Nancy wasn't really feeling up for going out on New Year's Eve. Her boss had given her a hard time about a mistake she had made at work. She was so tired of always feeling like the punching bag in the office. Her friends however had convinced her to go out with them for bowling and pizza, promising the partying would make her forget about the whole thing. Nancy decided to give it a try.
Nancy walked through the doors and took in all the sensations of the bowling alley. They had multi-colored strobe lights and several televisions playing hit songs that had come out that year. Nancy looked around and saw her friends waving her over to the lane they got. Nancy walked over to them and sat down at the corner of the table. Glasses of champagne and beer were being distributed liberally. Nancy grabbed a glass of champagne and took a few sips. Nancy spoke very little. Her friends drank wildly and seemed to forget she was even there.
After playing a round, Nancy decided to take advantage of the hour of free games in the arcade, needing a break from her friends getting drunk and rowdy.
Nancy stepped into the comparatively quiet arcade and began playing ski ball. One by one she rolled the balls up but struggled to get one in the center hole.
"Hey," a deep voice said, "Do you want to know a secret?"
Nancy turned around to look at who was speaking to her. It was a tall tan man with short spiky black hair. He wore a black shirt with a skull and crossbones on it, and a silver-colored chain around his neck. Her eyes studied the muscles on his arm.
"What secret?" she asked.
"If you kick the left side as it rolls up, it will go right into the center hole," he said.
Nancy turned around and kicked the left side as her ball went up. True to his word, it went right into the center hole and several tickets spewed forth from the machine.
Nancy smirked. "Thanks for teaching me how to cheat," she teased.
"No problem," he smirked, "Now you have a shot at winning the big candy bar instead of the little one."
Nancy laughed briefly before covering her mouth. "So, who are you anyway?" she asked.
"Kyle," he said, "I used to play a lot of these games when I was a kid. I know all the tricks of the trade."
"I'll bet you do," she said. Her eyes studied his body. He had an athletic physique, and her eyes were drawn to his muscled arms.