Like Stars At Night

Twenty-One - Part One

“I have another one,” Daniel said as he put another potato chip in his mouth.

“Ok, go ahead,” I said as I continued to read my book. I was serenaded by the gentle beating of his heart.

“Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games versus Tris Prior from Divergent, go.”

I dropped my book and thought. “Well, that's a tough one. Didn't really like Tris in the beginning even though she had potential, Katniss, on the other hand, was a boss from the start so I'm going to say if both of them were in a fight, Katniss would mop the floor with Tris.”

“Is that seriously what you're going with?” Daniel scoffed as he reached for the pack of chips.

“Yes, Tris wouldn't last two seconds in the Arena and you know I'm right.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow and nodded. “But I'm only agreeing for the sake of peace.”

I reveled in my small victory.

It was our last period before break and since Mr. Salami wasn't around to take us Creative Art we decided to while away time in the Quad by pitting fictional characters against each other.

“My turn,” I told him and seized the chip he was about to eat. I toyed with it for a while as I thought. “Romeo from Romeo and Juliet versus Wade Watts from Ready Player One.”

Daniel laughed and choked on his food which in turn made me laugh. We looked semi-crazy as he coughed and I laughed.

“Are you being serious?” He asked as he finally got his breathing under control. “I just . . . Wow, that is the oddest combination of characters anyone could ever conjure.”

I gave a mock bow. “Gracias.”

“Let me get this straight,” he sat up on the couch. “You're asking me who would win in a physical fight between a character from the nineteenth century and another one who is only strong in a universe that is essentially virtual?”

I nodded and put the chip in my mouth, happy at the question I posed.

“Oh, Romeo then.”

“Really? How'd you figure?”

“Well, the dude was strong enough to drink poison, Wade is so out of his league, one cute girl and he's a blabbering idiot,” he shrugged.

“So then what makes Romeo better than Wade?” I was thoroughly confused.

“I don't know. You posed a really difficult question, alright?”

“Or maybe,” I took the book that lay between us and tossed it on the floor. With the extra space, I crawled forward. “You just didn't understand the books as much as you thought you did.”

Something flashed in his magnetic eyes and he leaned forward to cover the remaining space between us. “I take offense to you questioning my understanding of fiction.”

In the mood for a little trouble, I tilted my head and asked, “And what exactly can you do about that?”

“Oh, you really should not have asked,” he smirked.

The next thing I knew laughter was pealing out of me as he tickled my sides.

“That's great, you're one of those ticklish ones,” he noted as he continued his assault.

“I'm . . . sorry. I'm sorry . . . Please stop!” I pleaded in between fits of laughter.

Eventually, he stopped and allowed me to catch my breath.