My Butterfly

you wait too long, you might lose your chance, and she’s not going to want to hang around me anymore. And then, you’ll have no one to take to the New Year’s Eve party, and you’ll lose Julia forever?”
    I looked at him sideways.
    “You really think that would work?” I asked.
    “What?” he asked.
    “Don’t you think Julia would just get pissed if I show up at a party that we went together to for years with another girl all of a sudden?” I asked. “I mean, we just…”
    “Broke up,” he said, finishing my sentence.
    “It’s just a break,” I said.
    “Dude,” he said, “you guys aren’t together. And yeah, it’ll work. Girls always get jealous of other girls when they see them with their exes.”
    I was quiet for a second. Then, I cocked my head in his direction.
    “You reading one of your sister’s magazines again?” I asked.
    “Dude, this is a proven fact,” he said.
    “Proven fact,” I repeated.
    He stared me down with his goofy glare again, while I took in a big breath of cool air.
    “Jeff, it sounds like a stupid idea,” I said, shaking my head and letting go of the breath.
    “A stupid idea that just might work,” he said.
    I paused for a moment and thought about it. If I had had a better idea, I would have used it by now. She wanted a fancy-pants lawyer boyfriend right now. How was I supposed to change her mind about that?
    I put my thoughts on hold and glanced back at Jeff.
    “But what about the girl?” I asked.
    “Who? Jessica?” he asked.
    “Yeah, that would be a pretty shitty thing for me to do to her,” I said. “I can’t do that.”
    “Will, I’m not telling you to be mean to her,” he said. “She wants a chance. You’re giving her a chance. She knows there’s a chance you might not like her.”
    “But I’m not really giving her a chance,” I said.
    “Sure you are,” he said. “Who knows, you might even fall for her.”
    He was proudly nodding by the time he had finished his sentence, but then he stopped and quickly cocked his head.
    “But you’re not going to fall for her,” he said. “You’re going to break her heart, and she’s going to come running to her el-friend-o, me-o,” he said, pointing dramatically at himself.
    I glared at him with narrowed eyes.
    “You’re an idiot, Jeff,” I said.
    “But I’ve got a point, though, right?” he asked.
    I walked into the house, grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water. I could hear Jeff’s big footsteps trailing behind me.
    “Jessica really wants to go to this party, and for some God-only-knows reason wants to go to it with you, and you want Julia back,” he said. “And what’s better to get a girl back than to use jealousy? It’s perfect. You have to admit, I’ve got a point.”
    He walked closer to me and squared up to my frame. I knew he was waiting for me to acknowledge him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to, but I also didn’t have another plan.
    “Well...,” he said, drawing out his l s .
    “Okay, okay, you might have a point,” I admitted, reluctantly.
    “Yes,” he shouted, spinning around and pumping his fist into the air.
    I watched him eventually roll onto the back of the couch and hurl himself over it. Then, I took a drink and swallowed hard. I already knew his plan was a bad idea, but I just couldn’t stop wondering: What if it worked? Just what if this crazy idiot’s plan worked?
    I set the glass down onto the counter and felt my chest rise as I sucked in another deep breath. The truth was that I missed her; I missed her too much not to try anything to get her back.

Chapter Sixteen
    New Year
     
     
    “H i,” I said, as she cracked the door and poked her head out of the small opening.
    “Hey,” she said, pulling a small, furry creature back and then opening the door wider.
    I watched her take the fur-ball-looking thing to another girl sitting on a couch and then disappear into a dark hallway. The girl on the couch took the dog and cradled it in her arms. The door was still open, so I stepped in and closed it again behind me.
    “Let me just get my purse,” I heard a voice call out from some room in the back of the small house. “I’ll be right there.”
    The girl on the couch glanced up at me.
    “Hi,” I said, rocking back on my heels.
    The girl smiled and returned her attention to the television and the dog, now pawing at her lap.
    I squeezed my fists together in my pockets. I felt nervous. I hadn’t taken a girl out for the first