Walk over to her

Summoning an uncharacteristic boldness, John took a deep breath and started across the crowded gym toward Kate to find out what was up.

Kate was the sort of girl who was sneak-up-on-you-gorgeous. Her simple, short black hair, diminutive stature, petite frame, and somewhat conservative style of dress didn't exactly scream sex appeal, but the more attentive observer was apt to notice her soft, almost radiant skin, her delicately easygoing smile, and hypnotic irises that were almost violet in hue. John liked to think his appreciation of these features was a testament to his refined sense of aesthetics. Alas, those irises proved to be his undoing on this occasion.

She looked up in surprise as he approached. "John! Uh, hi!" Her incredible eyes bored into him and he suddenly found his mind very, very blank.

"Um... Why ya staring at me?" he managed to blurt out after several long seconds of uncomfortable silence, immediately wishing he hadn't.

Kate's lips curved up in that smile of hers, only this time it was a bit of a smirk. "Staring at you? I'm just watching the clock behind you. Gotta start my warm up run. See ya!" And with that she sped off down the track circle, leaving him in the dust in more ways than one.

John glued his eyes to his shoes as he shambled back over to his corner of the gym. Clearly that had been a mistake. Meeting girls had never been his forte. What had possessed him to think he could just waltz over there and charm her with sheer aplomb? Next time a more refined approach would probably be wiser.

The rest of practice passed fairly uneventfully. Despite some demoralization on his part, by the end he had managed to stop berating himself over his tactless blunder and was back to his typical amiable (if invisible) self. As the girls packed up to depart, the conversation inevitably turned to the exciting prospect of the upcoming nationals.

"This summer is going to be SO great!" gushed Allison, "I mean can you believe it? Hawaii? Forget the meet, I'm going to hit the beaches every day!"

"Never mind the beaches," retorted Mandy, "You'll find me at the bars. The drinking age in Hawaii is 18! We'll all be able to go!"

A cacophony of approving hoots, bemused groans, and skeptical no-it-isn'ts ensued until Tanya raised her voice over the chaos.

"The real question is how we're gonna get the money to go in the first place," she said sternly, "I just found out that the school will only cover half."

The girls' faces fell at the news. "Half?! That leaves like... ten thousands dollars per person, right?" moaned Ilyana, who was never very good at math and had probably never purchased anything without the assistance of her parents' credit card.

"Try $800 per person," corrected Tanya, "Still, it's a lot of money to raise. Any ideas?"