"So what did you two talk about?" Shorty asked. He knew this whole conversation was a farce, a pity effort so Zell wouldn't feel bad about losing Charlene.
"Weapons." The answer was short, vague. Shorty saw the word float into the air out of Zell's mouth, a string of blocky letters in bright orange. He wondered at them.
"You try to woo a girl and you choose weapons as a topic?" Shorty's incredulous stare seemed almost threatening to Zell. He put his guard up.
"Why not? She said that they were completely pointless and useless. I said that they were tools. They perform other functions besides war. What?" Shorty's gaze was starting to annoy Zell. "Anyway, that was only part of the conversation. We talked about normal things too."
"Like what?" Shorty questioned, changing the channel on the T.V.
A bird chirped outside. "So," Zell said, breaking the silence. "You got her phone number?" Shorty nodded. After a few seconds, he realized the silent nuances of his question.
"No," he said warningly, "you're not getting it. Look, Zell, it's not my fault you struck out twice, it really isn't. And our plan worked so many other times. You're not getting the number."
"Come on, man. It's one phone number. C'mon. Look, I won't even ask her out or anything. I just wanna talk to her!" Zell was almost yelling, and it frightened Shorty. Zell, finally giving up, slumped back onto the sofa. He wasn't about to lose his best friend over a girl who he doesn't even know. "So..." he looked around the room, trying to find something to distract him. "What did you talk about?"
Shorty laughed. "Not much, actually. You saw, didn't you? I was creeping up her far too fast to talk." Zell tried to laugh, but found himself emitting a sarcasting 'pffff' sound instead. "Oh, here. You big wuss." Shorty dug in his pants pocket, and drew out a folded piece of paper. "But I'm timing you. And you can't ask her out."
"Okay, okay." Zell took the paper and walked over to the phone.
"Hi."
"Oh, um, okay. Bye, then." Wait... "Shorty?"
"He is, you know, my best friend." Dammit, "Yeah. Bye."
"Bro-o-o-oken hea-a-arte-ed!!" Zell sang, in parody of himslf. Both he and Shorty laughed. Zell shrugged, and handed the phone and a piece of paper to Shorty.
"There'll be others.