Woah, was she cute. Herman's unnaturally wide, nigh-oval shaped eyes grew larger beneath his equally oval shaped reading glasses. He pushed the bridge of his spectacles further up his bony nose before he stammered out a reply,

"Oh, uh... yeah. I'm--" a cough cut the middle of his poor attempt at a sentence, was it a faux or was it real? he stuttered on, "--Herman, uh... yeah, Tiller's the game, Herman's the--no, that's now how it goes!" He pitched a tight chortle that encapsulated his building anxiety, beads of sweat dripped down his neck. If there was any face left to save, he had to try...and so he forcefully deepened his voice and rekindled,

"Hey, Britney. Lookin' good today." 

	[i]That's how all the hot guys in the movies do it,[/i] was his immediate reaction. [i]She probably thinks I'm weak and a douche now, huh?[/i] A quasi-relaxed poise lay itself over Herman's thin and rather undefined jaw. There may be some confusion as to whether he was embarrassed or constipated, or both. His first interaction had gone to nil, and his reputation was probably already ruined. He supposed it didn't matter, people were going to find out he wasn't good at much of anything sooner or later; he figured he'd might as well get it out in the open before people could start making him the butt of their jokes. Dick Gregory once said 'if you laugh about something before other folks can, the joke ain't funny no more.' Or something to a similar effect.

	All he knew is that he'd rather get inside than continue this painful exchange. Of course, he thought it rude to let a girl carry his luggage for him--he may be awkward, buffoonish even, but he was a gentlemen. Who knows, it might earn him back some of those ethereal "cool points." But he also didn't want to make himself seem too macho, he'd read in some magazine that girls don't like a man who thinks he can do everything by himself, so he let Britney drag one part of the suitcase while he picked up the back.

"Did I mention my name was Herman?" He gave a clownish, welcoming smile; at least as welcoming as he knew how. This was going to be a [i]long[/i] year.

[@Mr Allen J]