I bet I'm going to get sick of saying this, but Kayley was right. My last date had been two years ago, and it was with a girl I met online who turned out to be a guy. Longest and most awkward 3 minutes of my life. So with a pocket full of Smarties and Milk Duds, I went off to "the library".

Kayley hadn't told me where to meet her, so I decided to just go out the shop doors and wing it from there. I passed mom on the stairs and delivered a very forced sounding explanation of where I was going. She was so tired, she didn't even seem to notice. I wouldn't really call that comforting, but I figured it was easier to deal with. 

The craft shop was empty when I entered. With the lights off and the grating sounds of traffic in the background, it looked like a scene from a poorly budgeted horror movie. I headed for the door, pausing only to slip a ball of yarn into my pocket. Kayley was beautiful, funny, and awesome. But way to smart for comfort. 

I walked out the doors and onto the cracked sidewalk. Pedestrians bustled past, talking on phones, listening to music, walking dogs and children. With no real idea of where I was supposed to go next, I began to wander vaguely down the sidewalk. 

Before I got 10 feet, Kayley appeared at my side. She linked her arm through mine as if it was the most natural thing in the world and steered me faster down the street. I tried to stop myself from freaking out and mostly accomplished it. It wasn't every day I was seen in public with a pretty girl. Hopefully someone from school would see me and be suitably impressed. 

"Is this going to be a regular thing?" I asked Kayley as she prompted me across the street. 

"What?"

"Just randomly appearing whenever you want around me?"

She smiled. I tried not to focus on how cute she was when her eyes crinkled like that. 

"I like to keep people guessing," she replied. "You brought the candy?"

I nodded. 

"I don't suppose you feel like telling me why I need candy for this mysterious trip were making?"

She beamed and squeezed my arm. 

"You know me so well."

We walked through the city, sticking close to the bright streetlights and in the middle of crowds. Gotham wasn't a place to be careless at night. Out of habit more than anything else, I found myself looking at the thick clouds overhead. No bat symbol tonight. 

"Gotham hasn't had any major smugglers, thieves, or criminals for the last few weeks," Kayley commented, noticing where I was looking. "In fact, crime has gone down 34% in the last 3 years. 35% depending what your sources. The league seems to be focused on other areas at the moment. Star City seems the most likely due to the unnatural lack of news."

"You must be fun at parties," I joked. 

"I wouldn't know," she shrugged, pulling me down yet another street. "Somehow I never seem to get on the invite list. Besides, fun is all a relative term. There's a 60% overlap of what the average teenager will find fun or funny, but there are too many outliers to say with any degree of certainty what everyone at a social gathering would call "fun". But of course it all depends on the sample group that-"

"That was a joke," I said flatly. "And I think 99.99% of all teenagers would be expected to know that."

Kayley blushed. She actually BLUSHED! Panic that I had said the wrong thing burst inside me. Idiot! You're finally talking and you had to insult her?

"I-What I mean... I didn't" I stammered helplessly. We walked in painful silence for a moment. Then she said,

"It's fine. I know I get carried away sometimes. I've been able to do calculus and trigonometry since elementary school, but humor has never been my strong point."

A wave of relief crashed over me. She didn't sound mad. A little confused, a little put out, but not mad. 

"Well stick with me," I said smiling. "If there's anyone people can laugh at, it's me. I'm basically a walking carnival of laughability."

She looked at me and gave a genuine smile. Not like she was laughing at me. Not like she knew something I didn't. Just an honest smile. 

"Well walking carnival of laughability, this is our stop," she announced, stopping in front of a large, fenced in white building. I looked curiously up at the engraved stone sign and felt my stomach slide down to my shoes. 

Morganstern Mental Institution