Martyn's Perspective-

The first day of school had ended and Martyn was exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to relax.

His friends were going out to hang, but Martyn made an excuse saying he was gonna be hanging out with his brother (which wasn't a complete lie, he did technically have plans to call his older brother later).

But after a stressful day, there was one place Martyn always went to feel better.

The arcade.

-

Martyn pulled down the hood to his green hoodie as he walked into the dimly lit building. He was met with bright lights, 8-bit noises and people's chatter, and the smell of mediocre hot food.

"Hey Marty."

Martyn saw his friend Nick at the counter, he was there to help out newcomers and people who would like to register a timeslot to do laser tag in the other room.

Nick was in his late 20s, around the same age as Martyn's older brother, Cooper. Nick and Cooper were friends back in high school (which was when Nick got a job here) and he was one of the reasons why Cooper and Martyn went here a lot.

"Hey, how're you doing?" Martyn asked, walking over.

"I'm alright." Nick shrugs, "We got a party of little elementary schoolers inside playing laser tag right now. You up for a game later?"

"Meh, probably not. I'm only here for a bit today, I gotta get back home to have an early dinner before jumping on a call with Cooper."

"How's he doing?" Nick asked, "I'm still surprised he chose an out of state college."

"Yeah, it's kinda hard sometimes."

"Well, hey, you got me, and I'm basically your older brother." Nick bragged.

Martyn chuckled and smiled.

"How's college for you?" Martyn asked.

"It's alright, my uncle said after I graduate this year, I can work at his mechanic shop cause I'll have my degree in engineering."

"What? But then I won't be able to play laser tag for free!"

Nick laughed and Martyn smiled.

"Guess you'll just have to bribe someone else." Nick ruffled Martyn's hair and Martyn smiled.

A buzzer sound went off and Nick pushed himself off the counter.

"I assume you'll be playing at the DDR?" He asked.

"You know it." Martyn smiles.

"Alright, don't sprain your ankle again." Nick teased before leaving.

Martyn chuckled and he walked into the arcade.

He bought more points on his card before finding the brightly lit DDR, waiting patiently for someone to step on.

Martyn swiped his card on the tablet before stepping on, listening as it started up and the arrows on the tiles lit up.

The song selection appeared, and Martyn scrolled through it before picking an easy level to start out on.

The music started and Martyn took a deep breath before starting.

-

"Why are we here?" Martyn asked, following his older brother closely.

"Look, I know you're a little young, but since you always seem to kick my ass in Just Dance, I think you'll like this." Cooper said, leading his six-year-old brother to the DDR in the new arcade.

"You might wanna be careful, boss says the handles are a bit wobbly." Nick said, not wanting to lose his new job.

"He'll be alright." Cooper waved his friend off, stepping onto the machine.

Martyn's eyes sparkled and he followed his brother.

"Besides, little bro's gotta find some way to remember me when I move out." Cooper winks and Martyn smiles.

Cooper scanned his card, and the song list came on.

Cooper scrolled through it, "Alright we wanna start out easy right?"

"No, I wanna do a hard one!" Martyn said, jumping.

"Look, I can't be doing this in public and have people see me get beat by my brother who's ten years younger than me." Cooper chuckled a bit.

Martyn giggled, "Do it!! A hard one!!"

"Alright." Cooper sighs, picking one of the songs.

"Just follow the arrows, alright?" Cooper said and Martyn nodded, determination filling him.

Martyn tried his hardest and at the end, he slipped and fell backwards, taking the railing with him. His ankle twisted and he fell face first.

Cooper gasped and ran over, helping Martyn up.

Martyn had a bloody nose, and his ankle hurt.

"Oh cod." Nick muttered, feeling sick to his stomach.

"Are you okay?" Cooper asked frantically, tipping Martyn's head up so his nose wouldn't bleed too much.

"That was AWESOME!!" Martyn cheered, jumping up before wincing as he felt pain in his ankle.

"H-hang on, let's get you sitting down." Cooper helped Martyn down and Nick got him some tissues while Cooper called their mom.

Martyn smiled happily, despite his pain this was easily the best day of his life.