Mallory, for 360

You eventually settle on Mal—something about her lively personality 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? But knowing him, he’s bid for Helen, so you should be safe… “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 Helen, we have… Jack! He’s won the bid with 300 minutes, and will spend the 240 minutes in detention bid by Zachary,” Ward announces, and Jack gives the air a hard fist-pump. Really, 4 hours in the slammer? Well, you did just bid more time for Mal, so, you can’t really judge.

“For the date with Mallory, we have… Alex! He submitted the highest bid at 360 minutes, but will only spend the 240 minutes bid by our second-highest bidder, Grace,” the professor say, and Mal gives you an excited wave and a wink. You see a girl sitting in the corner—Grace—slump, clearly disappointed. Then, Mal turns to her, and makes a tear gesture with her hand, and Grace reciprocates.

What’s this? Is Mal lesbian? Or, perhaps, bi? You spend the rest of the class fidgeting a little, trying to figure out what she’s hiding in her head, and if you can maybe turn this opportunity into something more. I still need to make this date go well first, 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 Mal’s excited face.

“So we’re doing this thing! Woohoo!”

“Uh… yeah, it’s going to be fun. Shoot for Monday?” you reply, caught a little off guard. “Let’s say dinner and drinks?”

“Oh yeah, so down, see ya then,” Mal says, skipping away. She whispers something to Grace on the way out, and then is gone.

Helen, for her part, has been talking with Jack the entire time, and it doesn’t look like their conversation’s going to end any time soon. With nobody to talk to, you head back to the hall lounge.

Mallory +10