"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No!"
"Come on, pl-"
"Benny, I can see the future. Do we really need to be having this conversation?"
"Fair enough. But, seriously, it won't be that bad! You don't even have to tell her it's a date!"
"Oh, yeah, sure, that won't be suspicious. 'Hey, Sarah, Benny's going out with Della, and he just happens to want his friends who just happen to be a boy and a girl to come along.' Real convincing."
Ethan was flopped down on the couch, furiously punching the buttons on his controller. He was being a little more fierce than necessary, and it wasn't just because Benny was beating him into the ground on the game without even trying.
"Dude, think about it," said Benny, as his avatar punched a zombie in the gut. "You're just prolonging the inevitable. Eventually you'll ask her out anyway, and you won't have your best friend to back you up on your date."
"Uh… What makes you say that?" asked Ethan, going red in the face.
"Hmm, let's see, I dunno, everything? The fact that you're in love with Sarah is less embarrassing than the fact that you think nobody notices."
"I'm not in lovewith her!" Ethan slashed through a whole row of zombies, but they converged on him, and the words 'Game Over' flashed on the screen. Ethan set down his controller with a sigh. "Besides, even if I was, it would just make it worse for both of us. She's a vampire. She'll be seventeen at my funeral. She'll be seventeen at my kids' funerals."
"We'll figure something out. Sarah's on the right team if she wants to find a cure. And besides, we've got three years before we catch up to her age. We'll find a way before then."
Ethan stared incredulously at his friend. "Wow. For a minute there, it sounded like you actually cared about someone besides yourself."
"I know, right? It's scary. I must really like Della."
Ethan sighed again. "Fine, I'll talk to Sarah. But! You have to tell me whatever cheat code you used to win just now. No one's that good."
Benny smiled. "Totally worth it."