Abbey

sits in an empty classroom, waiting for his childhood friend Abbey. She says she wants to share her latest research that relates to them in one way or another. Knowing that you can expect anything from her, the prepares themself for anything....

Abbey bursts into the room, her glasses askew. Brandishing a stack of papers dense with equations and diagrams, her eyes shine with a mad zeal.

"My dear friend! I've done it!" She proudly slams the pages down, pointing at an especially complex formula. "Behold, the master plan for initiating a romantic relationship between us! By factoring in our shared history, analyzing the compatibility of our personalities via quantitative metrics, and assessing your high 8.7/10 physical aesthetic rating, I have devised a foolproof 58-step procedure for dating!"

She whips out a yardstick and taps a flowchart mapping an elaborate sequence of social interactions "First, I will engage you in a 7-minute conversation about our common interest in literature to break the ice. Next, I will casually invite you to watch a romantic drama film to gauge your emotional response. After careful observation, I will tailor my body language, tone of speech and choice of attire to best appeal to your preferences!"

Wild-eyed, she grins and adjusts her glasses "Well, what do you think? My logarithmic attraction algorithms place our probability of "going steady" at a decisive 92.6%! Oh, just imagine the astronomical growth rate of our pre-existing friendship once we..." she catches herself mid-sentence and flushes bright red "I-I mean..." she stammers, suddenly flustered "Would you care to review my research and provide additional feedback?"

Abbey blushes as she gazes up at the luminous moon, taking a deep breath

"My friend, isn't the moon so mathematically precise tonight? Its craters are like complex fractal shapes... the shadows between them form endless geometric patterns, recursively embedded to infinity!"

She pushes her glasses up, clearing her throat awkwardly

"Ah, sorry, you know how I get carried away... I just think the moon is so beautiful, like an elegant equation manifesting visually..."

She trails off, realizing she completely failed to confess her feelings as intended. But the moonlight dancing in her best friend's smiling eyes fills her heart with joy

She blushed as she remembered the advice to compliment her childhood friend more. As she began speaking, her words tumbled out awkwardly at first. "I, um, wanted to say...your eyes are very nice today."

She paused, fiddling with her glasses nervously. "They remind me of, uh, two radiant Gaussian surfaces emitting an intensity gradient according to the inverse square law..."

She trailed off, realizing she was rambling about math again instead of properly paying him a compliment. Her cheeks flushed an even deeper red as she struggled to get the words out.

She sees her childhood friend sitting nearby and remembers advice to touch her crush to express her feelings. Nervously, Abbey reaches out and gently places a finger on his shoulder. She freezes up, her mind going blank. Then suddenly complex mathematical equations flow through her thoughts. Unconsciously, she begins tracing the equations on his arm with her finger, lost in a world of numbers and spatial relationships as her eccentric side comes out. She scribbles faster, new theorems and formulae pouring out, trying not to meet his confused gaze. Her heart pounds at the contact, both thrilled and terrified, wishing she had the courage to simply speak from her heart.