“Deal!” She turned back to Dylan. “How’s Anna doing? I see her post all the time about how much fun she’s having. It looks amazing out there!”
“She’s doing great! I just won her this handsome fellow,” he said, holding up the stuffed giraffe.
“Awesome! You two are so cute together.”
Dylan pulled the giraffe to his cheek and stroked its head. “Aw, thanks. We try. He doesn’t say much—his head is full of stuffing, after all, and he can’t speak—but he’s a very good listener.”
Kaylee laughed some more. “Stop! I meant you and Anna.”
As Dylan joked around with Kaylee, I watched him in admiration and not a small amount of envy. He was so easy-going with everyone, so comfortable in his own skin. I could learn a lot from him. God, I couldn’t believe I gave off the impression I hated everyone at my new school. I’d have to work on that.
“Nice meeting you, Zeus!” chirped Kaylee, handing us each two slices of pizza.
“You too, Kaylee!” I answered, trying to match her exuberance.
“See you around, Kay,” Dylan said, then turned to me. “Let’s grab a table over there.”
Rows of green picnic tables sat under a white canopy. White lights crisscrossed overhead like electric cobwebs. About half the tables were occupied, and I recognized a few faces from our Gravitron experience. I thought we’d join the group, but Dylan chose an unoccupied table in the corner. We sat next to each other, the giraffe across from us. Despite still feeling a bit ill from the funnel cake, I managed to shove both pieces of Arduini’s World Famous sausage, onion, and mushroom pizza down my gullet in record time. And Dylan was right—it rivaled some of the best slices I’d had in Chicago.
“So, Kaylee’s pretty cute, huh?” said Dylan.
“Yeah, definitely.”
“She’s single, you know. Recently single. I’m thinking you may be the perfect rebound material for her.”
My hesitation said it all. “Yeah.”
Dylan understood immediately. “Oh, I get it. Rose.”
I nodded.
“Right on. I didn’t know you two were serious.”
“Well, it’s still early. But so far, so good.”
“Did you make plans to see her again?” Dylan spun himself around with his back resting on the table and crossed his legs on the bench across from us. I did the same.
“She said to stop by the nursing home sometime this week, so I thought I’d drop in Monday after my deliveries.”
Dylan whipped his head at me. “Monday? Oh no, no, no. You gotta wait until Wednesday. Tuesday at the absolute earliest.”
“Seriously?”
“Dude, think about it. Remember how you told me you waited around for her all week, then she didn’t show up until Friday?”
“Yeah, but she has a job. She was working.”
Dylan gave me a look. “Point is, if you go rushing in to see her first thing Monday, you’ll look desperate. Give it a day. Let her wonder if you’re going to show up. Trust me.”
“That sounds kind of, I don’t know . . . manipulative.”
“I prefer to call it strategy. Trying to understand girls is like trying to predict the weather, but I’ve learned a thing or two.”
He was probably right. I mean, he actually had a girlfriend. “All right, I guess I can wait until Tuesday.”
“You’ll thank me later. So, what’s your plan? You going to bring her something? Ask her on a date?”
“My plan?” I pictured myself riding Mom’s bike across town with a stuffed giraffe on the foot pegs. Bad plan. Maybe I could bring Rose one of Mom’s homemade, gluten-free Rice Krispie treats? Better plan.
“Yeah, your plan. Or are you just going to walk in there, throw your arm around her, and ride off into the sunset?”
Well, something like that, I thought. “I was thinking I’d bring her something from the café.”
“All right, all right, that’s a start. Listen, girls like confidence. But don’t be too confident, just sure of yourself.”
“Confident but not too confident,” I repeated.
“Right. Take the lead. Show her you’ve been thinking about her without saying it.”
“Take the lead.”
“Think of it like guitar. If we’re both playing a solo at the same time, it’s like we’re stepping on each other’s toes, in the way.”
I nodded. He didn’t need to know I couldn’t play a solo.
Dylan continued. “On the other hand, if we’re both just strumming chords, playing rhythm, nothing much is happening. It’s boring. We’re both waiting for the other to do something.”
“Waiting to do something,” I said, still nodding my head.
“Right. So when you walk in there, what’s the plan?”
I thought hard for a moment. “Um, not play rhythm?”
Dylan waved his hands in the air as if erasing an invisible chalkboard, then gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “You know what, don’t even worry about it. I’m talking out of my ass. You got this. Go in there, say something nice, and ask her out.”
“Say something nice, ask her out,” I repeated. I knew it wasn’t Dylan’s fault, but suddenly I was completely freaked out at the prospect of seeing Rose again. Ask her out where? What the hell would I do with her in Buffalo Falls—hang out at a nursing home? I needed to gather more information. “You lived here your whole life, right?”
“Yessir, born and bred.”
“How long have you and Anna been dating?”
“I guess about two years? I mean, I kissed her in fifth grade, but I don’t think that counts. Yeah, I’d say we’ve officially been dating for two years.”
“Sounds serious.”
“Yeah, pretty much.” Dylan explained how he and Anna planned on going to Buffalo Falls Community College together after graduation, then attending the University of Illinois to finish out their degrees. Anna wanted to go into education and become a PE teacher, Dylan wanted to pursue engineering, with a minor in music.
“Cool. So what do you and Anna do for fun around here?”
“Oh, you know, we hang out in each other’s basements playing video games, watch TV, do homework together. The usual.”
“I don’t have a TV or a basement. I guess I’m screwed, huh?”
“Nah, man. It sounds like Rose likes you. You’re golden.”
I sighed and looked at the flashing carnival lights. In Chicago, there’d have been all kinds of things to do with Rose—North Avenue Beach, Navy Pier, the Riverwalk—free entertainment!
Of course, I’d never had a girlfriend in Chicago, but Dylan didn’t need to know that. Sure, I’d hung out with plenty of girls in the neighborhood, but they’d practically felt like sisters or cousins, I’d known them so long. I guess the closest I’d ever come to having a girlfriend was going to the frosh-soph mixer with Abbie Shoemaker last year. We’d texted for a few weeks before and after the dance, and actually had a pretty good time while there. But it soon faded away to nothing and she moved on to someone else for the next dance.
I slowly blew air through my cheeks. “I just don’t know how to move forward with Rose.” I paused and turned to Dylan. “I’m open to suggestions.”
Dylan thought for a minute, then clapped his hands together. “Hey! What about this—your mom owns a restaurant, right?”
“Well, it’s a café.”
“But it has a kitchen?”