"Good to see that you men know your place," she said, and playfully hugged my arm. As long as we were playing, I figured I'd open the electric door for her, and I stopped her short so that it would be my foot that would hit the pressure pad. The door slid open, and Wendy seemed dutifully impressed. Karen called me a goofball.

We found a table inside the ballroom and sat down to eat dinner. Karen had reserved a vegetarian dinner, but lots of students who hadn't asked for one in advance took one that evening, and the kitchen wasn't prepared to deal with her. I figured I'd stay with my date as she waited for her food instead of hitting the dance floor with Wendy and Paul, and Karen appreciated that.

We were talking about lots of stuff, and at certain points in the conversation, Karen would deliberately lean over and rub my shoulder or something like that. I didn't mind; I mean, hell, I'd do stuff like that if I thought it would work. But last time that worked for me was two summers ago. But, I got Cheryl out of that, so it seems to work nicely when it works.

I stayed with Karen as she ate a plate of plain ziti, and then we both got up to go dance dance dance!