This is kinda later than I promised, but I said I'd write a one-shot for someone and I'm true on my word! Hope you like it, Panda! -Luv, Cart

Ellybell VS Haptic

Matt cursed out loud, tossing his cigarette on the ground violently and earning a few strange looks from the passerby on the sidewalk. He'd lost. Again. There were few things that made Matt happy these days; playing games in his crappy New York apartment, working at his crappy job at the arcade, and beating crappy DS wireless players. Except, someone was actually beating him lately. Not consecutively of course, but he had still lost 4 games either way.

At first, he'd welcomed the challenge. It was a nice change of pace from the usual players he crushed easily, but losing quickly got old. Ellybell was the screen name that was currently the bane of his existence. Every time he was on break at work, he'd turn on his DS and there Ellybell would be. Ready to challenge him. But, the only times he'd ever encountered the player was when he was working. So Ellybell had to be a regular to the arcade, as far as he could conclude. He'd tried looking around the store subtly on many occasions for the girl, which she was judging by the screen name, but no frequent customer in the arcade was ever on a DS.

The bell on the arcade's door dinged as it was swung open, the head of a pretty girl with long black hair poking out to look at him. It was something-or-other, the new girl that just started a week ago. "Matt, Mr. Davis wants you to move the boxes of new game cards. He says his back's gone out again" she said before disappearing through the door.

"lying old bastard" Matt muttered as he sauntered inside, yet another loss to Ellybell putting him in a foul mood. Although, stealthily watching the cute new girl trot happily back to her post at the cashier counter did raise his spirits. The black skinny jeans tucked into her knee-high black boots fit the girl perfectly along with her black tank top, sliced along the sides to show the neon purple tank underneath. She's cute, he thought, I should ask if she wants to grab dinner together. That reminded him, three more hours to go until dinner break, when he would have another chance to crush Ellybell…

Matt finally lifted the last box from the shipment onto the shelf just as the door to the back room swung open. It was the new girl again, her face lighting up as she saw him. "Matt! You gotta help me" she exclaimed, approaching him quickly. He found himself not needing to work up a smile, since the one on her face was infectious and caught like wildfire.

"Sure, what do you need?" He asked, staring at her eyes. He never noticed that they were so blue, like crystals or ice. It was a dangerous combination with her hair. It also complemented the sweet smile that remained on her face even though her lips were moving-Shit, he cursed in his mind, has she been talking this whole time? Ugh, I wasn't listening at all. Shes gunna think I'm a creep or something. he calmed his internal self down and listen to the last few words in case he could just piece together what she was saying.

"anyway, if you could come outside to the counter and show me how to do it, that would be awesome!" she paused, putting on a begging face now, "just please don't tell Mr. Davis I screwed up!" she pleaded and Matt smiled dumbly at her, nodding. She grinned at him, clapping her hands together happily before taking hold of his wrist and towing him out of the back room and to the cashier counter.

Maybe Matt would have focused on their contact, if he wasn't shocked by the long line of angry customers standing in front of the register. "There you are! I've been waiting 10 minutes on you!" the customer first in line said angrily, a short acne-infested blonde boy.

"Please calm down, sir, I'd be happy to help you" Matt stated swiftly, the new girl looking scared out of her wits by the long line that had formed in her absence.

The pre-teen crossed his arms angrily, "I demand to speak to your manager!" he nearly yelled.

Matt's eyes darted to the new girl, who seemed to be freaking out now. Mr. Davis was a cranky old man who stayed in his office during work hours, and if he was disturbed you could bet someone was going to get a lecture or a day of bathroom-cleaning duty. "I am the manager" Matt said evenly, the words coming out of his mouth before he even thought the whole plan through.

"When I got here one hour ago, I asked her to put 30$ on my card, and she only put on 10$. Now she says she can't put on more, even though I gave her 30 freaking bucks!" the boy whined to Matt, shooting an angry glare at the new girl.

Matt tried not to smirk at the kid's obvious scam. "I'm terribly sorry, let me fix that" Matt said, taking the boy's card and swiping it through the cashier scanner before adding 20 more dollars. The kid was obviously bluffing so he could get more credit, but Matt couldn't put up a fight without calling the real manager, so he gave in. A kid with that much guts to yell at poor new girl and cause a big fuss deserved it anyway. "Enjoy your credits" Matt said with a polite smile, sending the kid on his way before taking care of the other waiting customers; the new girl hovering around him all the while.

"Oh man, thank you so much Matt, really!" The new girl said in relief as the last customer walked off. "I seriously owe you big time!" she finished with a grin before giving him a hug, much to his surprise.

Matt was smirking now, what a perfect chance, he thought happily. "Well, you could let me take you out to dinner at break and I'll consider calling it even" he said suavely, giving her a cheeky smile. She blushed brightly, but smiled back all the same as she nervously fiddled with the hem of her black tank top.

"I, um, that sounds great" she said, looking up at him through her eyelashes shyly.

Her answer put a grin on his face instantly, "Perfect. Meet you in the break room, then we can decide where to go" Matt said as he walked around the counter, heading towards the line that had begun to form in front of the 7-player racing ride in need of an employee attendant.

Finally, the clock had ticked around to break time. Matt sidestepped a few customers as he headed to the back room, nodding at Greg on the way to tell him he was off the clock now. He slipped in the doors, to see the new girl in the middle of retrieving her coat from her locker. "Hey there," he said smoothly as he opened his own locker to get his fuzzy vest. "Thought of a place to eat at yet?" he questioned.

"Oh, no I haven't really come up with anything. We can go wherever you want, but" she said, her words lost as Matt was hardly paying attention from the moment she pulled out the plain white DS from her locker. The next words out of her mouth made him drop his vest to the ground "I have to beat this dude first"

Matt's jaw dropped, his eyes wide, "IT'S YOU!" he yelled in shock, pointing at her. His eyes slipped to her nametag for confirmation:Ellywas carved into the plastic. "You're the girl that's been beating me!" he was still pointing. She looked like she was going to burst into laughter at any minute.

"You're Haptic?" Elly asked with raised eyebrows before smirking. "I expected you to be taller, and certainly not this cute" she said, making him blush slightly in spite of the situation.

Matt suddenly realized his pointing was a little overkill and dropped his hand. "No, you don't understand. Nobody beats me. Like, ever" he explained. Elly simply giggled.

"Sorry to break the record then" she said with another smirk as she began to put on her black sweater, stuffing her DS in the pocket. Matt simply stared at her silently for a few minutes. "…Um, are we still grabbing dinner?" she asked, stooping to pick up his vest for him.

Matt finally came out of it with a large grin, "Only if I get a rematch".