There weren't too many more fireworks for the rest of the selection process. The notable teams for Jon were his goth sister Zoe getting paired with his dorky friend Jay Duncan, and his mom Linda getting paired with high school quarterback Biff Meadows. Zoe's goth friend Athena got paired with a himbo named Steve Farber. Sarah's mom Susan got paired with Mikey's friend Jeremy.
Eventually there were 30 teams standing on 30 red dots, and only four contestants left. Jon looked around: aside from himself, there were three girls from his class. Jon didn't know too much about Margaret Wood, other than the fact that she was all about saving the environment and was doing a work-study program in Costa Rica over the summer before college. Monica Tobin was equally nondescript. Fashion-oriented, but not appreciably more than any other high school girl. And then there was Tiffany Sanders.
It's not that Jon disliked Tiffany. It's just that he didn't understand her on a fundamental level. Everything in her life revolved around sex. She dressed to show off her body. She leaned in to every sexual stereotype in the way she acted. She definitely sought out every opportunity she could find to sneak some boy or another into a locker room or supply closet, and Jon could only imagine what she would do with them.
Classes were an afterthought for Tiffany. Even friends were an afterthought. Some might call her boy-crazy, but she wasn't. She just loved sex that much. And Jon couldn't make heads or tails of that.
So when Monica's name was called, all Jon could do was hope that she pulled out a strip of paper with his name on it.
But she didn't. Team 31 was composed of Monica Tobin and Margaret Wood.
"And that means," Jack Packraft's voice filled the warehouse even as Jon's heart filled with dread, "that our last team is Jon Gibson and Tiffany Sanders!"
The two teenagers' eyes met, and Tiffany gave Jon a wink that made him uncomfortable. But the two dutifully walked over to the red dot with a number 32 on it, as a spotlight turned on to illuminate it.
Jon closed his eyes as he stood there, trying to do a breathing exercise. But his meditation was interrupted by a smooth pair of lips pressing gently against his cheek.
"Don't worry, Jon," Tiffany whispered to him as she ended the kiss. "I won't bite."
