Page 28 of War

“Oh.” I smiled and my anger faded. Teenage hormones.

I was the worst person to talk to him about a relationship — playboy bachelor and all — but maybe I could offer good enough advice to try. “You want to talk to her?”

His eyes widened, and he practically shouted, “No!”

I chuckled. He needed a strategy.

“Do you want to take a break and get something at the concession stand?”

Neo craned his neck to catch sight of his crush again. I didn't know which girl he was trying to find, but I remembered those days.

“Uh, sure.”

Neo and I skated to the entrance to the rink. We stepped out and skated over to the concession stand. I bought us nachos, Reese's cups, and fountain sodas. We sat down at a nearby table to eat.

“So you like a girl, huh?” I said before I took a drink from my straw. God, I sounded like a parent.

No, wingman, I decided. This was nothing more than wingman duty. I could be a wingman.

“Shh,” Neo urged.

I swallowed my soda. “Does she know? Have you talked to her?”

Subtly, he shook his head. He looked around warily. “No.”

“You're going to regret it if you don't say anything. What if she moves and you never talk to her? You’ll always wonder ‘what if.’ At least talk to her. Don't let her become a missed chance. If nothing else, try to be her friend.”

“But what if—”

“Hi, Neo,” a small feminine voice sounded beside the table.

I turned my head to see a teen girl standing beside the table with her dark hair twisted up onto her head, stick-on star gems pressed beside her eyes, wearing black jean shorts and a black jersey shirt with the number 14 on it. Was this Neo's girl?

“Hi, Mona,” Neo said.

“Are you having fun? I love to skate,” she said.

“Yeah. This is my first time here, but it's awesome.” He hesitated. “Do you come here a lot?”

She nodded. “A few times a week. It's great. I love it. Maybe I'll see you here again?”

“Absolutely.”

She smiled. “See you at school tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Yeah! See you at school tomorrow.”

Mona waved and skated away.

Neo's forehead fell forward onto the table.

I held back a laugh. “That went really well. She likes you. Fight for her.”

He raised his head and looked at me. “You think she likes me?”

I nodded. “I do. Go for what you want.”

Neo frowned. “What if she wants to go out? Aunt Amantha said money is tight right now because she was off work. I don't want to stress her out more.”