Survival Of The Fittest

((David "Dave" Russell continued from Recruitment Drive))

It even smelled like prom...

Dave stared at the ticket in his hands, grinning with excitement at the upcoming event. It had been a hairy mess getting his hands on it, but now he knew for sure he was going and there was only one thing left to do: ask out his lady of choice for the night.

He'd had to mull it over for a few days, considering who was free and who he'd want to go with. He knew plenty of girls, pretty much all of whom he'd probably enjoy spending the night with, but like any young man he had his top picks of the girls at school, and one of those he even had some groundwork to work with. So after a long hard think, he'd reached his decision and one phone call later the two were meeting up at Starbucks for coffee, her none the wiser to his plan to ask her to be his date.

Yeah, he wasn't a regular to Starbucks, the food and drinks were too pricey for him and he wasn't really the type to hang out at a coffee house, but he loved the frappuchinos, and it was as good a place as any to AGH! He was just too excited! She would be there any minute now, and then he could pop the prom question and have an even bigger reason to get excited about the night!

((Lana Torres continued from Par Course))

Lana wandered down the streets of the Waterfront, in thought.

She was supposed to meet Dave here today, at the Starbucks. He seemed really excited about something. What, she didn't know. Hopefully something great was happening, had happened, or was about to happen. Whatever it was, it made Lana curious. In any case, having a coffee with him should be pretty good.

Oh, here the Starbucks was.

Lana opened the door of the restaurant, the scent of freshly made coffee hitting her nose.

She managed to bring that Starbucks gift card left over from her birthday as well as some money. She didn't think it was nice to let Dave pay for everything, after all, and she still had money on the card, having never used it so far. Lana didn't go to Starbucks too often; it was kind of expensive. However, some of the coffees were pretty good, she had to admit.

Lana spotted Dave and pulled out the chair across from him, sitting down.

"Hey Dave", she said. "How's things?"

Dave missed Lana walking through the door, too absorbed in his prom ticket and wandering imagination to be checking for her showing up. When they finally did see each other, it was almost at the same time.

"Hey Lana!" He said, excitement stretching his face into a wide grin. "So, guess what? You know how I was flipping out that I might not be able to go to prom?" Did she know? He'd been pretty much freaking out over it for a few weeks now, and it wasn't like they didn't talk that often. Yeah, she'd probably heard him flipping out, but who cares he didn't have to flip out anymore!

"I can totally go now." He said with triumph, holding up his ticket for Lana to see just to display his prize for weeks of panicking. "I know, it's so awesome!"  In an instant his joy finally broke through, turning him into a little kid bouncing in his seat, Christmas prom morning just around the corner and he couldn't even sleep anymore!

"I mean I was just so freaking out, you know? And now this happened, and now I don't have to anymore!" He rambled, oblivious to whether or not Lana was trying to reply. He'd practically pissed himself in excitement when he'd found out that his grandparents had fronted the money for the ticket, but meeting his prospective date had just opened the floodgates and unleashed all of his squee for the entire coffeehouse to witness.

"God, I'm just so excited now, you know? It's awesome!" he kept going, still bouncing in his seat with a smile that threatened to rip his cheeks apart if he put any more joy into it. In the moment he almost forgot the real reason that he'd asked Lana there in the first place, but his lady of choice was sitting there looking him right in the face; it was a very helpful prompt.

"Oh yeah, so are you going with anyone Lana?"

Dave was clearly excited, Lana could see. And the second he noticed her, he burst into a large grin. Yup, he was happy. And he made it clear what it was.

Prom. Lana couldn't help but be happy too. She wasn't particularly excited for it herself when it was first announced, and she wasn't sure at first if she was even going, but she still couldn't help but feel happy for him. It had seemed like he had been worried for a while that he wouldn't be able to go. Poor guy was freaking out about the whole thing, really.

Lana released a genuine smile. Really, she was glad.

"That's great, Dave", she said.

Then he asked, and Lana couldn't help but feel awkward.

Did she have anything planned? Well, she did. But usually, when people asked that, the next question was going to be "Do you want to go together?" or something along those lines. Which would be all fine and dandy... except... well, Lana had already made plans. It wasn't supposed to be a date-date, but she and Mike Whaley had discussed it a bit. Lana, in that brief second, wondered if Dave was going to ask that, and if it was, it was going to be... well, it would be awkward.

Very much so, may she add.

"Well... I do have plans with someone", she started. "Mike and I kinda discussed it over, and we said we'd go as buddies, so..."

Deep breath.

"What about you? Do you have any plans?"

Please let this not end up awkwardly. Hopefully she was just being oddly worried, and maybe he was going to say something else. She kept the smile on all the same. Really, again, she was glad he managed to find a way there, since he was rather nervous about it.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, grea – Wait, what?"

She already had a date.

Christmas Prom had been ruined forever.

"Oh. Oh, right, right." He stuttered, eyes darting to the table below and away from Lana as he scratched at his head. "Mike, right."

In all those weeks he'd been running around trying to find a way to get together the cash for a prom ticket, she'd gone and found someone else to go with like he didn't even count. Like she'd never expected him to actually get a ticket in time and that that meant she could just go with anyone she wanted. Like their ex-relationship meant nothing to the concept of prom date dibs that he'd just pulled out of his ass that very moment.

Who was Mike, anyway, thinking he could take Lana to the prom when he'd been planning on asking her since three days ago? What, did he think he was such a big hotshot that Lana would have gone with him even if she'd already been going with Dave? What was his problem?

"Which Mike?" he asked, the only question that he could think to, as an unnerved twinge in his voice broke through whilst his face began to flush. Whichever one it was, he was obviously and undeniably a complete and utter asshole.

Lana closed her eyes for a brief second.

His disappointment? Was practically tangible.

He didn't say anything, but she could tell. Lana didn't need him to say anything. But she knew that he was disappointed. He was considering asking her out, probably.

"Whaley. You know, from the basketball team?" she said. "Uh... we're not going out as a couple or anything. Just friends."

She didn't know why she had to add that in. Dave and her weren't dating anymore, after all. It had been a while since they were an item. So, it wasn't like she was committing some sort of faux pas, right? But she felt horrible. She had the feeling that, had he indeed planned on asking her out, he probably felt rejected.

"Oh. Should I order? I have a gift card left over from my birthday", she added swiftly.

Anything to defuse the awkwardness.

"No, it's, it's fine Lana. I've got to go, anyway." He stuttered out, standing himself up and smashing his knee into the coffee table whilst he did so. He clenched his jaw to hide a cry from both types of pain, all the while avoiding looking at Lana again.

Mike Whaley: that basketball asshole who…well, he was dating Lana. That was enough to make him an asshole forever for Dave, or it would be if Dave was even remotely capable of holding a lasting grudge instead of redirecting the blame to himself, given enough time.

He was heading out the door in the blink of an eye, his hurried stride bordering on a run, all for the sake of getting as far away from Lana as soon as possible. He couldn't blame her for having a date when he hadn't said anything, nor was he even certain that he'd get to go, but he sure as hell could blame her for having a date when he'd wanted to date her again.

Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was to go home, lock his door, and let whatever happened happen. It was pointless, petty, stupid and unreasonable, but damn it all he had really wanted to go with Lana, and now it was going to just undoubtedly suck.

Lana frowned some more. That did not seem to comfort him, at all. Even if she said it wasn't really actually a date, he still seemed to get the wrong idea. He thought that she and Mike were going out after all. It wasn't like Mike was her one true love or anything. Just a friend. And it wasn't as if she were planning on making a romantic evening, either.

All in all, it wasn't going well. It was clear what Dave had planned on doing.

And since his plans were foiled, he didn't want to stick around.

"Wait", she said, as he stood up.


Before she could react, he was out the door.

"Wait!" Lana called out again.

Tailing right behind him, she followed. Dave was now moving faster, and Lana felt herself speed up.

"Dave wait!"

On instinct, Dave turned back. He shouldn't have, because it meant that now he was face to face with Lana again, the two were standing there as his world kept crumbling around him. There was that brief moment of silence, filled with suffocating heartbreak, but he shattered it quickly.

"No, really, Lana, you go and have fun." He was crying at that point, unable to hold himself back anymore, but he still tried to sound sincere. Mike Whaley was a horrible, horrible person, but it wasn't Lana's fault that she was dating an asshole when he had wanted to date her. She was better than that.

"I'll be fine, you know? Maybe I'll ask Sophie, or someone else. Doesn't matter, it's just a prom, you know?"

As he said that, he turned tail again and fled, sincerely believing every word he told his ex. Little did realise how memorable a night his prom would turn out to be.

((David Russell continued at The Prom))

Dave turned to her and-



Oh jesus he was crying wasn't he.

Lana didn't want to hurt him. She didn't mean to hurt him! If she had known he had wanted to go with her before, she would have happily gone with him. But she didn't. So she was going with Mike. But only until a few minutes ago she did even realize...

Needless to say, Lana was beating herself up internally. Why didn't she realize it sooner? He was clearly hurt, and she, once again, felt horrible.

Sure, he said that he could go with Sophie or someone, but the look on his face said it all.

And once again, he began to fled.


"Dave-" she called out once again.



Lana had looked everywhere, but he was gone. Of course he was gone. Why would he stick around? There was no reason to. Why was she looking here? She could call him, or stop by his house, or something. But in any case....

He was gone.

Lana left the Waterfront not feeling too good. It was kind of foolish of her. Really, she and Mike weren't dating. And she and Dave weren't dating anymore. But, she made him feel horrible. She did something wrong. Probably not in going with Mike, but maybe she worded things wrong. Maybe this could have gone smoother.


((Lana Torres continued Sonic Rainboom))