After Before and After

Conclusion: Chapter 10

Jack Merridew wasn't sure he had a clue how to feel about turning seventeen. In the years since he was rescued from the island, Jack hadn't really celebrated his birthday in the traditional sense. Most years, he opted to just spend the day with Ralph doing nothing out of the ordinary. Video games. TV marathons. Bike races. Staying up until 0300 in the morning. Like any other day.

But this year, both Paige and Ralph were determined to do something real for Jack's birthday. It was his last year of being a kid, and they wanted to throw one last fun-packed birthday party before they were all too old to enjoy it.

"And I know just the place to have it" Paige told Ralph over the Merridew siblings' dinner table less than a week before Jack's official birthday.

Jack rolled his eyes as he leaned back against his chair. After the year they all had, he seemed to be the only one who wasn't in a celebratory kind of place.

"Where?" Ralph questioned. "Most places worth going will be booked weeks in advance."

"We wouldn't need a reservation for this one. I know the owner pretty well" Paige smiled smugly, like she'd made some kind of joke Ralph didn't get.

"There's no fucking way" Ralph Langley gasped as he stood in front of a substantially large arcade. The two of them just drove over ninety minutes from Parkview to Dalton. Ralph looked up at the front of the building. If you weren't paying attention, it just looked like an ordinary arcade. But if you looked closely, like Ralph was, you'd notice that there was no open or closed sign, and nowhere on the place did it list the business' operating hours. All the lights were off, and it was the middle of the day.

"Way" Paige answered with a nod at the place. "We own this place, Jack and I. It was my Christmas gift to him in the midst of all the shit happening in Savannah. I thought he could use a place that was his, a place he didn't have to worry about anything, a place my dad didn't know about, a place he could go escape to if things got bad."

"I guess he doesn't need it to escape your father now" Ralph considered, "since Jack doesn't live with him anymore."

"Yeah, but I'm sure there'll still be days bad enough to need a PacMan pick-me-up" Paige thought aloud. "Besides, it makes for a great birthday scene."

"Alright, I'm sold" Ralph concurred. "Are we able to like just go in and look around right now?"

"We're able to like just go in and kill the rest of the evening" Paige turned to smile at him.

And so they did.

It was Monday night, so Jack was doing his mandated three hours of community service. Ralph and Paige had nowhere to be for the next hour, so Paige used the time to show Ralph around the place, and they talked through a rough plan for the party. They also got in a few games here and there before they had to head back home for the night.

Jack's birthday landed on the following Monday this year, so Ralph and Paige planned the party for Saturday the 2nd. Jack was in charge of nothing but the guest list. Paige and Ralph were both surprised when Jack asked if he could invite a few guys from community service. Neither one of them knew that he even had friends on the chain gang, but Jack blew them off when they questioned why he hadn't mentioned it before now.

The final guest list for the party was relatively short. A few kids from Jack's old school in Dalton, a couple friends from community service, and some distant friends from the life Jack lived before he and Ralph even really knew each other. Jack only agreed to the party in the first place because Paige promised she'd get alcohol (though only a very small collection she handpicked herself).

"Are you sure it's such a good idea?" Paige questioned from where she leaned against the headboard of her bed, in front of the large selection of pillows she decorated it with. Jack was laying down at the end of her bed, most of his attention captured by his Nintendo Game Boy console.