Arnold gulped. He wasn’t used to being in such high pressure situations, and this one went far beyond high pressure.

If he failed this, he failed his entire life. His whole plan evaporated in an instant the second he messed up.

Kat worked part-time at Jawa Juice or whatever the place was called (sure, he could look up and see the sign, but it wasn’t like him to pay that much attention to something so irrelevant), and so Arnold only had to wait outside of the store for about two hours before he knew she had started working and would be bored enough to get in a good conversation with him.

So, acting like it was just some bizarre coincidence, he strolled into the cafe, hands in his jacket pockets and kicking the feet up to his new shoes he had just bought with graduation allowance (a mere fifteen thousand credits, because he was the youngest child that nobody cared about).

“Kat, what a surprise to see you here,” he said. “I almost forgot you worked here.”

She rolled her eyes. “You come here all the time.”

“Nah, just a surprise.”

“...Okay.”

He walked up closer and got all the way to the cash register. He leaned over and placed his elbows on the counter so he could see her up close and give her his signature Arnold-y grin.

What a babe Kat was. Even in her work outfit, with that loose-fitting apron and a hat that covered up her otherwise lovely head of hair, her torso was just bursting at the seams trying to get itself out to the world. Her body knew it was one worth looking at, and the only person who seemed to disagree was Kat herself. She pulled back her inviting, perky breasts and leaned her own face forward, looking at Arnold with disapproval.

“Get off the counter,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am,” he said with a wink.

“One of these days, Arnold Jacques,” she said. “One of these days, I’m going to...”

“Going to what? Bed me?”

“Not in your dreams, Arnie,” she groaned playfully. Or... was it playfully? Was she rejecting him here and now? Or was it just some banter? He couldn’t tell, and it was starting to make him extremely nervous.

Was Kat into him or not?

“So, you remember that favor you owe me?” Arnold asked slyly.

“What are you talking about?”

“I got valedictorian, so you owe me a favor. Right?”

“Uh...” Kat looked upwards as if trying to recall a memory that was simply not coming to her head, but before she could realize the truth of its nonexistence, he butted back in.

“I think I have a good idea of what you can do,” he said.

Her face went flush. “Arnold, I...”

“You know how you’re a runner right?” Arnold’s question was so awkward, and he knew it. She thought he wanted to ask her out or something, because of that stupid bed joke he made a second ago, and he just ruined everything. What a loser. What a loser! Ugh.

“Yes. I do know how I’m a runner, Arnold.”

“I’m not going to college,” he rushed the words out as quickly as his mouth would allow them. “Look, I know you’re going to think that this is a dumb idea, but I found a broker and I decided it was the best option.”

“A broker? Arnold, what the hell are you talking about?”

“You’re going to see my tower-- Shit, that’s not what I meant. You’re going to see in a second, because I am in the tower now. I mean, I have a subscription.”

“You WHAT.”

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“I got an offer, so I took it. I got a subscription. Now I’m in the Tower of Somnus and I’m a player. Kat, I’m a player.”

Kat looked at him like he had committed a murder. “How. Much. Did. You. Pay.”

“My dad transferred my college tuition into my personal account,” Arnold responded with what little strength he had left. “I just need to raise a level or two and he’ll be fine. I’ll make all the money back and then some. Plus, watch this:” He held out his hand, and a very weak ball of fire swirled around in his palm. Magic Somnus powers or whatever.

“Oh my God, Arnold. You really did it.”

“One hundred thousand credits for a single subscription,” he admitted.

“God Arnold,” Kat shook her head in shame, her arms crossed in front of her bouncy, radiating chest. “Why even bother to sit in for the aptitude test if you knew that you weren’t going to college?”

“For you,” he said. “I wanted to impress you by beating that bitch Anna.”

“Hey, screw you. Anna’s a cool person,” Kat said. “She might be a little mean on the outside, but she’s honestly a decent girl when you get to know her.”

“A decent slut, more like. I hear the stories the guys tell about her in the locker room.”

“When are you ever in a locker room, pudgy?”

“It’s a figure of speech.”

“Anyway,” Kat said, “Anna’s not a ‘slut,’ not that it matters to you anyway. She’s had sex like, three times. I would know because... You know.”

Arnold’s eyes opened wide. “‘You know?’ No, I don’t know. Please enlighten me.”

Kat shrugged. “Yeah, it happened.”

“You couldn’t have...”

“You know, after me and Danyel broke it off, I was so upset, and then I had just finished a running job near the library. Anna was there reading some book and I saw her and... we just hit it off pretty well. Then, you know.”

“My God, Kat. You slept with Anna.”

“Yes, obviously,” she said. “I just told you that.”

“Still, you can’t know if she’s only done it three times, I mean, from what all the guys say--”

“No, trust me.”

“Kat, I have it on VERY good word that Anna is a total wh--”

“I took her virginity, Arnold, and that was like two weeks ago so it’s definitely just been me and her, okay?” Kat’s face was entirely red, both out of embarrassment at talking about this sort of stuff with him, at work no less, and anger for having to spell it out so plainly. “Anna’s a sweet girl. I don’t really like her in that way, not really my type, but it’s kind of nice having her tag along with me sometimes like a little puppy with a crush. I think she wants to take me out on a date after work, actually.”

Arnold couldn’t think of any reply that wouldn’t make her angrier at him. She knew his opinion on Anna, and it wasn’t something he would shake easily. Hearing that his own best friend, the girl he’d been in love with for ten years, had shacked up with his worst enemy... really hit him hard. It also made his mind reel imagining two really hot girls just going at it, but now was not the appropriate time to be thinking of such sensual, skin-on-skin contact.

But this wasn’t a day where he could make any mistakes, so he moved on.

“She’s still a bitch, anyway,” he muttered under his breath, failing to move on like he had hoped.

“Listen, you moron. I had sex a few times with a girl you hate, I get it. But I’m not the one who spent my entire college savings on a video game from space. That’s you.”

“Not a video game,” he corrected.

“Huh?”

“Two video games.”

“...”

“Yeah, so, the favor...”

“Arnold...”

“You’ve got to hear me out on this one,” he said. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“I’ll assume you are a moron of gigantic proportions, but only until you prove me otherwise.”

“You see,” he scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Somnus involves a lot more fighting than I thought. Everyone hears the stories about the master crafters climbing level after level, but without a megacorp supporting you, that just doesn’t happen. And since I’m not going to college, I won’t have Ike Holdings, A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of GroCorp, helping me out.”

“So you’ve played already?” Kat asked.

“Yep. A few nights in a row already. It’s really fun. But... I don’t know if I’m actually any good at this. Right now I’m fighting things with a sword, and I’ve almost cut my hands off four times in three days.”

“That’s terrifying,” she said. “And so you...”

Arnold grabbed Kat’s right hand with both of his and looked her straight in the eye. “That’s why I need you. You’re my only hope of reaching level two. My only hope of making this investment worth it.”

“...”

“I bought the second subscription for you, Kat. I can’t sell it back. If the corporation finds out I was selling on the black market, they’ll fire my whole family. And I’ll be killed by my own family if my dad finds out what I did with my tuition.”

“I can’t help you pay that money back, Arnold. That’s way out of my price range. Like, entire lifetime levels of out of my price range.”

“But you can fight. You can survive. And you’re my best friend.”

Kat gulped.

And that was when he realized he had won her over.

She was going to take his subscription.

Everything going exactly according to plan. Soon, they’d be together for good.