I sucked in a breath before ducking into the bowling alley. The arcade and bowling alley. The bar, arcade, bowling alley. Barcade bowling alley? The bouncer at the front checked my ID.

“You know this expired, right?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh. Is that an issue?” I asked, taking it back and looking at it. The last license I had was back before I visited the other world.

The bouncer laughed, waving me on with no complaint.

It just clicked that I would have to get a driver’s license again. I mentally groaned, stepping past dozens of machines. They blasted the room in sound and light, a dancing kaleidoscope of colors escaping the labyrinth of arcade machines, along with a cacophony of foreign music and sound. People played and smiled and laughed, totally carefree and living in the moment. I kept my hands in my pockets, stepping past the labyrinth of games and air-hockey tables and claw machines, weaving through the tables outside the bar, and towards the bowling lanes.

Kim waved me down at one lane, holding up a pair of shoes and pointing at them. I made my way to her table, moving to sit down. It was just her and one other person. She intercepted me, launching into a quick hug, squeezing me with the superhuman strength Awakened possessed.

“I think you’re suffocating him.” Mozz said. He had long brown hair that fell over his face, and he flipped his head to move it out of his eyes, staring at me. He was sitting above a plate full of chicken tenders.

“Mozz, this is Rain, Rain, this is Mozz!” Kim said the moment she let go, ecstatic. “We’ve been raiding together since… ah, since I lost my job.”

“Hey! You look so familiar.” He said, leaning forward.

“We met once.” I said. “At the church?”

“Oh, my god. Yeah!” He blinked. “You’re Awoken! What class are you?”

I finished fitting the bowling shoes on, looking to Kim for help to answer that question. I didn’t even know what classes there were.

“Rain’s a Vanguard. Brawler.” Kim said, typing into the little screen that controlled their lane. She typed in her name, and it popped up on the screen above the lane.

“Brawler, huh? I guess I can see it. I never get to meet magic users.” Mozz sighed before taking over the console, typing his name in.

I copied them, pecking at my name and hitting enter.

KIM, MOZ, and RAI displayed on the screen.

“Its missing a letter.” I said. Mozz laughed.

“It’ll be fine.” Kim replied, waving a hand. Then she squinted at something behind me.

I tensed, swiveling quickly, causing the man behind me to jump.

“Whoa! Sorry. Kim?” He said. He wore a polo with a logo of a unicorn emblazoned on it, already wearing bowling shoes. His eyes jumped between me, Kim, and the bowling screen, and then he turned around. There was a group of people in matching shirts. He waved at them and yelled “Guys, play next round without me! I’m gonna join my friends over here!”

“Oh. Brian. We don’t really—“ Kim started to reply.

“It’s okay! I already paid for my shoes and everything. Brought my own ball too.” He raised the bag he carried in his right hand, smiling. Kim sighed.

“Okay, fine. Sure.” Kim said, and Brian tapped a card to the sign in.

His full name appeared under our little three letter ones. ‘Brian Murphy’. Below it were a bunch of little digital metals and badges. He sat at our table without invite, pulling the bowling ball out of his bag. I leaned back from him, looking towards Kim. She rolled her eyes at me, then shrugged.

“How’d you get your full name up?” I asked, pointing. “It cut me off in three letters…”

“Have to have a card.” Brian replied, fiddling with the card in his hand. It showed his face and ID. “Yeah I got one ‘cause I come to tourneys here all the time. I’m pretty well known around here, actually.”

I nodded. That made sense.

“Yeah, check this bad boy out. Won the last tournament with it.” He pulled a bowling ball out — its sparkling finished revealed care and polish, translucent through the middle except for gold flecks.. I didn’t know if it was impressive or anything — I know nothing about bowling balls. But he acted like it was impressive, placing it on the table and looking up at Kim with a smile. “Scored a 240.”

“I’m gonna go get a drink.” Kim said, standing from the table abruptly and walking to the counter.

“So how do you guys know Kim?” Brian asked, switching topics instantly. Mozz looked up from his plate of food, jumping back into the conversation.

“We work together at the church!” Mozz replied.

Brian looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

It took me a moment to realize he was prompting me to speak.

“Oh, uh, I… we’re Awoken.” I replied.

Brian smiled. “No way! Me too. Kim actually took me on one of my first raids, but… I decided it wasn’t for me, haha.”

Mozz looked up at that, raising his eyebrows. “Okay. what class are you?”

“Magi.” Brian replied proudly, a smug smile creeping up his face.

Mozz’s eyes lit up. “Show me!”

“Technically not supposed to indoors…” Brian said. “But…”

He raised a hand over the bowling ball, making it spin before levitating off the table. Brian smiled. “I’m a Conjurer with the Force concept.” He pushed the ball in mid-air over to the bowling ball rack, setting it down gently.”

“So cool…” Mozz whispered. I raised an eyebrow. He possessed a high level of finesse in the manipulation, but that wasn’t much. He lacked actual power to back it up, and his muscles tensed even at that. Just hovering the bowling ball had clearly taken a lot out of Brian, despite him trying to pretend it was easy. Of course, a normal person wouldn’t notice those things. I had trained for years to read the body language that comes from someone exerting themselves, normally right before they strike.

“Hey!” Kim said. “Don’t get us kicked out!” She sat back at the table, beer in hand.

“Sure, sure.” Brian replied, waving her concern away with a smile. “Ladies first.” He waved at the ball rack. Kim rolled her eyes.

“I’m first in order, anyway.” She said, taking a last drink before walking up to the ball rack and sending the bowling ball flying down the lane. She took out 7 of the pins, performing admirably. The other 3 sat together on one side — at least it wasn’t split. She knocked the other 3 down easily, coming back to the table with a smile.

“That was a good try! Your form was a little off, though.” Brian offered with a too-happy smile, as Mozz switched places. Mozz’s first shot knocked 3 pins off the side, and his second guttered.

“Warming up. How long has it been since you bowled, Rain? Don’t make me look bad, please.” Mozz said with a laugh, shaking his hands.

I looked at him, then towards the ball rack. “Feels like centuries.” I replied, getting up.

I stepped to the rack, picking the red ball, feeling the weight in my hand. It really had been centuries. I played with it, test swinging twice before letting go. The ball moved slowly and surely down the lane, knocking down probably more than half the pins. The second swing knocked down 3 more.

I headed back to the table, my eyes scanning the bowling alley. It was so full of people and life.

And none of them were looking at me.

“How much are those?” Mozz asked, pointing at Kim’s beer and loudly interrupting something Brian was saying.

Brian scoffed, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair before addressing me.

“Nice try, man.” He said, slapping me on my the shoulder. “How often do you bowl?”

I laughed awkwardly. “Its been a few years, at least. So… not very.”

“Just keep at it! You’ll be as good as me in no time.” Brian said. “When I first started, I couldn’t score above a 150. Now I can get 300s, easy.” Brian offered a too smug smile, oozing confidence and condescension. I laughed awkwardly, not sure if he was joking or not.

“It’s your turn.” Kim said, drinking and staring at Brian.

“Oh right. Watch this, guys.” He stood, walking to the lane and grabbing his ball. He played with it a few times, taking fake swings before releasing it. The ball spun as it rolled down the track, curving before impacting right into the front of the pins. Something was off about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

He hit a perfect strike.

The conversations between bowling were awkward and stiff whenever Brian was at the table.. He interjected in every conversation, offering advice, complimenting Kim, and bragging.

Brian looked like a lost puppy looking for attention. By Brian’s 2nd go, I had noticed something funny. I was observing the ball. Half way down the lane, it seemed to speed up. Just a bit. Not even something most people would likely notice.

He was cheating.

Why? There was nothing riding on this game. I scanned his expression. He looked back at me, flickering for just a moment to a concerned expression. Kim was about to stand up when I leaned forward.

“We should make a game out of this.” I said, before she could go. Brian raised an eyebrow. Mozz nursed a beer.

“What kind of game?” Brian asked, first to respond.

“A drinking game, of course. What do you guys think, one shot every time we miss a pin?”

Mozz’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to talk, but Brian interrupted.

“That won’t be fair. I haven’t missed any.”

“Fair.” I replied. “What if you drank a shot for every single pin you missed? That shouldn’t be too much for you, right? You are Awakened, after all.”

“True, true! How about this, too: whoever takes the most shots pays?” Brian said.