Me You Us by Aaron Karo Page A

either of those things.”
    Wait a minute.
    I suddenly realize what’s happening. Adam is hitting on Jak.
    That’s why he’s all awkward and nervous. That’s whyhe’s laughing at Jak’s dumb jokes. Jak must be the girl Adam told me he had a crush on at the beach! The one I encouraged him to go after!
    The pen trick was an icebreaker I mentioned to Adam when he was pursuing Olivia and was afraid to talk to her: Go up to a girl with a pen behind your ear and ask her to borrow one. She’ll notice you already have one and call you out on in it. Next thing you know, you’re in a conversation. Not only that, but . . . complimenting her on something unusual, demonstrating common interests, asking open-ended questions, agreeing with whatever she says . . . these are all tips I’ve imparted to Adam before.
    He’s using the Galgorithm on Jak.
    Adam definitely knows that Jak is my best friend. So why wouldn’t he just tell me that he was interested in her? I mean, I guess I did insist he didn’t need me anymore and that he’d be better served by going it alone. But still. That must be why he was so thrown when he saw me come back from the bathroom.
    Between mentioning getting set up and coveting a textual relationship, Jak has , in her own special way, been insinuating that she’s looking for a boyfriend. Jak likes tall guys, and Adam is towering over her right now as they continue their inane conversation, which has branched out from sneakers and into shoelaces. Adam is smart enough to be able to understand most of Jak’s obscure references and picky enough to appreciate Jak’s aversions to, well, just about everything.
    Adam and Jak . . . it could happen.
    That said, it doesn’t have to happen right now. And I’m hungry.
    â€œGuys,” I interject. “Are we gonna . . .” I motion to Jak and the exit.
    â€œOh, right. Lunch,” Jak says.
    â€œCool. No problem,” Adam says. “Sorry about the pen thing. I’ve been a little all over the place since things ended between me and Olivia.” He lowers his chin toward his chest for effect, a shameless play of the pity card.
    â€œI heard you guys broke up,” Jak says. “That sucks.” This may be the most empathy I’ve ever seen her display.
    â€œThanks. It’s been tough,” Adam says. “But I’m doing my best to get over it.” He glances at me briefly and then turns back to Jak. “We should hang out sometime.”
    â€œSure,” Jak says.
    Adam says nothing. It feels like he had scripted the entire conversation up to this point and is now drawing a blank.
    Jak is forced to chime in. “Maybe one day after school. Wednesday?”
    â€œOoh, I have anime club on Wednesdays.” Adam says.
    Now it’s Jak who doesn’t respond. So awkward. I feel like I’m on shore, waving bon voyage to the Titanic .
    Adam at least attempts to continue the conversation. “Have you heard of anime club?” he asks.
    â€œI know you have to be a virgin to join,”she replies.
    Ooh, jab right to the gut.
    I’m taking great pleasure in this, and I don’t quite know why.
    â€œI’m just joshin’,” Jak adds quickly.
    â€œYou know what?” Adam says. “Screw it. Wednesday would be perfect.”
    Skipping anime club is as carpe diem as Adam gets.
    â€œCool,” Jak says.
    â€œI have all your contact info,” Adam says. “From that project we did in earth science freshman year.”
    A little weird, but okay.
    â€œI’ll, uh, text you or whatever,” he continues.
    Jak nods.
    Adam looks at Jak and then he looks at me, not quite sure what to do next.
    â€œI gotta get to class,” he says finally, before turning and hurrying way.
    Jak and I look at each other, both a bit bewildered. I raise my hand in the air.
    â€œUp top,” I say.
    She smiles and high-fives me, and then we head out