Role Play - Alison Hendricks Page 0,1

at the claw machine arguing with it when I walked in."

"It moves weird," he said, after taking a sip of an overly frothy beer. "You stop the damn thing and then you have to wait while it swings. Time's practically up before you can drop it."

"You know all these machines are rigged, right?" I asked. "They're eClaws."

"They're what now?'

"It's a brand of claw machine that's rigged to only pay out at certain times. On average, you have to feed it like ten to fifteen plays before it pays out with a prize."

Tina snorted, lifting her own beer to her lips. Keith was just staring at me incredulously.

"Elliot. I love you, but you are the dorkiest person I've ever met in my life. How do you even know that? How do you even know claw machines have different brands?"

"Why wouldn't they?" I asked with a shrug. "Different manufacturers, and--you know what, never mind."

Keith and Tina were both laughing, though Tina at least had the decency to giggle quietly and cover her mouth. Keith just let out these loud, gasping guffaws that showed off his teeth. I definitely wasn't going to tell them I liked watching people play crane games on YouTube. Nope. They didn't need any more ammunition. They had plenty listening to me gush about the kids I worked with at Horizon Youth Center and the latest adventure they'd been on in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign I was running for them.

Not that I was ashamed of my interests. I was a high school English teacher, so by law I was required to either be a stern, smack-you-on-the-knuckles-with-a-ruler type, the type that referenced meme culture in an effort to relate to the kids, or just your standard, run-of-the-mill nerd. The last had always fit me best.

"How much money did you waste on that thing anyway?" I asked.

"Not much," he said, waving it off.

"Not much" by Keith's standards probably meant way too much for a teacher's salary. Keith had always had champagne taste on a beer budget, though. Except when it came to actual alcohol. Then he was content to drink the worst beer imaginable, even if it was room temperature.

I ordered one too, though, when the server came back. I at least had the decency to order one from a local line, though. I'd watched First Magnitude brewery since its early days, having gone through the same teaching program as one of the founders. She and I hadn't even spoken since then, but I felt like I was somehow a part of it, cheering her and her husband on.

I also ordered a burger, and we got some onion rings to split amongst the three of us. Mainly because Keith insisted. Dave and Buster’s food was just okay to me. A little too greasy for my tastes. But, it was pretty close to the school campus, so it was an easy place to meet up after work.

We talked for a bit while waiting on our food to come. AP exams were coming up, and all three of us taught a couple AP classes. English for me, European History for Keith, and Biology for Tina. Keith also had the women's volleyball team to worry about, and regionals were coming up soon for them. I could tell by how much he was rambling that he was nervous about their chances.

"Three of my girls are good enough to get a full ride as Gators. A couple more could play at Santa Fe. But, I swear to God, something happens every time they get together before a match. I've had to pick up girls from parties before because they were too drunk to get home and didn't want to call their parents. Somehow, they're less worried about me seeing them like that, the night before a match, than their own flesh and blood."

He continued to rant, even continuing after the food arrived. Tina and I both knew for as much as Keith complained about it, he was grateful to be someone his girls trusted so much. He'd told us once about one of his players ending up in a dangerous situation with a boyfriend who didn't want to take no for an answer. He'd come just shy of assaulting a seventeen-year-old, but he'd wanted to focus on her and just getting her someplace she felt safe. He'd even fibbed a little to her parents to explain where she'd been.

He was a good guy, even if he didn't always act on it. And I could admit,