns, and watched sponge bob until it was time for Gilbert to go home.
As the school bell rang Gilbert leapt out of his seat like a loaded spring, threw on his backpack and dragged Lizzie out of the Door.
"Gil! Stop it!" she cried out as she stomped on his foot to make him let go, the albino boy yelped in pain, releasing the brunette's hand to grab hold of his foot as he hopped up and down on the other. Without a single glance at the jumping boy Elizabeth quickly finished shoving the rest of her papers into her lime green back-pack. When she turned back Gilbert was staring at her and pouting.
"NOT cool Liz!" He said as he gestured to his foot, she ignored his complaints and began walking to the cross walk where a orange haired woman stood with an equally orange vest strapped to her torso, a stop sign in her left hand, and a shining whistle in her mouth. Gilbert stumbled after the girl and adjusted his power-ranger's back-pack on his shoulders.
"Hey! Hey Liz! Did you bring some quarters?" He question, eyes wide with anticipation. A Small smile escaped Elizabeth's lips and she continued to look ahead.
"Oh. You mean these quarters?" She said slyly as she pulled out a zip lock bag filled with the shiny circles. Gilbert let out a not-so-manly squeal as he had hopped up and down in place with excitement.
"Oh my god Liz this is gonna be so fun!" he exclaimed as he dug out his own bag and stared down at it like he had just found the map to El Dorado. Elizabeth grinned in return as the Fire-Haired woman finally blew on her whistle, motioning for the crowd of children to cross.
"I know!" she exclaimed "I've never been to the arcade by myself." She said excitedly and she moved to roll up the sleeves of her purple hoody, it was strangely warm today. Gilbert let out a loud "Kesesese~" as he dug through the pockets of his grass-stained jeans. Finding what he was looking for he whipped out a bright pink package.
"Gum?" he asked, already gnawing on a piece he had snuck during class. Liz nodded and popped a piece in her mouth, almost immediately blowing a remarkable bubble and allowing it to pop, pulling it back in. Gilbert glared at her and stuck another piece in his mouth.
"I bet I can blow a bigger one." He said matter of factly as he began chewing even harder to get the gum to the optimum consistency for bubble blowing. Eliza laughed.
"Oh really? I doubt it. I am, after all, the bubble blowing champion." She hummed with a sarcastic tone of posh-ness. The silver haired boy fumed with the need for competition.
"You're on!" he said, furiously chewing as he walked, finally blowing a bubble and popping it, he grinned triumphantly. Elizabeth scoffed and began laughing.
"Oh Pleeease, you call that a bubble?" she asked as she laughed, Gilbert was not amused and glared at her. She smiled. "Let me show you how it's done kiddo." She said confidently as she effortlessly blew a bubble almost the size of her head, gracefully popping it and pulling it back in. Gilbert grimaced and shoved another piece in.
"Hmph! That's nothing'" He called, voice muffled by the enormous wad in his mouth. He inhaled a deep breath and bean to blow. The bubble kept getting bigger and bigger, and when it was almost the size of Lizzy's previous one, it's exploded with a large pop. Sending large chunks of sticky pink all over the boys face. Elizabeth began to laugh so hard she had to stop walking and hunch over, holding her stomach. Gilbert was also unable to hold a straight face as a piece of gum he tried to pull away went flying, making a sound similar to that of a catapult. As the two laughed and walked Liz attempted to get all the little bits out of his hair as he tried to pull it off his face.
The small brass bell jingled as the pair pushed open the large glass door; they were greeted by the loud plinky music of gaming machines and the pungent smell of sweat and shame. Gilbert grinned and turned to Elizabeth.
"Lets get our game on!" he exclaimed as he gripped her around the wrist and pulled her inside, they dodged and weaved through the rows and rows of brightly colored machines until they came to a halt and looked up in wonder.
"I-it's here." Liz whispered in awe, Gilbert stared silently for a few moments before responding.
"It's like the holy grail of arcade games..." he said in a hushed tone as he hesitantly sat down on the swivel stool in front of it and looked up again. "Dragon's Quest 3" it read in glittering gold letters. Liz also pulled a stool over and looked to Gilbert. He nodded firmly as he dropped two quarters into her hand and turned back to the screen. They inserted their quarters, pressed start, chose their characters, and began to play.
For almost an hour they played, jostling the joy sticks and yelling to each other game-plans and combo moves. They collected gold and killed monsters until the reached the final Boss: the Legendary Golden Dragon.
"You ready for this Gil?" Elizabeth asked with a cocky tone, both where competing to see who could strike the finishing blow. The albino boy stuck out his tongue and he hissed "as if!"
And with that they began to fight the beast, inserting coins for extra lives. They would cry out and swear, cheer and laugh. Then it was down to 10 hp and they both lunged their avatars towards the great golden creature, both pressed the red button, and the dragon fell. Both the children cried out in joy, fist-pumping with happiness, until they paused and looked at each other.
"What are you so happy about?" Gilbert asked.
"Uh, duh! Cause I totally just kicked your ass!" Elizabeth called out happily, Gilbert grimaced.
"No you didn't! I totally killed that thing with my skills of awesomeness!" he insisted, accentuating his point with hand movements. Liz just grinned
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She said simply as just jumped off the stool and hummed a song of victory. Gilbert frowned as he followed after her, continuing to insist that he had been the winner, until they were again distracted.
In front of them stood a huge crane machine with flashing multi-colored lights.
"We have to play this!" Elizabeth exclaimed and she ran up to it and inserted a quarter. The jingly music began as she maneuvered the crane and pressed the big red button when she was pleased with its position. But alas she missed. Gilbert perked up; this was his chance to prove his ultimate awesomeness. He coolly sauntered up to the machine and gently moved Eliza out of the way and inserted a quarter.
"You're not gonna win, it's rigged." Elizabeth scoffed as she watched him skillfully move the crane about, placing it over a pile of objects, she scoffed again. He grinned cockily and turned to his friend.
"Watch and learn." He said, pulling her to the glass to watch his victory. And sure enough, when the crane emerged it had a small metallic box in its grips as it dropped it down to the prize slot. Gilbert cheered happily and he danced around Eliza, declaring his awesomeness as the reached into the slot and pulled out the box.
"What do you thinks inside?" she asked.
"Probably something amazing! Like a lizard!" He said happily and he removed the lid, his smile fading. Inside was a small ring with a plastic red jewel on it. He looked down at the box, an un-amused expression on his face, what the hell was he gonna do with this thing?
"Well? What is it?" Liz pushed, Gilbert looked at her, then back to the box, then back up. Then the perfect disposal plan popped into his head as he lunged forward and gripped Elizabeth's hand. She cried out in surprise and he drug her hand to him and shoved the plastic ring onto her left middle finger. Once she managed to yank herself free, she looked down at her hand with confusion.
"What's this?" she asked pointing down at the piece of jewelry.
"That? It's a ring. Duh." He said with a laugh. "It's to make sure that, um… that you… Don't cry over the fact of how awesomely I beat you at that game!" he explained shakily, laughing a nervous laugh.
"hmph! I don't care! It's a stupid game anyways! But hey, even though I lost, I got the prize!" she exclaimed as she stuck out her tongue and walked away triumphantly. Gilbert frowned.
"You only got the prize because of how awesomely charitable I am!" He called after her, as he ran to catch up with her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She placated with large hand movements. He frowned again. "C'mon Gilbert, we gotta get home, my mom is ordering pizza~!" Elizabeth cried out happily as she pushed through the door. She was followed by and equally as giddy Prussia who exclaimed. "Pizza? AWESOME!"
And with that final call of joy, the two children giggled and joked as they walked back to Elizabeth's house. However, they remained unaware of the fact that the courses of their lives and changed forever.