“Yeah! Let’s hurry before the line gets too long!” Tim cried, running for the Jeep, and throwing himself inside. Mark sighed and rolled his eyes, shrugging to Miranda and getting in the driver’s seat. Mark loved his Jeep, with the purple interior that he’d made himself and the green paint job his grandfather had gratefully done. This Jeep was his love, and his life savings, which he’d put all of his money into.

Miranda tuned the radio, switching to the mix CD inside. Techno music filled the car as they took off up the street, and around a corner recklessly. People gave them looks as they rolled into town, sped through a yellow light, and made a strict fish-tail into a parallel parking space. The Jeep was perfectly aligned, a trick Mark had learned long ago.

Tim jumped over the door without even opening it, and landed catlike on the sidewalk. There, he sprinted for the arcade door, and pounced inside as soon as it opened. Mark and Miranda shared a second glance, before smiling and hurrying after their hyper-erotic friend.

The arcade was large and dark, with many sounds of various games of shooting and fishing alike. Kids ran from game to game, dropping tokens and throwing won items at each other. Mark evaded these characters, and nearly ran to the stage that contained the one game they would live for: Dance Dance Revolution.

Tim was already at the game, snarling at anyone that dared take step on the platform. When Miranda arrived she gave him a mini candy bar, and a pat on the head.

“So, who’s going first?” Miranda asked, already stepping on the platform. The game lit up at once, and she put a dollar into the machine. After choosing the single player mode, the intermediate mode, and the music type of “Little Bitch”, the game proclaimed itself ready, and gave the usual warning not to fall off.

Mark and Tim stood by and watched Miranda dance. Her long, black hair flared out around her as she turned, her miniskirt lifted as she took steps, and her eyes remained transfixed on the game screen, watching the swirling mass of colors. Her sleek body moved to the rhythm, and her head nodded to the beat. Nearly every step was perfect, and her combo kept getting higher and higher, before the game was over. Her score was presented to her, and she smiled as she stepped off.

“Almost beat your last high score!” Mark called over the music. Miranda stood next to him, leaning against the railing of the stage, fanning herself. She smiled brightly.

“Yeah, can’t wait ‘til that happens!”

Tim stepped up this time, immediately choosing single player, and advanced… He chose a song with an almost masked beat. Or it was so fast they couldn’t separate it from the rest of the music. Tim stood calmly, as he only was before a game, before the music started, and the arrows came fast. They flew past as the game started, and Tim didn’t miss a beat - He gained higher level as his feet blurred on the platform. Twists and turns… He was a mass of color, moving wildly in the surrounding dark, his glow-in-the-dark rainbow bracelets adding to the Rave-like theme. People surrounded below the stage, watching in awe as Tim did his thing, possibly wondering what drug he was on and where they could find some. When the music was over the crowd started applauding - not an unusual scene - and Tim stumbled off the platform, panting but grinning all the same. Mark caught him as he almost fell, and pulled him to a table near the snack bar.

“Dude, you alright?” Mark asked as Miranda ran to get a glass of water. Tim smiled and nodded, still panting, and looking a bit off color - meaning, he looked nearly dead from lack of color. Miranda hurried over with a Styrofoam cup, and Tim drank in one gulp. Once he calmed down, Mark stood up straight and glared down at him.

“Have you eaten lately?” He asked, and nearly went mad when Tim smiled apologetically. “What have I told you! You’re not fat! You need to eat, or you’ll pass out or something!”

“I’m sorry!” Tim cried, throwing his arms around Mark’s waist and theatrically sobbing into his exposed stomach. Mark sighed angrily, and pushed Tim off. He stalked off in a huff when he saw Tim was beaming.

Mark leaned against the counter of the snack bar after ordering a large cappuccino. He really hated when Tim got like this… Tim was thin and nicely toned, but he had some sort of disorder that caused him to look fat. Like, every time he looked in the mirror his image changed, and he was suddenly uglier than the last time he’d seen himself. He’d never been treated for it, and refused to take any drug his therapist gave him. His mom didn’t do anything to help, just because she was too stoned to do anything usually, and his dad was rich and was never really home, so he didn’t know anything about his own son. Mark had been his friend since the eighth grade - three years before - and had learned of the situation just in the past six months. He’d done everything in his power to show Tim he was beautiful - everything short of sex, anyway.

Pouring sugar and cream into his cappuccino, Mark glanced back at the DDR machine, and noticed someone new was on it, someone he’d never seen before. Mark stirred his drink and made his way up, through the crowd - He must’ve been good. Mark hurried to his friends’ sides, and soon found what everyone was staring at.

The guy was good, almost as good as Tim, but with flashier moves. These slowed him just a tiny bit, but he managed to keep near-perfect score. The guy was tall - or at least taller than Mark’s own towering height of five feet seven inches - and seemed to move with the grace of a swan. Every move was precise, every move was ethereal… His whole appearance seemed ethereal - skin near white, hair black as night, legs long and slender… From his lack of clothes, Mark could see various tattoos covering his thighs and biceps, and with a turn a dragon seemed to fly through the air - a tattooed dragon on his chest and left shoulder. The dragon had bright green eyes… eyes that pierced the dark.

They watched in entranced silence as the stranger finished the dance, and the crowd was merely able to part when he’d jumped from the stage, and headed for what seemed the snack bar. Mark quickly followed, just a tiny bit jealous, and just about near in love.

He found him at a table, hunched over a cup of coffee, and staring at the black paint of the table. Mark took the seat across from him, and offered him a kind smile when the stranger looked up at him.

“Hello,” Mark said, smiling just a bit wider. The stranger grunted, then replied with a “Hey.” Mark, nervous from the lack of enthusiasm, decided to continue.

“I watched you up there, and, wow, it was amazing. Where’d you learn?”

The stranger shrugged, then said, in a low, monotonous voice, “New York… It was a big thing with my friends and I.”

“So, you just recently moved here?”

He shook his head. “Like, two years ago…” Mark was encouraged by the eye contact. The stranger’s eyes were brown… A dark brown…

“How come I’ve never seen you here?” Mark asked, leaning on the table. He kept eye contact with the guy, afraid to lose the only seeming humanity of the person.

“I quit when I moved here, but there’s a contest next week, is there not?” Mark nodded. “Then, yeah. I need some cash to get out of here. So, this is the best way.”

“Great! We can compete against each other!” Mark said happily, slapping a hand on the table. The guy raised an eyebrow. “Well, me and my friends are the only ones, nearly, that play DDR, so it’ll be nice having some new competition.”

“So, I’m just fresh meat to you?” The guy asked, a tiny smile playing on the corner of his lips. Mark returned his smile with one of purple lipstick.

“Pretty much… I’m Mark, by the way.” He held a hand out. The guy took the offered hand.

“I’m Jay… I’ve got to go, but it’d be great to spy on you from the shadows sometime.” Jay stood, and pushed his seat in. Mark laughed at his retreating back.

“It’s a date…”

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Robin's Note: Techno music rocks....