He pushes his plate toward the aisle, blushing at being caught.
Doug tries to recover. “So, I hear you have a photographic memory? Like you remember everything you’ve read?”
“Yup.”
“So, what’s an example?”
Spin puts her fork down onto her salad and pushes the plate toward the window. With half of her face catching daylight projection of rainlash, she leans forward hard, putting her clothed breasts above the table. Then she stares hard at Doug, reciting, “Principles of Social Psychology. First International HSP Edition. Chapter 7. Liking and Loving. Initial Attraction. Although it may seem inappropriate… people are strongly influenced… by the physical attractiveness of their partners… a field study in which college boys and girls were randomly paired with one another… found that the only important determinant of participants’ liking for their date was his or her physical attractiveness. Bold-emphasis-start. None of the other characteristics—even the perceived intelligence of the partner—mattered. Bold-emphasis-finish.”
This recital overwhelms Doug. Mouth left gaping. A bus hitting him would have been better.
Spin, seeing the neighbor boy staring, sits upright again and focuses on the last bits of her salad. “Or, how about General Practice by John Murtagh, from Chapter 113, Disorders of the penis? Circumcision is generally a safe procedure, but there are risks of minor complications and some rare but serious complications. In newborns, because of their small blood volume, any bleeding is of major concern, and blood loss over twenty-five milliliters can be life-threatening. A bleeding circumcision site–”
“Okay! Okay! Stop! Heavens, I get it!”
Rains die off. Winds pick up, whipping the beach into an apocalyptic blur. On each crack of thunder, restaurant lights flicker, sending out ‘ooh and ah’ from the patrons.
Doug enters a strange cycle between slouching and sitting upright on repeat. Clearly, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Spin takes this clue and asks for “Separate checks, please,” when a waitress dips in to clear away plates.
“So… I mean, I don’t know… Like, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but there was this Babe Bet. Before I knew it, I had joined in. But now I’m sitting here thinking… wow, she is so out of my league, and really… what WAS I thinking? I’m in a tub, and here comes the waterfall, and I’m going over, and whatever.”
Throughout lunch, Spin’s demeanor matches a cat playing with a trapped mouse. But this, at its core, unsettles her. “Are you for real? You and your boys have put us ladies through a freakin’ roller-coaster week of harassment, and… now you’re saying I’m out of your league?” Crimson warms her cheeks.
“They’re not my boys. Well, not yet, anyways.”
“Right. That’s problem one. You, blindly marching on, potentially damaging our lives… for a bet? For complete strangers? Are you that hard up for friendship?”
“Well, saying it like that—”
“And there’s problem two. You, not knowing you’re on a rat wheel! Every time you ‘deliver,’ them boys will just spin it faster and faster. I mean, what the hell, Doug?”
