The Arcade

The morning dawned bright and cool, and light filtered through the blinds of Cosmo’s room. Opening his eyes, he tried to focus on the small, grayish-blue object hanging a few feet above his head. That hadn’t been there last night. It looked a lot like a model TIE-fighter. He hadn’t seen one of those since… “WHOA!!” Cosmo exclaimed as he fell with a loud thud out of what had (he thought) been a queen-size bed when he went to sleep the night before. Wide awake, he looked about the room. He recalled having an extremely vivid and disturbing dream about meeting an old man with a push-broom, playing video games, and seeing a movie with his parents. Groaning, he realized that it had not, in fact, been a dream.

Getting to his feet, Cosmo looked around his bedroom. Things certainly looked different in the morning light. He was reminded of when he had to get up to go to school: rushing through a shower, getting dressed and grabbing breakfast while his father was getting ready to go to work.

Cosmo and his dad would leave the house together, and Cosmo would be let out at school, while his father then proceeded on to work. Just as that memory passed through his head, his mother opened the bedroom door and stuck her head in.

“What in the world was all that noise?” She asked.

Cosmo looked at his mother rather sheepishly. He suddenly remembered that his room was directly above the kitchen. “Sorry, mom – I guess when I rolled over I fell out of bed.”

His mother rolled her eyes and, with a smile, replied “That’s my son – all brains and no grace! Well stinky, hurry and get yourself ready for school – breakfast is ready and your dad’s in a bit of a hurry this morning.” She gave him another smile, and then shut the door behind her.

“School?!” Cosmo groaned. “Mary, Mother of God! I gotta go to school!”

After he had washed up, dressed, and brushed his teeth, Cosmo nearly fell down the stairs to find his mom and dad sitting at the table, sipping coffee and quietly talking.

Apparently, he had a panicked expression on his face, because his dad immediately held up his hands and said, “Easy there, Slick – we’re not running late, so you can slow down and have some breakfast, huh?”

Cosmo blinked. “Uh, yeah. Sure. What’s for breakfast?” His mother smiled and got up from the table and, walking around to the kitchen, proceeded to dish up a plate full of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and an English muffin. As Cosmo watched, he realized that he was ravenously hungry. He set his book bag on one of the chairs next to the large bay window in the breakfast nook, and took a seat at the table.

By the time his mother brought the plate of food and glass of orange juice to the table, Cosmo’s stomach was audibly making it’s needs known, to the amusement of his father. “Sounds like you’ve got small bear under your shirt, son. Hungry, are we? You act like you haven’t eaten your mother’s cooking in years.”

Cosmo sniffed hungrily at the plate of steamy goodness and replied “Oh, if only you knew.”

After he’d eaten and quickly brushed his teeth (again), Cosmo and his dad both gave Mrs. Phillips a kiss on the cheek (Cosmo), and lips (Joe), and rushed out the door.

Hopping in his dad’s dark blue Volvo sedan, Cosmo looked around the interior. He had forgotten how new the car had once been. The last time he had seen it was about six years ago – that is, when he was about 38. He had visited his parents the Christmas before his father passed away. His father had still owned the old Volvo – and old as it was, it was still well-maintained.

The ride to school was uneventful, and Cosmo spent most of the time looking out the window at his past. His dad made the occasional remark about rising gas prices (‘If he only knew!’ thought Cosmo to himself), Reaganomics, and what he thought about MTV. He asked a few questions about school, and whether Cosmo had given any thought toward college. All of these questions Cosmo answered in a non-committal fashion, which more or less placated his father.

There were just too many thoughts spinning around his head to really give much attention to the conversation. He was on his way to school! He hadn’t even seen the place in over twenty-five years. He vaguely remembered it as being a place to go, but not memorable in any real sense.

In fact, for the four years he attended Forest Glen High School, his time was spent trying to maintain a 4.0 GPA – at the expense of any social life he might have had. It isn’t that he had few friends – he had quite a few friends, and was often invited to D&D parties and video game outings. It was simply that he felt awkward around other people – especially girls, and one girl in particular: Holly Miller.

That had changed, however. With one decision, he had eliminated what Sal had told him was a major roadblock in his future – but to what degree he couldn’t even imagine. He had liked her ever since the first day of high school, when they met in homeroom.

Her reddish-brown hair, bright green eyes, and big, dimpled smiled left him a speechless, stuttering, well – doofus. She still had that effect on him all these years later. Yet now, he had taken a step in a different direction and things were supposed to change. Again – how? He could only wonder.

His dad eased the car to a stop in front of Forest Glen High School – right behind twenty other cars, it seemed. “Here we are, buddy. Got everything?” Cosmo looked out the window. How weird was this? He thought.

“Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for dropping me off, dad.” Cosmo opened the car door and began to climb out.

“Heya Cosmo – are you okay on cash? Do you need any for lunch, or for after school?” His father was already reaching into his billfold and pulling out a ten-dollar bill.

“Oh, yeah – thanks, dad. Thanks a lot.” Cosmo reached over and took the offered cash. “I really appreciate it.”

Joe Phillips studied his son a moment. “You’re certainly welcome, son. You have a good day, huh?”

Cosmo looked at his father and replied “I will dad. You, too. Oh, and dad? I love you.”

Before his father could reply, Cosmo shut the door and started up the steps to the front of the main entrance. Joe just sat there for a moment, watching his son walk away. Had he really just said that? He wondered to himself. ‘I love you, dad’? Hmm…

After he was on the other side of the doors, Cosmo turned around and watched his dad pull away after a moment. He resolved that he would tell his dad that he loved him on a daily basis.

Turning away from the doors, Cosmo headed into the depths of the school building, trying to remember the layout of the place. It had been so long since he had stepped foot inside this place. Where were the lockers? Where was his locker? He really should have attended at least one of his high school reunions. Maybe then he’d have an easier time remembering this stuff.

Setting his jaw, he resolutely walked down what looked to be the hallway leading to the lockers, and as luck would have it, it was. About a quarter of the way down the hall, he caught sight of none other than Holly. She was standing in front of what was presumably her locker, chatting up (he guessed) one of her friends.

Seeing Cosmo walking toward her, Holly’s face brightened, and a huge smile spread across her face. Her friend followed Holly’s gaze, and when she saw the reason for Holly’s smile, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, boy – here we go again. ‘The saga of Holly and Cosmo: Will he or Won’t He?’”

Holly looked at her friend Rachel “Huh? OH! No, listen - he actually asked me out! He did!”

Rachel’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Like – fer sure?”

Holly grabbed Rachel’s hands and nodded excitedly “Yes! We’re going to the movies, but he didn’t say when – so I’m gonna ask him now.”

Rachel smiled back at her “That’s totally awesome!”

Holly giggled. “I know, right? Okay – here he comes, so act cool.”

Cosmo walked up to the two girls and, looking from one to the other, said “Good morning, Holly. Can I talk to you alone for a sec?” He smiled apologetically at Rachel. “Hi Rachel. I promise I won’t keep her long.”

Rachel winked at him and replied “Oh don’t hurry on my account – I’m just gonna be over here at my locker eavesdropping.”

Holly rolled her eyes at Rachel and gave her a light shove in the direction of her locker. She then turned to Cosmo. “What did you want to talk to me about, Cosmo?”

Looking into her eyes, which as an adult he would later describe as ‘luminous’, he suddenly found it rather difficult to breathe. He swallowed once, then again, before finding his voice. “Well, ah…I – that is…”

Holly continued looking into his eyes and asked, “Yes…?”

Cosmo took a breath and forged ahead. “Would this Friday be good for you – to go to the movies, that is – with me?”

At that, Holly threw her arms around Cosmo’s neck and, seeing Rachel - who had been behind Cosmo pretending to rummage around in her locker – winked at her and smiled.

Holly took her arms from around Cosmo’s neck. “That would be perfect, Cosmo. We’ll talk about the details later.” Standing on her tip-toes, she gave Cosmo a light kiss on the cheek and, hurrying down the hall, called back to him “I’ll see you in Homeroom – and don’t be late this time!”

Cosmo watched her as she and Rachel rushed into the crowd of students before coming to himself. “Holly – wait!”

He still couldn’t remember where his locker was.