Part 10 (2/2)
”Why isn't she popular? I don't know, maybe because she's too nice. I don't know if you noticed, but the popular kids in our school can be serious a.s.sholes.”
”But you're pretty popular.”
”Yeah. Exactly. Trust me, Jon, you don't want me dating your sister. I don't have the best track record with women.”
”Oh, don't worry about that. I don't want you dating my sister either, I was just curious. When something doesn't make sense to me, I try to figure it out.”
”Now, wait a minute. What do you mean you don't want me dating your sister?”
”Well, you said it yourself. You don't have the best track record with women. I don't want some guy dating her just to use her and then dump her when he's done.”
”Who the h.e.l.l says I'd do something like that?” Kevin was kind of offended that this little geek was judging him, captain of the rugby team and lady killer extraordinaire.
Jonathan patted Kevin on the shoulder and picked up his drink off the bar. ”Don't worry about it, Kevin, you don't like her anyway, right?”
”Yeah. Right,” answered Kevin, confused now, not sure at this point whether he liked her or not. Jonathan had gotten him totally turned around.
”So, what about those chicks over there ... do I get the blond one or what?”
Kevin shook off his confusion, smiling. ”Sure, dude, go for it. See what you can do.”
”And you'll be my wingman?”
”Sure, Jon, I'll be your wingman.” Kevin would be there for him when he crashed and burned, poor, clueless kid that he was.
The two walked away from the bar, heading over to where the girls were sitting. Jonathan stopped in front of the blond, looking a little awkward.
Kevin couldn't wait to see what he was going to say. This should be interesting.
”I see you have the newest version of the iPhone that hasn't even been released yet. How'd you manage that?”
What? Kevin never saw that pickup line coming.
”Uh-oh, busted.” The blond smiled at him. ”My dad works for Apple. He's one of the employees in charge of testing new products, figuring things out, what the bugs are, how to fix them. Basically check the phone for usability, human factors, that kind of thing.”
Human factors? What is this girl talking about?
”Cool. I've studied human factors design in computer keyboards but never cell phones. I'll bet it's really interesting. Can I take a look?” Jonathan held out his hand for the phone.
She hesitated. ”I'm really not supposed to let anyone else use it.”
”Oh, don't worry, I just want to take a look at the apps you have on it. I've written a couple for the iPhone in my spare time.”
”Really? Which ones?”
”Have you ever heard of Tick, Tack, Blast? That's the most popular one.”
”Oh my G.o.d, of course I have! I love that one! Look, it's here on this phone actually, and I was just playing it before we came out. That is so weird, isn't it Millie?” She looked over at the girl sitting next to her who was rolling her eyes.
”Yeah. Weird all right.”
Kevin just stood there, stunned. How could this be happening? The prettiest girl in the bar, who by all rights should be his conquest, was sharing geekspeak with Jonathan.
”Why don't you guys sit down and join us? My name is LeeAnn by the way, and this is my cousin, Millie.”
Jonathan sat down right next to LeeAnn on the couch and they immediately began debating the pros and cons of the iPhone operating system versus its popular compet.i.tor, Android.
Kevin sat down in a chair next to Millie. Oh well, might as well go with it. ”So, Millie, where are you from?”
”Chicago.”
”Oh, Chicago, that's cool. Do you go to school there?”
”Yes.”
”Okay, so, um, what do you like to do for fun?”
”Not much.”
”Alright, not much. Interesting.” Or maybe not. Geez, trying to talk to this girl is like pulling teeth painful.
”I'm going to go get myself another drink, do you want anything?”
”No.”
”Okay, then.”
Kevin had never been so thoroughly dissed in his life. He'd been a good-looking guy since he was, like, five. Even the girls in kindergarten couldn't get enough of Kevin on the playground and in cla.s.s. What was this chick's problem anyway? Oh well, at least Jonathan is. .h.i.tting it off. And who would have guessed that would happen? Beneath the exterior hotness of this girl beat the heart of a nerd. She didn't seem to notice Jonathan's awkwardness. Actually, now that Kevin thought about it, Jonathan didn't seem awkward around this girl at all probably because they spoke the same language.
Kevin went to the bar and ordered himself two shots. Might as well get this party started. He downed those right away and then ordered a Long Island Ice Tea. What's not to love about a drink that had five types of alcohol in it? Great, now I'm having a conversation with myself.
A few minutes later, Kevin glanced over and noticed that Millie was nowhere to be seen. Jonathan and his girl were deeply engrossed in conversation, sitting very close together on the couch.
Kevin ordered six shots and brought them over. ”It's ten o'clock. Time to do some shots.”
Jonathan and LeeAnn looked up in a daze. They appeared as if they had forgotten where they were for a little while, lost in their world of operating systems, iPhone apps, and JavaScript programming.
LeeAnn looked at Jonathan and shrugged her shoulders. ”If you say so.” She took one of the shots and held it up in front of her. ”What are we drinking to?”
Jonathan took his shot gla.s.s and said, ”Here's to bug-free operating systems!”
Kevin laughed. ”Here's to Millie! The girl who broke my heart and left me to wither away at the s.h.i.+p's bar.”
They all threw back their shots and then struggled to breathe.
In a slightly strained voice, LeeAnn said, ”Yeah, I'm sorry about that. She has a hard time having fun.”
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