Benny's Movies, Music and Electronics was far from the ideal job when you were trying to keep up with expenses in an Ivy League school and an apartment downtown, even a cheap one. Even as far as tech stores went, the wages were nothing compared to Blockbuster, Best Buy, or even Fry's. But of course, not many retail chains were willing to give a job to a kid who's only working experience was mowing lawns around the neighborhood in Tucson over candidates with more experience and pedigree, so this was the best Ronald could do for now.

All things considered, Benny's wasn't the worst place in the world to work. The owner, the aforementioned Benny, was a stout man in his late sixties whose experiences in the Depression and the War had rendered him a more somber and reserved man, like many of that generation. Most day to day operations were handled by Benny's much more tech savvy son, Benny Jr., who was in his mid 30s and had essentially been the store's whole floor team until Ronald showed up. He had immediately seemed far more sociable and chummy than his father, and he had to be with the store's minuscule amount of loyal customers.

The current arrangement was for Benny Jr. to run things in the morning, then for Ronald and a couple of new employees to take over in the afternoon and evening, when traffic was typically lower. Ronald was trusted enough by now that he was essentially placed in charge of the store during this time.

It was a good thing business was slower during his shift, by the time Ronald had finished with the day's classes. gone home to change into his uniform and grab a quick bite to eat, all while reviewing the day's lessons, and finally making his way here through the late afternoon rush, he was practically ready to collapse. Nevertheless, it was simply what he had to do to stay afloat, so he showed up every day, no matter what. His interactions with the folks in his neighborhood, not all of whom had taken a friendly tone with him, had certainly come in handy when customers expressed frustration over anything from their favorite movie not being in stock to inadequate tech support.

It was now nearly time for Ronald to take off. The sun had long since set, leaving him standing at the register, staring out of the tiny empire over which he currently reigned. Rows of movies and albums sat undisturbed under dim lights. They'd probably have sold more if Benny had any modern films or music in his inventory, or even something classy and vintage like the Beatles, Ritchie Valens, or Doris Day. But with the tight budget they were working with, mostly of their stock was cheap and therefore woefully outdated, too old to be hip, and too new to be retro.

The sound of the door ring pushed open momentarily distracted him from his inner monologue. It was a bit surprising to get customers this late, but he was ready for them...until he saw exactly who it was that had entered the store, and he really couldn't believe he was seeing this. The same young man as he'd seen earlier at university, the one and only, impeccable Reginald Winchester.

Ronald and Winchester had never spoken, rarely even been in close proximity to each other, they'd had no reason to. Certainly Winchester would have no reason to want to be around a bottom dweller like Ronald, and the feeling was mutual. He'd dealt with enough bullying from Bobby and the other entitled rich kids back home. What he knew about the most famous son of New Haven's most famous family was limited to the rumors that were spread, most likely by his friends in an effort to bolster his young playboy image. Not that Ronald doubted that Winchester got around, that much was obvious. What was less obvious was what he was doing here, in arguably the least affluent part of town, at this hour when he could have been at a thousand more entertaining places. The mystery only deepened when he saw who was accompanying Winchester.

It took a moment for the image to become clear in his foggy thoughts, but there was no mistaking the girl he'd seen take a stand for herself in astronomy earlier. While he'd shared classes with Marie Pierson before, they hadn't spoken or interacted much more than he had with Winchester. She'd always been just another face in the crowd until that moment. Something about her words made him wonder if she might be different than the clique that she ran with. If she might have more depth and substance than the Winchesters of the world. Of course, now seeing her here with the man himself seemed to debunk that theory. It looked as though Marie was just the same after all. Ronald was surprised at how melancholy this fact made him.

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere? You were our water boy at Lakeview high, right? No wait, that was Billy..."

"That's Ronald Miller, Reggie...from university?" Marie gave him an annoyed look. Winchester merely flashed one of his million dollar grins.

"Oh right, Miller. My bad, it can be hard to keep track of everybody. you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Ronald replied flatly, ignoring Winchester's thinly veiled boast. "Listen guys, we're closing up shop soon, so um...try not to take too long, huh?"

He still couldn't believe they would actually be here to buy anything, so he'd decided to keep an eye on them from his spot behind the counter.

"Actually, I was hoping you could help us out," Winchester continued. "You see, Marie and I are in the mood for some sweet, sweet romance tonight, and I was hoping we could find something here to make the evening come to life, if you know what I mean."

Marie seemed to suppress another groan, though she didn't quite manage to stop it from reaching her eyes, which rolled nearly to the back of her head. Ronald paused for a moment, wondering if he should really be entertaining this. But of course, he didn't have much of a choice. A customer was a customer, even the likes of Winchester and Marie.

"Um, sure. Hey Jake, can you take over the register for a few?"

One of the store's skeleton crew, a high school aged kid probably working his first job, nodded quickly and swapped places with Ronald.

"This is our romance section," Ronald gestured to a spot on the old rack that had the most movies on it. Benny was a pure romantic, and he always managed to find the most obscure flicks around. Marie and Reggie, who had been walking behind him, began to inspect the rack. Ronald didn't personally feel comfortable watching them make up their minds, so he tried to excuse himself. "Like I said, we're closing up soon, so just don't take too long, alright?"

"Hey, why don't you stick around? I haven't decided yet."

"Don't be rude, Reggie," Marie chided.

"Rude? I'm just asking him to help us out is all."

"Look...I really don't know any more about these movies than Benny does. I don't know how much I can really help you."

"Ah, sure you can," Winchester said with a grin. "Here, let me show you. We're looking for a flick where the guy takes the girl in his arms like this-"

He suddenly did just that to Marie, pulling her in close. She gasped in surprise. "Reggie, what are you-"

"Then he lays one on her, like so."

Before Marie could say anything more, before Ronald could tell him that this was seriously not appropriate in his store, Winchester pulled her in closer and kissed her, like they were in one of those old 40s movies, where the same falls in the hero's arms and he tips her over for the big final kiss. Except this time, after a few moments, Marie shoved him off of her, and she looked furious. Ronald subconsciously backed away a step.

"What the hell, Reggie?! Am I just a prop to you now?"

"What? No, it was just me being spontaneous, baby, come on now-" he reached out for her, but she pulled away. She had tears welling up in her eyes, Ronald couldn't believe the scene that was unfolding before him.

"Save it, you can watch that movie yourself. Don't call me tonight."

She burst out of the store within moments, while Winchester stood there transfixed for only a moment. Ronald couldn't imagine he was too used to being rejected like that.

"Marie!" Winchester called after her, but she was already pushing her way out the door. He sighed and looked at Ronald again with a shrug. "She'll get over it."

"...Your movie?" Ronald asked numbly, though he knew it was a stupid question.

"Forget the movie," Winchester said. "The mood's kind of gone now. You wouldn't happen to have any martial arts movies, would you? Or anything with Bruce Willis?"

"As a matter of fact, we're sold out at the moment," Ronald replied, all too eager to get Winchester and his possibly violent tendencies out of here. Winchester seemed to accept this excuse, apparently realizing there was no point in sticking around without behind able to parade Marie for everyone to see.

"Well thanks a lot, Richard, I appreciate your assistance."

Ronald didn't even bother to correct him as he walked out the door.

"Was that Reggie Winchester?" Jake asked, mouth agape.

"Uh...yeah, it was him," Ronald replied absently. He watched Winchester stroll to his Cadillac convertible and drive off, apparently without Marie. She must've really meant it when she walked off. In spite of his sentiment earlier, he felt very badly for Marie after seeing what she had to put up with. Apparently Winchester wasn't just an arrogant rich kid, he was also a total jerk to his own girlfriend. Ronald sure hoped she would be okay out there. He'd almost considering going out and looking for her but...what would be the point? He doubted very much she wanted anybody's company at this point, and with good reason.

"Every guy in my school wants to be like him, even my own folks go on and on about what a great guy he is" Jake said, though he looked quite nervous given what had just occurred. "I never would've thought that-" he couldn't bring himself to finish.

"Don't put anyone on a pedestal, Jake...they'll only let you down. C'mon, let's clean up and go home."

For Ronald, though his shift at the store had ended, his night was far from over. He'd planned to check out some study material from the library, and had almost no time to do so now. And he still felt as though he needed to talk to somebody about the dire situation he'd found himself in. He'd thought about calling Cindy, but...she had plenty of things of her own to deal with, what with her loaded schedule at UCLA, and if she was as strapped for cash as he was...it was possible they might be able to meet at all this year. The thought troubled him greatly. Could they really survive this? What if she found someone else, someone who could be there for her in a way Ronald couldn't?

He could hardly concentrate on finding the books he needed, relying solely on a sort of auto-pilot, the detached part of himself that could handle these mundane tasks. But his heart wasn't in it. In fact, it felt like it was about to burst if he didn't do something. He'd tried to tell himself a solution would present itself, but that possibility was looking less and less likely by the day.

He was sitting in his car in a nearly empty parking lot, contemplating what to do next, when he spotted the payphone hanging on the wall of the library, and before he knew what he was doing, he was getting out and running towards it. Not even bothering to check if anyone else was around, he quickly inserted a quarter and dialed the number of the one person in the world, aside from Cindy, he felt he could trust to keep his secret. At first, there was only a deafening silence, and Ronald was about to give up, when he heard a click, and then the tired voice of his best friend, Kenneth.

"Hello?"

"Kenneth, I need to talk to you."

"Ronald? You don't sound so good... Is Yale driving you out of your mind yet?"

"Something's driving me out of my mind, but it's not Yale. It's...it's Cindy."

"Cindy? She hasn't dumped you for someone has she? You know how those California boys like to get fresh with the new girls. And she's still Cindy Mancini and all-"

"No, no, that's not it. She hasn't left me...not yet. But if I don't figure out a way to deal with this situation, I worry she might. Look...I can't afford to go back to Tucson this year, I can barely pay my own rent and tuition as it is."

"So?" Kenneth asked, as if he didn't understand what the problem was at all. Ronald usually admired the way his friend could keep his cool under pressure, but right now it was annoying him.

"So, Cindy's probably in a similar situation. I know she was going to pay her own way through, just like I did. What if we don't meet this year, and Cindy starts to lose her feelings for me, or what if she does meet one of those California guys? I don't know what to do, Kenny."

There was a brief pause on the other end before Kenneth continued. "Well...you know you could just tell Cindy what's going on. You guys love each other, right? She'll understand if you can't meet this time."

"I...I don't know."

"You'd understand if the shoe were on the other foot, wouldn't you?"

"Of course! But...but she's Cindy Mancini, you said it yourself. A girl like her...she can do a lot better than a guy like me, and we all know it. I just can't stop thinking that if I don't get this right, it could damage what we have behind repair."

"Just think about it for a while, Ron. Take some time to collect your thoughts before you make your decision. And for Pete's sake, please don't do anything stupid."

Ronald laughed nervously. "Yeah...I'll try not to."

"Alright, Ronald. I'm watching Twilight Zone reruns right now, so I'll talk to you later. Take care of yourself, and don't worry about it. Everything's gonna be just fine."

"Thanks, Kenny. You take care too."

Ronald hung up the phone and somberly returned to his car, feeling no more certain about what to do. The only thing his call with Kenneth had accomplished was heightening his own anxieties. He'd always known that there was a chance Cindy might meet someone over there, but then why wouldn't she? She was the total package, beautiful, smart, and, to the eyes of the other young men on campus, available. It scared him to think of losing her...so much that as he walked back to his car, he didn't look back at the payphone, didn't notice the girl sitting on the bench just a few yards away from where he had just been standing. If he had, he would have seen the face of Marie Pierson, transfixed by the call he thought he had made in secret.

Marie had only heard one part of Ronald's phone conversation with his friend, but she'd picked up on enough to discern that he was having a problem. Marie could relate, for she herself had a major problem, namely, Reggie Winchester, her "boyfriend". It was so easy to remember a time when she, like seemingly everyone else in this town, had been enamored with Reggie. He was from a wealthy family, one of the most influential in the state, and his playboy tendencies always seemed to get pushed under the rug because everything else was just so...dazzling. His looks, his way with words, his charm, his outwardly altruistic demeanor. He had "future political office holder" written all over him, so many believed.

What few saw were the manipulative gears that were always turning in Reggie's mind. Marie had learned this in her two years of dating him, gradually, over time, in the little things at first. She'd been thrilled when he'd chosen her, out of all the girls he could've gone with, but it was not long until the illusion was shattered. Reggie was deeply possessive, and he never missed an opportunity to turn anything into a show for his own ego. That stunt he'd pulled in the video store was just the latest example. She wished it could have been as simple as breaking up with him. But the truth was…she really couldn't, not if she wanted to keep going to university. And for that, she could thank her parents. Hardened traditionalists as they were, they of course saw Reggie as the perfect match, and there was another thing...despite her family's reputation as one of the elite, they were falling on hard times. The Winchesters' money was the only thing maintaining their lavish lifestyle. If she left Reggie now…well, not only would the cash flow obviously stop, but so would her dreams of graduating from Yale, and her parents...they'd be so disappointed in her. Marie felt trapped.

Then she saw Ronald Miller, a boy whom she'd shared a couple of classes with before, though they'd never really interacted due to "campus politics". He was also one of the people in her astronomy class. And here he was, in just as big of a plight as she was. It sounded like he had a girl somewhere else, maybe across the country, and couldn't get to her. And there, on the library bench, under the dim light, a plan began to formulate in her mind, a plan that just might get them both what they wanted.