Survival Of The Fittest

Glancing at Courtney, Ben swallowed. He never was good at this talking to girls thing. Well, he was good with Alice and Irena at fencing, but that was because he had to stab them with a sharp pointy metal stick.

"Well… I've got nothing after school and... well… nothing for prom either."

He averted his eyes to the window before looking back.

"I thought maybe we could go out somewhere, ya know, to get to know each other. That's if you want to, I mean… yeah."

You couldn't have said it any worse, could ya? Could ya?

Sighing, he scratched his head.

"Well… I've got nothing after school and... well… nothing for prom either."

Courtney sat in silence for a few moments.

Wow, awkward. I... guess he doesn't have the whole "talking to girls" thing down.

Courtney picked up her bag, put it on her lap and attempted to fix it. It looked like she'd need to sew the velcro back on, and gluing it or using double-sided tape wouldn't really solve anything, unless she could find fabric glue somewhere.

Wait, Where can I find fabric glue? I swear there's nowhere to buy that around he-

"I thought maybe we could go out somewhere, ya know, to get to know each other. That's if you want to, I mean… yeah."

"Huh, What?" Courtney said, a little caught up in her failing attempts to fix her bag. "Hmm... Well, I guess that's okay"

Wait, what have I just gotten myself into?

"I'll be back in a second" Courtney said, as she got up, and walked off to put her textbook back.

"Hmm... Well, I guess that's okay"

Watching Courtney walk away, clutching the now broken runner bag, he let out a small sigh. Was it Ben's imagination, or was his body lighter, his chest not as constricted anymore?

Taking a look at the dancing book in his hands, he let out a laugh.

I screwed everything I said up, and I still got... a date of sorts. Ack, that's all that matters. Probably helps that she doesn't have a date as well.

Going off to the shelves, he spotted the empty space where he pulled the book from. Ben placed it next to the other books, smiling at them. He'd managed to make a friend out of a stranger, almost the first person he saw. What were the odds of that?

He mentally ran the timetable through his head. It was near the end of the day, just two more lessons, then home. Perfect.

Turning a loss into a win. See, nothing to panic about.

Okay, so where did I get this book from?

Courtney looked at the side of the textbook, trying to figure out if there was some marking or number or whatever for where she was supposed to put it back.

Unfortunately for her, there wasn't.

Sighing, Courtney walked to the nearest shelve she could see, crouched down, in between two books that Courtney didn't really know, some vampire story or something, probably nothing really popular or anything like that.

Standing back up, she saw Ben go and put his book away.

Wait, did he even open that book?

Courtney walked over to him, just about ready to leave, She still had a couple lessons before the day was done.

"So, Afterschool." She said "Where do you wanna go?"

"So, Afterschool. Where do you wanna go?"

Ben stopped in his tracks. He actually forgot about a location to go to. Movie? The Ice Arena? The Varsity? All-Star Bowling? The Promenade? "Prom"enade?

OK, that was a very bad joke.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he felt his wallet.

Wait. I still have those vouchers for All-Star… I dunno. Why not?

"You any good at bowling? I've got a couple of vouchers. Quite frankly, I don't really care, so it's up to you."

"You any good at bowling? I've got a couple of vouchers. Quite frankly, I don't really care, so it's up to you."

Bowling? Ok, That's something different

"I've never been Bowling, actually." Courtney said, pulling some hair away from her eye and smiling. "It couldn't hurt to try, right?"

Courtney sighed, It was too stuffy in the library.

"Anyway," Courtney looked down at her bag. "My bag wont fix itself, and I'm just about ready to get out of here anyways."

Courtney checked her watch. She had plenty of time to try and fix her bag, and possibly grab a bite to eat before class.

"I guess I'll see you after school then, Ben."

After pushing the door open and walking out, Courtney sat down on a bench near the library for a few moments, making sure her bag wouldn't spill over the floor if she had to run to class (at least in the short-term), but also wondering what the chances were that she'd actually meet someone new, who'd offered to take her bowling, as well as her now being able to finish the project.

Ah well, just guess things works out that way, don't they?

Not wanting to dwell on her particularly good luck for too long, Courtney put her bag over her shoulder, made sure there was noone in her path, and sprinted away from the library.

((Courtney Bradley, continued elsewhere))

"I guess I'll see you after school then, Ben."

Ben nodded at the backside of Courtney running out. It was weird, having someone that he'd almost never talk to agree to go somewhere with him. Fate? Coincidence? Or both?

Either way, his task was done. Situation fixed. He could breathe easy, go bowling, and ask her then. All easy. You can do that.

Putting in his headphones, he pressed play on his walkman, taking his usual course to his locker.

There's something about you I've gotta know,
before we go too far.
Are...
Are you the One?

((Ben Powell continued in Strike))