Lana was almost finished with her senior year at Pattonville High School in St. Louis Missouri and already had accomplished many things in her 18 years. Along with maintaining a 3.75 GPA, Lana was involved with the Earth Day Club, Drama, and Band. While she was very dedicated to her clubs, it was no secret what she was really known for. As every record book in PHS could validate, Lana was the fastest runner to ever compete on the track team. In all four years of competing, there was not a single racer (boy or girl) that could beat her times, and Lana was very proud of this. Every morning at 5 am, she would get up to practice and train. With the combination of training, school, and extra-curriculars, Lana had little to no time (or desire) to pursue any other endeavors, especially romantic ones. For most young girls, avoiding romantic advances would be a non-issue, and it would be the same for Lana if she was not breathtakingly beautiful.
With the end of the school year looming on the horizon, posters sporting phrases such as "PROM! Who are you going with?"started popping up like the flowers outside. With Senior Prom in the minds of the young men, Lana was getting bombarded by date requests on an increasingly regular basis. After weeks of avoiding the lustful advances of adolescent boys, Lana came up with a plan. Jogging down to the track Lana declared that whoever could beat her in a 400 meter dash would be her prom date, but anyone that lost would be thrown in the dumpster behind the school.
A few young men felt up to the challenge and lined up for their chance to race the beautiful Lana. To no surprise of the on-lookers, no boy was able to beat her, and were subsequently tossed into the dumpster like a carton of milk gone sour. It seemed like Lana was going to escape without a date until a young man pushed through the crowd.
Mason was a handsome boy who had just moved to town. He came from a very well off family due to his great grandfather being the owner of the Neptune Cruise Line and much like the others, he was instantly captivated by the gorgeous Lana. After catching his eye, Lana too felt a rush of blood that reddened her face and made her skin warm. Due to her foreign emotion, Lana tried to convince Mason to walk away from the race, in the hopes of sparing him the humiliation. Little did Lana know, Mason had a plan.
With both pairs of feet on the starting line, the flag was waved and the two runners took off. Mason, while being a strong young man, was no match for Lana's pace. As she started to pass him, Mason put his plan into action. Quickly glancing downward, he spat out the piece of bubblegum he had been chewing, and with one more step, Lana got stuck. She paused only for a second to scrape off the gooey pick mass and then continue on. This happened two more times, allowing Mason to pass Lana a little more each time. On the last 100 meters, Mason spat out the biggest, stickiest piece of Bubblelicious bubble gum which held Lana up long enough for him to cross the finish line.
With mixed emotions clouding her mind, Lana went home to pick out her prom dress and a matching tie for Mason.
