Survival Of The Fittest

Will didn't seem that set on trying with any of the other girls. That was probably for the best. Everett hadn't been paying too much attention when the girl shot him down earlier, but that had to sting. Everett had no clue how Will's ego was. He assumed it was in better condition than his own, but only because that was usually a safe bet. But nobody would intentionally make their Prom night worse or more awkward than it had to be, and getting denied again and again would just be masochistic.

Peter came back, and Maddy and Will joked about being a bad influence. Everett chuckled along with that, even though it was probably true. He was going to a party? What was he thinking? He was almost ready to back out, but instead he kept his mouth shut. He was committed. His friends (and they were friends, by now, he felt) wanted him to come. He would. He knew how to say no—well, mostly. He knew how to be safe.

Will asked what they should do, and Everett shrugged. Then he added, rather redundantly, "I don't know. Anything's fine with me, really."

Well, that wasn't the strong statement of the year, but he genuinely had no clue. Asking him for advice on parties and proms was a lost cause. He was no more familiar with them than he was with extreme sports. He figured he'd just go along for the ride, but let everyone else make the decisions.

((Everett Taylor continued in V4))

John could feel Celeste's embarrassment practically radiate off of her as she explained that she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life.

"But..aheheh... But hey, I can always make it big later, right? Maybe I'll just be a late bloomer, so to speak."

"You never know, you might be the next big writer, like that Harry Potter woman." he shrugged. He was surprised that he had resisted laughing about her 'blooming' though. To say she was a teenager, she wasn't built like it. He didn't mind, of course, but in his fantasies she did have a bigger chest.

"You never know what life will throw at you." he continued. "I heard that a British guy had one idea one day and now owns a load of companies."

On the other hand, she might just end up being a cashier. But he wouldn't penalise her for not having a great job. She was his girlfriend. That was all that mattered.

Maf forged a path through the slowly growing crowd at the entrance to the rec centre, his hand spread out behind him for Jennifer. He wasn't sure how to approach this kind of situation - he'd never actually had to do a lot of talking with a girl he was interested in before, partly because they seemed to take the initiative at the booze-drenched parties he and the rest of the football team sometimes attended, and partly because he'd never actually been that interested in a girl before Jennifer. She seemed...right. Not because she was hot, not because she was smart, not because she was funny. All those things would've helped, but that wasn't the point. Something just clicked.

A light wind whipped past him, and thinking ahead, Maf moved towards a well-lit but sheltered area away to the side of the rec centre. He turned around and gave a small grin to the girl in the dark red dress. It was a quiet moment; a nice moment. Nothing more needed to be said.

They made their way outside through the crowds, out into the real world again. It was chillier here, but that was nice. The whole scene was nice. It was nice, wonderful, magical, everything she could have wanted. The funny thing was, if she'd been asked a month ago how she hoped Prom would go, Jennifer would have said nothing like what was happening. She'd have asked for peace, quiet, and a lack of excitement. Not this almost-romance stuff. She could never have imagined feeling so nice just spending time with a guy.

Then they were in a little area beside the rec center, standing in the shelter. Jennifer was pretty sure they'd come outside to talk, but, when Maf turned around, she found she had nothing to say. Nothing at all. Instead, she just looked him in the face. He was smiling, so she smiled too. She simply smiled. That was enough.

"So..."

Tripping on his words seemed to be the running theme for Maf Tuigamala tonight, and it was a pretty embarrassing theme, for what it was worth. But at this moment in time, standing in the cold with Jennifer, it didn't really matter. It didn't even really matter that Maf's internal thought process was waxing romantic, though if anybody on the football team knew that he was doing it, he would be the butt of jokes for weeks. None of it really mattered. Which was nice.

"I'd like to see you again," Maf mumbled, the only words he could really muster - which was more than he usually said, regardless.

It was simple, what Maf said. So simple, so easy, but so loaded with meanings and maybes and possibilities that Jennifer didn't really know what to make of it. She wasn't sure exactly what he was proposing, but the one thing she knew was, it was worth a shot. It was worth taking just this one risk.

She concentrated, focusing harder on this simple reply than anything she'd said in years. She could not fuck this up. She couldn't sound phony, or unsure, or anything. She just had to spit the words out in a usual tone of voice, but that was so very, very hard right now.

Somehow, she managed.

"I'd like that too."

"I'd like that too."

Maf's heart had a little seizure of joy at Jennifer's statement, and he gave a little grin in response. He didn't know a hell of a lot about the girl, but already he was pretty sure this wasn't going to be a thing he regretted. Maf looked back at the rec centre before focusing on Jennifer and asking something impulsive -

"Hey, wanna leave, get some Chinese?"

((Maf Tuigamala continued elsewhere))

Jennifer had said all she could on the subject, now, but things were going well. Well like they never had before. It was just so amazing, so simply wonderful, that she was afraid she'd wake up, that it would all have been a dream. Could she still be daydreaming, still be walking home from the Promenade on that one day, maybe still in the parking garage? No. No, it was real, all real.

Maf proposed that they split from Prom and go get some Chinese food, and again Jennifer smiled, and said, "I'd love to."

The future was ahead of her. She was doing what she wanted, and this all just felt so right. So, with a smile, Jennifer bid Prom farewell, and she and Maf made their way away, into the night.

((Jennifer Perez continued in V4))

Back down at the watch.

Back at the dance floor.

Back to Everett, Peter, and Maddy.

William's focus was shifting, and he paid little attention to what was going on as he sipped and just watched everything going on. Occasionally he'd take a bite out of a snack, then a sip of his punch, and then think.

"Well, standing here awkwardly isn't doing much good. How about a movie, until the after party at least?"

Well, that was his plan. Had been from the beginning, really. If prom was looking to be somewhat of a downer, and he didn't succeed or, in this case, really care to get a date, then a movie would be the main focus of the evening. There were quite a few good, or at least somewhat decent, movies showing lately, so it would be a bit more enjoyable than standing around waiting for something to happen at prom.

"Wanna come Everett? How about you two, you going to stay?"

He glanced at his watch again.

Two hours to go still. Should be enough time.