The Arcade

Several days had gone by since the last conversation with Sal, and Friday night had arrived. Cosmo was a nervous wreck, and it showed. His hair wasn’t yet combed, he was still half-dressed, and he couldn’t find his wristwatch.

“Mom! Have you seen my Swatch? I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find it!” Standing at the sink in his bathroom, Cosmo was trying to coax his hair out of its imitation of a frightened hedgehog.

“No sweetheart, I haven’t.” His mother called up to him. “Where was the last place you had it on?”

Cosmo sighed with exasperation. Why did every mother on earth, it seemed, respond with that question? If he knew where in time and space that place was, he wouldn’t need help finding it.

“If I knew that, mom, I wouldn’t have to ask you!” He responded with slightly more irritation than he had intended.

“Here you go, slick – you left it in the car.” His father’s sudden appearance at the bathroom door caused Cosmo to jump, and he dropped his comb into the toilet.

Cosmo stared woefully after the comb and – looking at the ceiling – said aloud to no one in particular “Is this a great start to a date, or what?”

After much fussing and gnashing of teeth, Cosmo and his dad finally got out of the house, and barely in time to pick up Holly and make it to the theater for the 7:30 showing.

Walking out of the theater hours later, Cosmo and Holly looked as though they had known each other all of their lives, instead of only a couple of years. Cosmo’s dad watched them from the car as they exited the mall’s front door hand in hand.

He smiled to himself, glad beyond measure that his son had finally discovered her. Now perhaps his boy’s horizons might broaden a bit. There was more to life than video games. Dates, dances, proms, and such…these were important parts of being a teen, as well.

Cosmo’s mother had thought Joe rather oblivious at first, too. Then his own father took him aside one day, and pointed out that you only get one chance in life, and to make the very best of each opportunity – to make it count, so to speak. Joe had been the same age as Cosmo when he had that conversation with his father. Two years later his parents divorced. He never saw his father again. He vowed that any children he had would never know what that pain felt like.

Just as these thoughts passed, the car door opened, and Cosmo and Holly practically fell in to the back seat. “…That was probably the coolest part of the movie! I know everyone freaked over the ‘I am your father’ part, but really – don’t you think the whole Hoth battle scene was totally awesome? I can’t wait to get the new snow speeder!”

Cosmo just gaped. “What? You mean to tell me that you collect Star Wars stuff?? Are you serious?!”

Holly just giggled at his disbelief. “Yeah, doofus! Who doesn’t? I’ve got ships, play-sets, action figures…”

Cosmo stopped her in mid-sentence “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean to tell me you collect all that stuff, too?”

Holly was nodding enthusiastically “Uh-huh!”

He just sat back grinning. “Dad, is the she coolest girl in the world or what?”

An hour or so later, after the two had raided the Phillips residence’s fridge and spent even more time debating movie plots and future sequel surprises, they found themselves on Holly’s front porch saying goodnight.

“I’m really glad you finally asked me out, Cosmo. I had an awesome time…” Holly told him in a quiet voice.

Cosmo looked at her, and not for the last time found it hard to breathe while around her. “I’m just glad you said ‘yes’. I probably would have dropped dead from embarrassment if you would’ve told me no.”

An awkward moment of silence passed between them before Cosmo spoke up again. “So – I don’t suppose you’ve thought about the Winter Formal dance coming up, have you? I mean – if you had plans, that is…because I didn’t know if, ya know, you might –”

Holly stood on her tiptoes, planted a small kiss on his lips, and replied, “I’d love to go with you, Cosmo.” With that, she quickly stepped inside and – before closing the door – smiled and blew him a kiss. “See you tomorrow, doofus!” With that she ducked her head in, and closed the door.

Cosmo stood on the porch for a moment in a daze, his only other company the moth crazily circling the light next to the door. After a moment, he heard a car horn tooting somewhere in the distance. With a start, he realized that it was his father’s car that was doing the tooting, and he quickly jumped off the porch and trotted toward the car.

Joe was smiling at his son when the car door shut, and Cosmo was buckling himself in. “So, son – how’d it go?” his dad asked in an obviously feigned nonchalance. “You looked a little lost up there. Did she refuse to have anything to do with you ever again over your apparent inability to speak?”

Cosmo turned to his dad and, with a sheepish grin, replied “C’mon dad, gimme a break. You saw everything that happened – don’t act like you didn’t!”

Joe reached over and ruffled his boy’s hair. “So? Don’t keep your old man in suspense – what happened?”

“Well…I sort of asked her to the Winter Formal – and she said yes. Then she kissed me.”

His dad just shook his head and chuckled. “She sure did kiss you! I could see you turn red all the way from here! Ya know, your ears get really red…”

Cosmo cut him off with a small slug in the arm and said, “I know! I know! Let’s go home – we’re gonna miss Knight Rider!”

With a good-natured laugh, his dad started the car and eased away from the curb, and headed toward home, a bowl of popcorn, and a long Q&A with his mother about dancing.

The Winter Formal was still three months away, but the days passed relatively quickly. He, Bobby and Theo still spent time at the Asylum, and Holly began to occasionally join them.

The boys didn’t mind; in fact they enjoyed the chance to match their gaming abilities against a girl – at first. It soon became apparent that Holly was quite able to hold her own. This only encouraged Bobby and Theo’s competitive side, and side bets were often made on who would get further on any particular game.

Cosmo just enjoyed the scenery. He loved the fact that Holly was able to fit in so well with his two best friends, and yet still be able to be that girl who took his breath away. Still, she had her friends, too – and she spent more time with her girlfriends doing whatever it was that they do or talking about whatever mysterious things girls that age talked about – he had no idea.

All in all, the three months practically flew by, and almost without realizing it, it was time to get the tux, the corsage, and figure out transportation. It had been discussed amongst Holly and her girlfriends that they all would chip in and rent a limo – which was the way to arrive at one’s high school dance. All Cosmo knew was that he had to come up with $50 more dollars – on top of his tux rental and corsage ($50 for the tux, $25 for the orchid corsage). Since he had a decent amount of notice, he was able to make up the difference working part time for Bobby’s dad in the motorcycle shop.

As for Bobby and Theo, their acquaintance with Holly had yielded benefits of their own - in the form of dates to the Winter Formal. Neither of them would have even considered going to a dance, had it not been for Cosmo talking to Holly about it.

Holly had immediately agreed, and set about to talking up a couple of her girlfriends. To Bobby and Theo’s credit, they weren’t bad-looking boys (in the opinion of the young ladies), and being rather shy themselves – despite Theo’s normally annoying sense of humor – it made for a pretty comfortable threesome of couples.

The night of the dance arrived, the limo arrived, and all the dates arrived. Boutonnieres and corsages were exchanged, proud parents took tons of pictures, and in a hurried bustle of crepe and taffeta, the young ladies and their dates bundled themselves into their awaiting “coach.”

The night was an unqualified success, with everyone having the time of their lives. It can’t be said that there was much dancing, as this was – after all – a group of teens, but there was laughing, joking, and a few hands shyly holding other hands, and one very good group photo of the six of them together – all with very broad smiles.

After the dance, the limo dropped each one of them off at their respective houses well before the coach turned back into the proverbial pumpkin, and at each parting there was a few shyly spoken words, kisses on the cheek – and in one case a very friendly hug. Bobby’s date happened to be the shyest among the group, so the fact she actually hugged anybody – let alone a boy – was saying something.

When it was finally Holly & Cosmo’s turn to say goodnight, it wasn’t as nearly awkward as that first date. “I had such a great time, Cosmo! This was probably one of the best nights of my life!” Holly beamed up at him, her smile dazzling in the lights of the entryway of her house.

“I know what you mean…” he agreed “Asking you out was the single best thing I have ever done in my whole life! I don’t why it took me so long to work up the nerve.”

Fiddling with one of the buttons on his shirt, she replied “It’s because you are a hopeless doofus, silly. Didn’t you know that?”

Cosmo blushed, and he found he was unable to swallow again. After two or three tries, he finally managed to get his vocal chords working, and said “Well…I know I love you…”

Holly, still fiddling with his shirt button, simply said “About time you figured it out.” Then, looking up at him, whispered “I love you too, doofus.” At that, she leaned up against him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. It was at that exact moment, of course, when her father chose to come down the stairs.

“Well, I see Prince Charming and Cinderella are back from the ball!” His deep baritone voice made Cosmo jump in spite of himself.

“Hello Mr. Miller! Holly and I were just saying goodnight…”

Bob Miller cocked one eyebrow, and with a smile replied “I can see that. Only – doesn’t it make it rather difficult to speak while you’re kissing my daughter?”

At this indictment, Cosmo began to sputter and redden, and felt as though at that moment he and oxygen were no longer on cooperative terms. It was Holly who came to his rescue. “Daddy! We were saying goodnight, and I leaned up and kissed him! Cosmo has been nothing but a gentleman, haven’t you Cosmo?”

He was relieved to find that his neck muscles still functioned, and so he obliged them by nodding vigorously at Holly’s father.

“There, you see?” Holly cocked her own eyebrow back at her father, who stood looking from Cosmo back to her, all the while smiling broadly. Cosmo wondered if he would smile like that while he was breaking him into little pieces. Then the baritone voice resounded again “I can see, pooh-bear, I can see…You know how your mom and I worry, this being your first real date, and all.” Cosmo noticed his voice had softened.

“I know, daddy. Speaking of which – where is mom?” No sooner had she got the question out when Ann Miller appeared behind her husband, flashing her own smile at her daughter and Cosmo. He immediately saw where Holly got her smile from.

“Oh hello, kids! I didn’t know you had gotten home already!” Cosmo just smiled weakly and waved. “I suppose your father’s been scaring the wits out of poor Cosmo here, hasn’t he?”

Holly just snorted and replied “Just look at him! He can’t talk!”

Cosmo called his father for a ride, and after a brief while at the Miller residence, where the evening was reviewed and related to an eager and delighted Mrs. Miller - while Mr. Miller never took his eyes off Cosmo, and never stopped smiling.

At the sound of his father’s car, Cosmo bid Holly one last goodnight and, calling goodnight to her parents, walked out to the waiting car.

“So, sport – how was the big night?” His dad wore the tired smile of a parent happy to see his child, but also up past his usual bedtime.

Cosmo turned and looked at his father, and the look on his face must have spoken volumes.

Joe Phillips just started to chuckle. “Hoo-boy…you told her you loved her.” It was a statement. He slowly shook his head. “Buckle up, kiddo – buckle up…” He was still chuckling when they pulled up into their own driveway fifteen minutes later.