Chapter 10
Marty
“Mart! Over here!” Ryan shouts from across the yard.
I’m on edge, and not only because the TaskFrat Challenge earlier involved wrestling with a bunch of guys in a pool full of Jell-O.
I’m suspicious as hell about my agreement with Ryan.
This must be a trick to get me back for having his ass placed on probation, which was one of the reasons I shut his idea down at first, but as he pushed, I realized this could work in my favor.
If it is a trick, then I won’t have my documentation for his nuisance behavior, but bullying, if that’s what he’s planning, for that he deserves to have his ass kicked out.
Still, I hoped Ryan was sincere about his offer, and not only because I spent two nights this week showing him what I’d learned in class (three if you count the first night when we made the agreement).
I’ve seen the way this frathole is with girls. Of course, I’m sure his appeal is in no small part due to being a hot jock, but I’d be curious to see if he really has some tricks up his sleeve that could help me at least be bold enough to let a girl know I’m interested in her.
I approach Ryan, who’s hanging with Dax, which makes me feel less threatened since Dax and I get along. Really, Dax gets along with everyone. He’s the kind of guy who’s never met a stranger…which is an odd thing to say about a guy who apparently hooks up with plenty of strangers.
Dax runs his hands through his wet bangs, which must’ve happened when he tackled me in the pool. “Sorry again about earlier,” he says.
“Eh, all’s fair in love and TaskFrat, right?”
“Guess so,” he says as we fist-bump.
“I see you showered off too.”
“Yeah. Found Jell-O in some surprising places.”
I laugh. “I’m not even sure I got it out of all the surprising places.”
“You think you’d be that nice to me if I tackled you during TaskFrat?” Ryan asks me.
“Shut it,” I say.
Dax laughs. “Okay, you two duke it out. I’ve got a Zeta Tau I’ve had my eye on all night.”
“Of course you have,” I say in a knowing tone.
“I’m surprised you haven’t torn through all the frats yet,” Ryan says.
“Is that a challenge?” Dax asks, which gets us laughing. “It’s not the kind of thing you want to rush,” he adds. “Take your time, enjoy every fucking drop.”
A part of me thinks drop might not be what he meant to say, but I’ve known him long enough to know better.
“Go get ’em, champ,” Ryan tells him, and Dax heads off.
I search around, making sure no one’s in earshot. “Okay, this is the part where you make me regret agreeing to this?”
Ryan grins. “Nah. You’re gonna be great. And even if you suck, I’m a great teacher, so…”
He says that in that arrogant-ass way he has, the sort that has me rolling my eyes.
“Now…” He signals to someone, and before I know it, there’s a Phi Lambda blonde at his side, as indicated by the Greek-letter charms on her necklace. Her hair falls just past her shoulders, her blue eyes bright in the outdoor lighting.
She sports a bright smile as she says, “Hey, Marty, I’m Gisele.”
“Um…hi? Ryan, what is happening?”
“This is why we’re doing it at a party. You need practice chatting up girls, so I figured, what better way to do it than to have a real live girl to work with.”
My face heats up. “Can you excuse us for a moment?” I grab Ryan’s shoulder and usher him away from my new Phi Lambda friend. “I knew you’d do something like this,” I say through my teeth.
Ryan’s expression twists up. “What’s wrong?”
“You didn’t say anything about telling other people about our agreement.”
“Gisele promised to be discreet, and doesn’t she look trustworthy?” He waves to her, and she waves back with those bright eyes on Ryan.
“Okay, it’s pretty apparent why she’s offering to help, and it has nothing to do with me.”
“She’s in the drama department. I said it might be good practice for her with character work.”
I feel a migraine coming on. “I never should have said yes to this. I had this gut feeling you’d find a way to turn this into the perfect opportunity to humiliate me, and congratulations if that was your goal.”
“Whoa, whoa. You can ask Keeg and Jaxon, I did the same with them. How did you think this was gonna go down?”
“I was expecting pointers. Like tips. I showed you moves in private. I didn’t bring in a hot girl to judge.”
“You need practice talking to a girl, and given how red your face is, Gisele is gonna be perfect for you because she makes you nervous. And the more you sit with that, the less uncomfortable you’ll be during the real thing because you’ll be used to having that feeling and knowing what to do when it comes up. ”
Wait a fucking second… “Exposure therapy?”
“Huh?”
“You’re talking about exposure therapy, essentially.”
“I’m lost.”
“You get me to do the thing that makes me uncomfortable until I’m familiar enough with the discomfort that it doesn’t intimidate me.”
He shrugs. “I guess.”
It’s stunning that an idiot like Ryan has inadvertently stumbled upon his own version of exposure therapy, which when he pitches it like that, I must admit might work.
But I’m probably gonna hate every second of it, which is kind of the point.
“I’m listening,” I say, “but just know, I’ve still got some Jell-O up my ass from earlier. I’m on edge, and I’m more than a little annoyed that you didn’t give me a heads-up.”
“If I’d told you, would you have said yes?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Exactly. So why don’t we get back to Gisele and get to work.”
I hesitate, still unconvinced. “You’re saying you did this with Keegan and Jaxon?”
At his nod, I search around, spotting Angie chatting with Ash and Lance. I think about how many days I’ve spent chatting with her, fumbling my words, pining away, knowing I’d never have the confidence to flirt with her. It gives me the boost I need to surrender to Ryan’s plan.
“Okay. Let’s just get through it.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He slaps my back, urging me toward Gisele.
“Okay, don’t touch me like you do your football bros,” I say, and he backs off.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Gisele says before turning to Ryan. “Ooh, is that not how we should start? You should probably start, Marty.” She giggles, as though she’s the one who should be embarrassed about what’s happening.
“Uh…”
“Here’s the scenario,” Ryan interjects. “Gisele and I are having a conversation, and you approach and insert yourself into it. Easy enough?”
“Why not?” I step away and approach.
“So then Carmichael was coming down the field for a Hail Mary when—” He acts like he’s just spotted me and says, “Ah, hey, Mart. This is… Sorry, what was it again?”
“Gisele,” she replies, and it’s fucking surreal how much they’re selling this bit. I imagine she does very well in the drama department.
“Hi.” I reach my hand out, and we shake. “Nice to meet you.”
She stares at me, clearly waiting for me to initiate some sort of conversation, but it’s not easy to do all this stuff on the spot.
“So…you enjoying the party?” I ask since that seems like a good opening.
“I am. It’s fun.”
“That’s good. That’s real good.” And as ridiculous as I assumed this would be, it’s apparent I’m as awkward as I would be if I were flirting with any other girl.
Tension twists in my gut, my face is hot, my palms sweating, even though it’s a cool night.
I cut Ryan a look, and I see the disappointment in his expression.
I sigh. “Never mind. This is too humiliating. I really can’t. ”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Ryan says. “When Miami was down 24–27 against Duke, did they give up? No, they played the hell out with laterals like you can’t even imagine, scoring a touchdown and winding up beating Duke 30–27.”
“It sounds like some luck might have been involved there.”
“You need to YouTube that play because you’ll see it was smarts, not just luck. Now you need to be Miami and believe there’s a way to win this. Here, I’ll make it easier.”
“Because I’m sure you’ve noticed in the time you’ve known me that I’m an optimist by nature.”
He chuckles, his gaze wandering. “I’ll be the optimist for both of us. I’ve got an idea. I’ll be like the director of the scene, and I’ll tell you what to do, and you just listen, okay?”
“This seems even worse.”
“It’ll be fine,” Gisele assures me.
Despite the ball of tension I’ve become, who am I to be the ass and bail when she’s so willing to help me?
“Sure, why not?”
“What do you think is attractive about her?” Ryan asks. “Say something you think is hot about her—don’t say breasts because that’s inappropriate as fuck.”
“I agree. Don’t say that,” Gisele says, shaking her head.
“To be clear, in no universe would I have said that.”
As hot as my face has been throughout this, I can feel myself getting used to it, so in some way, I know Ryan’s plan is working. But if this is all just to humiliate me, I wish Ryan would get it over with. Since this is still happening, I go along with the plan, studying Gisele.
“She has a nice smile,” I say. “I like the blue in her eyes.”
“They’re not simply blue, though, are they?” Ryan says. “What kind of blue? What do they remind you of?”
“I’m not really sure.”
“Well, tell her she has pretty eyes, and since it’s kind of dark, ask what shade they are.”
I follow his lead, and she replies, “Baby blue-ish, but there’s a bit of sapphire if you look real close.”
“Now move a little closer to get a better look. That was an invitation to move in.”
I follow his instruction, and she sizes me up. She’s really in it to win it—maybe he’s paying her or maybe because she knows she has a better chance of getting laid by going along with this.
“That’s good,” Ryan says. “Now you’ve established interest. In a real-world setting, if she backs away, then you’re a creep, so back off. And now wait for her to move closer to you,” which Gisele does.