Disclaimer: I do not own the Simpsons, their characters, or the games mentioned in this chapter.
Chapter 14,
Lisa didn't have a bike to ride to the arcade, so she had to sit on Jimbo's handlebars; not that she minded. It was nice to know that he thought she was beautiful. As much of a jerk Jimbo can be, he can be pretty heartfelt.
Besides, this was a unique opportunity to get close to Jimbo without breaking his mind. Perhaps it was a little forward to kiss his cheek, but she's glad she did it. And now that she's on his bike, she enjoyed how close he was to her. His chest so close to her back, his head barely hovering over her shoulder, and to keep her balance, she gently held Jimbo's hands as he held the bike handles. Lisa knew this wasn't a very romantic act, but it reminded her of when Jimbo helped her score a strike at the bowling alley. As they approached Noiseland Arcade, Lisa was imagining lazily laying in bed with Jimbo's arms around her.
"Are you ready to play around?" Jimbo asked as Lisa hopped off the bike.
"Excuse me?" She asked as Jimbo locked up his bike, for safety. Jimbo was confused by her confusion and he pulled a handful of quarters out of his pocket.
"The arcade? Are you ready to play around? Larry the Looter is pretty fun, but the graphics on Dragon's Lair is top notch. You have to try it at least once, even though it's expensive as hell." Jimbo said and Lisa chuckled.
"Yeah, ok." Lisa said. Though she was somewhat confused by the lack of perversion from the boy. It wasn't exactly unheard of for Jimbo to flirt with the school's faculty, so it was unusual to see him so... innocent.
"Sweet; I'll show you where it is." Jimbo said and he grabbed her hand and led her inside the building. He loved the sound of the arcade. The pressing of buttons, the jerking of joysticks, the groans of disappointment, the squeals of joyous victory and the unique sound of quarters slipping into the machine before each and every game.
"Hang on Jimbo, don't you want to say hi to your friends first?" Lisa asked, pointing at Dolph and Kearney watching in amazement at a young savant playing video boxing.
"Oh, um." Jimbo hesitated. He was kinda hoping his friends would be late. He finally got on good terms with Marie, he didn't want to ruin it.
"Let me just... show you Dragon's Lair first. It's right over here." Jimbo said, pointing it out. He put in the quarters and smirked at her.
"I hope you're not a competitive person." Jimbo said and Lisa eyed him.
"Competitive? Me? What a lark." Lisa said and Jimbo gently patted the machine.
"Then by all means. Try your hand at saving Princess Daphne." Jimbo said and Lisa glared at him.
"I'd love to." Lisa said stiffly, as she walked up to the controls.
"Ok, we're a knight, makes sense. Approaching the castle and- oh, avoid the crocodiles. Ok now- left! This is really fast- hey! What? I fell down a hole? He looks really annoyed for a dead guy." Lisa said and Jimbo laughed.
"You just killed him, I think his annoyance is understandable." Jimbo said and Lisa groaned in disappointment, which just made him laugh harder.
"I'll do better the second time around." Lisa said and Jimbo shrugged.
"Sure, sure. How about I leave you some quarters while I talk to the boys." Jimbo offered, putting some quarters on the machine.
"Thanks. Ok, I'm ready for those crocodiles." Lisa said, putting her game face on. Jimbo stepped behind her and waited for just a moment.
"What the- it's completely different then the first time around?" Lisa questioned out-loud and Jimbo chuckled at her. He wished he had a camera on him to take her picture. With a content sigh, he turned and walked over to his friends.
"Why are you watching a kid?" Jimbo asked and Kearney scoffed.
"The little dweeb is amazing. 200 fights with his original quarter. I ought to bring my boy up here to be a legend one day." Kearney said.
"Yeah, you do that." Dolph said before grabbing Jimbo's shoulder and smiled.
"Dude, I saw you holding hands with that Marie chick when you came in. Are you already putting the moves on her?" Dolph asked and Jimbo waved him off.
"Don't jump the gun, I was showing her where Dragon's Lair was." Jimbo said and Dolph smirked.
"Uh-huh. And I'm sure that holding her hand was a vital role in walking her over to it." Dolph said and Jimbo blushed and smiled slightly.
"Ok, shut up. I got big news. You'll never guess what happened last night." Jimbo said excited.
"Saying I'll never guess it insults my intelligence." Dolph said and Jimbo rolled his eyes.
"Sorry; but Marie and I are now living together." Jimbo said and Dolph's eyes widened.
"What do you know, I really never would have guessed that." Dolph said and Jimbo looked over at her.
"Mom wanted to rent out a room, and Marie needed a place to stay. We agreed to try and get alone since we live together now. She is super nice." Jimbo said and Dolph smiled.
"Well look at you. I guess I didn't need to force her to hang out with us after all." Dolph said and Jimbo shrugged.
"I don't know about that. Sarah made things awkward this morning by announcing that Marie and I should have sex." Jimbo said and Dolph hissed.
"Man, that's embarrassing. What did you do?" Dolph asked.
"What could I do? I made her leave and was like 'kids say the darndest things." Jimbo said.
"How did Marie handle it?" Dolph asked and Jimbo groaned.
"Shocked of course. When she finally did speak, she said something about how smart kids are for seeing simple truths- I'm like what does that even mean?" Jimbo asked and Dolph blinked a little.
"Simple truths... To me that sounds like... um... that Sarah was telling the truth. Which I guess means that-... Dude, I think Marie wants you to plow her." Dolph said trying not to shout this new revolution.
"What? She's way too classy to... want..." Jimbo's voice trailed off as he thought about that moment more accurately. Of course Marie was shocked, but she didn't get sad until he called it all junk. And she gasped when he called her smart and beautiful; and she did kiss him on the cheek... could she really? Should he even dare entertain the thought that she might actually... like him.
"Not such a crazy thought, is it Jimbo." Dolph asked, crossing his arms over his chest; but Jimbo could only blush.
"It still seems beyond crazy. Though, I guess, crazier things have been true." Jimbo admitted and Dolph punched Jimbo's shoulder.
"Alright! Now we just got to spend the whole day showing her how great you are, and tonight you can put your best moves on her, like the player you are." Dolph said. For a moment Jimbo was speechless. The thought of seeing Marie in ecstasy was almost too much for him to even think about. Then Jimbo replayed Dolph's words in his mind and he glared at him.
"What is wrong with you?" Jimbo asked and Dolph blinked at this uncharacteristic response.
"What?" Dolph asked and Jimbo rolled his eyes.
"Marie is not like the other girls we go out with. When she rebels, it's because she's passionate. Girls we know make out with us because they're bored, but she's the type to kiss because she really likes and cares about you. She's not some, some, uh..." Jimbo struggled to find the right word.
"Prostitute?" Dolph suggested lazily and Jimbo scoffed.
"I can't say that." Jimbo said annoyed and Dolph put an arm around his buddy's shoulder.
"Calm down, your mom is different. But I see what your saying. Marie is the type you woo more then you screw." Dolph said and Jimbo rolled his eyes and pushed Dolph off him.
"What do you want to do after this?" Jimbo asked and Dolph pondered this qustion.
"Wanna break into the school? Danger is a great way to make women wet." Dolph said and Jimbo blushed.
"Shut up, man. I'm not sure if Marie's the type of girl to-"
"Chicken- brooock, chicken. Chi-chi-chicken." Dolph said. Jimbo glanced at Marie, and in a panic he covered Dolph's mouth with his hand.
"ShutUpShutUpShutUp." Jimbo said in a rushed whisper.
"We'll break into the school- just knock it off." Jimbo said and Dolph chuckled. He pushed off Jimbo's hand and smirked at the flustered boy.
"You've so fallen for this chick. You're practically whipped." Dolph said and Jimbo glared at him.
"I am not." Jimbo said, crossing his arms.
"Jimbo." Lisa called and the boys towards her.
"This game has a co-op mode. Do you want to play with me?" Lisa asked and Jimbo swooned at her sweet smile.
"Why not, it sounds fun." Jimbo said and he walked over to Lisa.
