Kevin was on a bad double date and needed an escape. Jared had convinced him it would be a good idea, so Kevin found himself sitting beside a rather plain looking woman, struggling to involve her in conversation, while also looking like a total dud beside Jared. Things between Jared and Katy were going very well, and Jared was acting very smug about it, while still being abnormally charming.
Kevin's date, Sharon, was absolutely boring him to death. He was always scared of how girls would react to his real self, but seeing no future with her, he decided he might try to be open about himself and see how she reacted. Even if she didn't like it, no loss. If she did, well, the date had no where to go but up.
"So, Sharon, do you like playing games or anything?"
"Well, I like playing card games."
"How about board games?"
"Not really."
"Video games?" She shook her head.
"Role playing?" Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened at this suggestion, so he felt he should elaborate. "You know, like dungeons and dragons or anything like that?"
"Oh gosh, I've never tried anything like that before! I'm not sure if I would be very good at it, I don't have much of an imagination."
"Oh. Do you read much?"
"I like reading biographies, especially of world leaders. I find learning how they reached their goals and became household names to be very interesting."
"Do you read much fiction?"
"Not very much, sometimes I might read a historical novel or something like that."
"No fantasy or sci-fi? Romance novels? Thrillers?"
"Oh no, I struggle to read those. I don't do well in made up worlds, and I don't like reading romance novels. They are just too unrealistic for me."
"Hmm. Okay. The 'unrealistic', as you say, is basically my bread and butter."
"Really? How come?"
"It's like living another life, a different life. Every time you open a book, you are transported to a whole new world and follow the adventure of the hero or villain. You learn so much, and I find it opens you up to have a better world view, and to be more accepting of people's differences."
"But don't you find it weird when aliens are the main characters? How do you even relate to that?"
"Well, if you can't, I'd say either the author has done a terrible job, or the reader is struggling with narrow-mindedness." He looked over the table to see Jared giving him some serious side-eye. Oh man, I just insulted this girl right to her face didn't I? "But the best part of reading novels like those, is that I have lived thousands of lives within my own."
Sharon was quiet for a moment as she thought it over. "Wouldn't that make you dissatisfied with your own life then? Or is it a symptom of that dissatisfaction that you continually try to escape into others?"
Whoa, this girl is getting deep. "No, I would say it improves my life because it allows me to live my own life better. It can help me brighten up the dark days, and definitely keeps boredom at bay."
"Oh, I like to be productive to keep away the boredom. Usually by knitting. That way I keep the boredom and the cold away!" She laughed at her own joke, and Kevin chuckled to be polite.
Realizing that asking for specific hobbies was not leading to much success, he made one last-ditch effort: hypothetical conversation starters.
"Okay, hypothetically, if Jurassic Park were real, would you visit it?"
"I don't understand."
"No, its just like a game. If there were a real amusement park that had real life dinosaurs in it, would you visit it?
"Oh, no, I object to zoos or anything which forces an animal into captivity. They should be wild in their native habitat."
"Okay, but dinosaurs don't have a native habitat. They are extinct."
"No, I still wouldn't want them to be captive."
"Okay, one vote for not visiting, and a bonus for wanting dinosaurs to roam free. Jared, what say you?"
"Oh, definitely! Like, not as soon as it opens obviously, but once they get everything tested and approved, and the price semi-affordable, I'd totally check it out. How about you, Katy?"
"Hmmm. I think not. They are too wild and have not evolved to the new world. Too much risk. Plus, have they learned nothing from the movies? Why do they keep trying to make it work? It never works? So no, I'm good with Jurassic Park staying a fiction."
Kevin chuckled. "Fair counterpoint Katy. For myself, I would agree with you. I think there is a reason they went extinct, and we shouldn't try to change that."
Jared led the next question, with a very pointed look at Kevin. "Okay, next question. What would you do if you were trapped in an elevator, and you thought it was just a stuck door, but then it started to free fall. Katy? You first."
Kevin glared at Jared, who just smiled innocently back. Kevin hadn't told him much about the whole ordeal, but Jared thought he should use the story to pick up chicks. Kevin didn't see what the big deal was; Jared said he should embellish it a little, and compare it to a near death experience which changed his outlook on life. Jared was convinced the women would eat it up, Kevin was less sure.
Katy was talking about praying and climbing up towards the ceiling to have more of an air cushion to save her legs if it crashed. Jared said that if there was anyone in there with him, stranger or not (unless they smelled really bad), he'd probably hold onto them for comfort, and maybe safety if he could use them as a cushion in the event of a crash. Plus, a whole lot of screaming.
Sharon said simply that she would pray and hope for safety by God's grace. Then it was Kevin's turn.
"I'd grab a railing for dear life and hold my breath until it stopped moving. You can't scream if you're holding your breath, and I prefer to leave the screaming to someone else."
"Like a woman in there with you?" Jared added with a sly grin.
"Perhaps." Kevin shrugged. If he hadn't been holding his breath that day, he knew he would have been screaming too, and they had only moved a few feet.
"Depending on the fall though, it might just turn into a Tower of Terror situation, in which case everyone is screaming, and your stomach gets wrapped around your heart, effectively immobilizing you from any of your crazy ideas. They take too much planning." Everyone sat in silence for a few moments thinking this through.
Then Katy perked up, "wait, why do you sound so sure? Has this happened before?" Kevin nodded with a shrug. "WHAT?"
Jared took over story telling duty, highlighting to Katy his lack of game by failing to get the name or number of his fellow captive before they were rescued. In response, Katy looked at him with awe and held his hand for a moment. Sharon, on the other hand, just sat there staring at him with her big brown eyes, and made him uncomfortable.
He cleared his throat to break the tension. "We didn't really fall far. So, there's no way to know what I'd do for a big free fall. Maybe I'd pee myself then."
Jared and Katy laughed heartily at that comment, but Sharon just put a hand over her mouth, thoroughly scandalized. Kevin's mind flashed back to the joke he made about Stephanie having to pee, and the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly before dissolving as his guilt set in again.
They continued in this fashion for 15 minutes, in which Sharon refused to create a hypothetical question, citing a lack of inspiration. From there, Katy turned it into a game of would you rather, with the questions getting more and more disturbing as the beverage levels in their glasses decreased.
Sharon begged the game end when Jared asked, "would you rather know when you were going to die or how you were going to die, but be unable to do anything to change it."
Jared and Katy were making eyes at each other by then, and it was time to go. Knowing Sharon took the bus to get there, Kevin offered to drive her home as it was only a little bit out of his way. She was fairly quiet in the car, and Kevin didn't really know what to say to her, so they sat mostly in silence except when she provided turn instructions.
Arriving at the apartment, she turned to Kevin, "I have to go to church with my parents in the morning, so I better call it a night. Thanks for dinner though. It was... interesting conversation." She ended with a sweet smile.
"Sorry if some of those questions made you uncomfortable."
"It's okay. It's good to think outside the box sometimes."
"Okay, good. Well, have a good-" before he even knew what was happening, she was kissing him.
She was a good kisser; her lips were soft and full on his, and he relaxed into it, enjoying himself more than he expected. She broke the kiss and got out of the car without another word, she didn't even look back as she headed inside. Kevin was left reeling from the ordeal. They essentially had nothing in common based on conversation, and he had not even planned to kiss her. She kissed him, and left him wondering about what to do next.
He sighed. He knew he would call her. If it was horribly awkward on the phone, then they'd know for sure. He wouldn't feel guilty about getting a kiss like that and not calling, even if he never said he would. He put the car and reverse and headed home, thoughts drifting to another set of lips and wondering what they would feel like on his.