You Pursue

“Wait!” you call, rushing after her. No way in hell you are just going to let it go like this, and you know, instinctively, that if she just walks away, you will never get another chance. “Blanche, listen, I-“

Blanche whirls on you. “What?” she demands harshly. Oh God, you can see tears in the corner of her eyes. You can’t imagine her humiliation right now. Do not make her cry. That would be the worst possible thing ever, even worse than finding a fetish suit in a cute girl’s school bag. “What more do you want? Are you going to **** me now? Fine!” She digs out her purse. “How much will it take to shut you up? I don’t have much, so. Yeah.”

“Well.” You laugh nervously. “How about dinner?”

She stops rooting through her pack and merely stares at you.

“…What?”

“I’ll even pay!” You laugh again, you’re not sure why. Anything is better than silence. “Um, well, you see, Blanche, I ah, have seen you around a lot, and, well, the ah, I know this is not the best pick up line, go on a date with me so I won’t say anything about your latex suit fetish, but, I mean, feel free to say no!” you quickly assuage her. “I mean, if you say no, I still won’t tell anyone. But, you know, if it would be okay, I would really like to, ah, get to know you better.”

Blanche bites her lower lip. The back pack straps strain beneath her fingers as she wrings them in her hands, the bag clutched close to her chest. Her eyes are down, then dart up to you, then away. “You’re…not creeped out?”

“It was…Is a bit unexpected,” you admit. “But, I mean, if you did agree, and we started going out properly, I guess I’d find out eventually, so really, this could save us a really awkward revelation later on. That was a weird thing to say. Was that weird? I’m sorry. Getting a bit ahead of myself. This is weird. You’re not weird. This…all of this. I would still like to get to know you. All of you, before I say anything. I meant that in the least creepy way possible, I promise.”

Blanche giggles slightly: a nervous laugh, but progress! “And I thought I ran my mouth.”

You smile. “Sorry. So, what do you say?”

Blanche hesitates in her answer.