Page 40 of Okay, Cupid

“Stop!” I reach to pull my phone away, and he lets me take it. “I just like that one album.”

“And the other album, and his EP, and a bunch of his singles that are already on the albums you downloaded, and his Spotify sessions …”

“It’s good music.”

“I never denied that.”

“Then let’s see your music picks, since you’re such a musical connoisseur.”

“Fine.” Huy’s smile turns lopsided as he hands me his phone and clicks on Spotify. There’s a lot of stuff here. I mean a lot. I’m talking 9,000 liked songs, 523 liked albums, at least 70 different playlists.

“Wow.”

“I need to organize it,” he tells me.

There’s a wide variety here. Phoebe Bridgers and Seventeen and Kate Bush and Lady Gaga and Perfume Genius are the names I recognize. He’s got playlists dedicated to Vietnamese pop songs and ballads, a few styled for different workouts, and one made of film scores that he’s labeled study music.

“You listen to a lot of stuff. Like a lot.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, no!” I reassure him, handing back the phone.

“Are you doing anything after school?”

“Uh … not that I can think of?” I tell him, though I’d planned to worm my way into whatever plans Neve and Alice potentially had.

“Want to go somewhere?”

“Well, I, uh …”

“Come on,” Huy whines. “All my friends are ditching me and it’s like my first night off in weeks. I don’t want to stay cooped up in my room.”

“Fine, fine, yes. Where are we going?” The interaction happens so quickly I almost feel like I’ve developed whiplash from it.

“It’s a surprise,” Huy says with a satisfied smile, taking his phone back as Mr. Benson calls for our attention. The television in the corner of the room turns on automatically, and the student news begins to play.

I don’t pay attention until I hear the word dance.

“Tickets will go on sale at the start of next week for the annual Valentine’s Day dance. The front office is currently taking suggestions for songs, but asks that students please not send any Lil Jon tracks.”

A Valentine’s Day dance? That’s just a few days before my deadline. I can see it now. Convincing Huy and Alice to go to the dance, their friendship fixed. Maybe I could sneak backstage and take control of the lights or something, push them together during a couple’s dance. A slow song will play, maybe something cheesy and sweet. They’ll look at each other, and it’ll all click. Huy will probably go in for the kiss first, since he seems like the bolder of the two.

And then … I’ll be done. I can’t help but smile at the idea of this grand finale.

• • •

At lunch, I watch for Alice’s eyes to catch Huy. There’s a moment when she’s rolling a loose grape between her fingers while Neve tells us about this horror movie that her parents are designing the killer’s costume and gore effects for. Alice hasn’t said a word in ten whole minutes, which maybe wouldn’t be that weird for her, but then I catch her eyeing the soccer team’s table. Specifically, the head of said table, where Huy is sitting.

He must feel her stare, because he turns to look at her, his smile cracking before our eyes meet instead. He gives me this nod, and I give him a nod in return.

“You two are getting chummy,” Neve says as she palms the grape out of Alice’s hand, crunching into it.

“I don’t get what you mean,” I tell her.

“I saw that look.” Neve’s own look is a sly one, but she’s still smiling at me. Alice, on the other hand, keeps her expression blank. I knew I should’ve played this more carefully.

“He’s just being friendly,” I tell them both. “We’re in a few classes together.”