Several times a year, the Scope sets up Langley students on blind dates. Since February is the month of love, it was only fitting that these two seniors had their date on Valentine’s Day itself.

Feb. 14, 5:45 pm

Big Bowl at Reston Town Center

Kyle Dear: On Valentine’s Day love is already in the air. I’d heard of people falling in love on an airplane or in a foreign country, so I figured I could probably at least enjoy a pleasant evening with someone at Big Bowl. I saw the blind date as an opportunity to meet someone new.

Megan Flynn: I really didn’t know what to expect but I was hoping it was someone I had things in common with.

Kyle: When I walked into Big Bowl and saw Megan I was instantly relieved the Scope sent an actual girl, as opposed to perhaps Billy Orme in his dress.

Megan: I thought, “Hey it’s Kyle, this should be interesting.”

Kyle: Megan and I both have seventh period English with Mr. Howard, but because he typically spends most of the period giving a lecture or moderating a discussion, we’d never gotten to know each other. I looked forward to our dinner conversation.

Kyle: We were taken to our table and naturally I waited until she took her seat to take mine–as is the protocol for a civilized man above the age of 14. When the waiter came over and asked me what I wanted to drink, I was stunned. Everybody knows you always ask the lady first. I quickly prompted Megan, who said she would like water. I always drink iced black tea and that night would be no different. I was really glad we both got something to drink because otherwise we might have gotten thirsty later.

Megan: I ordered Mongolian beef for dinner.

Kyle: When dining at Big Bowl, I have to go with the make your own stir-fry. Start with a nice bed of steak fried rice, throw on a copious amount of snap peas, a few dashes of peppers and carrots, two miniature corns, and then the paramount ingredient: bok choy. There’s a meal that’s gonna taste real nice.

Megan: We talked about whatever came up, which included school and summer plans and TV shows that we both watch.

Kyle: We talked a lot about our teachers and our experiences at Langley. We discussed Mr. Kuhn’s tenacity on the dodgeball court and of course the verbal beat-downs Mr. Howard has been delivering to yours truly on a daily basis.

Megan: He’s really funny and entertaining. And we also talked about politics.

Kyle: After we finished eating, the waiter brought us our fortune cookies.

Megan: He saw the fortune from the cookie and he was like, “It says never go on blind dates.”

Kyle: Our fortunes were frankly awful–they were more like misfortune cookies.

Megan: After we were done, we left the restaurant and he walked me to my car.

Kyle: If you don’t offer to walk your date to her car then you’re most likely not very intelligent. Unfortunately, Megan did not remember exactly where she parked. After a short search we were in fact able to locate the vehicle in question. We both said we had a great time and then we hugged.

Megan: I had a lot of fun, and I would do it again!

Kyle: Megan is a sweetheart, a true rose among thorns. She can have another dinner any time she pleases.