"So, where are you headed?" he asked, trying to flash a confident smile. Too much imaginary practice and not enough real world testing made some nervousness come through. Her smile got bigger... Yes!
Then she laughed.
"Wait. Are you really hitting on me?! I gotta tell the others about this!" she gasped. Then looked at him, and laughed again at his expression. "You're old enough to be my FATHER!"
She shot off after a group of girls about her age. Jack could hear, but not understand her words. He did understand the burst of laughter which came from the group, and the following glances at him.
"Maybe I am your father!" he mumbled in her direction. It did not make him feel any better-- which was the same result as the times he'd first used while stalking junior and senior high school campuses back in his early college-- THAT was what had gone wrong!
She was now chronologically 23, but biologically she was still fifteen... and he was biologically-- closer to the biological current age of her father than he was to his early college days.
It would seem wording was critical-- and he was near a place where young people her age congregated, which meant some well meaning adult would be around sooner or later and, if he was still being subject to "covert" looks, pointing, and laughter things most likely would not go favorably for him.
Make that "more than likely"-- since it seemed he needed to more clearly think out his requests, assuming he still had some.
He moved to a more acceptable place for an adult to be at and still near the objects of his affection, and moved to a bus stop near a local middle school, and a conveniently located fast food franchise. He sat to think things over, while pretending to read a random magazine someone had left at the bus stop (if he had checked he would have realized it was a July 1986 copy of "Hustler") and covertly watch the traffic between the school and the restaurant.
Next he: