"I want to bone you." Penelope practiced the pick-up line in the bathroom mirror at the Halloween party. Tonight was Sunday - the last chance she had with Skeletal Bloke. They'd been at the same parties on Friday and Saturday. Just like Penelope had recycled her Scarecrow costume, he had recycled the Skeleton outfit and face paint each night.
Channeling her liquid courage - aka two shots and a beer - Penelope left the bathroom. She hoped her confidence would overcome the lack of a good pickup line. Taking one last deep breath, Penelope started walking toward where Skeletal Bloke was sitting on the couch. She could do this.
"I have a bone to pick with you!" Penelope closed her eyes. Unfortunately, those weren't her words. A beautiful blonde mermaid had reached Skeletal Bloke first. To avoid looking like an idiot, Penelope decided to keep walking in the same direction, she would just play it off as though she was going to the kitchen door to the right of the couch.
"Do you, now? Unfortunately, my girlfriend might have something to say about that." His smooth voice replied. Before Penelope could be disappointed twice over, she felt a hand grab her forearm and pull her into a lap: Skeletal Bloke's lap.
As Penelope wasn't expecting it, she landed hard and her face fell into his shoulder. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Please go with this." Penelope's hand had landed on his bicep, so she gave it a quick squeeze in acknowledgment. Oh, what a nice bicep that was.
Shifting around in his lap, Penelope turned to face the mermaid. She thought that she heard a slight groan, but she ignored it. "Well, that wasn't very well done of me, was it? Sorry. I'm Penelope. How do you know my skeleton?" Penelope kept her tone even and thought quickly about what to call him since she couldn't use Skeletal Bloke if she was pretending to be his girlfriend.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. My name is Cressida, but I'll just go embarrass myself somewhere else." Cressida said with a slight self-deprecating chuckle. Then she walked off.
"I liked your line and costume!" Penelope yelled after her. Then she slid off Skeletal Bloke's lap to sit next to him.
"You liked her line?" He asked.
"Well, it was better than mine," Penelope admitted.
"Oh," He turned his whole body to face her and Penelope blushed at the full-focused attention he was giving her. "What was your line?"
"Uh-uh, not until you tell me your name. I can't keep calling you Skeletal Bloke in my head."
He burst out laughing. After a moment, he asked, "If I tell you, will you promise to tell me about your line?"
"Cross my heart."
"You can continue to call me Skeletal Bloke, or you could just call me Colin." He smiled at her.
"Hi Colin, I want to bone you." Penelope's face must have been on fire. It seems her liquid courage must have evaporated.
"That's not bad!" He paused. "It's quick, straight to the point. Much better than mine for the Sexy Scarecrow."
"You can't tease me like that. You had a line for me?" Penelope lightly hit his bicep again. It may have been a ploy to touch it again. His arms were so strong.
"You can be outstanding in my field anytime." He dropped his voice to try to be more charming.
"Okay, that's terrible." Penelope laughed. "How about this one? Should we get out of here together?"
"I'd be delighted to," Colin said. He stood up and held out a hand to her. Penelope didn't hesitate.
The End