Page 96 of With a Little Luck

There. Done.

One terrifying task complete. Proof that I can put myself out there. I can risk rejection and move on with my life … with or without magic.246

So now that I’ve got that out of the way … what am I going to do about Ari?

Ask her out.

Or don’t ask her out.

Tell her how I feel.

Or ignore how I feel until the end of time.

Try to figure out how Ari feels about me.

Or avoid ever seeing her again.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Thoughts spinning, spinning, spinning.

Okay. Pause.

How about this?

I just … don’t decide anything. I don’t decide to tell Ari how I feel. I don’t decide tonottell Ari how I feel.

I let luck decide for me.

I know, I know. But hear me out. Yeah, maybe luck and I haven’t been seeing eye to eye lately, but that doesn’t matter. If Mr. Robles has taught me anything, it’s that luck is a numbers game. Throw the dice enough times, and eventually you’ll hit it big. (Just hope that the house hasn’t emptied your pockets already.) Flip the coin enough times, and it has to land in your favor. And it only takes one lucky break to end a losing streak.

That’s just basic math.

And I have an idea.

247

Chapter Thirty-Two

To be fair, my brilliant idea is … objectively not so brilliant.That doesn’t deter me from putting it into action over the next few days, though.

I spend hours after school scouring the internet for things I might be able to win for Ari, as proof of my affection. But not just that. If I can win something—anything—it will prove that Icanget lucky again, even without that stupid dice. Even without the magic.

It will prove that I’m not cursed.

And—wow. I never realized how much free stuff is just given away, all in the name of promotion.

Free guitars. Free speakers. Free amps. Free in-ear monitors. Free recording software. Free music lessons. Free trips to Nashville and Austin. Free studio time. Free song critiques. Free earrings shaped like music notes and necklace pendants made out of guitar picks and bracelets crafted from recycled guitar strings.

I enter every online sweepstakes I can find. Everything that seems like it might be even remotely appealing to Ari. Anything that I might win and present to her with a flourish.Here, Ari. I won you these sweet vinyl decals! You can put them on your guitar case, and every time you look at them, you can think of me. Also, what do you say about forgetting this whole “friends” thing and giving Happily Ever After a try?

Too much?

Yeah, maybe a bit much. Full disclosure: I have no idea what I’m doing,248in case that wasn’t obvious. I’ve barely caught my breath from the realization that I find Ari painfully attractive. I’m still reeling from the knowledge that my desire to kiss her outweighs every other desire I’ve ever had—that includes Maya, art school, and every Funko in existence. I’m still reeling when I think about how I’ve always felt happier in Ari’s presence than with anyone else, no matter where we were or what we were doing, and yet somehow Ididn’t realize it until now.

Anyway—my point is that all of this is just a numbers game, and the numbers are going to tell me what to do next. Enter enough sweepstakes, and I’m bound to win something, and that something will be my ticket to a more-than-friends conversation with Ari.

Hey, it worked with Maya.

And if Idon’twin anything? Well then … I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

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