Mr. and Mrs. Borden gave Roy permission to have supper with Colin.  The boys ate at the counter at Charlie's Cafe, basking in the incomparably wonderful aroma of bubbling grease and onions.  Colin paid the check.

From the diner they went to the Pinball Pit, an amusement arcade that was one of the chief gathering places for young people in Santa Leona.  It was a Friday night, and the Pit was crowded with kids feeding coins to pinball machines and a wide variety of electronic games.

Half the customers knew Roy.  They called to him, and he called back.  "Ho, Roy!"  "Ho, Pete!"  "Hi there, Roy!"  "What ya say, Walt?"  "Roy!"  "Roy!"  "Here, Roy!"  They wanted to challenge him to games or tell him jokes or just talk.  He stopped here and there for a minute or two at a time, but he didn't want to play with anyone but Colin.

They competed in a two-player pinball game that was decorated with paintings of big-breasted, long-legged girls in skimpy bikinis.  Roy chose that machine rather than one with pirates, monsters, or spacemen; and Colin tried not to blush.

Colin usually disliked cheap thrill palaces like the Pit and avoided them.  The few times he'd ever ventured into one he'd found the din unbearable.  The sounds of computer scorekeepers and robot adversaries - beep - beep - beep, pong - pong - pong, bomp - bompada - bomp, whoop - whoop - whooooooooop - mixed with laughter and girls' happy screams and half-shouted conversations.  Assaulted by continuous, thunderous noise, he became claustrophobic.  He always felt like an alien, a being from a distant world, trapped on a primitive planet, caught in a mob of hostile, screeching, gibbering, barbaric, loathsome natives.

But he didn't feel that way tonight.  He was enjoying every minute and he knew why.  Because of Roy, he was no longer a frightened visitor from space; he was now one of the natives.

With his thick yellow hair, blue eyes, muscles, and quiet self-confidence, Roy drew the girls.  Three of them - Kathy, Laurie, and Janet - gathered around to watch the game.  They were all better than average-looking: taut, tan, vital teenage girls in halter tops and shorts, with shiny hair and California complexions and budding breasts and slender legs.

Roy clearly favored Laurie, while Kathy and Janet showed more than passing interest in Colin.  He didn't think they were attracted to him for himself.  In fact, he was certain they were not.  He had no illusions.  Before girls like them swooned over boys like him, the sun would rise in the west, tiny babies would grow beards, and an honest man would be elected President.  They were flirting with him because he was Roy's friend, or because they were jealous of Laurie and wanted to make Roy jealous of them.  Whatever their reasons, they were concentrating on Colin, asking questions, drawing him out, laughing at his jokes, cheering when he won a game.  Until now, girls had never wasted time with him.  He really didn't care what their motives were; he just reveled in all the attention and prayed it would never end.  He knew he was blushing brightly, but the arcade's odd orange lighting provided him with cover.