A pair of lonely gamers overcome their fears and preconceived notions on Valentine's Day.

Based on a post  by a u guy86, in 3 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time.

Gaming for Love.

“And Smallwood drains it for three!”

Click click click. The digital SLR was zoomed in on the guard at the other end of the court. The $6000 zoom lens made Michael’s photo-journalism look world-class.

Michael Goldman scanned the Auburn Basketball Arena, always looking for the perfect shot for the school newspaper, The Plainsman.

 Allison Smallwood, the star point guard of the women’s basketball team, always made for an excellent target. Not only was she a fantastic athlete, but she was also a pretty blonde with a dazzling smile.

But sometimes a particular fan in the stands caught in a moment of emotional fervor, was just the touch to give the readers a full sense of the game experience.

The drama of heated shouting, or the agony of an athlete rolling on the hardwood, holding a knee which just bent in an unnatural angle. That was what really riveted the subscribers’ attention.

“Foul on Georgia, and Smallwood steps to the free throw line!”

Click. Click.

As he snapped a few more shots, Michael couldn’t help but smile. Even as socially awkward as he was, he seemed to thrive whenever he was on the job. While behind the camera, he was able to see the world around him not as the annoying bunch of people he had to deal with, but as a collection of models waiting for him to capture the perfect moment. Still, it’d be nice to have a sweet girl to go home to after work, but Michael wasn’t holding out much hope. Most girls weren’t attracted to the stereotypical Jewish kid: scrawny with curly black hair, pale skin complexion, and a bit of a large nose. As much as Michael tried to downplay the cliché, there really was no escaping it.

A sudden thud from the court snapped Michael out of his daydream, and he saw one of the other girls down on the floor. A quick glance at his roster sheet told him it was Desiree Bonner, the starting forward. As he went to work with his camera, he was relieved to see that her injuries didn’t look too serious. Soon, she was being tended to by one of the trainers.

“There she is,” Michael breathed.

Michael still had no idea who she was, but the student trainer that worked with the women’s basketball team was nothing short of a knockout. She was maybe 5’5” with light strawberry blonde hair, and her sharp eyes and wry smile seemed to indicate that she had a keen intellect to go with her stunning good looks. As she worked on Desiree, Michael couldn’t help but snap a few shots of the two of them, making sure that both the trainer and player were in focus. What he would give for a shot with her. Soon, the buzzer interrupted his fantasies, forcing him back to reality.

“Well, back to work…”

So it went for the rest of the game. No further injuries occurred for Auburn, so Michael didn’t get any further glimpses of the little goddess that tended to the players. The Lady Tigers kept the game close, but Georgia was just the better team in the end, and the Bulldogs ended up winning 67-62. This didn’t come as a huge surprise to Michael. Throughout the season, the team had proved to be talented but young, with Smallwood being the only real veteran on the team. Considering that she was only a sophomore, the team had nowhere to go but up in the coming seasons.

After a final series of shots as the teams shook hands, Michael texted his boss up in the press box. The reply thanked Michael for his hard work and instructed him to take the rest of the night off; his boss would handle photography at the postgame press conference. This suited Michael just fine, as he had gotten more than enough of people for the day. After packing up his camera gear, he headed out to his bike to begin the trek back to his apartment.

 

A Chiding roommate.

As he reclined on the sofa in his living room, Michael grabbed his Nintendo 3DS and powered up his copy of Pokémon Sun, intending to waste away the rest of the evening with some online battles. On the other side of the room stood Antonio, Michael’s roommate. He was a tall drink of water by any standard, and his dark chocolate skin and shaved head gave him quite a striking appearance. Still, he was as nerdy as Michael was, perhaps even more so, and tried to communicate this with his black horn-rimmed glasses. Of course, with his height and good looks, that only served to make him even more irresistible to the opposite sex. As was his usual Thursday evening routine, he stood with iron in hand, pressing his shirts for the coming weekend, no doubt for a Valentine’s Day date of some sort.

“Dammit,” Michael muttered.

“What’s wrong, man?” Antonio asked.

“Another rage quitter. That’s three in a row!”

“You getting’ that good?” Antonio wondered with a laugh.

“No, the level of competition has definitely gone down in the last few months. Not sure what’s happening. Still, I can’t help it that I’m kicking so much ass!”

“Sounds like you need some stronger competition.”

“Yeah, but I know you don’t play Pokémon anymore.”

“True. I ain’t got the time to put in. But maybe you ought to consider joining the local League?”

“League? I thought you said the president of the A U Pokémon League was a total asshole?” Michael replied.

“He is, but it’s gonna be your best bet for some decent people to play against. Besides, none of them will rage quit on you; it’s against their rules. If they do, they get put on probation. Too many times, and they’re kicked out.”

“Hmm… maybe so. When’s the next meeting?”

“Tomorrow, actually. They meet at the GameStop on University Parkway.”

“Thanks, I’ll check it out.” Hearing the steam from Antonio’s iron, Michael remarked, “Dude, you’re fucking obsessed with clothes. It’s a little disturbing.”

“What can I say? The ladies love a man wearing a freshly pressed shirt!”

“Yeah, right. I’d bet you’re in the closet. Great cover, by the way,” Michael snorted.

“Hey, that hurts,” Antonio whined, feigning a heart attack. “I can’t help it if I’m that much better than you with the women, just like you can’t help it you’re so much better than those idiots online!”

“Yeah, but you could share,” Michael shot back with a grin.

“Sorry, but Antonio don’t kiss and tell,” he replied with a toothy grin. After a moment of silence, he continued, “You see that little hottie at the basketball game again?”

“Yeah, she was there.”

“You should talk to her, man! I bet you two would hit it off real good!”

“Are you nuts?! She’s so far out of my league, I bet she doesn’t even know I exist!” Michael laughed.

“Dude, stop selling’ yourself short. You’re a good guy with some excellent job prospects after you graduate next year. What girl wouldn’t be all over that? And if a girl isn’t all over that, you don’t want her anyway!”

“Easy for you to say, Mr. Ladies’ Geek.”

“Trust me, just chat her up next time you see her. I don’t care when or where it is, introduce yourself and see what happens. You might even be able to get her to go with you to the Valentine’s Day dance in the student union building.”

“No point; I bet she’s got a boyfriend.”

“Don’t hurt to ask, does it?”

“Whatever…”


The next afternoon, Michael arrived at the GameStop on the outskirts of campus. For some odd reason, he felt nervous. He reasoned it was likely just because of a new and unknown situation; once he tried this group out, he had little doubt he’d like it. As he walked in to the shop, he was pleasantly surprised to see at least a dozen people there, all seated at tables. A couple of them were engrossed in discussions or trading card games, but the majority had their 3DS systems out and ready. After a moment, an overweight man with long greasy hair greeted Michael.

“What’s up? You here for the League?”

“Uh, yeah. Thought I’d give it a shot, see what it’s all about,” Michael replied.

“Cool. I’m Eric, the Almighty President of the A U Pokémon League,” the man said with pride. “That’s an official title, by the way.”

“Good to meet you,” Michael answered, hiding his immediate dislike for the man. “Name’s Michael.”

“Lemme show ya around. The rules here are pretty simple,” Eric said, pointing to a poster on the wall.

1. The terms of any battle or trade must be discussed and agreed upon by all parties beforehand.
2. If terms are not discussed, all battles are assumed to take place under standard Overuse (O U) rules in the case of singles or video game championships (VGC) rules for doubles.
3. Any and all disputes will be settled by the Almighty President of the A U Pokémon League.
4. Absolutely no rage quitting; either forfeit or see the battle through to the end. The first offense will result in a warning, second offense will be probation and temporary suspension, and the third offense will result in the player being banned from the League.
5. The Almighty President of the A U Pokémon League may be challenged for leadership at any time by any law-abiding member.
6. These rules may be amended as the Almighty President sees fit, but rules 5 and 6 may not be changed.

“Huh… I like rule four,” Michael remarked. “That’s what brought me here.”

“You’re not alone in that,” Eric replied. “Rage quitting is a huge problem with online gaming, and probably more so with Pokémon than with many other games. In Call of Duty, for instance, a single rage quitter often goes unnoticed. If he’s doing that bad, neither team is likely to miss him. But Pokémon is always one-on-one, so any rage quit ends the match altogether.”

“At least Nintendo is trying to do something about it lately, forcing rage quitters to stay offline for a while before they can play again.”

“Only in ranked battles,” Eric corrected him. “In free battles, there’s nothing stopping them. Anyway, looks like everyone’s paired up for now, but feel free to watch. If anything opens up, you can jump in.”

“What about her?” Michael asked, seeing a girl sitting alone at a table in the far corner of the shop.

“Dude, you don’t want to play her,” Eric said, the disgust apparent in his voice.

“Why not?”

“She cheats. Nobody can figure out how, of course, so we can’t kick her out. But nobody can come close to beating her, and as good as the guys that come here are, she has to be cheating.”

Not believing Eric for one second, Michael replied, “I’ll take my chances.”

“Whatever, dude. Your funeral.”

Despite his promise to “show Michael around,” Eric returned to his seat and began a battle with another member. Michael stared for a moment, watching the pretty brunette with thick glasses seated next to Eric. The way she was hanging on his every move, they had to be an item. Still, Michael could have sworn he saw something in her eyes. It could have been sadness, but it could also have been longing. Either way, Michael decided he wanted as little to do with Eric as possible; a part of him wished he had listened to Antonio. Still, the competition was bound to be better here than online. Turning towards the lone table in the back corner, Michael froze as he realized something.

“Holy shit… it’s her!” he muttered to himself.

Sitting alone at the table was the same girl from the basketball games. Her strawberry blonde hair was unmistakable, even if it was held up by a hair clip rather than in a ponytail. Now that he had his best look ever at this girl, Michael had to concentrate to keep from embarrassing himself with a public erection. Her face was the cutest thing he had ever seen, impish with a slightly rounded tip to her nose. On one side of her nose, he could see a piercing with a tiny faux diamond stud in it. Her front bangs were quite long and side swept over her right eye for a sultry look, even if that wasn’t what she was going for. She wore a black t-shirt with a picture of a very unhappy Princess Peach saying, “Rescue this.” Michael shook his head in disbelief. All this time he had thought this mystery girl a jock, but now, he couldn’t see her as anything other than what she apparently was: a gamer girl. Collecting his courage, he walked over to the open seat across from her.

“If you think I’m gonna fuck you just ‘cause