“Wait,” I said. “Julia’s coming?”

I sat up and watched him walk back into the kitchen.

“Yeah, she’s coming,” he said, opening the refrigerator door again.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

My questions for Jeff, nine out of ten times, were laced with suspicion. I could never tell if he actually knew what he was talking about or if he was just flapping his jaw.

“What?” he asked.

“How do you know Julia’s coming?” I asked again.

He popped his head up from behind the refrigerator door.

“Oh, I think Rachel mentioned it last week or something,” he said and then buried his head back into the refrigerator again.

I sat back in the chair.

“You never ended up calling her, right?” he asked.

“What?” I asked.

“Julia,” he said. “You never called her? She hasn’t called you? You guys are still broken up?”

I half came out of my trance and nodded my head.

“Yeah, I…,” I stuttered. “What if I call her, and she says the same thing? I don’t know if I could hear that again. And I still don’t know what I could say to change her mind. I don’t know. She sounded sad, but she wants…”

I looked up and found Jeff giving me a blank stare.

“She’ll call,” I said, giving up and turning back toward the television’s screen.

“Yeah,” he said. “She’ll call after you show up to the party with Jessica.”

I shook my head and started flipping through the stations. I assumed Jessica was the name of the girl he couldn’t stop talking about.

“I’m not doing it, Jeff,” I said.

I watched from out of the corner of my eye Jeff sprawl his skinny, lanky body across the couch.

“So, Julia is going to be there,” I mumbled to myself.

Jeff ignored me, but I expected him to. I methodically flipped through the channels looking for a game, knowing full well that the only place my mind could possibly be was on Jules and on how much I missed her.

“Hi,” I heard a soft voice come from behind me.

I turned to see a brunette with a wide smile staring back at me.

“Hi,” I said, slowly reaching down to pick up another ball.

“I’m Jessica,” she said, extending her hand before I could reach the ball.

I stood up straight and met her hand with mine.

“Will,” I said and smiled.

She stepped back, and I went back to the bucket of golf balls. Then, I set one of the balls onto the tee, positioned my feet and shoulders, cocked back my driver and swung.

“Not bad,” she said.

I turned to see the girl still behind me.

“Thanks,” I said, looking back at her with a modest smile.

“I think I’m friends with your friend, Jeff,” she said then. “He’s in one of my classes.”

I took a second look at her. Jeff. Of course. This was the brunette who worked at the golf course that he had been blabbering about. Despite Jeff’s endless chatter, I had never called her.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked, acting as if Jeff hadn’t told me everything about her already. “Jeff’s a good guy.”

I turned back around and grabbed another ball.

“Do you need any more balls?” she asked.

I looked at my bucket, filled to the brim with little, white balls. Then, I glanced back at her and smiled.

“No, this should do it,” I said.

She didn’t say anything as I set another ball onto the tee, repositioned my feet and shoulders again, arched my driver back and then swung hard.

“Okay, well, if you need anything, just let me know,” she said.

I turned back toward her and caught her grinning with that same, wide smile back at me.

“Thanks,” I said.

Then, I smiled, picked up another ball and set it onto the tee.

“Hey, I think I saw that girl who you were talking about the other day — your friend that works at the golf course,” I said when Jeff reached the steps of the porch.

“Yeah?” he asked. “Isn’t she cute? You ask her to the party?”

“Whoa, slow down,” I said. “I said I saw her. I didn’t say I asked her to marry me.”

“Wait, you didn’t ask her out?” he asked.

He waited a minute as he stared me down with his goofy expression that I was pretty sure meant he was displeased with me. I laughed inside my head.

“Man, come on,” he said, letting his head fall back. “Just get it over with. If 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 ls.

“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.