Let's go to the arcade. Snow had a text that came from Casey about wanting to change an activity date. She was prepared to go somewhere else, but then he wanted to do something that he liked. The last time she went to one was when she was around with the boys, but they hadn't done that lately.

She picked out her best top mid sleeve with a flowery design and a ribbon tied to the front above the hip. The middle was twisted, leaving a tiny hole gap with her skin shown, and she paired it with light shorts that had four buttons, going for a more casual and cute look. She was showing a little bit skin again with the V neck, but she pulled it higher, so it wasn't that much noticeable. Snow practiced doing her makeup, and she thought it was more of a look for her.

After Casey came to her house and picked her up, they were on the way to the arcade. Twenty-five minutes later, they walked in through the door, and people were playing on the game machines. Many of them were boys, and she was one of the few girls here.

Snow followed Casey to the Token Machine, where he traded his bills in exchange for the tokens. He handed some to her, and then they were on the lookout for the games.

"Do you want to pick what to play first?" Casey asked.

Snow turned to him surprised. "Me? You want me to pick?"

He nodded quietly, and she scanned her surrounding. There were different kinds to play from; some of the games she wasn't familiar with, and then there were some she remembered before. From each machine she viewed, she went back to one she remembered most.

"Let's play it?" Snow asked, pointing at the graphic screen.

As she inserted a few coins into the slot, they came closer to the screen and control panel. From the characters for character select, she was wondering which character she would choose. It took her a while to pick out the characters, but she chose Sakura and Spider-Man. Casey's chosen characters were Cyclops and Dhalsim.

Both Snow and Casey played Marvel Super Heroes VS Street Fighter against each other. As they played, there was a lot of punching, kicking, and using their abilities on one another. Snow was pressing all randomly on the buttons and shifting her stick, and Casey knew all the coordinates of it. Whenever his character came close to hit her's, she'd dodge or jump to defend herself against his attacks.

"Stop jumping in the air, and fight me on the ground." Casey had his eyes locked and made close combat to her character.

Snow tried to make something come out of Sakura's hands, but when she saw his attack coming away, she made her jumped in the air once again. "Not until you stop shooting laser from his glasses."

"It's a fair game," he said, and when Sakura landed back on the ground, Casey directly landed a blow at her.

She'd hurt him too for when she got her lucky chance although sometimes he would make a special attack, and she was largely losing half of her life. Then she switched character to Spider-Man.

"I play anything," Casey said. 

"They were fun as a kid, you'd just go fast and fury on everybody." Snow remembered those times when she came to the arcade a lot.

"Yeah, it's especially fun when you get more wins though."

"True."

He took her down first; she took him down the second. They played a couple of rounds with each other.

"Dang it, you're so good at this." She fumbled with the buttons as she was close to dying with the energy bar on low, and the screen was shouting out DANGER!

"It's all in the wrist, function, and a fast eye," Casey told her.

Even when they picked out different chosen characters on the screen, he had a more stealthy control of the game. Not going to lie, it's more fun when I'm playing by myself, Snow thought while she watched getting her butt whooped on screen. When it got down to the final battle, Casey won.

The next game they played was Pac Man. It was fun watching a pixel screen of the yellow character eating dots and other floating ghosts roaming around the maze. Snow was more pro at it than Casey since she liked figuring out tricks and bonuses; Casey hated it when you get deeper with the levels, the ghosts come after the pac man faster.

The plus side was she earned them quite some tickets.

They were both at it again as rivals because they played a car speed racing. Their eyes faced heavily on the screen, and hands gripped on the wheel as they sat back, watching the current race. Snow was in eleventh place, and Casey was in fourth place.

"You drive faster in the game than real life," Snow commented.

"There's no law in this game, so heck yeah." He was just like any of the other boys.

"I can't believe we started off the same, and you'd just kill me to move ahead," she said with bitterness lacing her tone.

"You gotta get better then."

"Would you speed this fast if there were no limits in law?" Snow asked, steering the wheel. If only she could imagine herself actually driving a car.

Casey cocked his head, bamboozling the car in front of him, as he moved up a rank. "Don't know. If everybody speeds this fast, then we might have a problem."

They hard stared at the screen. Snow moved up to eighth place, and that seemed like she was getting somewhere, but Casey was still quite ahead.

"It seems like you played this before." She glanced over at Casey's screen.

"When you get bored on some weekdays, you'd kill time in the arcade," he explained.

Soon they bantered when Snow caught up to Casey, and they were racing head to head. Afterward, they played an interactive shooting rifle game. Both were trying to shoot out targets and enemies. The one with the most score of shooting wins.

They had the machine guns in their hand, and it was like they're blasting bullets at everything around them. A lot of shootings were aiming at them as well.

Snow was becoming intense, with her eyes keen on the screen. As they were getting into it, she thought she was just about to win with a high score this time, but then Casey extended an arm, and his palm blocked her peripheral view.

"Hey," Snow said, and slapped his wrist away. She glanced at the screen again, and it made her miss her chance. The game had ended. Then she made a piercing gaze at Casey. "You cheated, and I lost."

The corner of his lips curved into a sly smile. "It was just fun seeing you what you would do."

"You wouldn't like it if I did that to you." She brought up a fist to display to him.

"Let's play another round?"

Casey put in a couple of tokens into the machine slot, and they were getting into the position to shoot once more.

❥

With the tickets they had so far, they had wondered about what it could get them. They took a visit to the prize counter, and there were a lot of things she could get. But her eyes soon found a huge stuffed dolphin, and she was glowing with little stars. She loved dolphins as it was her favorite aquatic animal. When she saw the price for it, her excitement went down. It cost 2,500 tickets to have it.

"Do you think we can get that?" Snow asked, pointing at the dolphin.

Casey looked at the dolphin, and when he checked out the ticket costing, he shook his head. "That's too much. Maybe aim for something lower."

"But I want that dolphin."

"Do you have a second choice?" he wondered.

It was that dolphin that appealed to her. She really wanted to have it. Usually, a huge dolphin didn't come to arcades that often; it was just so cute to her.

"But why not a dolphin," she said.

Her eyes turned back to the dolphin, and she could only imagine how cuddly it looked, and that she would find somewhere to stuff it in her room.

Casey told the counter lady that they'd come back later to pick something out, and he gently took Snow by the arm. "No promises, but we'll see what we can get."

Did that mean that he might get her the dolphin? She widened her eyes enthusiastically. "Yay!"

As they went back to acquire more tokens, they began to play more games around the arcade for the tickets. They spent an hour just gathering what they could from the game machines, and so far they had earned 453 tickets.

No matter what that dolphin would just become the blissfulness of her life she didn't know, was.

They did everything, play skee ball, air hockey, and the basketball game. When they played basketball, Snow had the upper hand than Casey. The first several throws were a miss like she hadn't done it for long, and then her throws went into the hoop so smoothly just one after one. Casey could get it in sometimes, and other times, he missed.

The scores were adding up when Snow threw it in the hoop just as the tickets below were gushing out constantly from the machine. She could probably gain numerous tickets for playing it. Casey was just watching her succeed, not believing even if his eyes were seeing it.

"Where did you learn to throw like that?" Casey questioned.

Snow picked up another ball and made another shot when it went in. "After playing basketball with the boys back in the days, you pick up a technique or two."

"You could've been on the basketball team."

"I could've, but I'm not cut out when people are watching me. I would be a nervous wreck."

Raising his hands slowly, he clapped. "I'm applauding though."

Because of her constant track of shooting, the tickets made a large pile on the ground. At the end, when Casey counted the tickets, the total was 3,224 tickets which were more than enough than she needed.

Just as they sauntered on the way to the prize counter, Snow spotted the Dance Dance Revolution. She practically ran to it as Casey followed her, and she said enthusiastically to him, "Let's play it!" He saw the machine and shook his head. As he told her that he didn't want to play, she could care less.

"Come on, let's play this, and then we can go over to the counter," Snow said with her hands clasped together.

"I'm bad at this," he said.

"You don't have to be good at it. Just play it with me. Pretty please?" Her eyes pleaded in the cute 'puppy dog eyes' expression, and her lips extruded into a tiny pout.

She wasn't the best either, but it was just fun doing something while they were here.

Casey looked at her absentmindedly, but she continued to emit that energy until he sighed. "Fine." He placed in a few tokens into the slot.

The two began to step up on the steel dance floor, and he clicked the buttons until a song was picked out. Both got readied into the position before the game started then the dance-pop music came out. The first track played I Want You To Know by Zedd ft. Selena Gomez.

The arrow buttons started slow and steady as it lifted from the bottom to the top of the screen. Snow and Casey were both doing well. Several dance steps later, the pace became faster, and Snow was moving her feet systematically according to the arrows, and Casey missed some steps.

"Yikes Casey, try stepping some at the same time," Snow advised as she stepped an arrow to the ground.

"It would say I miss," Casey said while he was looking at the screen and down on the ground.

"Don't focus on the ground. Then you'll be fixed on it."

"I want to make sure I'm stepping on them fully."

Snow laughed. "That's silly. Just don't be kind of awkward." She realized that sounded like bad advice from an awkward person herself. "I mean, just follow the arrows."

"The arrows are appearing everywhere." He struggled as his hands were holding onto the rail behind him.

"I miss sometimes too." When she forgot to step the down arrow while she was supposed to step on the left arrow simultaneously, it said miss. "See?"

All the dance and the beat they continued were beginning to feel like fun, and they were loosed up while all the songs played. Along with Break Free, New Rules, Hey Brother, to some Japanese techno songs, Casey was improving when Snow instructed him that it wasn't just about trying to keep up with the dances but letting your feet take the lead.

Heading to the prize counter now after their Dance Dance Revolution, Snow focused on that huge stuffed dolphins her eyes longed for. It was finally going to be hers. She clapped for herself, smiling.

Snow glanced towards the counter lady. "I would like that—"

"Mommy, daddy, can we pleaseee have that blue dolphin?"

A little boy, who looked about five years old with short brown hair and he was wearing a Disney's Goofy shirt, pleaded his parents. He tugged at his mother's hands and pointed up at that dolphin that Snow wanted.

"You know we have to go to see Auntie Glenda tonight, and it's a little bit of a long drive from now." The boy's mother told him.

The boy swiveled his head at the dolphin with sad eyes. "Does that mean we can't have the dolphin?"

"I'm afraid not Cale, maybe next time," his father said, and Snow watched as the young boy sighed.

He must really want that dolphin, and she was just about to take it too. Snow looked toward the younger boy. "Excuse me." They turned their attention to her. "I couldn't help but hear that he wants the dolphin."

"Oh yes, my son loves dolphins, and he had his eyes on it when we came here. Unfortunately, we don't have enough tickets for it," his mother said to her.

Cale looked up at her, his eyes small and light brown. He looked cute with sweet innocence, and also fragile like he was going to cry.

Oh, am I really? She was going to be sad herself, with that heart of hers pounding, and almost it felt constricted too. Then she ignored that lingering as she put on a smiling face to his parents. "How many tickets do you have?"

"We have 998 tickets," the father said, holding out the tickets in hand.

Snow pursed her lips and turned to Casey. "Can you hand me the tickets?"

He didn't say anything and gave it to her as she counted the tickets, trying to do the math in her head. It took some time before she gave a huge chunk of the tickets to the little boy. "Here you go. You can get that dolphin now." Snow smiled at him.

"Really?" The boy gaped at her.

"Yes, really? You didn't have to," the mother said.

Snow nodded. "Really. Now he could name that dolphin whatever he likes."

The boy stared speechless at the tickets in his hand.

"Say thank you," the mother urged him.

"Thank you." The young boy had a face that broke out in a grin.

"Cale is so grateful, really thank you." The father spoke.

Cale placed down the tickets at the counter, and the father put the remaining on the counter too. She watched as he spoke animatedly, as he pointed out that huge stuffed dolphin hanging in the air. The lady counted the tickets and she took them in. When she stepped on the mini ladder to grab the dolphin, she then gave it to him as his arms were stretched out.

The dolphin was larger than Cale, but he hugged it so tightly. "THIS IS THE BEST."

"Let me hold it for you." The mother gently clutched the dolphin from him.

When the small family left, the young boy looked tremendously happy with his dolphin, and somehow her heart was light. At the same time, she was a little sad because that dolphin would've been so cute, and she made a face to herself.

"Why did you do that?" Casey questioned.

She turned her head to him. "He was so cute. I couldn't just give up that happiness for him." Snow had that soft, sad 'I-just-couldn't' face.

The lady behind the counter slide forwarded the remaining tickets. "It's your tickets leftover. You still have them."

Snow nodded at her and stared down at the glass of other prizes. "What do you want?"

Casey pointed at the multicolored knitted in the shape of a ball. "I'll have that."

It was 150 tickets for it, and she handed it to the lady, and she grabbed it for him. Casey took it from her, and they still had a lot of tickets to spare, but it was less than the amount for the dolphin. Snow looked at where the dolphin was previously, and it was gone now.

"You don't want anything?" Casey asked.

Snow appeared with her eyes dull, and she shook her head. "I think I'm good. I really wanted that dolphin."

Casey said something to the counter lady, and he handed her the tickets. When they walked out of the arcade, he dropped a mini-sized basketball at her hand. "For you."

"What, why?"

"You're really good at the games," Casey complimented.

Snow focused at the mini basketball that took up almost the size of her palm, and she felt it sturdy. "Only the active physical ones, but you're good at the nerdy games."

He smiled. And because he smiled, it changed his whole face. "You look cuter when you smile than when you're frowning," she said.

It made him instantly taken back, pausing, before he changed the subject. "I should get you home."

Casey walked her through the parking lot, and it got her to wonder if this day was worth it to see him smile.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

I miss going back to the arcade although I actually have not play some like they have, but I try my best for them to just have fun gaming 101. An arcade date sounds fun if you ask me :P 

What arcade prizes do you like, want to have/already have? 

✿ Snow's arcade date outfit.

Let's pretend the V-neck doesn't go that much down and it's all good.

Please vote and comment as it means the world to me!