Jeff never failed to surprise me. This special destination he brought me to turned out to be none other than a Game Center. A splendid one. I had no clue how Jeff actually found out the existence of this place. I hardly spotted him going into the town. Anyway, it did't matter to me. As long as we had a blast, I was happy with his choice of entertainment.
We entered the Game Center in no time. All the previous video games we used to play together seemed far too ordinary compared to this. I supposed Jeff always had his way of doing things. Even after Margaret dumbed all his games back at home, he was still able to search for other means to do the same thing.
"Come on, Jane, let's try this one." Jeff chuckled, dragging me to one of these gigantic game machines. We just happened to have some coins and for nearly the rest of the day, we stayed in the Game Center. We tried out different things, different themes, different types of gore and violence. I couldn't deny I had a memorable time there with Jeff. I had never felt so...carefree before. With him, it seemed that I could readily do anything at any time. I didn't even have to worry about a single thing. I didn't...have to be alone. He kept amazing me with tons of surprises. When we were finally done with the games, he took me to a local bar for some drink. I was shocked because I thought we weren't allowed to creep into a place like this at our age. Nonetheless, this is Jeff we are talking about. He, again, had his treacherous method to break through any kind of rules.
"I thought you can't drink." I said, as I remembered how strict Margaret was to her son. Jeff probably had no opportunity to drink any liquor.
"Do you mean I'm not permitted to drink or I'm a bad drinker?" Jeff snickered.
"Both." I laughed casually. He took my hand and we sneaked into the bar without hesitation.
"Jane, we're out here, on our own. We can do whatever we want. There's no one to talk at us. No one to stop us. No one to control what we do." Jeff said.
It was then I realized Jeff hated being constrained in his life. He hated to live up to someone else's expectation. Any convention and norms simply didn't apply to him. And yet, this wild side of his was something new. I had never foreseen this part of his personality. He was always so silent and nonchalant that for once, I had even doubted if he was some otaku or layabout when I first met him.
"I only do this with you, to be honest." Jeff said while taking guzzling down his drink. "If I were on my own, I don't think I would even go this far."
"Really?" I widened my eyes. We were in some disco bar and the noise completely filtered out my voice.
"Yea." Jeff smirked. "It will do with a change, right? For some reason, I feel less concerned when you're here. I just don't care what might happen as long as I can do something I like. Something interesting and worthwhile."
Well, he spoke the truth. That's also what I had in mind. Hanging out with him was always appealing to me. It somehow filled the gap deep in my heart. I had never really had so much fun before this boy ever arrived here. There were lots of things I would like to try out but I was too wimpy to do any of them. I was pretty much a coward. I couldn't stop fidgeting when I was stealing either. But now, with Jeff right beside me, it's like I could embrace the entire world. Wonderful things came rushing towards me, brightening every single living day of mine. That's also when I started to like Jeff more. It's always hard to find a friend that could understand all my wants. He, however, was always able to grasp every little thing I craved for. Even the tiniest bit couldn't get past his careful eyes. When he said we were like soulmates, I was bemused. He was right though. At some point, our souls did connect with each other. We shared the same thoughts. Both of us wished we could be freed from this life we were having. We would like to flee from the boring regularity and be someone much more tasteful...Unique as well.
