Date at WcDonalds

Chapter 5 - Brain Over Brawn

Cole had already lost track of time as he chatted with Seliel. Outside, the rain didn't show any sign of letting up soon. He'd gotten around to telling her about how he had become a ghost, but reliving the event only reminded him how poorly that mission had gone.

"It doesn't sound to me like you did anything wrong." Seliel sat sideways in her seat, legs stretched out in front of her as she reclined against the wall.

Cole shook his head. "You don't get it. If I had been just a little bit faster, a little smarter, this might not have happened. Maybe none of it had to happen."

Seliel scoffed. "What, do you expect yourself to be perfect?" She sat up and leaned closer. "You can't get everything right, we all messes up at some point. And sure, being a ninja means that the consequences of your mistakes are a lot bigger. But you did your best, right? What more do you want from yourself?"

She reached out and put her hand over his. "I know it must be terrible, but if you're going to have to live with it for the rest of your life, do you really think it will do any good to keep beating yourself up about it?"

The rest of my life, Cole thought distractedly. How long will that be? But he hated all the questions that brought up and tried to push the thought out of his mind.

Meanwhile, Seliel realized she had managed to touch him and jerked her hand away. "Sorry. I wasn't really sure if . . . I mean I guess you are kind of solid. I'm just surprised. "

"Oh yeah, I can be solid whenever I want. Well, most of the time. I'm still getting the hang of it."

At that moment a light seemed to go off in Seliel's eyes and she gasped. "I've got it! I know the perfect test!" She slammed one elbow on the table, hand in the air. "Arm wrestle! We'll see just how solid you are."

Cole had to laugh. "You serious?"

"Dead serious."

"This won't even be fair," he argued, but locked hands with her anyway. "Ready? On your mark . . . get set . . ."

"Go!" Seliel shouted. Despite getting a head start, she wasn't able to catch him off guard. In fact, Cole could tell that she was applying pressure, but his arm wouldn't budge.

"You do know I have super strength, right?"

"I probably should have guessed," she grunted.

Gritting her teeth, she seemed to give it more effort, but Cole just gave a dramatic yawn. "Are you even trying?"

"Shut up!" she said with a laugh.

"Just let me know when you're ready to lose."

"No way!" Now Seliel brought up her other hand and tried pulling on his forearm.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Cole protested.

"But you just said you have an advantage!" Still, even with two hands, Seliel wasn't strong enough to make Cole's arm move even the slightest bit.

"Alright, that's enough." He slammed her hand against the table and because of the way she had been holding on, her whole body fell, too. But she was still laughing when she sat back up.

"You jerk!"

Cole raised his hands defensively. "I tried to warn you!"

"Okay, maybe you're right. I bit off a little more than I could chew. But I swear I almost had you!"

Cole rolled his eyes. "In your dreams!"

"Then I suppose you wouldn't be afraid to give it another go?"

He hesitated, not sure what she was trying to prove. But then he shrugged. "Well, okay. If you really enjoy losing that much."

They got into position again. Cole could tell that she was being very particular this time about how she positioned her arm, but he didn't think that it would matter. He gave the warning again. "On your mark . . . get set . . . Go!"

To his immense surprise, Seliel actually made his arm shift this time. Within seconds he lost all leverage and she slammed his hand onto the table.

He gaped at her. "How –"

"It's just science, baby!" she said with a wide grin.

Cole laughed. "That's amazing! I can't remember the last time someone beat me at arm wrestling!"

"You're welcome, I guess. And for the record, now you owe me double."

"When did I agree to that?"

Seliel rolled her eyes. "Oh please, it's, like, an unspoken rule that the winner gets a prize. Everyone knows that!"

"An unspoken rule, huh?" Cole repeated skeptically. "How convenient."

"Clearly you don't know the right people."

Cole raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. You win. Now I really owe you."

She nodded in a very self-satisfied sort of way. "And don't think I'll forget."