Helen, for 360

You eventually settle on Helen—something about her friendly flirtatiousness is hard to resist, but you can’t quite figure out how much time to put down. The date’s going to last what, an hour? Well, you’re certainly going to have to put down more time than that, then. What seems appropriate? You’ll probably be able to do work in detention, so you think about how long you can go in one sitting without going stir-crazy… probably about six hours.

Your mind made up, you scribble down your bid in the envelope, and make your way down to the queue in front of the professor. It’s a quick wait, and you soon hand it over to Professor Ward. She quirks an eyebrow slightly as she flicks it open, making an entry in her laptop and then waving on the next person.

You return to your seat, wondering how your bid stacks up against the others. You cross your fingers, hoping that you’ll win…

“I’ve got all the bids now, and have our two winners on my screen now,” Professor Ward says, and you glance at Jack, who has got a cocky smile on his face again. Shit, is there any way you outbid that asshole? “If you’re hoping that you’ll win, you’ve done something wrong. You’re supposed to bid your true value of the item, making you indifferent between the two options. Most of you who made this mistake will be paying the price for that dearly.

“Now, for the winners. For the date with Mallory, we have… Grace! She submitted the highest bid at 240 minutes, but will only spend the 215 minutes bid by our second-highest bidder, AJ,” Ward announces, and the girl sitting in the corner of the room gives an excited wave to Mal, who gives her a wink back.

Okay, okay, this is good. Your bid would have won this round… But maybe Helen will command higher numbers?

“For the date with Helen, we have… Alex! He’s won the bid with 360 minutes, and will spend the 300 minutes in detention bid by Jack,” the professor says, and you let a wide smile cross your face. Sure, 5 hours is a long time, but you know it will be well worth it.

You turn to Helen, trying to gauge her reaction, but she only meets you with that same smile on her face, a kind of carefully moderated cheerfulness. What does that mean? Was she actually hoping for Jack to win? Or is she just doing a great job at hiding the opposite, and merely keeping up a civil front for the crowd? You can’t get a read on her.

You spend the rest of the class fidgeting a little, trying to figure out what she’s hiding in her head. I won, but I still have to make the date go well, you think to yourself, and realise that the hard part is still ahead of you.

As the class wraps up, you feel a tap on your shoulder, and turn to see Helen’s half-smiling face.

“Congratulations. You know how to write big numbers,” she says wryly. “So, when are we going to do this thing?”

“Uh… how’s Monday?” you reply, caught a little off guard. “Let’s say dinner and drinks?”

“Look at you, getting a second date lined up with our girl before the first has even happened,” Mal says, laughing from the side. Jack is still in his seat, red in the face and positively fuming.

“Yeah, we can talk over it tonight,” Helen says. “Sorry, but I got to run now. Have somebody to meet for lunch.” She gives you a quick wave, and then is gone.

Mal has headed over to Grace to sort out the details of their date, and there’s no way you’re staying to talk with Jack. Real winners don’t gloat. So, you head back to the hall lounge.

Helen +10
Jack -10