Strings Attached

Chapter Seventeen

The next day, Theodore and I arrived at school earlier than usual because we wanted to help Henry practice. He had called Theodore very early to ask for his help, and Theodore begged me to help as well. I thought it was pretty weird that Henry needed to practice his lines to ask a girl to be his girlfriend, but Theodore explained that Henry really wanted for everything to be perfect, and it had been a lot of time since he had asked a girl to officially be his girlfriend.

"I thought Flirty Henry knew how to get all the girls," I said as Henry finished arranging the flowers that he had bought that morning.

"It's different with Louise," he said. "She... she makes me want to try, you know? It took me a whole semester to get her to go to one of my games, and when she finally went, she refused to kiss me afterwards."

"Yeah," I said. "She's like that."

Henry sighed. "I like how she plays hard to get, but in the end she never really rejects me. She just makes it clear that she wants something serious, and I used to laugh at serious relationships, but... For her, I'd go serious a thousand times."

I smiled. I knew that was Henry's way of saying that he really cared about Louise genuinely had feelings for her, which made me feel very happy for her.

"Well, what do you need our help for?" asked Theodore, who was very busy playing with the index cards that Henry had prepared the night before. Yes, Henry even wrote index cards to use as a guide. The poor guy was really trying.

"Actually," Henry said. "I need her help." He pointed at me.

Theodore's eyes widened. "Why did you call me, then?"

"Because I know that wherever you go, she goes," Henry said, shrugging.

I blushed as I realized that Henry was right. I did not even question Theodore anymore. I simply followed him like a lost puppy, and I felt terrible to know that. I just allowed Theodore to convince me to do a lot of things that I would not normally do, and the worst part is that I actually enjoyed it.

"That's not true," I lied.

"It is," Henry said, "But don't worry. Wherever you go, he goes, too."

I could not help smiling at that. "Well, what can I help you with?"

"I need to know if my index cards will work," Henry said. Theodore handed him his index cards and he smiled gratefully. "I'll read them to you, and you'll tell me what you think, okay?"

"Okay," I said, smiling.

Henry took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with." He read his first index card aloud. It was something like, "Hello, Louise. Am I allowed to tell you that you look as lovely as a rose today?"

Theodore and I remained silent.

Henry smiled. "So...what do you think?"

"Um," I said, smiling nervously. "Cute."

"Why, thank you," said Henry proudly.

Theodore shook his head. "Don't lie to him, Chris." He turned to Henry and sighed. "That greeting sucks, pal."

"What?" Henry asked, worried. "Is it really that bad?"

Theodore nodded. "Just keep it simple and honest," he said.

"But I'm being honest! Louise looks lovely all the time!" exclaimed Henry.

"But you don't need to elaborate. You just need to keep it simple," Theodore said.

"It's impossible to keep things simple when it comes to her! She loves it when people take the time to think about her and to plan things just for her. That's why I decided I could plan what I'm going to tell her," Henry explained.