Please insert the correct CD-ROM.
He reached behind his desk and pulled out the original—the one he’d borrowed from Rachel last week when she wasn’t looking, promising to return it “tomorrow.” He’d been keeping it as an emergency key.
The screen went black. Then, white text, sharp as a razor, sliced onto the monitor: Please insert the correct CD-ROM
His phone buzzed. Rachel’s name lit up.
Some things you couldn’t burn. You had to earn them. Or borrow them from a girl who’d kill you if you didn’t return them by Monday. Then, white text, sharp as a razor, sliced
The drive whirred. The screen flashed EA Games. Then the familiar, thumping bass of Riders on the Storm crackled through his speakers.
The error appeared again.
It was 2005. He was sixteen. And his copy of Need for Speed: Underground 2 was pirated.
No. Not tonight.
“You coming online or what? Me and Caleb are running the outer loop. He thinks his Eclipse can take my 240SX.”
He rebooted the game.