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“Ooo that’s so cute! Marco, come win this for me.”
“Not now, Hitch. I’m about to beat my high score!”
Marco ignored his friends whining for the screen in front of him. The blocks were falling quickly now from the top of the screen, giving him mere seconds to fit one into place before the next one appeared. The game needed his full attention now. Hitch made her way to his side, sipping at her iced cappuccino as she watched with a bored expression.
Marco continued to stack the blocks in neat rows leaving a one block gap on the right side of the screen, waiting for the perfect piece to fall into place. He held his breath. His stack was starting to get higher - almost half the screen now - so he wedged the tail end of an L block into the channel he’d been making, clearing two rows of blocks and giving him some breathing room.
He continued this pattern for a minute when finally his beloved stick appeared on the screen. He wasted no time sliding it into place, giving him a perfect four-line clear.
Marco’s luck was running thin, however, as the blocks fell in rapid succession, their timing becoming faster the higher his score got. He began playing a losing battle - for every line he cleared his stack grew by two, and eventually he could no longer keep up. He let out a disappointed groan, the bright words of “GAME OVER” now flashing across the screen.
“Aww, too bad.” Hitch leaned over, her tone indicating that she didn’t care at all. “Now you can go win me that cute bear!”
Marco hushed her as his score popped onto the screen. 186,263. Sure enough, he had beaten his previous score. He input his initials and watched the numbers run up the screen, the current leaderboard scores shifting down a place to make room for the new highscore. This process was nothing new - his name was always at the top of the leaderboard at this small arcade. Marco just loved the feeling of accomplishment that came with watching his score move into first place time and time again.
But just as it reached the top something caught his eye. Someone else’s initials sat in the second place slot now.
JK.
How had he not noticed? His name was almost always the only one on the leaderboard, and if some else did manage to place, their scores never reached the top five.
“JK? Who’s that?” Hitch must have noticed his confusion, her attention now aimed at the screen. Marco simply shook his head, trying to figure out who JK could’ve been. Their high school wasn’t the biggest, so surely if it was another student Marco would have recognized those initials by now. It must have been a college student, Marco thought, since he rarely ever saw adults hanging out in the ditzy mall arcade.
“Well, who cares?” Hitch was pulling at his arm now, pulling him out of his confused thoughts. “You still beat them.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He answered, allowing himself to be pulled over towards the claw machine. He tried to push down that nagging curiosity as he tried to line the claw up with the plush teddy bear that Hitch so desired. It seemed that Marco now had someone to compete against.
---
The next week came and went. Classes seemed to drag on, but finally Friday rolled around and Marco met Hitch outside the school once the final bell rang before the two walked to the local mall to begin their afternoon.
Like always, Hitch insisted on stopping at the Starbucks first so she could have her usual iced cappuccino while they strolled around the mall. Afterwards the two began their walk. They went into stores whenever something caught their eye, but never bought anything. Hitch would pick out some funny hats or glasses, and Marco would try them on, making faces and laughing as she took some selfies for social media.
The last stop of their night was always the arcade, and Marco gave a quick wave to Ymir before rushing past her and the prize counter to check out the Tetris leaderboard. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t been thinking about JK all week, and if they had returned to reclaim the top spot.
Marco waited, holding his breath as the demo screen played before finally changing over to the leaderboard. Sure enough, JK had retaken first place, their score a whole 10,000 points above his own.
“I’ve got to break 200,000.” He gasped, digging his hands into his pocket to dig out some quarters.
Hitch came to stand next to him now, already rolling her eyes. “Please tell me you won’t be here all night. I actually wanted to play something with you today.”
“Just one game.” Marco promised, inserting the coins into the machine. “I can’t let JK beat me.”
Hitch dragged a nearby stool over and sat down next to Marco, making herself comfortable while the game started up. She knew better than anyone how long a game of Tetris with Marco could last.
The music began to play as Marco lost himself in the game. There were a few close calls, though Marco was able to correct his mistakes before they became too troublesome. Eventually, his luck ran out, however, and he huffed in frustration when the blocks reached the top of the screen.
“Finally,” Hitch huffed out, hopping off her stool. Marco’s score flashed on the screen in front of him. 200,846. It wasn’t as big of a gap as he would’ve liked, but it would have to do for now. He typed in his initials and watched as his score replaced JK’s in first place. “Now we can go play some skee ball.”
---
This pattern continued on for a couple weeks. Marco would arrive at the arcade Friday’s after school and sure enough, JK would have beaten his score, and every Friday Marco would reclaim first place, though each week the gap between their scores would get smaller and smaller as each player began to reach their limit.
This particular Friday, Hitch had brought Annie along to keep her company while Marco played Tetris since his games were becoming longer and longer. The two girls were off playing some shooting game while Marco struggled to beat the high score. Eventually, he managed, but only by a mere 1,000 points.
“Y’know,” a voice called out, and Marco turned his head to see Ymir walking towards him. “I’ve seen some other kid playing this game just as much as you.”
“You know who they are?”
Ymir leaned against a neighboring arcade machine, her arms crossed over her chest. “Maybe.”
“Ymir! Please, it's been killing me thinking about who it could be.” Marco whined, his hands fidgeting at his sides.
Ymir simply shrugged, picking at her nails now with disinterest. “Dunno,” she smirked, a glint in her eye telling Marco she’s up to no good. “That information might cost ya.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll write your next essay for you. Will you please tell me who this JK is?”
Ymir hummed, obviously pleased with the offer. “Kid comes by every Thursday around dinner time. Shaggy hair, usually wearing a beanie. Couldn’t miss him, since he’s the only other nerd who plays this stupid game besides you.”
Marco clasped his hands together and thanked her. Behind him, Annie spoke up, now done with her game.
“You know what this means, right?”
Marco turned and stared at her with a confused look. Hitch was standing there too, clutching a new stuffed animal that Annie must have won her to her chest. The corner of Annie’s lips curved up slightly, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“You have to challenge this kid head on.”
---
Thursday finally rolled around, and Marco found himself in the mall's food court with Annie and Hitch. He was nervous, to say the least, about confronting JK. So nervous that he had barely touched his fries, which now sat cold in front of him while the two girls tried to hype him up.
“It’s just Tetris, right?” Hitch said, twirling her straw around in her now empty cup. “You could play that game in your sleep!”
Annie nodded beside her. “You’ve knocked him back down week after week. You just have to do it one more time.”
Marco slid down in his chair, dunking a french fry in ketchup and swirling it around. It was one thing to simply play Tetris, but to play head-to-head, and with an audience, he could already feel himself sweating from the pressure.
“What if he’s like, not even there? Or even worse, he turns out to be a complete jerk about the whole thing?”
“Then Annie will kick his butt for you.” Hitch offered, gesturing towards the other female with her empty cup.
Annie stood up and started gathering up the trash on the table. “Get up. If we don’t go now you won’t go at all.”
Marco groaned, dragging himself out of his chair, shoving a final french fry in his mouth before following Annie to the arcade.
---
Marco walked to the arcade, steeling himself as he passed by Ymir. The arcade was practically empty at first glance, except for two teenagers - a boy with a short buzzcut and a girl with a long brown ponytail - dueling it out at the mortal combat machine at the entrance. Ymir cleared her throat and tapped on the counter, grabbing Marco’s attention.
“Your friend just got here not too long ago.”
Marco paused, wringing his hands in front of him. It was finally about to happen. He was going to meet the elusive JK and challenge him to a face-off and see once and for all who the better Tetris player was.
A firm hand was between his shoulder blades, pushing him towards the back of the arcade where the Tetris machine was. He glanced behind him, and Annie was pushing him along, giving him an encouraging nod. Hitch was there too, giving him a thumbs up.
They rounded the corner and there he was. He was tall and slender, probably Marco’s height but not as broad. He was wearing a red flannel, the sleeves cuffed at his elbows, and his shaggy blond hair was sticking out from underneath a matching red beanie. His long face was scrunched up in concentration, the tip of his tongue sticking out between thin lips.
Marco froze, mesmerized by the boy in front of him.
Hitch’s hands were on his shoulders trying to shove him forward. “Go!” she whisper-yelled, but Marco didn’t budge.
“I can’t just interrupt him!” He whispered back, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.
“I’m gonna be a while, if you’re looking to use this machine.”
Oh crap, he saw us. His eyes widened; he felt like a deer in headlights. Marco swallowed, working up the courage to introduce himself. He must have taken too long, because next thing he knew Annie was speaking for him.
“JK, meet MB.”
Instantly the boy's head snapped towards them, his golden eyes staring straight into Marco’s. “YOU!”
Marco smiled nervously, bringing a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck. “Yeah, that’s me.”
JK’s piercing stare remained on him, his game now completely ignored, pieces quickly stacking up to the top of screen, but the boy had more important matters to tend to at the moment.
“Jean! Are you ok?”
“Why are you yelling?”
The two teenagers from the arcades entrance were now running around the corner, behind JK - Jean if Marco was connecting the dots correctly. These two must have been his friends.
The blond ignored the two to point a finger straight at Marco. “We’re settling this once and for all!”
Marco stepped forward, a wave of courage crashing over him. “You’re on!”
Both boys dug through their pockets and inserted their quarters. Thankfully, this arcade machine had a two-player mode, and the two would be able to play side-by-side. “We’ll do classic mode. Person with the highest score wins. You cool with that?”
Marco gave a nod in agreement and Jean set the game up. Hitch and Annie huddled up close to Marco, making sure they had a good view of the screen. Behind Jean the other two were in a similar position, Ponytail Girl leaning over Buzzcut Boy's shoulder offering their friend words of encouragement.
The game was slow at first - always was - and Marco struggled to keep his eyes on his own side of the screen. He had never played the two-player version before, since Hitch would always go off and play another game or would simply sit on her phone until he was finished. His eyes darted back and forth, keeping watch on his own game while trying to figure out Jean’s gameplay style. They seemed to both have the same strategy at this point, taking advantage of the slow speed and trying to set up four-line clears, sliding the z-shaped and L-shaped pieces underneath each other with ease while they still could. But as their scores climbed higher and the levels progressed, the pieces began to fall quicker, and Marco turned all of his attention to his own side.
Marco continued to set up four-line clears where he could. It would keep the pacing of the game slower, giving him more time to position the blocks and slowly rack up the points. Next to him, Jean had the opposite approach. In the corner of his vision Marco could see the pieces falling quickly, Jean's hand jerking the joystick back and forth to quickly position them and drop them downwards. He was quickly ascending through the levels, earning points quicker than Marco.
“You’re totally winning, Jean!”
“You’re kicking his butt!”
The two friends cheered on. Marco tried his best to ignore them, focusing solely on the cascading shapes in front of him. Behind him, Hitch was giving her own words of encouragement, but Marco had reached a level of focus where he barely heard her. The room seemed to fade into the background; it was only him, Jean, and the Tetris machine. The quiet theme gently dancing around them, it’s fast tempo spurring him on.
“Dammit!”
Marco jumped, sparing a glance to his right. Jean stood next to him, hands thrown up and gripping at his beanie. The words “GAME OVER” flashing on his side of the screen.
“Your score’s still higher Jean, don’t worry!” Ponytail Girl encouraged, a hand on Jean’s shoulder.
“Marco, now’s your chance!” Hitch yelled, shaking at Annie’s shoulders with excitement.
Annie brought a hand up in front of her, clenching it into a fist. “Finish him.”
Marco’s adrenaline spiked. Everyone’s eyes were on him now, even Jean’s. His hand was clammy around the joystick, his fingers shaking as he pressed the button to drop the pieces into place instantly. The blocks were appearing almost too quickly. He feared that if he blinked he would miss one. But he didn’t know how far ahead Jean’s score was. He needed to hold out as long as he could if he wanted a guarantee of winning.
The pace soon became overwhelming, and Marco started screaming to himself as he flicked the joystick back and forth and a desperate attempt to clear some rows. Alas, the blocks were too quick for him, and the stack reached the top of the screen.
There was a moment of silence. Marco held his breath as his final score flashed across his side of the screen.
253,716.
His eyes shifted over to Jean’s score.
253,198.
He had done it! He had beaten JK!
Hitch’s arms wrapped around his shoulders as she jumped up and down, screaming excitedly at his victory. Annie simply patted his arm, giving a small smile. “Knew you could do it.”
Marco finally exhaled and laughed at his friend's enthusiasm. Next to him, Jean stood quietly, his bottom lip jutted out slightly in a pout. Now that Marco was finally getting a good look at him, he was kind of cute.
“Congrats.” Jean grumbled, his eyes looking anywhere but at Marco.
Marco simply smiled, holding his hand out in a show of good sportsmanship. “Thanks. It was a close match. You almost had me there! The name’s Marco, by the way.” He added, realizing the two had never formally introduced themselves to each other.
Jean looked down at Marco’s hand, then trailed his eyes up to meet his, his pout softening into a neutral expression. “Jean.” They shook hands, Jean’s grip firm before he let his hand fall to his side. He stared at Marco for another moment before turning around to his friends. “Sasha let me see your purse.”
“What? Why?” Ponytail girl - Sasha - asked, though Jean was already grabbing at the bag hung around her shoulder. He dug around for a few seconds before he found what he was looking for. He faced Marco again, pen in hand, and grabbed Marco’s wrist with his free hand, pushing his sleeve up towards his elbow.
Marco froze at the sudden contact, but didn’t pull his arm away as Jean started writing on his exposed arm. “H-here’s my number… in case you wanted to play again, or whatever.”
Marco stared at the top of the other’s head as he wrote. His bangs were covering his face, but Marco could see the tips of his ears turn pink. Jean released his arm once he was finished writing and slowly lifted gaze. “And maybe we can get dinner afterwards…?”
Marco’s heart skipped a beat. Jean’s face was beat red. Marco giggled to himself.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”