Sean raised a brow and glanced behind Jake. “We?”
Jake turned around to see… not Ezra. He looked around until he saw a pair of red-framed glasses peek out from behind a column.
Jake turned to Sean. “Ha-ha! Just kidding! Hang on a sec.” He went over and grabbed Ezra’s elbow. “Come on. It’s okay.”
Ezra shook his head, but Jake pulled Ezra over and then draped his arm around Ezra’s shoulders. “Sean, you know Ezra, right?”
Sean nodded and smiled. “Yeah.” He gave Ezra a wave. “Hi.”
Ezra was as stiff as a board and holding the ping-pong paddle like a bouquet. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “H-h-hey, Sean. Did you know that, uh, lizards... I mean, your nose. I like it. I mean, um, your shoes. I like your shoes. They make your lips look big.”
Sean drew his brows together. He brought his fingers up to his mouth.
“Oh, wow!” Jake interceded. “Would you look at the time!” He glanced down at his wrist where there was no watch. “We gotta get going. See ya later!” He grabbed Ezra, turned him around, and walked him back to the ping-pong tables.
Once they were out of sight, Ezra took a breath and leaned on the table. “That was a disaster.”
“At least he didn’t seem mad or anything. Maybe kinda confused, though.” Then Jake shook his head. “His lips? Really?”
“You said not to talk about his ears.”
“Jesus, Ezra.” Jake rubbed his forehead. “You’ve gotta be more confident, man. I’m serious. Just relax and be yourself.”
“I can’t be,” Ezra said. “Because being myself is the problem.”
Jake sighed. “We’ve really got to work on your confidence. That’s what makes the difference.”
Ezra pushed his Sally Jessy glasses up his nose. “If you say so. But I don’t have much to be confident about.”
Jake didn’t believe that was true, but after thinking for a moment or so, he said, “We need to get you somewhere where you can just talk to people without any pressure.” He paused, thinking a bit more. “My roommate told me about a party tomorrow night at the Phi Gamma Delta house. I think that might be a good place to start.”
Ezra’s face got a little pale. “I’ve never been to a frat party before. What if people laugh at me?”
“Nobody will laugh at you.” Jake reassured, putting his arm around Ezra’s shoulders, leading them toward the exit. “First of all, I’ll be there. And second of all, we’re going to show up after everybody’s had a little bit to drink. People are a lot less judgmental when they’re drunk.”
“People are also a lot more rowdy too.”
“I already told you. I’m going to be there. I won’t let anybody mess with you.”
Ezra sighed. “But I don’t really want to talk to other people. I want to talk to Sean.”
“Exactly. That’s why you’ve got topractice. You get so nervous around him, so talk to people that don’t make you nervous.” Like Jake apparently, but he didn’t want to say that out loud.
Ezra sighed. “Well. That might be okay.”
“Sure, it will.” Jake grinned, shaking Ezra’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. You’ll have fun.”
Ezra grinned his dimpled grin. “Maybe.”
Jake was happy to see Ezra’s dimpled grin. “All right, meet me tomorrow night at my place.”
“Okay,” Ezra agreed. “I’ll see you then.”
When Jake opened thedoor, the first words out of his mouth were, “Oh no.”
Ezra stood in the doorway. He’d slicked back his hair into a style that Jake thought might be an attempt at a classy mullet. He was wearing another T-shirt, but it wasn’t one of his homemade ones. It was one that had a tuxedo printed on it, complete with a red carnation in the “pocket.”
The only question Jake had was, “Why?”
