Dead Flip – Sara Farizan
“THEY HAVE TO LEAVE SOMETIME, ” Derek said as we looked at the group of twelve-year-old boys surrounding Street Fighter II in the arcade near the mall’s food court. They were cheering on a guy my age. Dude was taking his time trying to get his K.O. but I was fine with that. Derek didn’t know that I preferred video games on home consoles or that arcades made me uneasy. He was my best friend, but there was a lot we didn’t talk about. “I think they’re in it to win it,” I said, mimicking Coach Gillis and punching at the air with my fist. “Want to kill some time on original Street Fighter?” Derek asked. I looked over toward the game, but I could only focus on the two pinball machines behind it, both neglected in the darkness. I took a deep breath and turned around. I had to get out. “Let’s go to Sam Goody instead.” “Sure,” Derek said. “I can’t wait for Insecticide to come out.” We turned into the bright light of the food court. “Eh.” I shrugged. “You can’t party to Nirvana. Except for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ Then it’s like you read the lyrics and it’s such a bummer. Wreckx-n-Effect, now that’s the future of music.” “That’s what you said about Kris Kross.” “Yeah, because ‘Jump’ was genius!” I bounced up and down in front of Derek until I bumped into someone. “Sorry!” I turned around to find I’d gotten in the way of two young women.