"Another Soda...?" She asked with a quirked brow as she passed me the fizzing cup over the glass counter. "You know we close up in about fifteen minutes."
Of course I know exactly when this place closes. I had been coming here every day for the past three weeks. It had become somewhat of a ritual for me to come here after work. The girl on the other side of the counter and myself had been in a perpetual exchange of money for cola over the almost-a-month I had been in town. We never spoke more than a few words and pleasantries. From what I could tell, she looked as if she hated this job. I completely understood what she was going through, I had experienced the same at Adventureland the summer before. I hated that experience. Cleaning up after kids, dealing with violent adults and trying to hold a fake smile the entire time.
I gave her a slight nod and made my way back to the acrade machine I had been trying to beat all afternoon. This one proved to be more difficult than I had expected. Double Dragon was a new release, and with all new releases there were mechanics that I just could not wrap my head around. I looked again at the score board, the top three highscores were filled by the same person 'POE' followed by myself in fourth position. I had been knocking this 'Poe' guy out of a few top positions on other machines over the weeks.
I slipped another quarter into the machine and started up a new playthrough. Gripping the red joystick and the blue buttons, I started to mash my way through the first level.
Now, you may be wondering how I've ended up here in a diffrent town... not living with my parents anymore and with a propper job. Well, after the entire debacle at Adventureland I had realised something. I didn't want to live in that town anymore. I didn't want to pay rent to my parents anymore. I didn't want to be around any of those assholes anymore. I needed a fresh start.
So, I looked for any and every job I could that related to my degree. To my surprise it wasn't a cabby, hot dog vendor or marijuana delivery guy. I had found a Russian business man who wanted English tutoring for his children. Although the kids were still in primary school, he hired me because I could teach them litrature in both their native tongue and the language of the western world. It turned out this job was across the border, so I moved up here to Ontario, Canada.
I kinda blocked out what was happening around me as I continued to play through the side scrolling beat-em-up, but the 'girl on the other side of the counter' was starting to usher some kids and teenagers out of the arcade. She was rustling about in the front of the store and then she lowered the shutter doors. Surprisingly, she usually would have ushered me out of the arcade with those kids but today she didn't. I continued to play through some more levels as she cleaned the counters and turned off the arcade and pinball machines around me.
I felt a presence to my right and as I cleared the level she dropped another quarter into the machine. A red player-2 spawned into this final level as I noticed she grabbed the second joystick and buttons. This particular level was what I had been failing to clear all afternoon.
"Check this move out!" She said as she grappled one of the Black Warrior Gang so I could attack him unimpeded. Now that was a useful strategy.
"Nice moves! You're not going to throw me out of the arcade, right?" I asked as we continued through the platformer level. A seccond player making this much more manageable than before.
"Not today..." She said as she continued to punch and kick the Ninja Gang members. "I uhhh... I noticed you've been topping all of the highscores on the arcade machines. I can't kick you out till you've finished this one."
"Thanks!" I replied as the final boss materialised. "But, this is where I keep messing up."
"Let me show you the trick. You should be able to get the top score at this rate." She mashed the buttons in a pattern and after a moment I also picked up the pattern.
Before long the boss was dead, but alas my final score was short of the top score... But the game didn't end as I expected.
'LETS FIGHT PLAYER 1 VS PLAYER 2' Appeared on the screen. Oh damn. The two of us clashed together in fists and kicks.
"If you win, you can take the scoreboard... but if I win, Poe will keep her top spot." She said as she landed a spinning kick.
"Are you Poe?" I asked in shock. This was a surprise to me. I had never seen this girl playing the arcade machines in the entire time I have been here. I never expected a woman to want to play games, let alone be the top dog.
"Yeah and I've gotta defend my terf." She replied as the battle raged on.
The kung fu brothers continued to battle in a flurry of blue and red. It was close. So very close. I wanted to win badly. This girl, Poe, had been battling with me for top spot on so many of the machines in the store over the past weeks. I would beat one machine and the next day find my highscore at position two. I now knew that she was playing after her shifts to keep her spot. I was not going to go down easily. I was the arcade master back in Pittsburgh for a reason.
The fight continued on, we were both on our final hit. It was whoever could mash the button fastest that would win. We charged at eachother.
After a moment of panic, I opened my eyes to see the Blue Dragon still alive. I had won.
"Well played Joel!" She spoke with a smile and gave me a congratulatory pat on the back as I typed in 'JOEL' to the scoreboard. "I havn't had a rival to verse in a long time. Now I'll have to get a perfect score to push you back into seccond position." She laughed and made her way over to the drink dispenser and filled two cups, then handed one to me.
"Your name isn't really Poe, is it?" I asked as I took a sip through the straw. It wasn't a typical female name... unless it was arcade-short for Penelope or something.
She rolled her eyes and placed her chin on her hand. "Nah... My name is Peridot. Mom was a bit of a hippie when she decided to name me after a gem. She always said that I would 'help people put the past behind them'... I just use Poe because its one of my favorite authors."
I was again surprised. There weren't too many people out in the world who also enjoyed literature. "Quoth the raven..." I said.
"Nevermore." She completed the quote as our eyes locked playfully. She blushed and looked away before looking back with a questioning expression. "Did... uhh... did you want to go out the back for a smoke?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Obviously I had brought my pipe with me wherever I went. It really was a revolting affectation... but she had the same additction. She was currently pulling out a packet of cigarettes from the top pocket of her arcade uniform shirt.
The two of us made our way out the back door into the alleyway and sat amongst some of the broken machines. I wanted to know more about this woman. It wasn't often that I had the chance to hang out with girls. Most of them turned me away like Sue O'Malley had the summer before. Girls just want yuppies... not guys like me.
I started to stock my pipe with some tobacco as she flipped open a zippo and lit the end of her death stick.
"Where's your boss?" I asked. "Or do you own this place?"
"No, im just a peon. The boss is an old guy, he runs the mornings and I run the afternoons after my college classes." She replied as she took another drag from the cigarette.
"Nice!... So uhh... What are you studying?" I wanted to know more about her.
"Im just in film school, not sure if it will take me anywhere... but that is the life of an artist." She said as she handed her lighter to me and I stoked the fire in the end of my wooden pipe.
"Tell me about it... I havn't really been able to use my degree since graduating... Until I moved here." I took a puff from the pipe.
She laughed again. How I loved the sound of a girls laugh. "You're one of the lucky ones!" She replied with a giggle and sucked down some more of her cigarette and then glanced at her watch. "Oh shit! I have to head home, my mom will be wondering where I am." She locked up the back door to the arcade and ushered me out of the fenced alleyway between the buildings. She shifted on her feet and then looked back up at me before asking a shy question. "Will you be around here tomorrow afternoon?"
"I can't just let you overwrite my highscore." I replied with a smirk as I took another puff from the pipe and blew it toward her.
She gave me a dark look. "Just watch me." She spun around and started to walk away into the afternoon sun.
I was left watching the girl of my dreams dissapear around the corner. Perhaps guys like me did have a chance.