A game plan for Vignesh to hook up with Ruby

“So, what did you two think?” you ask, walking up to Vignesh and Ruby. “Tough quiz, huh?”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Vignesh says, smiling at the girl of his dreams. “Especially since I had such a great partner.”

“Why, thank you,” Ruby smiles, seeming to appreciate the compliment. But then, she turns to you and says: “I bet you’d be a great partner to work with too. I almost wish we could have taken that quiz together!”

Wanting to deflect the attention from yourself, you shake your head and say: “No way, Vignesh is loads smarter than me. You’re lucky that you got to snag him for yourself!”

“Just like your partner was lucky to snag you,” Ruby says. She checks her phone, and then looks at you with a bright expression. “Hey Alex, you want to grab lunch?”

Oh no. This isn’t the way you were planning for things to go, and you think quickly, trying to turn the situation around.

“Yeah, the three of us could get lunch together,” you say, putting an arm around Vignesh’s shoulder.

“I’m free for lunch,” Vignesh nods eagerly.

“Oh,” Ruby says, caught slightly off-guard by your manoeuvre. “Yeah… okay. Let’s head to the dining hall then.”

And so three of you head out of the classroom and towards the dining hall. Vignesh engages Ruby in a conversation about breakfast smoothies that seems to go well enough, while you stay in the background, avoiding getting tangled in this conversation. It’s Vignesh’s show today, and you don’t want to get in the way of it.

Which is why, when you’re about a minute off the dining hall, you make a show of checking your phone and saying: “Sorry guys, I’ve got to run. Something urgent just came up.”

You wave goodbye to the two of them before either can respond and walk swiftly off. But as you’re heading away, you hear Ruby say to Vignesh: “I’m so sorry, something just came up for me too! But maybe the three of us could try again another day.”

And just like that, Ruby’s now walking alongside you again, asking: “So, what came up?”

“Some health stuff. Got to go to the hospital,” you say, hoping that she won’t question you too much about it.

You take a quick glance back and see a dejected Vignesh heading into the dining hall by himself. You would call for him to join Ruby again, but it’s clear at this point that she’s got her eyes on you, and you’re not sure that anything could change that.

“Oh no! Hope it’s not too serious,” Ruby says, touching your shoulder.

“No, not at all,” you reply. “Just time-sensitive. Uh… anyways, I’ll see you around!”

A couple hours later, you get a text from Vignesh:

She came into the dining hall a couple minutes after me.

But then went to sit with some of her friends.

So it didn’t work out. But thanks for trying. I appreciate it.

A shame, you think to yourself. If only Ruby weren’t so into you… or was there a different plan that could have worked?