The boy then started from the beginning. When he mentioned his attempt at picking up Sarah, Jess felt a flash of jealousy, which she promptly suppressed. She then listened as he described his change of tactics, putting personality first and letting the stone handle the rest.
"And as luck would have it, our paths crossed," Kevin continued. "Considering you as a possible candidate, I realized right away that you were the perfect choice."
Again, Jess had to stifle her feelings. Only this time, they were feelings of elation. Schooling her voice into a controlled nonchalance, she prodded. "Oh? Perfect? How so?"
"Fishing for compliments, are we?" Kevin grinned.
Jess answered with a wry smile of her own. "I could be asking for my manhood instead, but I'll settle for compliments."
"Fair enough. You just seemed like a nice person. In the few times we interacted, you were always friendly and interesting, a great guy to be around. Plus, you knew what it was like to be ignored by the girls, just cuz we're not athletes or 'bad boys' like Biff and Steve. And, you knew about the stone, which gave us something to talk about. Put all that in a beautiful girl, and at the risk of sounding pathetically corny, I gotta say you're like a dream come true for me."
At this, Jess had to stuff the last of her pizza into her mouth to keep from beaming like an idiot. The rather extravagant praise from a boy she hardly knew was an odd experience for her, yet she could feel herself responding eagerly, perhaps too eagerly. Chugging down some soda in a somewhat unladylike fashion, she sought refuge in the resulting brain-freeze. She had to change the subject.
Thankfully, Kevin saved her the trouble. "Okay, so now you know a bit more about me. Now I gotta ask you, how did you get that stone?"
