On the short ride home, Jace got to be surrounded by the gang, all of them chatting away about the day. It felt like a major life change. Now on a new route, Lucy was the one who kept to herself at the back of the bus instead of Millie. She would be getting off later, and as Wessy mentioned, she never interacted with him on the ride.

Once the eight of them stepped off onto a corner curb, Zach, his red backpack hanging off his shoulder in a cool way, proposed to the others, “I was thinking all day, since The Dump’s off limits right now, we never really got our ‘hangout’ time, ya know? So, hear me out. Know that Circle K on Kettle, right at the neighborhood entrance?”

“Yeah, sure,” Colin replied. “I get my gas station type snacks there.”

“This is about more than your Combos and gummy sharks, Colin. I think we should start hanging out in the front, like the middle schoolers sometimes do.”

“Eh, I dunno,” Wessy said. “Are we old enough? If I’m late getting home…”

“You have fun with that if you actually do it,” Sadie replied. “Me and Ash already have plans at her house, anyway.”

Ash told Arty, “Mom’s gonna wonder where you are if only I show up.”

“Yeah…” he sighed. “I’d love to, guys, but I should at least ask permission first.”

“All right, maybe next time,” Jared said. “But I’m in, Zach. My folks aren’t home until dinner anyway. House gets pretty boring after school.”

“I’ll do it, I guess,” Wessy signed up. “Mom’s always trying to keep me ‘social.’”

“Welp, if it’s a waste of time, we’ll never do it again,” Zach promised them.

So, instead of heading to their respective houses, the five K-goers turned towards the edge of the neighborhood and walked the few blocks to the Kettle Road highway. The convenience store was close to the official Desert Tree entrance, and it was one of the busiest gas stations nearby. All of their parents frequently stopped to fuel up on the way into or out of the neighborhood, making it familiar ground for everyone.

A couple slightly older kids had beaten them there and were already hanging around outside, slurping away at big frozen ICEE drinks. Once the younger set got a little closer and were dodging the cars that were pulling in, Jace recognized the pair. He didn’t exactly want to see them again, but it wasn’t as if he could turn back now.

The kid with the braces stopped drinking and called out to Jace. “H-hey! I know you!” He then nudged the shorter kid near him. “Stu, look! It’s, uh… Angry Boy.”

“Angry Boy? Pfft!” Jared said with a laugh.

“Really?” Jace sighed. “It’s Jason, remember?”

“Jason, right…” Stu replied, then looked at Jared. “He flipped out on Hungry Hippos at the mall arcade last year, back during summer, I think.”

“Ah, so you got the pink one,” Colin said and cleaned his glasses with his shirt.

“You guys middle-schoolers?” Zach asked them.

“Yeah, Cookton. Seventh grade,” Braces answered, and took a sip again.

“Whoa, Jason, you hang out with pre-teens?” Wessy wondered.

He scratched his head. “Just once… Wasn’t even really my idea… Anyway, where’s Gavin? Does he still hang out with you guys?”

“Wait, Gavin Patile?” Wessy looked at the two. “Vanni’s step-brother?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Stu said, finished his ICEE, and tossed it into the nearby garbage bin just as a couple of tourists left the store. “He’s inside, playing the same rare arcade game he always does when we come here.”

“So… he just ignores you,” Jared surmised. “Yeah, good friend.”

Braces—Mikey, Jace just remembered—added his drink to the bin and shrugged. “At least they have slushies. Hey, if you see him, tell him we left for Blockbuster.”

With that, they hopped onto their waiting bikes and headed off down the road.

“Man, I can’t wait to be in middle school…” Zach said plaintively. “Just to go anywhere you want on your bike, even to Blockbuster by yourself…”

The happy entrance bell dinged when they headed inside, and they soon found Gavin off in a corner, jamming away on the store’s only arcade cabinet, an ICEE sitting next to the joystick. They approached to say hi and got a look at the game, a fast-paced space shooter with bright lines and bassy sci-fi sound effects. The young arcade ace noticed the kids in the screen’s reflection, and turned around once he got a game over.

“That you, Wes?” Gavin said coolly and finished off his beverage. “And, uh, um… Jason, right? From the mall? I didn’t know you two were buds. Hey, Wes, you’re not still mad about Area 51, right? Galaxy Hub’s got a new, permanent cabinet now.”

Wessy smirked and said self-assuredly, “And I’m already on its top ten.”

“Your name’s also still on Vanni’s Double Dragon. I’m bumping it down, though.”

“Hey, that was a good game. I earned my score.”

“You better not be hitting on my sister or something. That’d be creepy, dude.”

“Are you kidding? Gross. What game is that, anyway?”

“What, Tac/Scan? It’s a rare vector title. The K’s the only place in town that has a copy. King Arcade only has a couple vectors… I’ve always liked ‘em. I’ve been feeding the thing quarters since it showed up here in 1988,” he said and gave the machine a pat.

“Man, I love King Arcade, but it already feels like I’ve seen it all,” Jared said.

“Funny you should mention that. The park’s trying out something new. You heard about this? They just announced some big laser tag tourney next month.”

“Seriously?” Zach replied, his sunglassed eyes big. “That sounds awesome.”

“Wonder why Arthur didn’t mention it…” Colin said. “His dad works there.”

Gavin added, “Me and the boys are trying to get a bunch of water gun practice in. None of us have laser guns, but, ya know, next closest thing. Anyway. Gotta go.”

Wessy asked, “You have water gun games, too? We should compete sometime.”

“What, with you guys? Hm. Sure you want to go up against middle-schoolers?”

“Anytime! We’ll get together on a block neither team has played on, so it’s fair.”

“Oh, you’re on!” Gavin went to the exit, adding, “And we have a secret weapon.”

• •

The five did some minor loitering outside, each of them with a different drink in hand as they chilled out on a cool January afternoon and watched cars come and go.

“Who needs The Dump, anyway?” Jared asked, eyeing the overflowing trash bin near the store windows. “We’re way more exclusive, and even have our own dumpster.”

“We don’t have a bouncer, though,” Colin noted. “Are we really going to have a Bullet Water game with some seventh-graders? They’re probably more experienced.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Wessy replied. “We just gotta get some practice in and maybe try to… ya know, ‘fix’ the block that gets picked, make ‘em think we never played it.”

“Hm…” Zach thought. “Come to think of it, we’ve never seen Jace’s place.”

“He lives way out at that old people place, The Pelican, or… something.”

“Actually,” Jace spoke up, “we just moved to Desert Tree. I’m on your bus now, remember?” The others turned and looked at him. “Uh, but I don’t know the address yet. Crap, I’m not even sure if I could find my new house! Ugh… I gotta call Dad.”

This gave the five of them their first group laugh at their new hangout.

• •

There was a sleepover on the first Saturday of the year, at Wessy’s again. It was nothing special, and Jace had gotten used to them. As a McDonald’s copy of The Addams Family movie played on his TV, the boys got locked into a two-hour long binge and discussion of past Nintendo Power issues from Wessy’s collection. They shared secrets, tips, and game codes—and read off a few gamer letters out loud in funny voices.

The following Saturday was the big movie event, and Big Wes made sure to keep the schedule clear so Jace wouldn’t skip out on Ash and the others again. But Jace had to wonder why his uncle kept smirking whenever the movie Bio-Dome was brought up between them, and ended up assuming it was just a hilarious movie from his youth.

Jared’s dad was one of the drivers and adults for the day. He was hauling his son, in the passenger seat, and Jace and Wessy in the back of his big pickup truck’s cab. This was Jace’s introduction to Jared’s pop, and he now wished he could have gone with Arthur’s dad, who was taking the others in his larger, more spacious van.

Worse, Jared’s dad looked like a nervous wreck of a human and always seemed to have a cigarette in his mouth or hand, which he would toss out of the truck window.

“All I’m saying, Jared…” his dad said at a stoplight after a smoker’s cough, “why do you and all your friends gotta get together for almost every movie ya see?”

“It’s not every movie, Dad. It’s something we like to do maybe once a month.”

“It’s gotta be a pain in the ass to organize, getting everyone together like that.”

“Uh, no, not really. Saturdays are pretty much easy for all of us. Besides, Wes is the one that does all the organizing and planning.”

Jared’s dad looked at Wes in the rearview mirror, who noticed and grinned back.

“I don’t know about you, Wes…” he said with a groan. “Do you see yourself as the alpha of the pack or something? And that Charlie kid…”

“Charlie hasn’t been around for over a year, pops…” Jared said with a sigh.

“I’m only saying, he was a bad influence. Had to be if he went to juvie.”

“He went to reform school, Dad. There’s a difference. I think. Wes is a good kid.”

“Maybe a little spoiled,” Jace interjected. “But, yeah, he’s… you can trust him.”

Wes looked at him, maybe a little miffed about being called spoiled. But then the excitement of another movie day erased all of that as they pulled into the packed parking lot for the Royal Mega 18 theater, the pickup truck among the ugliest of the vehicles.

Arthur’s dad, along with his twin kids and Sadie, Zach, and Colin had beaten them there and were waiting outside the theater in the middle of the box office line.

Amid the kids’ banter and greetings, the dads also knew each other, with Arthur’s telling Jared’s, “Hey, there you are. Had me worried you weren’t going to make it.”

“I wasn’t going to miss a Pauly Shore flick. Guy always gives me a laugh. I ever tell you I met his mom once? Back when I went to the Comedy Store in LA…”

“Yes. Yes, you have.” After the line nudged forward again, the twins’ dad added, “So… do you want me to tell you what Entertainment Weekly gave this now, or later?”

“Don’t tell me at all. You know I don’t trust critics.”

“Hey, Jared, you gonna get one of those kid combos again?” Sadie teased him.

“Well, yeah, probably. It’s a good deal, so what? Popcorn, soda, and a fruit snack for five bucks.” Seeing that the others were smiling at him, he groaned, “Come on…”

“You just don’t want to share a bucket with the rest of us,” Colin proclaimed.

“W-well, you know… all of those hands, reaching in and grabbing…”

“And you’re also six,” Zach said and shared a very bro-ish first bump with Colin.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. At least I buy it myself with my own allowance.”

“Hey, guys, don’t forget that this is Jason’s first movie with the whole gang,” Ash reminded them. “I think we should let him sit closest to the middle.”

“That’s nice, but you… don’t have to,” Jace replied. “I can sit wherever.”

Once they reached the box office, Arthur’s dad counted everyone up and bought eight tickets—Jared’s dad excluded, who as a fellow adult would be paying for his own.

Inside and under the neon lights and chrome-trim roof of the lobby, they got in the snack line. Wessy took the kids’ share of a few bucks each to pay for the big bucket of popcorn, two candies, and two sodas for the gang to share, with Jace chipping in two dollars. Ash put in a little more to secure her prized Lemonheads as one of the candies.

“These things are gross, but whatever…” Wessy moaned as he grabbed a box for her, and peanut M&Ms for the others. He paid for everything and handed out the concessions as Jared got his kiddie pack, adding, “You gonna eat ‘em all by yourself?”

“Nope,” she replied. “This time, I can share them with your new buddy here.”

“How cute,” Sadie said as they headed to the dads waiting by the ticket-taker.

Ash rolled her eyes and grabbed a handful of bucket popcorn. “Yeah, sure…”

After making their way through the main hall’s river of coming and going movie-goers, they found their theater and took the seats half-way up and dead center. The dads let the kids have their independence, sitting a few rows farther up where they chatted as the pre-preview ads played on the screen and the rest of the seats quickly filled up.

“But seriously, Arty…” Zach sounded like he was continuing some conversation from their van ride. “Your dad sounded pretty excited about the laser tag game, since he’s kind of in charge of it. Why didn’t you tell us about it earlier?”

“I told you… it just slipped my mind. I wasn’t thinking much about it.”

“Well, we’re totally signing up when registration opens. Right, Wes?”

“Ah, yeah, of course,” Wessy assured. “I just… don’t know about the team yet.”

Once the previews began rolling, Ash opened the candy box and offered some to Jace, who spread his hands and tried to keep from nervously sweating as she poured. He had somehow ended up in between her and Sadie, making him feel pretty self-conscious.

But any sense of self at all faded away by the time they were just five minutes into the movie. Following a few forced, awkward laughs from most of the group at first, the kids didn’t know what to feel. They wondered if what they were watching could even be considered film, when it was nothing but 90 minutes of two “dudes” acting incredibly stupid, making fun of the scientists trapped in the titular bio-dome with them.

By the time the scene arrived where the main character bros were comparing the smells of their farts, it sounded like Jared and his dad were the only ones in the theater still laughing, to the others’ disbelief. Eventually, the kids looked at him and stared.

“Does he really find this funny?” Sadie muttered.

“These characters are so stupid,” Zach moaned and slid farther down in his seat.

Wessy told the others, “I’d make fun of this like the MST bots, but… it’s just so painful. Maybe I would’a found this funny when I was, like, eight.”

Sucking on a Lemonhead, Jace replied, “Guess we’re all pretty mature, right?”

“Some of us…” Ash said, watching Jared as he was closing in on a heart attack.

“I… I can’t anymore, guys. Sorry…” Colin suddenly announced and stood up.

“Where you going, man?” Wessy asked him, but got no response. He shrugged and took the popcorn bucket from Colin’s empty seat. “Oh, well. More for us.”

Just barely tolerating the film, Ash offered Jace more candy. So, it wasn’t all bad.