PlayDate [#wattys2015]

Fair Play

* CALEB *

"Where on Earth is she? She's 15 minutes late," I groaned impatiently. While I was ready to begin the semester project with her at the library, there was one thing missing: my project partner.

She was definitely going to make a 'reasonable' excuse in order to get away with it. She may have fooled teachers and my best friend, but she was not going to get in my head and ruin my beliefs. I remember the time she lied to Mr. Sell about the business report due that day by making up the story of how she went through a rough time at the hospital. I found out that she never had a problem with herself to go to the hospital. She was a vicious fox that needed to be put in a cage, and trapped in the zoo where she belongs.

"Caleb? Where are you?" I heard my name called out by the perfectionist before seeing her coming towards me with that fake, innocent smile on her pretty face, "There you are. I thought you would've left by now. You're not exactly the most patient guy in the world." I should've escaped when I had the chance, and not pay lip service by staying with my second worst nightmare.

"What's that you're reading?" she asked me politely. I could've been polite back and reply that I was checking out some law cases that were intriguing. That was not what I did.

"It's none of your concern. What you should be concerned about is this project. Now, are you ready to begin?"

"Sure..." she frowned upon me.

"The first section of the project is to try the "Free Association Game". The procedure is very simple. All we have to do is ask the first thing that comes into our mind, and the other person has to answer with the first thing that comes into their mind, without hesitation. Understand?"

"Yes, I'll go first. How much are you a New York Yankees fan?" I gave her a funny look and answered that I was a huge fan. In my childhood, one of the things in my vision board was to be the bat boy for the baseball team.

"Do you believe in who you are?"

"No-" she quickly blurted out, surprising me, before she changed her answer, "Yes, I mean... I don't have a clue anymore..."

I rolled my eyes. Working with her was like talking to a wall.

"Do you have any siblings? A brother? A sister?" she asked. I had my eyes looking at the ground, feeling uncomfortable to answer anything about my family.

"I'm the only child. Look Perfectionist, don't you have any questions that won't lead to any boredom happening in the library."

"You want a good question. Fine! I'll give you a question that won't be boring," she sounded annoyed with my behavior. Then, I regretted speaking to her that way because of the next question she asked me.

"Are you willing to be with me?" she blurted out thoughtlessly. What was she thinking? Oh wait, she wouldn't have anticipated asking me a stupid question like that.

"Hold up! Rephrase that question."

"Can we possibly date?"

"Oye, Vey... Are you out of your mind?" I whisper-shouted at her.

"Not for real, but pretend dating." I was already packing up my items to get away from her as far as possible. She got dumped by Tucker a couple hours ago, and she had the guts to ask me out? She must've lied about ever loving him. I grabbed my backpack, and stormed out of the library without turning back. Unluckily, she caught up to me. Curse her speedy legs from cheerleading practices.

"Caleb, wait. It's not what you think. I'm trying to get back at Tucker for what he did to me. Since you're the person he hated the most, I thought maybe you could be with me as a way to break his cruel heart. You'll get him so pissed that he'll lose his popularity and the football position to you. Therefore, it'll be a win-win solution. I rest my case," she defended her proposition.