"Where are we?" Ember asked him as he drove up to a place with a light up neon sign.
"You don't remember?" Michael laughed as se unbuckled her seat belt. They got out of the car and when Ember saw the sign, the memories flooded back.
---Flashback---
It was about 5 days since Ember had met Michael. They had spent nearly everyday talking on the phone of texting back and forth. Michael had finally decided to take her out on a date. To his delight, Ember quickly responded with a resounding 'yes'. Michael decided to take her to one of his favorite places.
She seemed to have somewhat of the same interests he did, so he thought this would be a good idea. He got into his car and drove away from the house he shared with his friend, Luke. He had been out the door in no time. He was only stopped by Luke's usual pre-date pep talk. It usually including things like 'don't screw this one up' or one of Michael's personal favorites 'forget about your socially awkward side'.
He drove to the place Ember had directed him to go and soon he arrived on her doorstep. He checked his watch and ruffled up his already messy head of hair before ringing the doorbell. He heard an unlatching of locks in the otherwise of the heavy wooden door. Soon, it opened to reveal Ember. Dressed in black skinny jeans (not the ones with holes) and a plain white t-shirt, Michael thought it was perfect.
"Ready?" Michael asked her after a moment of silence. Ember nodded as she closed the door behind her and locked it.
"Where're we going?" Ember asked him as they got in the car.
"It's a surprise." Michael told her as the engine started up.
"Well, I don't like surprises." Ember said to him.
"I'll remember that." Michael made a mental note of it as they drove off into the small part of their town where this place was. When they got there, Michael parked his car and took Ember into the small old school arcade.
"Wow, I haven't been to one of these in forever." Ember marveled as she walked into the place.
"I'm a regular." Michael shrugged making Ember laugh. Michael walked over to the change machine as he input a 5 dollar bill. Ember watched as the 20 quarters came out of the machine one by one. Michael quickly divided them up between Ember and himself.
They walked down the numerous rows of games until Michael looked back and saw Ember looking at a Galaga game. Michael never really played that machine much. There was a Pac-man game he usually played. He had the high score. Michael backtracked a little as he watched her play.
After around 10 minutes of shouting and vigorous button pressing Ember had reached stage five. The small ships had appeared on the screen and they both tensed up as small bullet like objects came from them. They were now working as a team. Ember was controlling the joystick and Michael was working the shooting button.
"Go left!" Michael shouted as she moved the stick there.
"Shoot, shoot!" Ember commanded and Michael quickly pressed the button as bullets of their own ship came out. They had only missed one and the last one had turned around and ran into their last ship.
"Damn, we were doing so well." Michael sighed as they began walking away.
"That was fun, exhausting, but fun." Ember smiled at him as the began walking around the arcade looking for something else to waste the remaining quarters on. They played a few more games and just for the heck of it, they played Dance Revolution before leaving.
The stores lights went out as soon as they left and the sun had already set. It was dark outside and they continued walking until the reached his car.
"I was worried you know." Ember said to him and Michael looked at her, confusion apparent in his green eyes.
"About what?" Michael asked.
"That this would be just another awkward first date. It wasn't though." Ember smiled and shook her head.
"Really? Why so worried about this one?" Michael asked and Ember took awhile to respond. They drove up to her porch as she decided on an answer.
"Because you were different than the others." She said as she opened the door of the car and walked up to he house. Unlocking the locks and walking in. Michael sat in his car for a few seconds and watched her go in. He smiled when he spotted her waving to him from her bedroom window. He drove off happily. It may not have been a special date, but it was sure special to him.
---
