but the fact was

He had to ask her to the dance.

But he didn’t. He flunked.

“So,” said Pickles, “if you asked her to the dance, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“The worst?”

“Yeah. Seriously.”

Eddie thought about it. “Well…I guess…she could say…”

“Say what?”

“…say…no?”

Pickles snapped his fingers. “Bingo. She could say no. Is that going to kill you?”

Eddie knew that here he was supposed to say, Nah, of course it’s not going to kill me. But the fact was, if she did say no, it would kill him.

Pickles read this in Eddie’s face. “That bad, huh?”

Eddie shrugged.

- - J.S. Do The Funky Pickle