more of a pinball girl. Or the claw machine. Shooting dinosaurs was something new. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Still, Mason had put up with my torture, so I could put up with his.
“Okay, show me how it works,” I said, sliding into the seat.
“Here’s your gun and here’s the trigger,” he said, sitting next to me.
The bench was so small, our bodies touched. I fought off a shiver as his leg pressed against mine. Inside my head, the name Polly flashed in neon green, reminding me to keep my head on straight.
“Reload with the button on the side,” Mason was saying, bringing me back to planet Earth. “Only shoot the dinosaurs. Don’t hit the people and we’ll win. Got that?”
It was the most enthusiastic I’d seen him yet. His eyes sparkled with anticipation as I fingered the heavy plastic and metal gun.
“Seems like you’ve played this game a lot,” I said.
He shrugged. “When I was a sixth grader, there was a little arcade in the children’s wing of the hospital where my mom worked. She’d let me play there after I got my school work done.”
There was still so much about Mason that I didn’t know. He hardly ever offered up information about his past. This was a rare glimpse. I wanted to know more.
“It seems like you’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals.”
“You really have no idea.” His expression grew dark and there was a lingering question in the air between us, but I wasn’t sure what it meant.
Mason was hinting at something, and I wondered if it had anything to do with his dad. If I’d been braver, I would’ve asked him, but the steel glint in his eyes told me that part of the conversation was over.
“So, let me get this straight,” I said slowly, trying to lighten the mood. “You practically grew up in an arcade and you play video games during your free time. Are you telling me that the star of Rock Valley High’s basketball team is also kind of a geek?”
His jaw tightened and he narrowed his eyes at me. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“What would The Rock Valley Biz post about this on their Instagram?” I teased. “What would everyone at school say?”
“Don’t know and don’t care.”
“Well I, for one, like the geeky side of you.”
His scowl faltered and for one millisecond surprise passed over his face. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I took the quarters out of his hand and began sliding them into the coin slot. “Kind of brings you down to Earth. Like you’re not just some athletic god. Untouchable. Immortal.”
He snorted. “That’s not even close to the truth, believe me.”
I looked up from putting the money in the game. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” He dragged his gaze away from me and then stared at the flashing screen. “If everyone really knew my story, they’d realize I can break, just like anyone else.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but Mason didn’t give me time to ask. He pressed the start button and a countdown appeared on the screen, with three seconds until game time.
“Wait, wait, wait, I’m not ready,” I squealed, aiming my gun at the screen.
“Just shoot anything that looks like a giant lizard.”
I squealed again and squeezed the trigger as fast as I could. We blasted through the first level, mostly thanks to Mason’s skills with the gun, but by the second one I was getting the hang of it. The third round was a different story. We died thirty seconds into it, a red screen announcing our failure.
“Nooooo!” I yelled, not caring how loud I was.
I could finally understand why Mason had spent so much time playing this game as a kid. It was addictive and adrenaline pumping. The only thing I wanted to do in that instant was shoot more dinosaurs.
Mason pounded the butt of his gun on the bench, his cheeks red with excitement. “We were so close to winning, I could taste it.”
“More quarters, we need more quarters!”