A
SHORT TIME LATER IN CLARA WALKER’S DORM ROOM AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY.
Serena sank back into Clara’s beanbag as she encouraged her friend, “Oh come on Clara—why don’t you just go ahead and rip the band aid off and call him already?”
Clara remembering how Serena had once said the same words to push her into the arms of her former abductor Ben Walters, groaned, “Now, where have I heard that before?”
Serena realizing as much, sheepishly corrected, “Oh—sorry. Bad choice of words.”
Clara nevertheless, picked up the phone and started to dial Travis’s phone number, as she entreated her friend, “Anyway…. wish me luck.”
To which her friend nodded,
“Of course. You need a break from the books Clara. Everyone needs a day off sometime.”
Serena then made the oddball pop reference—as she had a penchant to do from time to time—exclaiming, “It could be just like Ferris Bueller’s day off! Except without a pesky Dean trying to catch us and ruin all of our adolescent hijinks!”
Clara rolled her eyes, “Whatever Serena…” before putting the phone to her ear.
Clara literally crossed her fingers as the phone began to ring Travis’s number. He didn’t pick up immediately and as the phone reached its fourth ring, she thought that he wasn’t going to pick up at all, but then sure enough the ringing ceased as she heard Travis’s voice answer, “Hello?”
Clara took a breath, before responding, “Hi Travis, this is Clara—”
Before she could even finish Travis exclaimed, “Clara! You called!”
Clara taken in by his enthusiasm, laughed, “Yes—yes, I guess I did.”
Travis dryly chuckled, “I’ve been waiting.”
Clara sarcastically quipped, “Really? Well—sorry to keep you on my waiting list.”
She looked over to Serena who gave her an encouraging smile. Clara then cut through the chitchat and went ahead and dived right in, “Hey Travis, I’d like to meet up with you sometime.”
Ever since the beginning of the phone call, Travis had been trying to think of a way to lead up to just that same statement, but when she foisted it upon him first, he felt himself taken a bit aback, as he sputtered, “You… you do?”
Serena gave her the thumbs up, as she continued, “But could you do me a favor?”
Travis replied, “Sure—what is it?”
Clara requested, “Could you make it a double date?”
Travis echoed, “A double date?”
Clara grinned at Serena as she answered, “Yeah—I’ve got a friend whose here from out of town. She doesn’t get out much—.”
Serena feigned offense at being portrayed as a shut-in and quietly muttered, “Well gee—thanks’ a lot Clara!”
But Serena and Clara both knew that her being referred to in this manner was all just a ploy. In the past Serena was the one with the more robust and adventurous social life whereas she was the one who probably would have labeled the more bookish Clara as someone who “didn’t get out much”.
In fact, it was only her recent close call with the sex trafficking ring last semester that had given Serena enough pause to slow down and be a little more cautious. But even now, to say that she didn’t get out much was clearly a misstatement, which of course was what made it so funny coming from Clara, whom such words more readily applied to.
It was really just a convenient backstory for her urgent need for a double date. As Clara continued the ruse, “Yeah—her name’s Serena. We’ve been good friends for a while now and I just feel sorry for her because she’s so shy. It’s hard for her to go out on dates without my encouragement.”
Serena was trying hard not to laugh as Clara waited for Travis’s response. Travis thought about it for a minute, and concluding it could be done told her, “Yeah—I understand. I’ve got a couple buddies that are a little like that too.”
Clara replied, “Okay…”
Mark then remarked, “Yep, I think I have just the right guy for her.” He then quickly added, “Only one question—do you guys like Indian food?”
A FEW HOURS
LATER AT A LOCAL INDIAN RESTAURANT. Clara and Serena sat in a booth in the back of the restaurant waiting for their dates to arrive. For seemingly the second time in less than five minutes, the same waiter came up to Clara and asked, “Would you like to order some Naan bread ma’am?”
Clara shook her head, “I’m sorry—but we’re waiting for someone. We’re not going to order anything until they arrive.”
The waiter seemed almost disappointed as he scurried off to fill glasses of water for patrons at a table on the other side of the room. Serena looked over to Raina and sighed, “Do you think they’re even going to show up?”
Clara showing a bit of hubris, remarked, “I have never been stood up—and I don’t plan to start now.”
Serena laughed, “Wow—well aren’t you special?”
Clara then happened to catch movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up just in time to see Travis walking right toward her. She elbowed Serena, “Here he comes!”
It was then that they noticed who Travis was with. To Clara’s horror it was Mark, the former TA that had sabotaged her grades during her first semester at Stanford!
Mark didn’t seem to recognize her at first and as Travis sat down and addressed them, with an enthusiastic, “Ladies!” Mark simply quietly followed suite, sitting down next to him.
Travis seated directly across from Clara motioned toward her, telling his friend, “Hey Mark, this is the girl I was talking about, here name is Clara…”
At the mention, Mark’s otherwise subdued features suddenly became fiercely alert, as his eyes widened and his mouth dropped. Clara too was equally perturbed as she muttered, “Oh my God….”
Mark agitatedly stuttered, “You—you’re that stuck up bitch!”
Travis shocked at his friend’s reaction, gasped, “Mark! What the hell’s gotten into you?!”
Pointing at Clara, Mark shouted, “She nearly got me kicked out of Stanford!”
Clara finding her voice, raised it in indignation, “Yes I did! And you deserved it—after you tried to sabotage my grades!”
To which Mark hissed, “Oh—you’re full of it! I’m a freaking TA it’s my job to adjust grades!”
Alarmed at the sudden escalation in the verbal onslaught, Travis shouted, “Mark seriously! Don’t talk to her like that!”
Clara knew Mark was the one that was lying anyway, and she charged right ahead with the accusation, “You didn’t just adjust my grades—you altered them!”
Mark turning red under the pressure, shot Travis an angry look as he asked him, “Is this why you brought me out—to get the third degree from Miss Goody Two shoes over here?”
Serena meanwhile was in a state of shock, not sure which direction to run. Travis not sure how to proceed either, asked his friend, “Well—is it true Mark? Did you change her grades?”
Mark realizing, he couldn’t lie, sighed as he finally admitted, “Yes I did.”
Travis asked, “Why?”
Mark looked down at the table as he revealed, “I just wanted her to retake some of the tests. I figured she could use the extra practice.”
Clara obviously not buying this ridiculous response snorted, “Extra practice huh?”
Mark defensively stammered, “Yes! That—that’s what good TA’s do!”
As he continued to rationalize his ill deeds, he sighed, “I also figured it would be a good excuse to get to know her a little better.”
Serena interjected, “And you figured that was a good reason to put the knife in someone’s academic career? To get a date? Somehow there is some flawed reasoning involved in all this. Can’t you see that?”
Mark suddenly erupted into a spasm of unexpected anger as he stood up from his seat and shouted, “I don’t need this! I don’t need to answer to you or anyone else!”
Mark then wheeled around to dash out of the restaurant but in his effort to do so accidentally caught the arm of one of the waiters carrying a tray topped with a glass pitcher of water.
The pitcher came flying off the tray and crashed down on the table below shattering in an explosion of glass and ice-cold H2O. Both Clara and Serena were drenched by the unexpected water bomb.
Mark meanwhile, bolted right out of the restaurant, not even looking back, as the startled waiter was left to literally pick up the pieces. The poor restaurant employee seemed more than willing to take the blame, and kept repeating to both Serena and Clara, “So sorry—so sorry. Are you alright?”
Travis whose socially inept friend had just bailed on him, appeared to be completely mortified, and unsure of what else to do he quietly helped the waiter clean up the glass shards and desperately tried to dab up the water with a multitude of napkins.
Serena grabbing some napkins herself to wipe off her drenched shirt exclaimed, “And this—this is why people should never go on blind dates!”
