𝔟𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔲𝔰 ♕ 𝔠. 𝔢𝔳𝔞𝔫𝔰

chapter two

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playing dance dance revolution
with a stella artois in your hand
is a fun way of spending the evening.

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"Have a nice day, class! Remember that we're going to start taking notes tomorrow so be prepared!" Professor Evans announced through the microphone mounted on the podium.

Crowds of students began filing out, pushing their way through each other as they rushed to exit the auditorium. Lachlan and I stayed behind to avoid being trampled over by the stampede of students. Once everyone was gone, we began our slow descent down the stairs before leaving the auditorium. I looked over my shoulder and glanced at Professor Evans who was busy packing up his things. I wanted to talk to him again but I couldn't since I was with Lachlan.

"Hey, you wanna go to the arcade?" Lachlan asked with a wide grin stretched across his lips.

I nodded my head and we began jogging out of the school towards the arcade down the road. We ran down the icy sidewalks while snow crunched beneath our shoes. It was a wonder how the neither of us slipped and cracked our heads against the cement sidewalk. The cold air began nipping at my face, making my skin go numb and pink. Once we reached the arcade, Lachlan pushed open the glass door and tugged me inside. Our bodies were encased in the warmth of the heated building.

"I'm gonna go get a beer. You want anything?" Lachlan asked as he began walking to the bar in the back of the arcade.

"Get me a beer as well." I replied as I walked over to the Dance Dance Revolution machine. I threw my tote bag onto the floor along with my jacket as I purchased a few coins at the counter. The arcade was relatively empty since it was a Monday evening so I didn't have to worry about my things getting stolen.

"I got our drinks." Lachlan said as he handed me a green glass bottle of Stella Artois.

I popped open the cap with a closed fist and took a swig of the bitter, wheat-brown drink. The cool liquid slid down my throat, slowly warming my insides. After having a quick taste of my evening refreshment, I handed Lachlan a few coins so that we could compete on Dance Dance Revolution. Despite my initial thoughts and opinions on the game, DDR ended up being one of my favorite games out of the entire arcade. It was fun and engaging, especially when I was competing against Lachlan or my other friends.

"Same song, same difficulty, like always, Lachlan." I said while putting the coins into the machine's slot.

"Bring it on, Virgil." Lachlan said as we both began.

Once the song started playing, I locked my eyes onto the screen and began following the presented moves. My left hand grabbed the bar behind me for balance, while in my right hand I held my bottle of Stella Artois. I continued to take multiple sips out of the bottle as my legs jumped back and forth from move to move. I was so concentrated on getting a higher score than Lachlan that I didn't notice the small crowd forming beside my booth.

When the song ended I placed my empty beer bottle on the floor and took a quick breather. I glanced at Lachlan's score before looking back at mine.

"Ha, I told you I was better." I said as Lachlan puffed and pouted.

"Drinking a beer while playing Dance Dance Revolution? That's something new." I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

I tore my gaze from Lachlan to look at the man who was talking to me. He had a thick, brown beard (sort of like Professor Evans'), a fluffy head of hair, and gentle blue eyes. His cat-like, pink lips curved upward into a smile as he eyed the green bottle in my hand. Two men stood beside him, the shortest (who was the same height as me) was an African-American man with a charming, white smile and the taller one had dirty blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and a large, muscular build. The trio of men were mouth-watering in my opinion.

"Well, when you're in New York City you'll see a lot of weird, new things."

"Sebastian, Mackie, Hemsworth, I got your drinks!" I heard Professor Evans' voice exclaim.

I quickly turned my head in the direction of his voice and saw that he was walking over to his friends with a case of beer under his right arm. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Lachlan and I resting against the bar of the Dance Dance Revolution machine. His eyebrows seemed to raise questionably when he saw the bottles of Stella Artois in Lachlan and I's hands.

"You're having a hang out with your friends on a school night, Professor Evans? I thought you had a class to teach tomorrow." I said jokingly while twirling the empty glass bottle in my hand.

"The only class I'm teaching tomorrow is the one you're in, Virgil. How about you? Having an arcade night with Lachlan?" He asked while patting my back playfully. He opened a bottle of beer with an opener that was conveniently attached to his car keys and took a sip.

"This is one of our top five favorite arcades in the city. Plus it has a nice bar in the back." I said while picking up the yellow hammer to the Test Your Strength game.

"I thought you had clinical rotations tomorrow." Professor Evans said as he watched me roll up my sleeves, revealing the laurel wreath tattoo on my inner arm. I raised the hammer above my head and slammed it against the metal platform of the machine, watching the bulbs light up until the 100 point mark. The bell at the top of the game rang loudly in my ears as I set the hammer back onto the floor.

"Dang, flex your arms for me, Virgil." Professor Evans requested with an awed expression. I held my arm up and flexed my muscles, the bulge of my bicep popping out of my loose, button-down. It took me a few months of muay thai and weight training for me to get at the point I'm at now, and I'm proud of it.

"My rotations go from 9 to 2, I'm not gonna be missing out on too much sleep tonight." I said while grabbing my things off the floor. I slipped on my trench coat and swung my tote bag around my shoulder as I pulled my Nike snood back up. Lachlan followed closely behind and held the straps of his backpack as he stood beside me.

"It was nice seeing you outside of class, Professor Evans. Have a nice evening with your friends!" I greeted as I began walking out of the arcade with Lachlan.

"Wow, did you see that Hemsworth guy's arms? They're huge!"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking about the whole time!"

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please vote if you liked the chapter and leave a comment on things that i can do better :)