“You want to go to AJ’s? Their pizzas are pretty good.”
“Fine with me.”
So they went, and Jake got to find out more things about Ezra that he didn’t know. Like how Ezra was born in Spain because his dad was in the military. And how Ezra once fell off his bike as a kid and sprained his wrist. And how Ezra’s favorite movie was also Jake’s favorite movie—Mallrats—because of Jay and Silent Bob.
Jake also started to figure out the reason Ezra wasn’t nervous and had an easier time talking to him is because Ezra didn’t like Jake the way Ezra liked Sean. It was the crush thing then. Ezra wasn’t really all that socially awkward. And Jake wondered if Sean would even like the things Ezra liked. He didn’t know for sure, but he would guess not.
And it made Jake feel sort of funny that Ezra didn’t like him the way he liked Sean. Not just because Sean wasn’t all that good-looking—when you take everything into consideration, of course, like his crooked nose and weird shaped ears—but because Sean hadn’t noticed Ezra too. If Sean thought Ezra was attractive or if he wanted to get to know Ezra better, it would be Sean here right now rather than Jake.
But Jake didn’t want Sean to be here instead of him.
He was having fun hanging out with Ezra. So much that he completely lost track of the time, and when his beeper went off,he remembered he’d changed shifts and had to be at the country club.
Jake had to split, but before he did, he asked Ezra if he wanted to hang out the next day and Ezra said he did.
And Jake was glad to have something to look forward to.
Jake met Ezra at the student center on Sunday afternoon.
Ezra said he didn’t really play pool, so they played ping-pong. Jake was sort of amazed that Ezra was really good at it and that they were just hanging out. They talked about music mostly, and Jake liked it when he could make Ezra laugh. He had such a nice smile. It was a shame he always came into the choir room with a scowl. But maybe now he wouldn’t. Maybe now he’d be a little more friendly.
And Jake supposed he should consider Ezra a friend. He was getting to know the guy a little better, which is something he thought he’d never do, and in the back of Jake’s mind, he thought it kind of sucked that Ezra wanted to change. Especially to change for Sean Campbell, but Jake supposed it was none of his business.
Jake also liked Ezra’s shirts, and the fact that he made them himself was so cool. The one today saidRunning out of Thymeand had a sprig of thyme checking its watch. Jake asked Ezra if he could make a shirt for him.
“Seriously?” Ezra said, flipping the paddle in one hand and holding the ping-pong ball in the other hand. “Why?”
“I think they’re neat.” Jake hit the ball with the paddle after Ezra bounced it over. “I can pay you. However much it costs to make.”
“You don’t really need to pay me. I—” Ezra stopped short of hitting the ball and it bounced off the table as Ezra froze in place.
He was looking at something behind Jake, so Jake turned to look and saw Sean with a couple of other people, taking a seat at one of the sofas in the lounge.
Ezra looked like he wanted to duck under the table.
“Chill, Ezra,” Jake said. “He’s just a person like you and me.”
“Right.” Ezra nodded, looking around for the ping-pong ball, finding it, then picking it up.
“You want to go say hi to him?” Jake asked. “I can go with you, if you want.”
Ezra shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t think I’m ready yet.”
Jake shrugged. “All we’re doing is saying hi, and I’ll be right there beside you. We’ll go over, say hey to Sean, and that can be it. No biggie, right?”
“I don’t know…” Ezra said. He was standing all slumped over now, like he wanted to hide.
“Come on.” Jake nodded his head toward Sean. “We’ll just go over and say hey together. It’ll take like thirty seconds.”
Jake made his way over and Ezra reluctantly shuffled along behind him. Jake went over to Sean and said, “What’s up, Sean?”
Sean had been talking to someone, but he turned to Jake and gave him a tiny smile. “Hey, Fallon. What are you up to?”
“Not much. We were just hanging out. Playing some ping-pong.”
