Limitless: The Second Edition

Oliver

I was wondering how long it would be until Hannah and I went on our first date. Well, the answer has ended up being just two days. It's now Saturday, but the feeling of admitting my feelings to her and clearing that massive hurdle still feels as fresh as it did Thursday evening. Now, we're standing out front of the local Fun Emporium, an arcade, roller skating rink, laser tag arena, and mini golf center all wrapped up in one building. Joining us is Derek, who drove us here.

The place is only fifteen minutes away from my house, but it took us an additional fifteen minutes to even leave because my mom kept taking pictures of us. It's very annoying when you're trying to leave for a date but your mom won't stop fussing over you, your girlfriend, and your handsome chaperone.

"Y'all ready for this?" Derek asks us.

Hannah nods. "Beyond ready. What about you, Oliver?"

"I'm really good with claw machines," I tell her. "So if you want a stuffed animal, I'll get it for you. I'm the reason my cousins get so many stuffed animals from here."

"Teach me your ways, O Wise One," Derek begs me. "I've only won a claw machine, like, one time. And that wasn't even for myself. It was to get a stuffed dog for a little girl I met in a pizza place once."

"Sure thing, bro."

We head into the center, and we each get a game card. Hannah and I immediately make a beeline for the skee-ball machines while Derek goes to play a zombie hunting game.

"You good at these?" she asks me.

I shake my head. "Nope. I fail miserably at these. Claw machines are my specialty."

Hannah picks up a ball and taps my shoulder. "Watch and learn." She positions herself to the left of the machine. She angles the ball towards the right corner, keeping her arm level as she rolls the ball upward. The ball goes right into the ten thousand point hole, and she nods with satisfaction before turning back to me. "Now I want you to try."

It's a bit difficult for me to lean over to play. I hesitate for a few minutes. Hannah asks if I need help, but I assure her that I've got this. I set my left crutch aside to free up my left hand. I pick up a ball, take a deep breath, and close my eyes, trying to remember what Hannah just did. I release the ball and send it directly into the ten thousand point hole. I turn back to Hannah, unable to hide my smile. She runs up and hugs me before we both return to our games.

Between four games for each of us, we manage to get over a thousand points. Hannah high-fives me, and we go in search of another game to play. I want to play a basketball game and a game where you throw baseballs at clown faces, so I begin heading in the direction of the nearest basketball game. Halfway there, Hannah stops, freezes, and points at a claw machine.

"What is it?" I question, already getting ready to swipe my card on the game. "Which one do you want?"

Hannah points at a plush toy of a little red bird with an upper limb difference, a character from a beloved children's show. "I want him. Can you get him for me?"

"Sure thing." I swipe, then assess the situation. The toy is centered in the assortment. I carefully maneuver the claw directly above it, only pressing the grab mechanism when I'm certain I have it in the perfect position. My heart skips a beat with excitement as the claw grabs the plush bird and deposits it in the hole. I reach inside and pull out Hannah's toy. "Here you go, darling," I say in my worst British accent. "My first gift to you of many."

Hannah takes the toy from me and squeezes it tight. "I love you, Oliver," she squeals. "He's so cute."

I can't help but grin at her. "I love you too, Hannah. Let's go see what Derek's up to, and then I want to go play the basketball game."

On our way to the basketball game, we pass Derek at the zombie game just to see his name at the top of the leaderboard and a teenage worker standing nearby, taking a photo of it, obviously waiting to catch his attention.

"My boss is never going to believe that Derek Anderson set the record on Zombie Hunt today," she mutters.

Derek finishes up his latest round, and his top leaderboard score updates to an even higher number. He turns around to face the girl. "Your boss will believe it if you get a picture to prove it," he replies with a grin. "Come here." He waves and winks at us. "This never gets old," he whispers. "Catch you two later. I've already got us at least two thousand points."

We giggle and wave back, heading straight for the basketball game. Hannah decides to play a nearby dance game while I shoot some hoops, then go two games down to throw some baseballs at clowns. It takes about three clown games, but I eventually drain my game card racking up another nine hundred points. Hannah has managed to get almost another thousand points herself from playing the dance game a bunch of time.

After confirming that we've both drained the funds on our game cards, we regroup with Derek at the zombie game, where he's taking pictures with a bunch of workers. When he sees us, he politely excuses himself.

"I left enough charge on my card for you to show me how to work a claw machine, Oliver," he says to me. "Let's go." He turns to Hannah. "I see you two have already hit one up."

"Direct me to whatever you want," I tell him. "I'll get you anything."

Derek leads us to the same claw machine Hannah and I played and points to a toy identical to Hannah's. "I happen to like that show myself."

"Why don't you let me get it for you?" I suggest.

"Fire away, bro," he responds. "Go get 'em."

Derek swipes his card for the last time, and I repeat the process of strategically picking up the plush toy and getting it into the hole safely. He's watching my every move. When the toy drops, I fish it out of the slot and hand it over. Derek hugs me in thanks, then eyes the prize counter. "What do you say we go tally up our points and get some real prizes?"

We agree, and follow him over to the counter, where we're told we have five thousand points between the three of us. That's enough to get each of us a nice prize.

I begin scanning the prizes to see what our options are. That's when my eyes fall upon a really nice Chain Breaker backpack discounted for nine hundred points. I immediately claim that as my prize. Hannah selects a fishbowl and some candy, and Derek picks out a giant rainbow cat plush toy.

Once we've all claimed our prizes, I glance quizzically at Hannah's fishbowl. "I didn't know you had a fish."

"I don't," she answers. "My dad keeps telling me I should get one for some reason. So now all I have to do is go get one."

"Guess we're going to the pet store after dinner, then," Derek says. "Fine by me. Let's go to StarBurger. I'm starving."

We get in the car, and he turns up the radio. And all of us begin singing along to the Chain Breaker soundtrack.