Ask Elizabeth: Ian is clearly in love with her

I sighed, “I know. But I can’t deal with this tonight. I’m sorry. Listen, you’re both my friends and I don’t want to hurt either of—”

“No, you listen,” Amy interrupted. “You NEED to ask somebody to prom. And that somebody needs to be Elizabeth.”

I blinked. It was about the last thing I expected to hear from Amy. I turned to Corrine, but she just nodded her agreement.

“What are you guys talking about? Elizabeth is going with Josh Peterson!”

Corrine smiled at my frustration. “Then change her mind.”

“Maybe I don’t want to change her mind.”

I shrugged off Corrine’s hug, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Amy grabbed me by the shoulders and swung me around to face her sparkling green eyes.

“For one of the smartest guys in school, you are a real fucking moron about some things, you know that? You’re in love with her, Ian. And she’s in love with you. And it’s beautiful and real, and BLATANTLY FUCKING OBVIOUS to everyone but the two of you! I’ve never had that. Corrine’s never had that. People get married and have children without having what you and Elizabeth have. Just look at my parents—they can’t stand to be in the same city as one another.”

I was incredulous. Amy was the ninja grand master of casual relationships. She was contemptuous of romance in all its many gooey forms. This was the same girl who’d bragged that she didn’t have boyfriends, just guys she “fucked more than once.” And she was championing everything she rallied so hard against. My eyes broke from hers and dropped to the floor.

“I’ve had lots of amazingly hot sex,” Amy smiled, “with lots of amazingly hot guys—but I’ve never looked at another person the way she looks at you.”

All of a sudden, I realized just how tired I really was. With choked words, I muttered, “But she’s gonna leave.”

“So?” Corrine asked. “You think it’s going to hurt LESS if you pretend like there’s nothing there? Take it from me, that doesn’t work. You remember what you told me, the night I dumped Steve? All friendships end. Whether by **** or by distance.”

“But—”

“There’s no such thing as ‘Happily-Ever-After,’ Ian. Just ‘Happily-As-Long-As-We-Can-Manage.’”

Amy and Corrine both closed in for another hug. The warmth of their bodies cleared my mind, and I actually cracked a smile.

“Okay, okay.”

“Say it,” Amy commanded.

“I’m in love with Elizabeth.”

They cheered for me.