A Love-Hate Relationship

40~ The Game Plan

I parked my car and scrambled out, taking out my phone and calling Felicia. I looked around for her and Emmary, and also for Kobe, Kevin, and Bruce, whom I asked to meet while driving (I used my voice to call Kobe; I wasn't texting and driving).

"Hey, you here?" I asked when Felicia picked up.

"We're near the cherry trees... oh, there you are. To your right."

I looked in the direction she told me and saw her waving to me about 20 feet away. I put my phone away and jogged up to her and Emmary. The guys didn't seem to be here yet.

"Hey," I panted, adjusting my scarf around my neck.

"Hey..." She spread out her hands. "So. What's your big idea?"

"Give me a second, the guys aren't here yet..." I looked over at the parking lot, sighing in relief when I saw Kobe's black Chevrolet Impala coming in.

I was always jealous of his car.

He got out with the other two and came over when I waved at them. Kevin looked annoyed, and he glared at me as he approached me.

"You interrupted the last level of Gun Duty 3!" He punched me in the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but it's important," I said.

"What's going on, John?" Bruce asked me.

"Hey, that rhymed!" Kevin said, making us roll our eyes.

"It's about Marissa. I have an idea on how to tell her the truth about how I feel. I'm... 95% sure this'll work."

"Well, tell us already!" Emmary demanded.

"I was thinking... I could dance with her on her debut dance. The one on Valentine's Day," I said.

They all looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

I sighed. "Just hear me out, you guys!"

"We're sorry, but... you dancing? No way," Kobe said.

"I know, it's not my thing. But this could really work. It's perfect. She loves dancing. It's her debut. It's Valentine's Day. And if I take the male lead's place, I'll be with her the whole time. I can talk to her."

"I don't know, Johnny, this has a lot of holes," Emmary said. "For example, what about the real male lead? How are you gonna take his place? Someone would notice."

"I'm working on that. Maybe we could stall him somehow... distract him. Make a fake phone call about someone he knows getting sick or something."

"It would do her a favor," said Felicia. "Marissa hates the guy. Told us all about it. His name is Lincoln Masher. Total creep."

"Lincoln Masher?" Kevin's brows creased. "That's... that's the guy that bullies my cousin! That punk's dancing with Marissa? We can just beat him up, and there you go!"

"I wasn't planning on hurting him, Kev," I said.

"I am!"

"Kevin, come on, we can't be beating people up here. It's enough that we'd make him miss his big debut," said Bruce.

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Well, we don't know how we'll get rid of him without hurting him," said Emmary. "One. Two, they probably have an understudy. We'd have to get rid of him, too, and they'll notice you're not part of the dance school. Three, you don't know the steps to the dance. And four, you could distract Marissa while she's dancing. You could blow it."

Hopelessness and disappointment settled in. What was I thinking?

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, that was a stupid idea." I kicked the snowy ground.