Quiet Enlightenment

Part 1, Chapter 10 - Amusement

"He kissed you?!"

"Yep." Mia said as she walked around her bedroom with her cell phone glued to her ear.

"This... is important! Did he use his tongue?" Olivia said as she sat on her bed with her own phone.

"What?! No! It was on my cheek!"

"Oh. That's a relief."

"For you, maybe."

"Baby steps, Mia. This is progress. While I don't think that he would be the type to just freak out and run off, the fact that he's responded positively to the situation is a plus."

"You're making this sound like a science experiment!"

"Science is progression in human achievement."

"Olivia. Olivia. What have I said about using smart-people words?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just saying that relationships take time. You just can't expect him to be your boyfriend because of one date."

"Yeah, I guess you're right...."

Monday, March 10, 2014

Class resumed as normal. This time, after the final bell rang, Kenton approached Elias at his locker.

"Hey, you're good with electronics, aren't you?"

Elias closed the locker and looked at the other boy.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Well, my mom's getting some arcade games in and I was wondering if you wanted to help me test of the two-player stuff."

"Sure, why not?"

"Awesome. When are you free?"

"Free right now." Elias replied with a shrug.

The two boys walked out of the school and down Panther street.

"Do you remember what your restaurant used to be before it was abandoned?"

"Not really."

"It used to be this awesome pizza place. There were pool tables and arcade games. And even an air hockey table."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. It was so long ago, but my parents used to take me there on Friday nights."

"Oh, I remember now. It had a bar, didn't it?"

Elias sighed and replied "Yeah."

Kenton walked up to the front door and pulled out a key to unlock the door.

"Feel free to set your stuff down on the counter. It's just us here, it'll be okay."

Elias nodded and set down his stuff and walked over to one of the arcade cabinets. Kenton reached behind the counter and grabbed a set of keys.

"Do you know how to work one of these?" Kenton asked as he unlocked a panel on the side of the cabinet.

"I know a thing or two." Elias said. One of his little "projects" involved an older computer that he used strictly to emulate old arcade games. He was careful about breathing a word of this because of the, well, questionable legality of doing such a task.

Kenton watched with fascination as Elias reached into the cabinet and flipped a few of the miniature switches. After removing his hand, he stood up and started playing a game.

"Hey, don't you have to put coins in?" Kenton asked, wondering why this guy managed to bum a few rounds for free.

"Nah, I put it on a 'Free Play' mode." Elias replied as he removed his hand from the joystick and buttons to make some air-quotes.