The New Gamer

The first thing that caught Button off guard were the shining, green eyes staring right into his.

Now, usually, when Button thought of green, naturally, he thought of the Incredible Hulk. Through some reading some time ago, he became a fan of the not-so-jolly green giant and his struggles with his double life and having to be alone so that no one would be hurt. It interested and saddened Button, given Button was pretty familiar with the concept of loneliness.

That aside, from lots of reading of this hero, Button knew that Bruce Banner, the human side of the Hulk, gained pulsing green eyes whenever transforming into his monstrous alter ego. So, normally, Button thought of "brute" and "angry" and "ugly" when green came into his mind.

That particular day, those words and thoughts of the Hulk were not even close to what fell upon him that day. For one, whilst the Hulk was dark green, with black hair, this peculiar gamer had skin white as a ghost, with curly hair purple as lilacs. For another, while the Hulk had square, bulking features, this gamer's face was rounded and smooth, like the top of margarine in a just-opened container.

All of these features in mind then came together, which then formed a realization in Button's mind which completely put him in shock: this gamer wasn't even a guy! It was a girl!

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" the pale girl said, getting herself back up in a frantic motion. " I-I didn't know you were back there!"

Button just sat there, trying to think of what to say, but this was new to him. Never before had Button seen a girl in here, with the exception of little kids in the kid area, or moms forced to sit and watch the kids revel in their youth. Heck, even his own mom went to the clothing store nearby after a few minutes, so even she wasn't seen in the arcade much.

After a few seconds, Button pulled back to reality and managed to stand up. His foot hurt as he stood, having been twisted and clobbered from the trip and collision. His face grimaced at the pain.

"Oh, gosh! Are you OK? Did I hurt your foot?" The girl saw Button in pain, and frantically looked around and tried to think. She looked at the snack bar tables nearby, and then, with carefulness in her movements, took Button by the hand to lead him over to the nearest stool.

Button wobbled on one leg due to the pain, but that wasn't on his mind. What he was focused on was the fact that this random girl was holding his hand! His fingers have never so much has touched his own mom's skin, much less an actual girl's. But then again, lots of abnormal things have happened today!

She set him down, slowly seating himself on the stool, then she ran to the man running the snack bar at the time. Button saw her pointing to him as she explained what happened. The man then went to the back in a huff. After a few moments, he came out holding a first aid, then came to where Button sat.

The man checked Button's ankle with his fingers, Button wincing with pain each time they moved. The purple-haired girl stood nearby, biting her nails and running her fingers through her hair in worry.

"It's alright, I think," the man said, "just a sprain, though I'm not a doctor, so we can't be too sure." He took some bandage out of the kit, and wrapped it around Button's ankle. "This should help that leg." Then, he went back in the back, and pulled out a pair of crutches. "Some kid left these some time ago. Figured they might be useful for something like this"

He gave the crutches to Button, thanked the girl for telling him, and went back behind the counter to help a waiting customer.

The girl sat next to Button. "Are you going to be OK walking around with those?" she asked, a look of concern on her face.

Button just sat there, looking at the girl with wide eyes, both from pain from the leg, and from the continuing question of what to say. It might have been easier if this was just a normal girl, or maybe a little child. This girl was neither. As a matter of fact, she was pretty gorgeous, when Button got a good look at her. Why a girl like her was in a place for people like him was still a question swimming in his head.

After a few seconds, Button managed to spurt out, "I-I-I'll be fine, I think."

"Oh, that's a relief, at least. You can still move around...just on crutches." She sat there, her face awkwardly rethinking what she just said.

"Well, again, I really am sorry for that. I just"-she paused, looking back at the Pac-Man cabinet-"got a bit distracted."

"O-oh, don't worry," Button said, seeing the sorrow on her face, "you didn't do anything."

"Are you sure? What if I hadn't been standing right here? Would your leg have been OK, or at least not broken?" She started filling with worried energy once more. "What if I had never entered this place? What if I just left this place alone and just went home after what happened?!" Anger started to appear on her face, making Button, with worry, start to scoot back. "No, Sweetie Belle. You just had to cool off somewhere besides home. You just had to let your sister get to you! How was I supposed to know that mess wasn't a mess?! Seriously, can't she ever just chill out with the dresses and just be nice?!?" She then, in a final burst, banged the table, making Button jump two feet in fear.

The look of sadness, after a few seconds, replaced the anger on her face, and she, nearly pouring tears, dropped her head onto her crossed arms on the table.

Well, that's the why is she here? question answered, Button thought as she sat there calming down.

She looked up and saw Button in fear and worry. "Sorry," she whimpered out, a few tears having escaped her ducts, "I got in a bit of a quarrel with my sister. Came here to stew." She wiped her eyes. "I never got your name."

Button snapped out of the surprise. "Oh, it's, uh...Button. Button Mash. A g-gamer."

She smiled. "I'm Sweetie. Sweetie Belle. Teenage girl"-she pointed to her frazzled looks-"and bad gamer."

Button looked at her in curiosity. "Well, h-have you ever played a game before?"

"No, actually. I'm..new." She looked at the Pac-Man cabinet again. "Although I did know that one. I didn't know how to play it, so when I came in here, I decided to try it. So far, no luck at winning. Yet, somehow"-she looked right in Button's eyes-"I like it."

Button's head started racing once again. This girl likes Pac-Man, too! And in basically the same way as he did! What a day this has been, Button thought.

"Well, uh..." Button spurted out, a little bravery spreading into his voice, "maybe I could help you. Teach you how to play."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. I've been playing that game for years." He smiled. "It's my favorite game."

"..Yeah." Sweetie's smile grew. "It's growing on me, too, I guess."