FSE

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April 21, 2001

11:26AM

Citadel Mall

Colorado Springs, CO

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“So, what now?” I asked as we glanced around the wide, somewhat crowded hall. “I figure Julie and Holly are still doing their thing and it’s…” I trailed off to check my watch. “…just before eleven-thirty. We could run over to Independent and see if there’s any music or movies we want to get?”

Seth shrugged. “Julie wanted to try Suncoast instead, after lunch. We need to get something to watch tonight, right? I also wanted to drop by GameStop to see if they had anything new.”

“We could go to the arcade,” Will suggested. “I mean, it’s right by the food court and Jason told me they got a few new games this month including one straight from Japan.” That caused both of us to look at our friend. Jason, one of Will’s classmates, worked at the arcade part-time; he mentioned they were a bit of a test market for some of the game developers.

“I’m okay with that. Seth, want to throw a few quarters at some games?”

“Sure, let’s do that.” With that decided, we made a beeline back to the food court area, whose lower level housed the arcade. As expected, the sounds of games at full blast created a cacophony that rivaled anywhere else in the mall; there were plenty of people there but not enough to see major lines forming at any of the more popular cabinets.

“So, what did he say was new?” Seth near-shouted at Will.

“Some dancing game and some racing game!” Will responded in kind. It looked like the dancing game was drawing the most attention; music rapidly blasting from a console where people tapped patterns on a series of pads with their feet. There were a few people waiting their turn.

Less so was the racing game, emblazoned with a logo I had seen before in one of the comic book shops. “Huh, that’s that street racing anime they had over at Manga Reserve, right? Initial D?” Seth mentioned. While Will wasn’t that into cars Seth absolutely was; he had mentioned the series to me in passing.

“Yeah, that’s it! I’ll change a couple of bills so we can give it a shot, my treat!” Will made a beeline for the change machine as we approached the cabinet. Two people were already playing; racing each other along a virtual Japanese mountain pass. One had chosen what looked like an older Toyota hatchback; similar to the work in progress car I bought from my stepuncle a couple of months ago. The other was a Nissan coupe of some sort; one of the 240sx models that were fairly popular.

We patiently awaited the current race to end; Will joining us to witness the tail end of it. The Nissan won against the Toyota albeit barely; the younger kids at the console waved us in as they left. Will motioned to me as he sat down. “First turn, speed racer.” Out of all of us I more than held my own with racing titles, though Seth’s competitive spirit kept us on even footing a fair bit of the time.

“If you insist.” I chuckled, sliding into one of the plastic seats and familiarizing myself with the controls while Will fed quarters into the coin slots. Racing games were kind of a thing of mine, and this one looked very well put together. The steering wheel seemed to have some kind of force-feedback mechanism and there was even a manual shifter.

The choices of cars were all real world makes, too; going through the list of Japanese models that looked similar to some of the cars on local roads I found a few that looked familiar. There was a Celica in the game; considering that was going to be my first actual car I found it fitting, even though I didn’t know what a ‘GT-Four’ was other than seeing the model in Seth’s copy of Gran Turismo. I looked over to see that Will had chosen some kind of Subaru. Within moments we were in the game.

Our chosen cars started roaring down the mountain pass; Will’s Subaru gaining a momentary lead over my Celica. Within moments I was on his rear bumper, powersliding the virtual Toyota through a corner at high speed. Throughout the run we swapped positions, before I performed another power slide to overtake him through a particularly tight corner; somehow ending up with the lead a few turns before the finish line.

“Damn that was a good run, but I’m confused,” Will blinked. “I thought Celicas were just a regular coupe; how would that keep up with a racing Subaru?”

I shrugged. “It is a video game, so it could be programmed to be competitive. So, who goes next?”

Seth swapped seats with Will. “I’ll see if I can end your winning streak. How about if I win, you get that prom ticket and go with us?”

I glanced at him, a sarcastic edge sharpening my voice. “Oh, sure, raise the stakes, why dont’cha?” Will looked at us expectantly as he fed more quarters into the game while I sighed in defeat. “Alright, we’ll race for that. If you win, I’ll buy my ticket first thing Monday. If I win, you stop asking me about it.”

“In a few minutes, you’re going to need to go back for that tux rental.” Seth grinned as he made his vehicular selection, one I recognized from our Gran Turismo sessions: a Skyline GT-R. Yeah, he meant business.

I barely noticed that we had drawn a few onlookers as we started the race. This time I gunned the virtual Celica right from the start, but the Skyline leapt forward anyway. I was losing ground right from the start. I was unfamiliar with the controls, but I wasn’t going to lose this without putting up a fight.

I powered through several corners, gaining ground on Seth as much as I could. I spared a quick look over to him; my friend’s face a mask of concentration as we gave it our all. The Skyline was powerful enough that as I cleared the first lap I could only just see his taillights in the distance.

I sent the Celica into a four-wheel slide through the first sweeper, barely missing a guardrail on the second corner. A collective gasp and a hissed curse from Seth came at about the same time I saw the mighty Skyline bounce off the guardrail a couple of turns ahead. I pressed my advantage as he struggled to get his car back on the track. I shot past him as he started to take off, about halfway through the second and last lap.

I pushed as much as I could, taking extreme care to not hit any walls or guardrails as I screamed through the rest of the course. I didn’t want to fall victim to Seth’s mistake. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be enough as I saw his headlights gaining in the rearview mirror; however I also saw the finish line up ahead.

The Skyline’s lights were right on my tail as I crossed the line, a collective gasp given from the small crowd around us as the Celica clinched it. A relieved sigh escaped me as I let go of the wheel; looking over to witness Seth’s incredulous expression. “Alright, a deal’s a deal. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you about you know what.”

“Alright, alright,” Seth conceded, turning to shake my hand. “I’m a man of my word. No more talk of that,” yet, a smirk lit up his features. “However, I think there’s someone else who wants to have that talk with you.”

“What do you…?” I started, but was cut off by another voice close enough to my ear to cause me to jump.

“You’ve got a real knack for driving,” Holly’s voice was laced with pleasant surprise as I startled, turning around to see her leaning over the racing seat next to me. She grinned at the same time I caught a good glimpse of the earrings she was wearing. They were foxes; the eyes inset with amethyst. That was an interesting coincidence. “Do you have your license yet?”

I shook my head. “Almost. I take the test next week, but I don’t have a car yet. I bought one from my stepuncle, but it needs some major work and isn’t quite ready. Hopefully it’ll be done before graduation, but it could be as late as sometime this summer.”

“That’s pretty cool!” Holly answered, nodding in approval. “I have my license, but my parents want to hold off on helping me get a car until after graduation. It’s a bit of a gripe, but they want to make sure I’m in a safe car if I’m going to be travelling to college.” I nodded; that made sense, especially if she was going to drive a fair distance to and from school.

Julie’s voice interrupted us. “Is anyone else itching for lunch? I’m just about starving.”

Will spoke up. “Yeah, I could eat. How about that new Chinese buffet that opened up upstairs; the Luminous Wok?”

Seth nodded, casting a look of mock sadness in my direction. “Yeah, some orange chicken could help assuage my defeat.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Julie assented, glancing to the arcade’s exit. “Ready to go, guys?”

I hated to be contrarian, but last night’s takeout left me itching for a little variety. “Mind if I break off for some Milano’s? I’ve been craving a slice of pizza or two.”

That immediately resulted in an incredulous look from both Seth and Julie. “Well, we were kind of doing this together, right?” Julie asked.

Holly’s voice chimed in. “Actually I’m also a little partial to pizza,” I looked around to see her nod discreetly towards Julie. “Why don’t we eat, do a little shopping around, and meet up later?”

Seth opened his mouth to protest, but a pointed look from Julie stopped him. “Okay, we can do that. Meet us at the entrance to the food court after we’re done?”

“We can do that,” Holly affirmed before turning to me, a soft smile tugging at her lips. “C’mon, let’s get some pizza.”