fragile heart

“Yup. I never expected I’d have such a hard time choosing, but there I was, wanting to bid on pretty much everyone! You were actually the person that inspired me to go down the same road. And oh, definitely not together. That wouldn’t be fair, would it? Their ideas on the perfect date were pretty different, so it’d suck if they had to compromise on that because of me. What about you?”

“That might be her idea, but it certainly isn’t mine. That’s the thing about this auction: I’m simply participating to please her, to get her off my back. I’m not going in with the idea I’m going to find a person I actually like and wanna be with. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this... I just... I hope you know that.”

“I’m afraid mom looks far beyond appearance and takes social factors in consideration too, so I’m not exactly sure if they’d fit the box of mom’s ideals. But you’re right, I should probably try to find someone who falls inbetween the categories. Not like you, ‘cause you’ll be worth way more than my budget, won’t you? I’m sure everyone’s already lining up.”

“I know, Twyla, I know. Literally everything you’ve just said could not be more true and I think it’s kind of a waste of money too, but there’s literally no way back for me at this point. You don’t know how my mom gets about matters like these. She’s threatened to disown me before when she wasn’t getting her way, who knows it won’t happen this time? I’d rather not find out. All I can do is hope people won’t be throwing their money around and the bids won’t be too high, so I don’t have to use everything.”

“You’re not participating? No wonder mom decided to put all her money on me! I totally understand what you’re saying though, your job and the family business is so much more important than this stupid auction. And it’s not like it’s the only way out there to meet people. At first I thought the auction would be kind of fun, but after mom’s whole pep talk I wish I too had valid reason not to go. I feel like she won’t be satisfied if I picked anyone who isn’t an actual princess in line for a throne. Scratch that, I know she won’t be satisfied. I didn’t even think about the age limits, but you’re right, that would be pretty awkward if you ended up with a sophomore. The perks of bidding myself is that I can choose to pick someone of our class.”

“Sometimes, I truly wonder if my mother is secretly the brain behind the SHAW club. She just sent me two month’s worth of allowance, simply so I could win myself a ‘the best and most suitable partner’ at the bachelorette auction, whatever that’s supposed to mean. I’m truly surprised she didn’t add in a proposal ring to propose to the girl on the spot. Believe me, she’d be capable of doing that.”