Page 68 of Okay, Cupid

“Not from my perspective.” Green.

That makes me laugh. “Trust me.” I tell him because this is what he needs to hear in the moment. I don’t want to say these words; I want to tell him that she isn’t worth it, that Alice isn’t the person for him. But that’s not what I’m here for. That’s not my lot in life. “It’s better to know for sure than to dream of what could have been. You owe that to yourself.”

Yellow.

He hesitates, staring ahead for a few seconds before he lets out a breath through his nose. “I’ll think about it.”

“You should.”

We sit there. The light turns red.

Then green again. Huy finally presses on the gas, inching us forward.

“Where’d you learn so much about love?” he asks.

“I know a thing or two about crushes,” I say to him. “I’m in the business of love.”

“Right, right …” He laughs, and I turn, staring out the window as we drive off.

More people are around for Huy’s game the next day than I expected there to be.

The Polo Field is a large, expansive area in Golden Gate Park, meant to accommodate multiple kinds of sports so leagues can rent it out during their seasons. It seems far too large for what ends up just being a friendly soccer game with Huy, some of the guys from the Hearst team, and other boys from a different school.

But whatever works.

I wave at Huy as I spot him beyond the gated area, helping another boy set up a goalpost at the far end of the field. He hasn’t said anything about his jacket yet, and I walked out of the house without it this morning.

I’m still not sure if I did that on purpose or by accident.

And to be quite frank, I don’t think I want to know the answer to that question.

I climb toward the bleachers, mostly made of stone on top of these wooden platforms that add a charm that the aluminum ones at Hearst lack. That’s when I see Alice and Neve seated near the middle, a blanket laid out underneath them, lunch boxes and mini-coolers ready to go.

“We were wondering when you’d show up,” Neve says.

“I’m early,” I tell her, climbing the steps carefully. “They haven’t even finished setting up the field yet.”

“Yeah, but we expected you to be here first,” Alice chimes in, snapping open a Tupperware container of grapes.

“Why would I have been here first?” I ask them.

Alice and Neve both eye each other, giggling, which honestly hurts worse than if they’d just straight-up insulted me.

“What?”

“It’s nothing,” Neve tells me.

“It seems like something.” I almost want to run back home, to abandon this game and this day.

“Jude, it’s nothing,” Alice promises. “I swear.”

I climb up to the row behind them so I can sit between them, grabbing a tangerine and peeling it carefully.

“How’s your dress?” I ask Alice.

“Dad took it to the cleaners this morning, just to be safe. Apparently, they think they can make it ‘brand-new again,’ so we’ll have to see.”

“Mhmm!” Neve swallows the grapes she’s been chewing on. “How did things go last night?”