It was bowling night for Jeff Tailor and his friends from the football team, and the crew was making the most of their first week of freedom as high school graduates. There was so much whooping and high-fiving going on that Jeff didn't notice the girl in the lane beside him until they were halfway through the first game. It was Melody Spincer, his next door neighbor and long-time nemesis. They caught eyes before he could look away and both gave the usual mutual sneer of disrespect.
Jeff and Melody had grown up together, their houses right across the street. They had been best friends from the early years to the early teen years, playing together from dawn to dusk most every chance they got. They were both good athletes and shared a competitive spirit, which sometimes lead to knock down drag out fights, though they were always friends again within a few days.
As they became teenagers they began to drift apart, and by the time they were in high school they had become like night and day. Jeff hit a growth spurt and was 6'4 and over 200 pounds by his freshman year, and became a big time football player. He liked to fish and hunt and was a man's man. Melody was a 5'8, 120 pound spitfire, a top notch gymnast and environmental activist. During the high school years it seemed liked they were constantly on opposing sides of everything, so they were in constant confrontation mode. In fact, everybody in school was well aware of the ongoing, they called it the Tail-Spin feud. Now that they were both 18 and graduated from high school, they had little chance for future interaction.
As fate would have it, they both ended up in position to bowl right beside each other at the same time. They couldn't help but acknowledge each other.
"Hello Melody," he mumbled.
"Hello Jeff," she answered.
They both started forward at the same time and then stopped. Jeff stepped back and gave a gentlemanly sweep of the hand.
"Ladies first," he said with a grim smile.
Melody nodded politely and set up to bowl again. Just as she was getting ready for the first step forward she stopped and got a mischievous look on her face. She looked sideways at Jeff.
"Best ball wins a turtle ride," she challenged.
Jeff looked blankly at her for a second, and then gradually an image formed in his head and a smile came slowly to his face. A turtle ride was something they used to do when they were kids - the rider would get on the other one's back to carry them across the creek. Jeff was smiling at both the memory and the ridiculous image of Melody carrying him on her back.
"You're on," he grinned.
Melody lined up and rolled her ball smoothly down the lane like a pro, curving it in from the side. Though the ball was in perfect position, somehow one pin remained standing. Still, when she walked back she looked pretty confident.
"Nine pins," she said. "I've been watching you bowl, you'd be lucky to get five."
Jeff feigned seriousness. "But that was before I knew the stakes," he said. "A turtle ride is no laughing matter."
He stumbled down the lane with all the finesse of a blind rhino, let the ball loose too late and sent it crashing down in the middle of the lane. In an act of random stupid luck, the ball somehow found a way to take out all ten pins, making Jeff the winner.
He was grinning from ear to ear as he sauntered back towards Melody, who stood with her hands on her hips and her mouth hanging wide open.
"It's all in the wrist," he said smugly. He pointed to her shirt and added, "too bad you only eat vegetables, with a little more protein you may have gotten that last pin down."
Melody looked down at the shirt she was wearing and blushed. Vegetarians Do It Better, it read. She had been a dedicated vegetarian since she turned 15. She felt her blood boil as she recalled a rather spirited debate she had with Jeff over the subject in debate class. Melody had argued that vegetarians were better for the environment, while Jeff argued that meat eating was necessary for human survival.
A few frames later they both ended up beside each other ready to bowl again. Jeff was looking the other way to hide a smug grin, but as he was standing there he felt a determined tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Melody looking at him sweetly.
"How 'bout double or nothing?" she asked.
Jeff had another flashback to youth. Back when they were kids, Jeff and Melody had a standing agreement on bets that allowed the loser to request double or nothing. If the loser lost the new bet, they would have to pay double, but if they won, they owed nothing.
"I'll take that bet," he said. "But I get to set the stakes."
"Fine," she answered.
Jeff thought for a moment before answering. "Okay, if I win this, you have to wear my favorite shirt around for a day."
"What does your favorite shirt say?" she asked.
"Meat lovers have more fun," he grinned.
Melody grimaced. "Whatever, there is no way I'm losing again."
Unfortunately, the pressure got the better of her and she threw a weak ball that only knocked down seven pins. Jeff stepped up with nothing to lose and threw a horrible looking ball that somehow managed to knock down eight pins, leaving the two in opposite corners. Melody had lost again, but she was already planning ahead.
"Double or nothing you can't finish that spare," she challenged.
"Hmm, the seven-ten split is practically impossible, so the stakes will have to be high," he said. "I'll tell you what, if I win, you have to change into my shirt in front of me."
Without thinking of the implications of that, Melody just shrugged. "Go for it, you're never going to make that shot."
She knew it was a safe bet. He also knew he didn't have a chance, he expected to lose. But they were both wrong. Somehow Jeff's ball caught the seven pin at just the right angle to send it sliding over to nick the ten pin. They both watched the ten pin slowly teeter back and forth and then fall down. Jeff's pals and everyone who saw it roared with approval—and they didn't even know about the bet he'd won.
Melody turned three shades of red as she realized what she'd done.
"Let's see," said Jeff. "A turtle ride, you have to wear my shirt for a day, and I get to see you topless...I'm not such a lousy bowler after all."
