An Unexpected Date

The gash on his leg slowed him down a bit, but he still managed to carry her towards the town in the distance.

“Stupid.” she mumbled under her breath while they trekked along the winding, dark road and towards the distant lights of a small town.

* 2 Hours Earlier *

Fabio reluctantly walked up the winding stone path to the front door of a towering mansion. The ornate columns that coldly welcomed him to the castle towered even taller than the surrounding evergreens on the secluded property.

Fabio was 27 and had been living in his parents’ basement for the past 6 years after dropping out of college in attempts to pursue a career in video gaming. Despite his contentedness with his current situation, his mother thought he should try to find a girlfriend and/or an actual job so that he could “get a life”. Not wanting to give up his lifelong dream of creating the next World of Warcraft, Fabio agreed to the blind date his mother set up with her colleague’s daughter.

As he straightened up the shoulder pads of his Lord Serpentis costume, he held the costume he had prepared for Tiffany in front of him and pushed a button to cue the elaborate doorbell ring. The solid oak door with swirling wrought iron accenting slowly swung open to reveal his unwanted date, Tiffany.

“Hi” she greeted him with a smile, revealing her artificially whitened teeth as she moved out from behind the massive door. Her clothing was skin tight and not suited for the crisp October air. He had expected this type of girl from a blind date, which is why he had always refused his mother’s pleading. Fabio greeted her back shyly and offered her the World of Warcraft costume that he had prepared, hoping that by revealing this embarrassing side of him, he would be able to cut the date short and return to the comfort of his home by 10 o’clock.

“Woah! An Aegwynn costume?! I didn’t know you were a World of Warcraft fan!” She exclaimed excitedly, inviting him in.

Fabio looked at her in shock. How could she like World of Warcraft? What kind of girl was this? He was pleasantly surprised but still suspicious, expecting some fatal flaw in her character to be revealed later.

She went to change into the costume then returned to the foyer of her large home and asked expectantly what they were going to do.

He responded that they were going to raid Orgrimmar and fight the orcs. But since he didn’t have direct access to Orgrimmar, the woods on the outskirts of their small town would suffice.

He was including as many nerdy terms as he could to try to make her uninterested. This had exactly the opposite effect, however.

“YES! I have always wanted to raid Orgrimmar!” she squealed. “But won’t the woods be dangerous after dark? What if we fall into a river or something?”

“Oh, don’t be paranoid, that never happens.” To be honest, he was scared of going into the woods after dark but was desperate to get rid of this girl he was determined was like everyone else, despite his initial attraction.

So they started their trek from her mansion, further into the woods and into the dark. He was sure she would get tired of walking soon but she continued to lead the way, interested to see what awaited them.

Suddenly, Tiffany fell forward. Fabio quickly grabbed her wrist, but it was no use, they were both tumbling down an incline and towards a swiftly moving river.

The frigid water consumed them, chilling them to their bones and pulling them towards the rocky bottom. They were then spit out onto land as they ran into a protruding sand bar. They coughed and sputtered as they dragged themselves out of the water and eventually began laughing.

“Whose idea was it to go for a hike in the woods?” Tiffany jokingly prodded Fabio as they dried out on the bank.

“Hey, I was just trying to do something different for our date” He laughed.

They assessed the damage to their clothing and noticed that they had obtained injuries from their fall. With the cold water engulfing them, they only began to notice the pain as they warmed up. Tiffany had sprained her ankle and Fabio had a gash on his leg from a sharp protruding rock during their fall. He winced as he touched the new opening in his leg and decided to let it be until they got back to the city.

He leaned over and motioned for Tiffany to get on his back.

Reluctant and worried about his injured leg, she refused at first but then gave in as she could barely stand.

They began their trek towards the only lights they could see in the distance and had a casual conversation. Fabio had to admit that he was wrong not only about blind dates, but about Tiffany when he first saw her. He was glad that his mother had forced him out of his comfort zone and that he had met this interesting girl who shared his interest in World of Warcraft.

“Stupid.” She teased him and laughed playfully. He jokingly threatened to throw her off his back and they both chuckled. Together, they hiked towards the city, both in pain, but both incredibly enjoying spending their time with each other.