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Chapter Two

Gram Stood up slowly, lifting her labtop bag over her shoulder. It was interesting talking to her. Little did I know, this lunch meeting would be the begining to a longterm aquaintence.

My name is Cristi. I have short, blonde, spikey hair and I am 22 years old. I work as a manager at the Vans skateshop next door to the arcade. Thats where I met Gram. It was a while back.

She was getting tokens from the change machine and I was walking in to play the "Dance Freaks" game. I didn't see her getting change so I went ahead and dropped in a token I had saved from the other day. A split second later, Gram came darting up to the game claiming that she was getting change to play. This was the first time I had ever seen her. I had no idea she was getting coins to play this game. I apologized and stepped down. She asked me if I wanted to battle. I was already attracted to her because she took interest in video games. I agreed to battle as I dropped my second token. Gram tossed hers in the coin slot and hit the two player button.

Now, I thought I was pretty good at this game since I make an effort to play at least once a week, but I had no idea what I was up against. Gram was a daily arcade gamer. She allowed me to choose the song and then she hit the start button.

Perfect rythm and timing had the other gamers standing around us. Both of us hadn't missed a single beat. I was so amazed that this girl, who looked as if she had just walked out of an office, was keeping up with me. She was even applying less effort than me. I glanced at her side of the screen by accident because I was getting nervous. I lost my concentration and missed 3 beats.

I finished out the battle with only those 3 beats subtracted from my score. Gram on the other hand had completed every single beat. I was shocked. I told her "good game!" I then began to walk out of the arcade. I heard people saying "the regular strikes again!"

As I walked out I thought, to myself, how attracted I was to her. Her eyes, hair, clothes, gaming interest,...even her voice caught my interest. Just then Gram came running up to me. "Uh, That was a great battle. Um...Do you want to grab a uh, cappuchino or, uh, something," Gram asked nervously. Panic struck me, but i remained calm and agreed.

We walked to the nearest coffee shop, which happened to be starbucks, and took a booth seat. I was nervous. She introduced her self and we had a great conversation, but you already know that story from the previous chapter.

After picking up her cappuchino she left the coffee shop. It was an incredible experience. It took me about 2 seconds, after the starbuck's door shut, to jump out of my seat with my vanilla frostie and rush out the door after her. I wanted to meet her agin the next day, but when I opened the door and looked around, all I saw was crowds.

Dissapointed, I walked back to Vans. I sat there the rest of the day wondering how this all occured and why I was blessed. I never meet anybody, because most people I meet are the daily visitors to my store and most of them are guys. I wanted to see Gram again. As I locked the door to the store, at 8:00 p.m., I thought about how I could find her again. Without any ideas I walked home to my apartment and layed in my bed pondering thoughts until I fell asleep.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!" The alarm sounded the next morning. It didn't seem quite as annoying as it usually did. In fact, I had a pretty good morning. I turned off the alarm and went to the kitchen. I ate a bowl of Lucky Charms and got dressed. I decided to wear a pair of baggy blue jeans and a skating t-shirt. After all, I do work in a skate shop. Feeling a little anxious and excited, from the day before, i shut the door, locked it, and began walking to work.

It was a beautiful day. The skys were clear, except forthe occasional puffy white clouds that floated by, and the temperture was not too hot or cold. When I got to work, I turned on the radio and setup a new display of skate stickers.

It was a pretty busy day. Christmas was about two months away and people were already shopping for Christmas gifts. Some of the customers that came in that day made work pretty stressful. By lunch time, I was glad and ready to take a break. I am the only one who worked today so I had to lock down the store and put a "back at 1:30" sign on the door.

I walked all around the arcade, but I didn't see her. I played a racing game to pass some time. I was hoping she would walk in, but she didn't. Disappointed, i walked over to Starbucks. I ordered a coffee and ate my lunch that I had packed that morning.

Gram didn't show up at Starbucks either. I really wanted to see her again and saddened that I hadn't, I walked back to the skate shop and reopened the store.

Time passed and the clock read 5:42 p.m. I usually closed the store at 6:00 but, I decided to close up a few minutes early. i went in the back room to get the key. When I returned to the front counter, I had a few customers walking in. "Great," I thought to myself sarcastically.

Then my attitude and facial expression changed and I became immediately nervous. 4 guys walked in with Gram behind them. She didn't notice me at first because i was behind the counter and how was she supposed to know I worked here anyway. I mean, do you always see the employees of a store? They all seemed to be interested in the new display and the skateboard wheels.

"If you need anthing, let me know," I said a little nervously while clearing my throat. Gram looked up when she heard my voice and saw who I was. She walked over towards me as the guys observed the array of wheels.

I looked up at her and smiled. "How are you doing today," I asked grinning. "Great, I didn't know you worked here. My friends were interested in some new skateboard wheels. How are you doing, cristi?" She remembered my name. I didn't think she would. "I'm doing fine. I didn't see you at the arcade today," I stated, wondering where she was. "Oh, I had work off today. Boss said that since I finished a project and it was Friay that i could take the day off, with pay."

Gram sounded sorry that she didn't catch me earlier. "I spent the day at the skate park filming my friends, but Brent wore dowb his wheels, so we had to find a shop," Gram explained."

Brent and the rest of the guys walked up to the counter. I rung them up and bagged their purchases. "This is Brent, Ryan, Chris, and Justin," Gram announced as she pointed to each one of them. "Guys this is cristi, she's a friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you," Brent said extending his hand for a hand shake. i shook his hand and gave a nod. The guys started to walk out the door but stopped and waited for her to come.

"Hey, um...I was wondering...uh...if mabey you wanted to...uh...go see...um...a uh movie-or-something-tomorrow,"Gram asked staring in to space, stuttering at first and than speaking at light speed. She seemed nervous.

Acting cool, but secretly nervous i answered, "sure!"

"Great," well I guess I'll pick you up tomorrow at um...6:00. Is that ok?"

"Thats great!" "I have to go, my friends are waiting." "Ok," I said trying to conceal my overwhelming excitement. "Bye," Gram said as she met her friends at the door. "Bye!"

I could hear her friends making jokes. Things like "friend? Uh hmmmm! Sure" and "Go Gram, Go Gram!" Gram shoved them out of the store and waved good-bye. I just sat there overwhelmed. i couldn't believe I had a date.

30 seconds later Gram rushed back in and proclaimed she didn't have my address or phone number. i wote it on her arm, as she told me too, and then, just like as fast as she appeared she was gone, again. I sat there for a moment in astonishment and then closed down the store. I thought about what had happened the whole way home. it was one of the best experiences of my life.

2003-01-11