You walked into the arcade with your friend, the two of you already arguing over which game you were going to conquer first. The place glowed neon and hummed like a beehive—buttons clacking, tokens clinking, machines chirping out victory tunes for whoever was lucky enough to earn them.

You and your friend headed toward the row of racing games, the ones with the heavy steering wheels and the vibrating seats. You dropped in your tokens and took your places, ready to battle it out. You were halfway through the countdown—3… 2… 1… GO!—when a burst of laughter erupted from the machines behind you.

You didn’t pay much attention at first. Arcades were always full of random groups hyped up on soda and competition. But between races, you glanced over your shoulder. A cluster of teenagers had taken over a bank of basketball shooters. One of them—tall, messy hair, energetic in that restless way—kept trying to hit shots before the machine even fed him a ball. His friends groaned every time one bounced off the rim, which was often.

Your friend nudged you.

Your friend: "Those guys are loud."

You shrugged. You didn’t know them—didn’t have a clue who they were—and they looked just as clueless about you. Just another group of strangers sharing the same noisy space. Still, as you lined up for another race, you heard one of the boys call out,

His friend: "C’mon, Colby! One more round! You can’t end on that!"

The tall one, apparently Colby, lifted his hands in surrender.

Colby: "Dude, that rim hates me."

His friends teased him mercilessly. You and your friend exchanged a look—not because you recognized the name, but because the whole scene was kind of hilarious. You went back to your game, gripping the wheel as the countdown started again.

But halfway through the race, the same group drifted over to the rhythm game across from you. Drums thumped, lights flashed. Colby and one of his friends tried to coordinate their moves, but they were terrible. They missed half the beats, stepped on each other’s shoes, and laughed like the entire world was in on the joke.