One More Extra Stage

Chapter Two: Once Again

“Pat, how about this song?”

“Sure, go ahead. It’s free play anyway.”

Maya smiled and stepped on the X button, signaling the start of our first song. Jonathan was sitting at our living room couch, watching us play with interest as the game’s vocals filled the room. We had been playing DDR all day in front of our COMPStation. The dance pads that my dad bought for me works perfectly, we only have to tape them to the floor to prevent them from sliding whenever we jump. Aside from that, we’re having the time of our lives. Games are always ten times more fun if you have your friends with you. After all, that’s what I’m after.

The words “Cleared” flashed at the television screen, and next are our performance grades.

“Aww, that’s a bummer. We didn’t get an A...” Maya said in disappointment as she stares at our rankings.

“That’s okay. At least we cleared it.” I replied to her cheerfully. Then my brothers suddenly appeared from the kitchen.

“Hey sis, can we play?” They chorused. I nodded as I walked back towards the couch and collapsed beside Jonathan, breathless. As Maya helped Ric and Harv pick a song, Jonathan turned at me with a big smirk on his face.

“We should really try playing at arcades. It’s a waste of talent if people don’t get to see how good of a dancer you are, Pat.” He said. I nearly slipped off the couch in shock of his words.

“Me, a good dancer? But I’m just stamping on arrows here.” I blurted out, almost laughing.

“Still, you have an ability that others don’t have, so you should be proud of it.” He replied, still smirking. I shrugged and turned my attention back to my brothers, who are already in the brink of losing the song.

But deep inside, I was already feeling like showing off at public places. Not a lot of people play DDR, so Jonathan does have a point about me taking pride of what I can do. Maybe I’ll follow his advice then. I thought.

So it’s probably the same reason on how it lured me into playing now.

The words “Cleared” flashed at the machine’s screen. It’s been seven years since I last played, so my legs are aching a little despite the song being easy. I looked at Amy’s side and wasn’t at all surprised to find her crouched over, gasping for air.

“No fair, Pat… You know how to play already…” She panted, throwing me a dirty look.

“Well then, why did you even try ‘Difficult’ if it’s your first time playing?” I asked gleefully. Hah, consider that as divine punishment for making me rush here at the mall in the hopes of winning our little bet, my friend. I thought, but I would never say that out in the open, though.

Amy threw me another dirty look. “So it’s gonna be like that, huh? Let’s see what you think about this next one…” She mumbled, fiddling with the controls on the machine again. Apparently, she dislikes losing that much. I can see that she’s already looking for what she thinks is a hard song to flunk me. Oh well, I had my fun anyway, even though we only did one song. Besides, if we continue on playing, we’ll end up getting sweaty all throughout the day. I decided to throw in the game, but make it look like I’m trying to win.

… Looks like I didn’t need to act like I was trying to win after all. The song surprised me with its blistering pace. Okay, so maybe it’s not that fast, but I’m not accustomed to this kind of speed anyway. This went on for a while. When I was starting to get used to the song’s speed, it suddenly went even faster! To make matters worse, Amy isn’t even moving at all. She’s just standing beside me with a sadistic smile across her face. It seems that she’s waiting for me to lose.