Page 111 of Nothing Like the Movies

“Seriously, you’re gonna try too hard.”

“The thing is, I know Liz because we grew up together,” I said before winding up and letting loose with a fastball. “I know what she likes and how she thinks, because I’ve known her since kindergarten. And I know that if I go big on the romantic gestures, it’s only a matter of time before she goes out with me.”

“Dude,” he said, dropping the ball he’d caught and holding out his glove to catch another. “She must’ve changed since you knew her, because no way would Buxxie like that romantic bullshit.”

I threw hard, relishing the smack of the ball hitting Mick’s glove. And though he might have a point—obviously we’d both changed over the course of two years—I was confident her romantic side was still alive and kicking, just buried underneath the surface.

“No offense,” I said as I grabbed another ball. “But I know what I’m doing.”

“My apologies,” he said, sounding anything but sorry. “So tell me about this brilliant plan, Einstein.”

I threw a curveball, watching it drop over the plate. “For starters, I’m going to need to borrow your car tomorrow night.”

“No way,” he said as he caught it. “I’ll drive you somewhere, but no one borrows Alice.”

“Do I want to know why your car has an old-lady name?”

“Don’t besmirch my ride, you dick.” He pushed up his mask. “Where do you need to go?”

I started telling him my plan, the perfect romantic plan to sweep Liz off her feet, and he started laughing again.Hard.As in, so hard that he couldn’t stay upright and ended up sitting on his ass, in the dirt, cracking up.

“You’re an asshole,” I said, even though I was laughing too.

“An asshole who can’t wait to drive you to Liz’s,” he said, wiping his eyes. “This is going to be the most entertaining spectacle I’ve ever witnessed.”

I flipped him off, unfazed, because I had confidence.

I didn’t know much, but I knew Liz.

I knew if I was ever going to have a chance at getting her back, I needed to apologize and show her that I could still be the guy she fell in love with two years ago.

That Iwasthe same guy.

And what better way to apologize to Elizabeth Buxbaum than withhundredsof flowers?

I mean, did I discover the following day that two hundred daisies were a hell of a lot more than I’d pictured?Yes.Did I look like an idiot, wheeling a cart overflowing with flowers down Gayley Avenue?Also yes.

But I didn’t care because I knew it would work.

It wouldn’t win her over, but it would work to soften her.

Ithadto work.

“How the hell do you think we’re going to fit those in here?” Mick yelled, getting out and coming around to the back of his Mazda.

“Pop the trunk. We’re going to jam them in,” I said.

“Won’t that crush ’em?”

“I only need the petals,” I said, gesturing for him to open the trunk. “So it’s fine for them to get smooshed.”

“You’ve officially lost it,” he laughed, reaching into the cart and grabbing an armful of daisies.

After getting the flowers crammed in the trunk, we had to stop at two different dollar stores for a crap-ton of candles (they didn’t have enough at the first one). And by the time we got back to the dorms, he’d notified Wade, Eli, and AJ, who were all waiting in my room with cameras and mockery.

“Well, would you look at little Wessy,” Wade yelled as I came inside and dropped a few bunches of flowers onto the table. “Is he the sweetest or what?”

“Screw you,” I said, going back out to get more flowers.

---