Page 88 of The One I Love
“She’s…funny. And pretty. So pretty. And she likes baseball. Uncle Shane, she can name the starting lineup of the Tennessee Arrows for the past five seasons. I like her. I like her a lot. We danced together at prom—neither of us had dates and went with friends—and, I don’t know. There’s just something about her.”
I know that time evolves, and things change over the course of generations. I know my high school experience is nothing like Luke’s. But it’s good to know that the feeling is still the same when you meet the first girl to turn your world upside down. Because I swear to God, this was how I felt about Amelia when I was Luke’s age. Also, the prom coincidence is just spooky.
“I’m guessing there’s some sort of problem?”
He nods. “I think I’m in the friend zone.”
“I know that all too well,” I say. “But why do you say ‘think?’”
Luke shrugs as he aimlessly plays with his pizza. “Sometimes I think she might like me too. I’ve never had a seriousgirlfriend, but I think I know when a girl is flirting with me. She’ll touch my arm when she laughs. She’ll send me funny memes. We text all the time. Except, last night she went out with another guy and…”
Luke trails off, but having been in his shoes, I know what he was going to say. And while I do think that everything happens for a reason—and who’s to say Amelia and I would have worked if I had gotten up the courage all those years ago—I don’t want Luke to have to go through what I did.
“Have you told her how you feel?”
He shakes his head. “No. I’ve wanted to ask her out a few times, but it never felt right. Also, what if she turns me down? I don’t want it to be weird if she does.”
“I get it. Rejection is a paralyzing fear,” I say. “It was the reason I didn’t ask your mom out in high school.”
“Really? You liked her back then?”
“I did. She was always my friend, but one day, I realized she was more. Except I came up with every reason why I shouldn’t ask her out. I thought things needed to be perfect.”
“I do that too,” he says. “And now look where it got me.”
“I get that,” I say. “I had to watch your mom with your dad.”
This makes him laugh. “That had to suck.”
“It did. Big time. But it doesn’t have to be the same for you.”
Luke looks up at me, a little bit of hope in his eyes. “Really?”
“Do you know if this girl is now dating the guy she went out with?”
He shakes his head. “They aren’t. I asked her how it went today. She said it was fine.”
I smile and pat him on the arm. “You’ve still got a chance.”
“What?”
“Luke, I’ve had the honor of teaching you a lot of thingsover your life. But this might be the biggest one I’ve ever taught you.” I lean in closer to him, which he does as well. “When women say fine, they aren’t. And nine times out of ten it means not good.”
He sits up, a sudden look of hopefulness on his face. “Really?”
“Really. But now you have to do the scariest thing you’ve ever done.”
He nods. “I have to ask her out, don’t I?”
I nod. “Yeah. And yes, she might say no. You might, in fact, be friend zoned. But Luke, don’t be like me. Don’t be scared. Take the risk. Ask her out. Tell her how you feel. Don’t have the regret.”
He lets out a breath and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “What do I say? ‘Hey, can we go out in two weeks after I get back from a vacation I don’t want to go on?’”
I look at the time and see that it’s only seven. “Ask her out tonight. See if she wants to get ice cream or something.”
“You know I can’t do that.” Luke looks toward the living room then back to me. “Mom was all about having family night before we left. I can’t tell her I’m ditching to go get ice cream with a girl. And who knows if she’ll even say yes. I’ll just wait until I get back.”
He starts to put his phone in his pocket before I grab his wrist. “Don’t wait. I’ll take care of your mom. Believe me, she’ll understand.”
