Survival Of The Fittest

Barron placed his tray in the space generously provided and sat down, keeping close to Erik, but not so close as to make him uncomfortable. Damn, but this felt good. He longed to be able to just take his hand, let him know how he felt. But he knew that he was still too scared to come out and say it. Anyway, what if he was rejected? Could he really live with the humiliation of outing himself only to be rejected? No, far better to stick with the plan.

He wondered briefly what Erik was doing with his eyebrows as he sat. Clearly Chloe wasn't entirely sure who he was. Damn, they'd been through high school together, and still he was just a face to so many of them. "Sorry, Chloe. I'm Robert, but please, call me Bobby. Or anything, really. I'll answer to most names as long as they're not offensive. I used to be on the badminton team if you follow the sports here." That normally was enough to trigger some recognition. He preferred not to be the one to bring up the other things he was known for, being rich and Christian. It either seemed like he was boasting or being judgmental.

"So, you guys got any plans for prom yet?" There. It was a bit obvious, but it was a good opening gambit just now. Apart from anything else, it'd give him a clue as to Erik's availability. And well, he just plain wanted to see Chloe happy with somebody. That was the important thing right now, that everybody be as happy as he was.

She was a nice girl, even if she could stand to lose a few pounds for her health. Still, she wasn't as bad as some girls he knew, including his cousin, who was positively obese. Bobby had to admit that even he wasn't quite as in shape as he used to be. Still, she wasn't bad looking by any stretch of the imagination. He wondered if he could get somebody for her who'd treat her as more than a pity date.

((Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry))

Robert... Barron? The name sounded so familiar to Chloe. Where had she heard it before? Was he in any of her classes? Was he a big sports hero around campus? Did anyone mention him to her before? Thousands of questions seemed to flood her mind as she attempted to place the name.

Robert... Bobby? Bobby Barron. Hm. Erik knows him, and apparently I should too... Yes! Erik! Erik's told me things about him! Oh, but... Good things or bad things?

"Right, of course!" Her head, previously tilted downward in thought, had jolted up with excitement as the name clicked with a colorful description Erik had given of him. She could definitely see what she saw in him; he was quite the looker.

"Badminton, right! That's what I remember you from!" This was, of course, a lie. From what she could remember, Erik had it bad for Bobby, though he knew he had no chance of actually getting with him. Unrequited love is so sad.

At the mention of prom, Chloe grinned widely and giggled. She had been preparing for prom more than she prepared for any dance, presentation or project, though this was still a small amount of planning compared to most other girls. "So far, the plan is to go with each other, y'know, as friends." She began to straighten up all the objects that were pushed aside upon Bobby's arrival.

"If you aren't going with anyone, you could come with us, right Erik?"

That was really said without thought of how Erik would react, but if he said yes, she would make sure Erik owed her.

As Chloe seemed to clue into who Bobby was, Erik breathed a quiet sight of relief. His own memory for faces was pretty good, but he knew how awkward it could be when you just couldn't quite remember a name. Saying 'hey. you' could only go so far, after all.

He began mindlessly twisting the blue bracelet on his wrist, a nervous habit that he'd never quite gotten out of. I wonder if he's going with anyone to prom...maybe Rachel Gettys, they seem to hang out a lot? And speaking of Rachel... Awkwardly glancing around in an attempt to find something other then Bobby's proximity to focus on, he noticed the girl standing in the cafeteria lineup. Oh, great. She'd never been exactly subtle about her disdain for him and the fact he was openly gay.

Glancing back at Chloe and Robert to see if they'd noticed her, he realized belatedly that Chloe had asked him a question. Prom, right.

"Uh - yeah, sure, I mean, you're probably going with someone, but...yeah. Yeah. That'd be cool. I'd really - I'd really like it if you came."

Okay. Okay. Calm down, you're laying it on a little thick. You don't want to make him awkward. Chill out!

"I mean, if you're free, and all."

Houston, we have foot in mouth. Repeat, we have foot in mouth.

"I'm just..uh." He laughed nervously, ducking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. "Going to stop talking now, I think."

Bobby winked at Chloe as his face finally clicked. Or at least his name did. She recognised that much, for sure. But despite what she said, it wasn't from badminton. Still, wherever she did know him from, she didn't want him to know. He wasn't going to pry into her reasons for lying about it. Besides, he didn't exactly like it when people said something like "Oh yeah. That rich kid", or "That Catholic geek." However she knew him, he appreciated that she just took his cue and went with it.

If you aren't going with anyone, you could come with us, right Erik?

He considered this. Maybe this was his best option. He could be close to Erik without blowing his cover. Then maybe, get him alone somewhere where they wouldn't be noticed and just kiss him. Or would that be too creepy. Maybe they could just talk. He didn't think that Erik would do anything to hurt him, but he didn't want to come on too strong.

Then again, he wasn't going to be closeted at the Prom, was he? He was outing himself. Still, stick to the plan. Wait until after he talked to Rachel. Erik echoed Chloe's sentiment about them all going together.

Erik seemed nervous about something. He wasn't sure what. It couldn't be.. Nah. Wishful thinking. So, analyse the problem. Why would he be nervous. He was at ease around Chloe, so it couldn't have been that. What was he staring at? Rachel! Bobby was on his feet almost immediately, waving at her to come over. "You guys don't mind if Rachel joins us, do you? I mean at the table, not at Prom."

Things began to make sense. Chloe barely knew him yet wanted him to join them at one of the most important social events of the year. Erik was nervous around him, but also wanted him to go. He was trying to look like he hadn't spotted Rachel. There was one conclusion. Going with Bobby meant class, style and money, at least in Chloe's mind. Erik was embarrassed to ask, because he didn't want to look like he was begging, but didn't want Rachel to notice because she offered an alternative for Bobby. That they were close friends was no secret, and many were no doubt assuming that he'd be going with her. He was going to talk to her about it as part of the afternoon discussion.

He really didn't mind. After all, it was Prom, the one big event in every high-schooler's life. If they wanted it to be special, but needed help, why not help them. He could spend the night with Erik. Chloe was the only problem, but between Erik, Rachel and himself, they'd come up with something for her. Maybe one of the guys from GODspeed. Still, he had his own plans for Prom

"Actually, there is somebody that I've been considering asking. Just haven't worked up the nerve as yet. You know how it is. As soon as you put yourself out there with them, it changes everything. I don't even know if they're interested in me or not. But, yeah, if things don't work out, then we'll see. Going in a group sounds like a better alternative than sitting by myself, drinking orange juice all night."

There. No lies, no commitment, and no reveal that the person he was considering wasn't female. Thank God for non-gender-specific pronouns. Still, if he wasn't going with Erik on a date, he couldn't really go as part of a group with him. Maybe he would end up hanging with GODspeed. Or Rosa, or any other crowd that accepted him as a part of it.

Stop all that crazy defeatist talk. You come out to Rachel, the pair of you work to get Erik to go to Prom with you, you all find someone so Chloe's not left by herself, you have a fabulous night and get to make out with Erik in the back of your uncle's limo. Yeah. That was a good plan. All he had to do was put it into action.

((Sorry about the wait, peeps.))

Rachel reached the end of the line, a Caesar salad, a piece of lolly cake and a bottle of orange juice adorning the little red dinner tray. She glanced around the Cafetorium, noticing Robert was still making small talk with Lady and the Tramp. Robert seemed to not have noticed her - if he had, he wasn't giving off any signal of having done so. Erik, on the other hand, was shooting worried glances at her, and her glaring at him meant that she wasn't going to be the one to initiate conversation with Robert if he was still in that suspicious pervert's presence.

Rachel went and sat down at the other end of the Cafetorium, facing away from Robert.

He wants to talk, let him come. I shouldn't have to do the grunt work to get a prom date.

"You guys don't mind if Rachel joins us, do you? I mean at the table, not at Prom."

Honestly, Chloe did mind. Rachel was one of the names she remembered for the wrong reasons, being that her attitude towards Erik, as well as people like Erik, was in her eyes, less than kind. Still, it'd be rude of her to say no, so instead she passed that task to Erik. "I picked the last person, it's your turn Erik." She almost felt bad for doing that to him, but really, it would make him talk again. If she could get over her nerves for her monologue in theater arts class, he should have to do that for casual conversation.

"Actually, there is somebody that I've been considering asking..."

She smiled at this. "I say go for it, ASAP! You have nothing to fear but rejection, right? The worst thing that could happen is they say no, and if you don't take risks, you're gonna end up with nothing!" The excitement in her voice built up as she realized her advice might actually make sense this time. In her mind, everyone should be coupled up, otherwise they wouldn't be fully happy.

...Did I just make myself feel bad? No, Erik can be my other half for now. I'm sure he wouldn't mind anyway.

(...omfg I am so so so so so ridiculously sorry, you guys. I definitely got it in my head that it wasn't my turn next. pls to not be killing me now ;__:)

As Bobby disclosed that there was someone he was thinking of asking to prom, Erik's heart sank. Distracting himself for a moment by pretending to tighten his ponytail, he mentally berated himself. You knew you had shit-all chance with this guy anyway, and if he's going to be happy, isn't that the best thing? Now be nice.

"Well, I really hope she says yes." He offered a smile. "Any girl would be lucky to go with you." Or any guy. God, I've got it bad.

Luckily, Chloe's passing on of the Rachel question meant that he could put prom out of his head, if only for a slightly smaller problem. He knew she didn't like him, tending to be openly disdainful of his life choices, but - well, she was a good friend of Bobby's, and maybe she'd relax once they actually talked. Besides, he didn't want to seem like he was alienating the boy's friends.

"Uh - yeah, sure, I don't mind. The more the merrier, right?" Although if she said anything untoward towards him or Chloe, he knew he wasn't going to keep his mouth shut. Politeness only went so far, after all.

Bobby sat down as Rachel walked by. She'd obviously not noticed him waving. He didn't want to make that big a fool of himself by shouting over the whole cafeteria. He smiled at the others. "You know, you guys are right. ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' If I can't even tell this person how I feel, then it's not fair on anybody." He really did feel stronger about the whole situation now. As if something inside him was now at peace with his decision made, or if some external power had granted it to him. He knew he had better thank Him for it later.

"It's largely academic just now. I'll find some time when I can get them alone so as not to embarrass anybody." You know what you've got to do, why are you stalling? He smiled warmly at Erik. "Thanks, you guys have been great. I really mean it. Both of you." He turned the charm over to Chloe, hitting her with teeth in ‘full headlights' mode, as he liked to think of it. A natural broad grin that showed off his firm jaw to best advantage. Not that he'd practiced it. Much.

"I'll just see if Rachel wants to join us, then I'll be right back. Feel free to gossip about me while I'm gone." He left his lunch there to show them he wasn't abandoning them, and snaked his way between the tables to get over to Rachel. As he neared, he turned the headlights on again, but this time he threw a little mischief in there as well, to show he was feeling playful.

"Hey there, Rachel. You're not avoiding me or something, are you? I waved but you obviously didn't see. You're more than welcome if you want to come over and join me, Erik and Chloe for lunch. It wouldn't do to see somebody as important as the GODspeed President sitting all be herself, now would it?"

((OOC: Apologies for the obscenely long delay.))

Rachel polished off the salad, as tasteless and unusually dry as it was, and moved on to the lolly cake. The wrappers on these little squares of sugar and flavouring were always fiendishly difficult to remove, and Rachel grabbed her knife and fork and began trying to pull the thing apart, pinning it down to the tray with the fork and attempting to rip the thing open. Her attempt was more successful than she expected it would be, and the arm holding the fork jerked away on her as the packaging tore with an empty shriiik. Rachel gave a brief hiss and tore the rest of the packet open with her fingers, plucking the multicoloured slab from its plastic prison.

"Hey there, Rachel. You're not avoiding me or something, are you?"

Rachel jumped, dropping the cake on her tray, and grabbed the side of the table. She turned around and smiled at Robert, on the verge of giggling.

"Robert, phew, don't do that, you scared the living daylights out of me."

She allowed herself a chuckle, and Robert, smiling, continued talking.

"I waved but you obviously didn't see. You're more than welcome if you want to come over and join me, Erik and Chloe for lunch. It wouldn't do to see somebody as important as the GODspeed President sitting all be herself, now would it?"

Rachel clammed up. He wants me to join them? He must be joking. Rachel laughed uneasily, and picked up the lolly cake. She toyed with ripping into the Hairspray rejects right there and then, but Robert appeared to be friends with them somehow, and Rachel thought it best not to rankle the boy if we was going to ask her what she thought he was going to ask her. "Thanks for the, uh, offer, Robert, but I must dash. I have some study to catch up on for Religious Studies next period. We're covering Original Sin today," she said, not even trying to hide the glance she shot at Erik as she said it.

Rachel smiled at Robert, and stood up. "You said something about needing to ask me something yesterday? What was it?"

Bobby left the table. This, in Chloe's mind, could only lead to one course of action: Talking about him behind his back.

"Erik, oh my God! He's so hot!" she whispered enthusiastically, "You sure know how to pick 'em. Remind me to watch more badminton." Taunting Erik, she sighed, letting her face fall in her hands and her eyes wander into space.

Return to her normal posture, her eyes turned serious. With her index, she pointed almost menacingly at Erik. "So, what are you going to do if Rachel comes over? I don't wanna see a catfight go on between you two, and I'm sure Bobby doesn't either."

Though she really did mean everything she said, she really would have liked to see Erik beating her up, just a little bit. She was sure Erik wouldn't have minded either. In fact, the imagery of Erik pulling Rachel's hair with a toothy grin was so funny, the seriousness in her face turned into a goofy look as she tried to restrain her laughter. Breathing deeply, she erased the look from her face. "But seriously, you hurt her, I punch you twice as hard. And you know I can."

"I know, right?" Erik lowered his voice, a faint blush staining his cheeks pink. "And he's not just a pretty face - he's smart, and he's friendly, and he's so sweet..." A small twist to his lips, "And incidentally so straight. I do know how to pick 'em, don't I."

Rolling his eyes at Chloe's comment, Erik shook his head, flipping his ponytail over his shoulder. "I don't think she's gonna come over. I mean, she hates me. I just said it to be polite." He leaned closer. "I mean, what was I gonna say? 'No, your best friend can come over because she thinks I'm going to hell for kissing guys'? I don't think so"

Avoiding her eyes, Erik smiled crookedly, twisting his bracelet absent-mindedly once more. "I'm not going to beat her up, Chloe. But if she says something..." shaking his head, he pulled on the bracelet a little harder. "I'm not just going to sit here and listen to her insult me, y'know?"

A lopsided grin and a light punch aimed to graze Chloe's shoulder, "Sure you could, Strongwoman."

This is not how this was supposed to go! Bobby looked crestfallen as Rachel refused to come over and join the group. She didn't even try to hide the reason. The glance at the table was enough. That and the pointed comment about Original Sin. True, disobeying the will of the Lord at the Fall of Man was something that Man had yet to live down, but Bobby had difficulty in reconciling that with Homosexuality. Maybe she was looking for a different meaning of the serpent in the garden. Still, her thoughts on the matter were clear. She was blowing him off because he was sitting with Erik. And Erik was openly gay.

There was no way he could tell her now. Not when she was as likely to react by screaming and throwing him out of GODspeed, as she was to just ignore him for the rest of his life. Maybe she'll make an exception ‘cause it's me. No way. Who am I kidding?

He looked back over at the table. Chloe and Erik were laughing. Erik looked so good as he flipped his ponytail back. Maybe he could still find a way to… No. It was useless. Not then. Maybe not until high school was over. He could live in the closet. After all, it made things easier for everyone, didn't it?

You said something about needing to ask me something yesterday? What was it?

He snapped his head back towards Rachel. Damn. She remembered about his priming her for something big. Now he had to think quickly. He couldn't tell her the truth, not now. He had to come up with something on the spot. Even as he said it, he knew that it was a massive mistake. He asked the stupidest question he'd ever asked in his whole life.

"Oh, yeah. I was just, er, wondering if you had a date for prom yet. And if, not, then would you consider me?"

"Oh, yeah. I was just, er, wondering if you had a date for prom yet. And if, not, then would you consider me?"

And there it is.

Rachel stared at Robert, a smile gradually spreading across her face like happy eczema. She had expected something like this, and Robert's uncharacteristic nervousness only acted to increase her happiness at his offer. The perfect catch, and she had reeled him in. And I didn't even have to do any hard work. Good job, Rachel Gettys. Your parents would be proud.

She composed herself, and then, barely hiding the glee in her voice, responded in the affirmative. "Robert Barron, I would love to be your date for prom." Her response was especially loud - if she was going to prom with him, she wanted to make sure Laurel and Hardy at the other table heard it. "Now, I really have to go, as this study isn't going to do itself." She chuckled and picked up her satchel off the bench next to the table. She walked past Robert, and, in a very calculated movement, turned back and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you later, so we can plan." She smiled again, and walked off, out of the Cafetorium.

((Rachel Gettys continued elsewhere))

(quick post order skip, I gots permission yay)

As Rachel Gettys informed effectively the whole cafeteria that she and Bobby were together (or at least going to Prom together, which in Erik's mind was...pretty much the same thing, despite the large amounts of people he knew including himself who were going with friends), he could feel his heart sink. Okay, so he'd known from the start that Bobby was straight, and although he had always seemed accepting of Erik he knew that Rachel wasn't.

Still, it was a bit of a blow. He'd let himself hope, idly, and...well, this was what came of it.

He glanced over at Bobby, and offered a faint smile. Returning to twisting the rainbow bracelet on his wrist, he glanced over at Chloe and half-rolled his eyes.

"Uh, listen, I might get out of here. I'll get back to you on studying together, okay?"

She had to go and announce it to everybody, didn't she? Still, he only had himself to blame about that one. After all, he'd asked. What had he expected? Even if she'd said no, turned him down gently with a speech about how they were just friends, the news would be all over the school soon anyway.

Wow, was that what he'd been hoping? At any rate, his plans were ruined. If he came out now, he was only going to hurt Rachel, make her look foolish. He couldn't stand that. After all, she was one of his closest friends. Yet, here he was, lying to her. How had things gotten so complicated? And what could he do?

Visibly shaken and upset, he wandered back over to the table where Chloe and Erik were waiting. The looks on their faces confirmed that they'd heard what Rachel had said. He couldn't face them. Not now. He picked up his lunch.

"Erm, guys. I'm gonna… I'm gonna head off just now. I've got some stuff to deal with. Knee issues. Sorry to bail on you like this, but… Yeah. I'll talk to you both soon." Turning, he tried to accentuate his limp to account for his change in mood. He still had appearances to maintain, no matter how close to tears he may have been. As he left the cafeteria, he had no idea whether or not they heard him muttering "This wasn't the plan. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

((Robert Barron continued in Courtyard Classics))