Survival Of The Fittest

Alba smiled and nodded as Brendan spoke. It was really cool that he wanted to be a writer. It was also cool that he wanted her to help him come up with a story. She had never made a real story before, and even though she couldn't write, maybe she could spitball something out.

"Yeah, I'd be up for bouncing ideas around," Alba said. "I'm sure somewhere in my mind is something you can spin into a great story. Let me know whenever you want to meet up and chat."

Brendan then mentioned that he was feeling glad he was talking with her. He then asked if it was silly he was glad to bump into her.

"Naw, it's not silly," she replied. "It's a nice day, and it's good to spend it with friendly people. I'm glad I ran into you too. I didn't think I'd see anyone here today."

Brendan was relieved when she seemed to be up for sharing ideas with him. That was neat. He would definitely invite her over to meet his family. And then he could show her what he had written so far. To see if she would like his stories or not.

"S-Sure! I'll invite you over and then we will come up with some wonderful ideas. I can show you some of my written works." He nodded and he then rested his chin onto his right hand. "Yeah, it's not that busy here today. I'm happy that we were able to have a conversation with each other."

He was silent now. What else could he talk about with her? Oh, that Sadie Hawkins dance was coming up soon and he was still hopeful that someone would have asked him. But no. He didn't really want to go alone. He didn't have the confidence to do that. He gazed at Alba again. Maybe he should talk to her about it.

"Um.... Uh.... What do you think about the dance that is coming up soon, Alba?" He asked curiously.

Alba was glad Brendan wanted her to help him with his stories. He must have really thought she was the kind of person whose opinion would matter greatly. She'd probably have to read a bit more to help him out, or maybe just research literary criticism, but she was willing to see what he had written and come up with more ideas.

Brendan then mentioned the upcoming dance. Alba then remembered there was a dance coming up. It sounded really neat, since it was all about girls asking out guys, and she was sure she'd have a good time.

"Oh yeah, Sadie Hawkins?" Alba said. "Yeah, I'm interested. I mean, I love to go to dances and parties, so I bet it'd be enjoyable."

"Why do you ask?"

Brendan was a bit relieved to know that she was interested in the dance as well. Although parties weren't really his sort of thing to do. But then if he went to the dance then he could have a lot of fun with other people there. Especially if he went with someone. He was a terrible dancer though. So he would be dreading about that happening.

"I.....was wondering if you were going with anyone...." His voice was getting a bit quieter. He wasn't the type of guy who could confidently ask a girl or a guy out. "I.... I mean.... I would like to go with you...!" He blurted out loudly, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry for yelling.... I mean, if you're not going with anyone then I...." He trailed off.

He was still fiddling with his bottle in his lap. He was sure that he was screwing this up. Besides, he had only just met Alba. Why would she want to go with him? He realized that he was being too hard on himself but he couldn't help it.

((Minor GMing approved))

Alba kept a smile on her face as Brendan answered her question. He was getting really quiet and shy, and she wasn't sure why. It wasn't until Brendan asked her if she'd go to the dance with him that it all clicked. Alba was taken slightly aback by the sudden request. Brendan also looked slightly embarrassed for asking her out. She noticed him fiddling with the bottle and got the idea he might have really needed a date for the dance.

Alba only took a moment to think about it. She hadn't found a date for the dance yet, considering she hadn't really found anyone to ask. Brendan was nice and kind of cute right now, and he was someone she could hold pleasant conversation with. Alba bit her lip, then shook her head.

"Brendan, you got it all wrong," she said.

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's Sadie Hawkins. The girls ask the guys out. This is how it should go."

Alba reached over and took one of Brendan's hands off the bottle in his lap. She then moved in front and crouched down on one knee, holding tightly to his hand. Alba had no idea if she would ever get the chance to do something like this, and it would be fun to try it now. She looked up at him, staring him directly in the eyes, and spoke.

"Brendan Harte, will you please go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me?"

Alba paused. Before Brendan could reply, she felt the need to clarify something.

"Oh, and I'm not joking right now. Will you go with me?"

Brendan was shocked by what Alba had just did. He hadn't suspected that this would happen. He had no idea how to respond to her. He could feel himself turning more red. He was blushing and he felt a bit happy. He was glad that Alba was asking him. He wanted to grab her and hug her happily. But that might be too embarrassing for him to do. He needed to answer her.

"....Y-Yes...!"

....Did he really just say yes? He did. He was resisting the urge to pull Alba up and hug her close to him. He didn't want to get too overexcited about this. He smiled at Alba brightly. He kind of thought that this was very cute and romantic.

Alba let out a chuckle when Brendan accepted. He was starting to turn red and agreed quite loudly. Now Alba was starting to find this quite cute. She hadn't thought about how she would ask any guy out to the dance, but the way things were going with Brendan, it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Awesome," Alba said, standing back up.

Alba quickly moved back to her place on the bench.

"Now, I guess we should talk about how this will go," Alba said, pulling her cellphone out of her pocket.

"Can I get your phone number? You know, so we can talk more about things like where to have dinner that night."

Brendan was staring as Alba sat down beside him. Wow. He still couldn't believe that he was going with her. It all felt so sudden. But it felt right. He liked Alba and he wanted to give it a shot with her. Oh, she wanted his phone number so that they could talk more. Or text each other. Yeah, he would like to give his phone number to her.

"Sure. Here you go." He got out his phone and he told her his phone number. He always had his phone with him in case of emergencies. "D-Dinner with you.... Wow. I can't believe this is really happening.... I am looking forward to going with you to the dance, Alba."

Alba carefully put Brendan's phone number into hers. She didn't want to be a single digit off, otherwise her entire Sadie Hawkins plans could be tossed in the garbage. She listened carefully and input the number into her contacts with utmost care, making a small cheer when it was entered.

Brendan was still in disbelief about going to Sadie Hawkins with her. Alba wasn't sure if he was just that thrilled to go to the dance, or if he was just that taken with her gesture. Either way, she was happy he was happy.

"Yeah, I'm glad too," Alba said. "I hope it's a fun event. I always got the idea that non-Prom or Homecoming dances blew, but hey, maybe this one will be just as exciting. Or at least have good music."

Brendan nodded his head in agreement. He was hopeful that it would be fun as well. Although, he was also hoping that he would not see anyone that he might have upset. It would make things very awkward. But he couldn't think about that right now. He was trying to think of how things would go at the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Although, he might be thinking too far ahead. He had never been to a dance before so he was desperate not to end up embarrassing himself there in front of Alba. ....Was this going to be like a date? He hadn't even thought about that.

Brendan was starting to get more flushed and he covered his face with his shaky hands for a few moments. Well, unless they were going as just friends. He wasn't sure if he should ask her if they were dating. As in boyfriend and girlfriend. Should he just ask her straight out? No. He'll ask her later. Then he gazed back at Alba as she was talking about non-prom and homecoming dances. He didn't really pay that much attention to those dances.

"Uh.... What sort of music do you think that they would play at the dance?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm and not too nervous sounding. "I don't really listen to music that much. So I'm not really a professional on music genres. Ha...."

"I dunno," Alba shrugged. "I mean, I figure the music they play at these sorts of things are the same as they'd normally play."

"You know, where the music is extremely loud dance music you could find on any radio station. The kind that's trendy now, and probably has it's own dance to go along with it. You know, like the Dougie or something."

Alba took another sip of her drink.

"But hey, I can't predict the playlist. Maybe they'll play something retro."

Brendan nodded. He felt a bit embarrassed as he couldn't really comment on new music. He didn't really find an interest in music that much. However now he needed to know about these things. Especially if he and Alba were going on a.... date? He was still stuck in that stage of whether or not, they were dating for real. It would be nice to have a girlfriend or a boyfriend and then he wouldn't feel lonely. He had to ask Alba. He really wanted to know if he was good enough. Well, she did ask him out. But he needed to know before he would possibly do something really stupid at the dance. Like with Jae and his painting. Oh god. Jae's painting. Brendan knew that he would never be able to live that down. He still wanted to make things up to Jae and hopefully make Jae like him. Uh..... His thoughts were thinking about the wrong person right now. He should remember that he was talking to Alba. Not Jae. Alba....

"Um.... So.... Are we going as friends to the dance?" He gulped nervously. "....Or are we going as boyfriend and.... girlfriend?"

Alba took a sip from her Powerade. Everything was going nicely here. Her workout turned into a nice chat in the park and got her a date for Sadie Hawkins. Brendan was wonderful company, and she was sure to enjoy the rest of her time here.

When Brendan next spoke, Alba was prepared to answer him, assuring him that they were friends. But then he went further, asking if they were going as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Alba froze, keeping a smile on her face as she let Brendan's question hang in the open. She was sure she was starting to blush more, but wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or infatuation. Was she giving him the wrong idea with her dramatic proposal and her general friendliness? Alba wasn't sure what to do. She had flirted with guys before, and she did like Brendan enough to maybe consider him as more than a friend. But to have that suddenly brought out when they hadn't even gone out yet was quite a shock. She hadn't had a boyfriend before, so she wasn't sure whether or not to start calling someone her boyfriend.

"Oh, well..." she began, turning slightly away from Brendan.

"Uh..."

Alba took a large swig of Powerade. Her general demeanor of loud confidence was suddenly being smashed down, and she needed to try and salvage this before Brendan changed his mind about her.

"I asked you out as a friend," Alba said, slightly covering her mouth. "It might be too soon to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, considering we haven't had our first date yet."

"But...um...maybe I'll consider it after the dance, and maybe after we spend more time together. If you're okay with that."

Alba wanted to curl up in a ball and scream. She had never felt this awkward before, especially around a guy. She might have to run 100 laps around the park in order to calm herself down after this.

Brendan had noticed that Alba's face was looking red before she turned away from him a little and he wanted to say something. He felt like he shouldn't have asked about the boyfriend and girlfriend part. He should have just stop at the friend part. What was he thinking? He should have thought it over before opening his mouth and saying something as embarrassing as that. Alba possibly thought that he was a weird guy for asking. He felt a bit ashamed of himself and he nervously took a sip of his drink. It felt strange how Alba was talking less now. He must have caught her off-guard. He didn't mean to do that.

Brendan felt a bit relieved when she said that they were going as friends. Yes, it made sense to him and she was right about them not going on a date. "Y-Yeah, you're right. It would be better if we go as friends. I didn't mean to ask the last question. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." He let out a nervous chuckle and he scratched his cheek slightly. "....Although, I would like to go out with you after the dance. Yes.... I.... Uh...."

He didn't know what to say anymore. He really did like Alba and he really wanted to make things work with her. He wanted to get to know her a lot more. He wasn't this confident with a girl. Especially on asking to go on a date with her. Maybe it was that whole 'opposites attract' thing that was happening. He wasn't too sure.

"Um, I have to go soon. I really need to clean up my knees. Would.... would you like me to call you later to talk about the dance more?" His lower lip was quivering a little. He was hoping that he wouldn't regret liking Alba.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alba said. "I think you're just excited for the party. I am too, so let's just enjoy our time there."

Brendan said he had to go soon to deal with his legs. Alba nodded and stood up.

"I understand. I should finish my workout too. But yeah, call me or look for me in school if you want to talk more about Sadie Hawkins."

Alba held out a hand for Brendan to shake, giving him another smile.

"I'm glad we decided on this today."