Young Writers Society

The Premise

It is one week after Valentines day and a local speed dating course is the perfect opportunity for a group of single people to get together in the hopes of finding that special someone. The course runs for six weeks and every week, the members date two people from the club, one that they choose themselves (both parties must agree) and one that is chosen for them. The advertisement has attracted a wide variety of people from the lonely, single mother who's looking for someone to pay the bills, to the man who knows he is far too good for the average girl so he has to find someone really special who will make him want to divorce his wife.

It's a minefield, but somewhere amongst all these strangers are two people who would be perfect together. But can they fight through the garbage to find that one compatible person?

The Twist

This is romance with a difference! We want to see the messy pairings and we want to see things not go well. The storybook will start with the characters arriving at the first speed dating session and being told the rules. They will have to fill out dating profiles and then they will participate in social games to get to know one another.

To make this story a little more interesting, we're going to throw in a few external factors which will happen in the background. For one, there's going to be a thief in the group who's using it as a way to suss out his next victims (rich character be prepared to have your house robbed while you're on a date). Secondly, the character played by me will be an ex criminal who's trying to turn his life around and not having much success. If things don't go his way, there's a good chance he could advance to using threats to try to get what he wants and we may have a sticky situation on our hands.

The Characters

If you would like to play the thief, feel free. You can decide for yourself whether he's good at his job and doesn't fall astray of the plan, or maybe he will accidentally fall in love with one of the group. Who knows? But that could be a disaster waiting to happen.

There isn't any big plot for this storybook and the idea is to explore the different forms of romance and we'll see where it goes from there. Perhaps a plot will develop, but even if not, this is your opportunity to really focus on how characters interact with each other and their actions can effect how well they are liked or disliked.

Profiles

The storybook will start in about a week so feel free to take your time putting a profile together. The minimum age for a character is 18 but everything else is up to you. Please feel free to get creative and to fill out the form as if it were them answering the dating profile questions.

Template
You may use this or create your own.

Code: Select all

[b]Name: [/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Gender: [/b]

[b]Hair colour: [/b]
[b]Eye colour: [/b]
[b]Body type:[/b]
[b]Ethnicity:[/b]
[b]Best feature:[/b]

[b]What are you looking for in a partner?[/b]

[b]What type of person are you?[/b]

[b]What do you do in your spare time?[/b]

[b]What's an interesting fact about you?[/b]

[i]Other things we need to know about the character[/i]
[For example, this is where you admit that your character is a compulsive liar and that all the above answers are false and he's actually a balding middle aged man with no job. This is where you can tell us any extra details.]

John Vanderbelt

His hands moved across the piano like they were stones skipping over each other, at the bottom of a river bed. He did not turn over the music score in front of him, but he liked to have it there; it completed the picture. A picture he couldn't see, but one which someone else might.

He knew he had to leave soon. John knew he had to leave the comfort of the music and face the big, scary world if he was going to be on time.

John finished to the end of the song and then he stood and pushed back his seat. He had no need for a walking stick around his own flat and he moved with confidence to the door. It was here that he picked the stick up - old and gnarled with the top shaped like a lion's head. He had found it in an antique shop and the groove of the lion's head was comforting.

The address he had been given was not far away and took John only fifteen minutes to walk down. It might have taken a full sighted person ten minutes, but John had to go slow at the corners and the crossings.

When he got there and entered the building, he was directed into a large hall where many were already seated. John could tell there were many of them because he could hear their voices and feel the increased heat of a room full of people.

John almost sat on somebody's knee before he found an empty seat beside them.

"I'm sorry about that," John said. "My name's John." He switched his walking stick into his left hand and held out his right for the person to shake. He thought that by the scent of them they might be female - so far, so good. Maybe this dating thing wasn't so bad afterall.

There was a voice at the front of the room which said they should all socialise for a couple of minutes while everyone arrived.

Stella Matthews

I clipped my hair back, and slipped on my shoes.

"Looks like I'm ready.." I said to myself, wondering how this was going to go.

As I walked down the sidewalk, I noticed a few others going into the place I was going into.

Entering the building, I sighed heavily, and went to find a place to sit.

This program better not be a bad one.

There was a row of chairs, so I sat down on the very end.

People were slowly coming in, some keeping to themselves, others mingling.

A man with a cane type thing walked in, and headed towards me. He approached me, and almost sat on my leg, but then moved over and sat down in the chair beside mine.

"I'm sorry about that." He paused. "My name's John."

He shifted his cane over to his left hand, and stuck out his right towards me.

I took it, and gently shook his hand. "Stella. Stella Matthews."

I studied him. He was different. But not really a bad different.

He was blind, that much was obvious.

Somebody voice was booming through the room we were in, telling us to socialize, but I wasn't really paying attention.

"Stella, eh?" The guy traced the tip of his cane.

"Mhm. So.." I tried to find something to talk about, but I wasn't ever really very talkative.

"You have a nice voice." He said suddenly.

A smile tugged at my lips. "Oh...thank you."

My attention was directed to the front, where a lady stood with a microphone in her hand.

"It looks like the most of you is here. Let's get started!"

I picked at my nail, and listened to what the people were saying on the stage.

Lukas Granger

I swept my bangs in front of my left eye, fixing my tie.

"Why did I agree to do this?" I groaned, putting my jacket on.

"I'm late," I murmured, looking down at my watch. I pulled my hood on over my head and walked out of the door.

Fixing my hair so that it was covering my left eye, I opened the door of the building I was supposed to go to.

I sat down in a chair in the corner, only to find that I missed the chair by about a foot.

"Ow," I mumbled, pressing my face into my hand. I looked up and saw a lovely person standing in front of me, holding their hand out to help me up.

"Thanks," I whispered after being pulled up. "I'm Lukas," I murmured after fixing my hair. I made sure to actually sit down in the chair to avoid another mishap, taking my hood off.

Maybe this won't be that bad, I thought to myself, directing my focus towards the people on the stage.

Evelyn Garcia

I am twenty-four years old, a Chemist major, and frightened of a little experiment.

I mean, I guess this isn't my typical experiment, but the internal factors are the same. Throw in a little sodium and see if it bonds or blows up, put on the safety glasses, and hope that you're safe.

Yup, I don't need this. I've got love down to a science.

I walk into the building, choosing my chair on the stage. Sure, I'm a little scared ('little' being relative) but I told Mama I'd go through with this. Once I've told something to Mama Garcia, she expects me to follow through. I set my tote down, observing the characteristics of the people as they come in. Too short. Hippy, an honorable sacrifice to give up processed chemicals and whatever, but not my type. Looks unintelligent. I'm distracted from my unimpressed state by a younger boy with dark hair.

He's actually on the floor in front of me, muttering 'Ow' and looking embarrassed. The sight of his extremely human faults make me smile, and I offer my hand.

"Thanks." He gets up. "I'm Lukas."

I nod, and he sits into his chair, leaving a blank one between us.

"Everyone!" A peppy woman with a clip board shouts. "Seats!"

A short-haired girl hurries down, along with a man holding a cane. To my surprise, a handsome crew-cut also comes rolling in.

"Welcome to 'Finding Love', a program to help singles get into happy relationships!" I hope she knows that we know why we're here, or this will be a very long day. "You are allowed to choose one date for yourself each week, and we will choose one for you. After we introduce ourselves, I'll read off the selected first week dates!"

She points to the boy-young man-man besides me.

"Lukas. I, um, like animals. I'm twenty-one."

She points to me. Feeling rather like a child, I straighten my have-to-make-a-good-first-impression dress I picked out. What is there to say? That I'm lonely, in the middle of an existance crisis, and probably smarter than all of you? "Evelyn Garcia, twenty-four. I'm clever."

Olivia Spencer

I'm late and for a second I wonder if I should just not show up and forget about the entire thing. I knew I didn't have enough time to go for a surf but I did anyway, despite the freezing waters. A surf always helps me get into the right head space. I take in a deep breathe.

“Come on Liv,” I say to myself, “you can do this.” So I put on my coat, grabbed my handbag and rush out of my apartment. After a few minutes I see a taxi which I hail and hope that I won't be too late.

By the time I get there I don't see anyone outside the venue. Oh boy am I late. I run towards the building and gently push the door open. Everyone is seated quietly, I groan inwardly and mentally scold myself for being so late. My eyes scan the room and I see an empty seat between a long fringed guy and dark haired girl. I dash in as quickly and inconspicuously as I can and dive into the empty seat. I make it just on time to hear her say to everyone, “-four. I'm clever.”

Hmm one of the self assured types I see. I mentally roll my eyes. She sits back down and seems to be surprised to see me next to her. I give her a smirk and turn to the guy next to me.

“That was quite an entrance,” he says softly.

I grin at him, “I like to go in with a bang.”

He gives me a sweet smile and we both look towards the stage. This is going to be one hell of a ride.

John Vanderbelt

It was hard to communicate to someone who didn't talk much, particularly for John. He couldn't look at the person he was talking to, so he didn't know if they looked nervous or disinterested or if they were even looking his way. He could make an estimate from the tone of their voice and this girl didn't sound disinterested, but she had a pretty voice so he might just be telling himself that...

"You have a nice voice." John said. He liked to speak his mind.

"Oh...thank you." John smiled; the girl sounded pleased. He wondered if she was smiling as well and he thought he might ask her when the microphone fizzled and he turned his head to the stage.

"Welcome to 'Finding Love', a program to help singles get into happy relationships!" The spokeswoman had an enthusiastic voice, perhaps too enthusiastic, but she went on to explain very clearly why they were here and what they were going to do. Information which had been provided to them already.

Then the introductions started. John tried to listen carefully to each voice so that he could later attach the person's age and mandatory detail to who he was talking to. It was difficult though and only after the softly spoken girl next to him had touched his arm did he realise that the enthusiastic woman's repetition of: "Don't be shy, deary!" was directed at him.

John stood up, holding his cane loosely in his hand. "I'm John Vanderbelt, I'm twenty-five and I'm a musician."

He sat back down. The rest of the introductions were made and then the lady called out everyone's pairings:

"Mani Delandre and Jamie Jameson."
"Lukas Granger and Anna Black."
"Chris Schoggins and Stella Matthews."
"John Vanderbelt and Olivia Spencer."
"Jude Eugene and Shia Hitsch".
"Alexander Remington and Evelyn Garcia."

"We'll give you time to talk about what you want to do on your date soon, but first let's play an ice breaker. I want you all to take a red ribbon from the pile on that table and give it to the person in the room who you find the most attractive. Then take a blue ribbon and give that to the person who you think is the smartest and a green ribbon for the person who you think is the kindest. A yellow ribbon for the most unlucky and take a purple ribbon for yourself. I'll tell you what to do with those later. This is just a little game to get you all talking about yourselves, okay? Okay! Let's go!"

Alex:

This was a bad idea...What did that shrink know anyway? Why does mom thin it's such a ****ing fantastic idea?

Alex ran his hands through his cropped hair, he felt trapped in this crowded room, even if he was in the back by the door. it was too stuffy, the nervous energy was tangible and that made him more ill at ease. He listened as some kid said he liked animals- jeeze how old is he five? Alex wondered, I mean what kind of guy says THAT to impress a girl?

A few of the girls introduced themselves, then the blind guy spoke up,

"I'm John Vanderbelt, I'm twenty-five and I'm a musician."

Then the eyes of the leader fell on Alex an she smiled brightly- too brightly Alex thought and he wheeled into the middle of the aisle.

"I'm Alex...." He shrugged, "I used to be in the military...yeah- that's about it." He backed into his spot again- he didn't give a rats behind what anyone thought, he didn't even want to be here let alone get a date, but his damnable Therapist.... he ground his teeth and sat back- the leader chick was talking again.

She was calling out who would be the first dates, Alex rolled his eyes- as if it were that easy.

"Alexander Remington and Evelyn Garcia!" Alex looked over at the girl he was apparently meant to take out on a date... she was cute, he'd give her that. But even if he were in the market for a girlfriend, he doubted she would want a damaged guy like himself- girls like her usually go for the "Boy next door types" or the complete douche-bags- neither of which Alex was. The Leader cut into Alex's mental musings again in her all too chipper nasally voice

"We'll give you time to talk about what you want to do on your date soon, but first let's play an ice breaker. I want you all to take a red ribbon from the pile on that table and give it to the person in the room who you find the most attractive. Then take a blue ribbon and give that to the person who you think is the smartest and a green ribbon for the person who you think is the kindest. A yellow ribbon for the most unlucky and take a purple ribbon for yourself. I'll tell you what to do with those later. This is just a little game to get you all talking about yourselves, okay? Okay! Let's go!"

Alex Wheeled up towards the table that had the bowls of ribbons on it, he stayed to the back of the group- avoiding running over people's feet.

"H-here you go." The Black haired kid said to him- offering a yellow ribbon. Alex blinked up at him and silently took it- this did not bode well.....

Three minutes later Alex had four yellow ribbons and nothing else and every second his resolve for just leaving grew stronger.

"Gawd dammit..." He muttered, just having people's pity shoved down his throat so plainly hurt his pride something awful and caused him to become more closed off and intimidating.

Jude Danny Eugene

"Welcome to 'Finding Love', a program to help singles get into happy relationships! You are allowed to choose one date for yourself each week, and we will choose one for you. After we introduce ourselves, I'll read off the selected first week dates!" was what this lady said in front of all of us.

I huffed under my breath. My heart was racing. I knew this was't going to be fun. Why did I eve join this? I'm not fit for dating things. My whole body felt cold as the lady started to call on people to introduce themselves. Oh no, this really was not going to be fun. Finally, she pointed at me. Dread filled my body. Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety.

"And you are?" she urged, her voice being a very annoying thing to my ears.

"Um, I'm Jude... twenty years of age... like to write..." I stuttered.

She gave me a nod and went on. I felt my face flush once my talking was over. Public speaking never fitted me. I ran my hands down my thighs to try to settle down my nerves. Didn't work.

Why would I do this? Even here no guy would come up to me and they are obligated to. I'm a horrible choice for a girlfriend. Virgin. Nervous. Never had a boyfriend before. Was I really that desperate? No, this was an experiment I was doing. Just to see if these things really worked.

Gosh, I'm hopeless.

People started to file out of the room so I followed after, as if this was school and I were going to my next class. Nerd. I barely felt the walking as I hit the floor with my feet, so odd. It was my nerves. People were chatting to each other, getting to know one another. It seemed like they've been friends for lifetimes. While I was the odd one out. All alone. In a line. Looking ahead of myself. Mouth shut. Just another mouse in the pack.

They always need a mouse girl.

Stella Matthews

The lady at the front flicked her eyes over to me, and grinned.

Standing up, I tried to ignore all of the people who were looking at me.

"Hi...my name's Stella. Um...I'm 23, and..uh, I'm a waitress."

I could feel my face heating up, and I sat down quickly.

I'd zoned out, and was only brought back by hearing my voice. "-ins and Stella Matthews."

Wait, who was the other person?

Oh, man. Stupid me. Now I'd have to ask someone. I looked over at John, and was about to ask, but the lady started talking again.

"We'll give you time to talk about what you want to do on your date soon, but first let's play an ice breaker. I want you all to take a red ribbon from the pile on that table and give it to the person in the room who you find the most attractive. Then take a blue ribbon and give that to the person who you think is the smartest and a green ribbon for the person who you think is the kindest. A yellow ribbon for the most unlucky and take a purple ribbon for yourself. I'll tell you what to do with those later. This is just a little game to get you all talking about yourselves, okay? Okay! Let's go!"

I stood up, and looked around at all the others who were here.

As I went over to the table with the ribbons, I picked up one of each color.

The guy in the wheelchair, Alex, was in the line, looking annoyed. People had given him yellow ribbons.

What did the yellow stand for?

Something about not being fortunate.

I made my over to him, and smiled at him as I got closer. He didn't seem to notice me at first.

He turned his head, and looked up at me, his eyes wide. I looked down at the ribbons, and pulled out the green ribbon.

"You said you were in the military?" I pushed the ribbon towards him. "That makes you pretty kind, defending our country, and our freedom."

The guy seemed...surprised. Maybe. I wasn't very good at reading people.

Alex took the ribbon from my hand gently, and smiled back a bit.

I turned, and went to look for the guy I was sitting by. John.

I found him in line, around the back. "Here," he looked towards me, and I felt as if he could see me. "you're one of the smartest people I've ever met."

"How so?" He took the ribbon from my hand, and I tapped my fingers together.

"Well...you're blind, but you still move on, you don't need special help from anyone. I admire that." There were two more ribbons in my hand.

The purple was the one I was supposed to keep, and the other one was to give to someone.

What in the world was the yellow? Gah.

There was one thing that was obvious, and that was that this program might just work. Well, for me, maybe. If I could figure out who the guy was that I was paired with.

Evelyn Garcia

My 'date'? Cute wheelchair guy. Who was, you know, attractive, at least. I was honestly more turned off by the fact that he was in the military than by the fact that he was in a wheelchair. My experience with injured people is good, but all the military men I've met were a little bit too... Know everything without knowing anything for me. I have no clue what the heck we would talk about, but I sort of liked looking at him, which is always a plus.

Anyway.

I glance down at the hand full of ribbons in my hand, immediately tucking the blue one- the 'smart' one- away in my dress pocket. This is completely dumb. You can't expect anything but guessing from us! You're introducing to many random variables! It doesn't really help anything, my annoyance with humanity, so I collect my blue ribbons as they come.

I note that people are giving Alex, 'my date', yellow pity ribbons. I don't understand why, because the military was a choice. I consider going over and talking to him, maybe handing him a red ribbon or something but a short-haired girl gets there first. I toss my red ribbon to a guy with nice cheekbones. I make my way over to the blind guy.

"Hi." I take his hand, pressing the yellow ribbon into it.

"Hello. What color is this?" He asks. He has a very kind tone, and I almost tell him it's green, but that would be lying.

"Yellow. If I believed in luck, you would be the person I would consider to be born unlucky; or, in other words, born with more to work for and less to look at."

His smile falls a little, but he nods. "That makes sense. "

I move away quickly, pocketing another blue ribbon, which makes me sort of smile. I have one ribbon left. I spot a girl, hanging confused along the edges. I think that the quiet ones have more reasons to be kind, and so I move quietly up next to her.

"Hi."

She seems startled. "Hello."

"I'm Evie."

"Jude."

I slip her the green ribbon, and she manages a little half-smile, a smile that reminds me of my little sister, which sort of makes it worth it.

Jude Danny Eugene

Evie gave me a green ribbon. Why? Why is she handing me a ribbon and why was it green? I am so lost. I should have focused during that stupid talk. Everyone was walking around, handing out ribbons!

"Hey, um, what's with the ribbons?" I asked Evie before she went elsewhere.

"We are handing them out to people... were you not listening?" she cocked a small smirk which made me feel stupid. "Go up there to the table." She pointed behind herself and I followed her gaze. "The red one you give to the most attractive, the blue one to the smartest, the green one to the kindest, the yellow one to the most unlucky, and the purple one to yourself." she explained.

That included social interactions. I don't do well with that. I swallowed hard and looked down at my hand, seeing the green ribbon linked between my fingers. She thought I was the kindest? Well, I don't blame her, I get off like that. I looked back up at her and already got jealous of her amazing hair, it was thick and resembled a black color.

"Come on, I'll help you out." she said.

I followed after and we got to the table. I picked up each ribbon and felt the rumble at the pit of my stomach. Now social interaction time. How do I tell someone they are the most attractive? That's so hard. Why did I do this!?

"I'm gonna go, are you alright by yourself?" I'm not a kid Evie... even though I may act like one.

I nodded, giving her a soft smile. She returned one to me and went back off into the crowd of people, leaving me alone to die. To die in complete embarrassment. I am such a mouse!

Scanning the crowd, I saw a few guys with red ribbons, some girls with blue, but one guy had an immense amount of yellow. He was wearing sunglasses. Sunglasses indoors? That felt wrong. Oh my, he's blind. They are such assholes! I'm not going to give him a yellow ribbon because it's obvious he is unlucky, but I also will not take pity of him because that's just how he was born, he wouldn't know how to live any other way.

So, I decided it was safe to go up to him. I took in a deep breath and walked over, plastering a smile on my face. He was pretty tall. I had this thing for hair, and his was a great color, a light brown that almost resembled gold.

"Hi," I said once I was next to him. He turned his head to my direction. "I'm Jude, you?"

"Jonathon," he replied, a smile shaping his face. Wow, he had a magnificent smile. If only he could see it.

I swallowed down that thought and handed him a red ribbon. Shit, he can't see me handing it. I'm so bad at this.

"Um, I'm giving you a ribbon..." I started, placing the ribbon in his open palm. Before I could continue, he spoke up.

"Let me guess, it's yellow?"

My stomach got hot. I don't know, I felt stupid, embarrassed. He expected a yellow ribbon. Well, looking at his collection, I wouldn't blame him. I took a small breath in and tried to speak again.

"It's red," I said.

Some kind of emotion shadowed his face, I couldn't really tell what it was. But, before I could speak anymore, someone placed a yellow ribbon in his hand, over mine. I looked up and saw an attractive guy. Like so attractive, I was going to take the red away from Jonathon, but honestly, there would be no way I would give it to this guy anyway.

"Hey, I gave you a yellow." he told Jonathon then looked at me. A small smile came across his face as he looked from me to my hand full of the other ribbons. "You gave him a red one?" he was shocked.

"Well, yeah." I said, confidently.

"Wow, that's... nice of you."

"I didn't do it for being nice, I did it because it's the honest thing to do." Where did this confidence come from?

Olivia Spencer

After the military guy sits down the lady points her finger at me so I stand up and say, “Hi! My name is Olivia Spencer, I'm twenty-two and I love to surf.”

After a couple of other quick introductions the lady at the mike says:

“We'll give you time to talk about what you want to do on your date soon, but first let's play an ice breaker. I want you all to take a red ribbon from the pile on that table and give it to the person in the room who you find the most attractive. Then take a blue ribbon and give that to the person who you think is the smartest and a green ribbon for the person who you think is the kindest. A yellow ribbon for the most unlucky and take a purple ribbon for yourself. I'll tell you what to do with those later. This is just a little game to get you all talking about yourselves, okay? Okay! Let's go!”
I go to get my ribbons and feel unsure about what to do and who to give them to. I remember my date's name, John Vanderbelt, maybe I should give him a red ribbon to get off on the right foot? I dunno. Though for some reason I'm sorely tempted to give the yellow to Evelyn. Someone bumps into me and I see that it's the long fringed guy, hmmm he was pretty nice to me. I thrust the green ribbon out to him. He takes it tentatively and smiles shyly.

As I am swept around the room by the crowd I spot my date. He's standing in a corner and I see a couple of people standing around him.

“Hi!” I say as I come up to him, “I'm-”

“Olivia, I know. You're my date.” He smiles at me. Wow, I had heard of blind people being good at this kind of thing but I never saw that coming.

“Well look who's earned themselves a blue ribbon!” I reply. He holds out his hand and I place it on his palm. “How did you do that?”

He flashes a brilliant smile, “A magician never reveals his secrets. Since you're my date I might as well give you a red ribbon seeing as I can't actually see who's attractive or not. Just take it.”

He holds out a whole bunch of ribbons to me and I realise how many of them are yellow. Impulsively I decide to relive him of a yellow instead of a red.

“Umm thanks,” I say and he smiles that smile of his again. I walk away with huge sense of guilt. I don't know what made me do it, it seemed like a kind act but I felt like I just took advantage of his blindness. Suddenly the whole thing had lost it's charm and I just wanted to go home. I shove the red ribbon to some cute guy with blond hair and glasses whom I think was called Chris and lo and behold the yellow one to Evelyn (it had to go to someone right?).

I just can't stop thinking about what I did to John. Have I ruined my date before it even started?

It'd be fun. they said. I went to it once, and met my wife, he said. Pssh. All of these things are just social wrecks.

I shook those thoughts out of my head and stuffed my headphones in my pockets, silencing the classical music I had to listen to and study. I like classical music as much as the next guy, but I've listened to Bach for almost two weeks now and it's starting to get tiring.

The building where the speed dating course was being held was a local restaurant by the name of Scarred? Buffet and Salad. It seemed like a nice place, and pretty large too. I heard soft music playing in the background. It seemed to be something in the '90s or early 2000s.

I walked inside, and turns out that I was late to the party, or so it seemed. Everyone had turned their attention to a lady that was standing on a pedestal. "-but first let's play an ice breaker. I want you all to take a red ribbon from the pile on that table and give it to the person in the room who you find the most attractive. Then take a blue ribbon and give that to the person who you think is the smartest and a green ribbon for the person who you think is the kindest. A yellow ribbon for the most unlucky and take a purple ribbon for yourself. I'll tell you what to do with those later. This is just a little game to get you all talking about yourselves, okay? Okay! Let's go!"

I dropped my bag by the door and followed the small group to get the ribbons. Red for most attractive, blue for smartest, green for kindest, yellow for most unlucky, and purple for yourself. Random, but I got it.

I studied the people around me. They al seemed to be generally aquainted with one another, sot there must have been something that I missed earlier. I wasn't used to this, really.

Ever since I got a job at my dream company to do what I love doing, composing music, I've been in control with just about everything in my life. My job, my house, my financial situation. Everything. I guess it was about time that someone had to throw a monkey wrench in it sometime. Of course it had to be a speed dating session. Why? Just why?

I hamd out my blue and green to random people, because really, I didn't know any one of them. I got a lot of red ones and a few blue ones. It's all from the glasses, I just know it.

I spot a guy that had sunglasses and helf several yellow ones. anyone who wears sunglasses inside is either a prick or blind, and, judging from the ribbons, I would say that he was blind. People came and went from his spot and he collected more yellow ribbons. I saw a girl walk up to him and he smiled. I found my chance. Walking up quickly, I placed the yellow ribbon into his hand. The woman looked up at me and I smiled. "Hey, I gave you a yellow." I said loudly, perhaps too loudly, but this entire thing was annoying. Then I looked at the ribbon beneath mine, lifting mine up, "you gave him a red one?" I asked, extremely startled.

"Well, yeah." She said, and her jaw strutted out a bit, like a defiant child.

"Wow, that's... nice of you." I tried to smile, but all of a sudden, I got nervous.

"I didn't do it for being nice, I did it because it's the honest thing to do." She looked at me with a deathglare.

"Well, I guess." She growled at me, and moved to make a show of hugging the blind man. He was shocked, but accepted the hug. The girl seemed to be just as shocked and quickly walked off.

I chuckled a nervouse laugh. "Well, I'm off to a great start."

The man looked in my direction, "My name's Jonathan. I didn't get yours from the introductions everyone did."

"There were introductions? I must have been extremely late. My car's in the shop, so I had to walk. The name's Christopher. Just call me Chris." There was a few seconds of really awkward silence, then Jonathan cleared his throat.

"I don't mind you giving me the yellow ribbon. I kind of guessed that this kind of thing would happen once I heard about it. Are you going to give it back?" I realized that I was still holding the yellow ribbon that I picked back up.

"Oh, yeah. Here." Instead of giving him the yellow one, I gave him the red one, slipping the yellow one in my pocket with the purple one and the other various ribbons people gave me. "Sorry about your sight and stuff." I said awkwardly.

"Don't be. It's hard to be sorry about losing something you never had." He smiled weakly and turned away. I walked away, feeling dread on a much deeper level than I had before.

"Oh wait, I want you to have this." Jonathan shouted back to me.

John Vanderbelt

John's smile fell a little as he listened to the instructions for the exercise, but it wouldn't do to look depressed about it. If he thought of it as something he couldn't do then others would as well and he'd be back to people thinking they had to take care of him. No, he just needed a small push in the right direction.

Moving toward the front, John followed the sound of the host's voice until he was standing beside her. "Excuse me, miss."

"Oh yes, how can I help you, deary?" John placed the woman somewhere in her early thirties, or perhaps a little older. Despite her nasally voice, he thought she seemed kind.

"Could you pass me a ribbon of each colour and tell me which order you are giving them in?" There was an embarrassed pause for a moment as the woman realised what she had asked him to do and flustered with her arms. John could almost see them moving to her breast and he quickly added: "It sounds like a fun game and I would like to take part."

"Oh. Oh well yes, just wait here a moment my duck."

John waited and he listened carefully when the ribbons were handed over and placed each one in a secure place. The purple in his back pocket to keep for himself. The red he tied to his smallest finger on his left hand, then the green to the next and the blue to the third and so on. Now he only had to remember where they all were. That was one thing his condition had encouraged him to achieve: a strong memory.

It seemed John had barely started to single someone out to approach when he recognised Stella's voice at his side. He turned to her and was surprised when she explained that she thought he was one of the smartest people she'd ever met. A blue ribbon, for him. He smiled and thanked her. He felt the air shiver as she moved to turn away and reached out to take her hand gently. "Wait-" he said. "Your voice is beautiful." He released her hand and untied the red ribbon from his pinky finger to pass it to her. "You have soft hands too," he added before turning away.

The next ribbon was a yellow and John could accept that. He didn't blame Evelyn and she didn't stay long enough for him to tell her she was wrong. He hadn't been born unlucky, he'd been given different blessings, that was all. Though sometimes it was hard to see.

A second yellow ribbon came from one of the guys and a third not long after. John realised someone else must be getting their fair share of yellows as well because there were a lot of people in the room and he only had a third, or maybe half. Or maybe the rest were still to come.

A girl with a very musical and very appropriate voice, for her name was Jude, was the next to approach. When she gave him a ribbon, John couldn't be blamed for assuming it was yellow. He didn't know what to say when she told him it was red. She didn't sound like she was pitying him. She sounded a little bit nervous, perhaps embarrassed to have to tell him the colour, but it was a kind sounding voice.

Of course, the guy who butted in next was an ass. John listened to the girl and him bicker for a while - there was kind of some chemistry going on there, he could feel it - and then his date was there. John had wondered how he'd feel when he heard her voice again, whether it would have a new meaning now. Whether his palms would go sweaty or he'd not know what to say, but instead, it was soothing. He found he had a lot to say.

And the best part was, he must have said the right thing because he was awarded another blue ribbon. John realised he'd already given out his red but he wanted the girl to have one because she was his date and because anyone who could see that he wasn't hopeless was beautiful to him. So he held his hands out and asked her to take it - she wasn't to know that it would be the red he had gained from Jude and he was happy to give it to her. He couldn't see the colours anyway, he only knew that he had the two blues held between his thumb and forefinger, but the red was mixed in with all the yellow ones thanks to that jerk throwing another into his hand so quick.

After Olivia had taken the ribbon, he smiled at her and then turned back to the arguing pair and was surprised to get a hug from Jude, but he hugged her back and untied his green ribbon to slide it into her hand. People had defended him before, but this was different, kinder. Jude was defending his right to be normal and that felt good.

He didn't hold too many hard feelings against the jerk though so after Jude was gone, he introduced himself. He felt bad for the guy: he had such a narrow view of the world. He could only view being blind as a weakness and he didn't understand that it was only a weakness when people like him made it one. John wanted to give him a yellow ribbon because he felt the man was unlucky to be so narrow minded.

"Oh wait, I want you to have this." Jonathan shouted, drawing Chris back toward him. He pulled out a ribbon from his remaining pile of yellows at random and when Chris had turned back to him, he held it out. "I want you to have this one," he said. What John didn't know was that Olivia hadn't taken the red ribbon and that out of all of those yellows, John had managed to pick out the only one which was different. The ribbon John was offering to Chris was red.

It wasn't much later that the host took to the stage again. "Alright, I hope you've all learned a bit about one another now, excellent! You should all still have a purple ribbon and I want you to keep those a little bit longer. What I want you to do next is to find someone who shares a hobby with you, someone whose birthday is in the same month and someone whose favourite colour is the same as yours. Write all of their names on one of the cards on the table you got the ribbons from!"