(Still a rough draft)
Billy stood at the back of the arcade, waiting his turn to play Pac-Man. He came here every day after school. He liked the arcade because it was dark and filled with the sounds of videogames. He also liked it here because Lola came every day. Billy loved Lola with all his heart, but she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. She said no every time he asked her out.
Lola was the chick playing Pac-Man, keeping Billy from his turn. He didn’t mind, though, because he loved to watch her. Her games lasted longer than anyone’s except his, and her dark hair often appeared in his daydreams. She was beautiful and skilled: perfect.
“I did it!” Lola shouted, pointing at the game. “I beat Billy’s high score!” She turned to Billy. “Billy, I beat your score!”
Billy couldn’t believe it. “No way! No one has ever beaten my score! Move over, I’m playing next.” Lola moved over, but only a little. She watched as he took the controls for the next game, rooting him on as he played.
He didn’t beat her high score.
After watching Billy play a full two games without beating her score, Lola got bored. She made her way across the arcade and started to flirt with a guy in a Mets hat playing Space Invaders.
Very few things distract Billy from his video games, but the girl he loves flirting with another guy was one of those things. He couldn’t bear the thought of Lola talking to that creep. Billy walked away from a game in progress and went over to the guy in the Mets hat. “Hey, man, get away from my girl!” he said.
The guy stepped away from his video game. “She’s not your girl!” he laughed.
“Hey, boys, I’m no one’s girl,” Lola said, touching each of them, trying to calm the argument. It didn’t work: Billy punched the guy in the Mets hat in the eye. He punched Billy back, right in the jaw. Just as the arcade manager was about to throw the two out for the afternoon, Lola stepped in between them.
“Stop! Stop it! I have enough problems without this!” she screamed. Lola ran out the door.
Billy waited for an hour for her to come back. She didn’t. The moment had come to either win her over or lose her forever. He bought two double-cheeseburger meals and a bunch of roses and bicycled over to Lola’s house.
When Lola answered the door and saw him, standing there with the food and roses she began to cry. Billy just looked at her. He wasn’t expecting her to cry. Billy could hear her mother yelling for her in the background.
“I’m sorry . . .” he muttered. “So . . . do you want to be my girlfriend?”
Lola looked at him for a moment before she yelled at him. “Do you ever think about anyone other than yourself? Can’t you see that I’ve got bigger problems than your jerkiness? My sick mom is more important than what you want!” She slammed the door in Billy’s face.
Billy was heartbroken. That was it for him and Lola; now they would never be together. He sat on the curb next to his bike, eating his double cheeseburger and then hers. He left the roses on the front porch.
From that day on, Billy and Lola never spoke. They both continued to go to the arcade, but they avoided each other and the Pac-Man game.
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