Your Definition of Love

Chapter 11
As Ready As I'll Ever Be

I groaned. "I don't know anything about guys. Sometimes I feel like I read too much into their actions. Maybe they don't really go that deep. Maybe I give them too much credit."

I had gone over to Annisa's house after finding out that Taylor had a date with Jake. I hadn't known their relationship was that far, and to be honest, I was a little surprised. What was even more shocking was the fact that Taylor had been the one to ask him out on a date.

Annisa laughed. "Jaelynn, darling, guys are not simple at all. And believe me, they feel exactly the same way about girls."

I looked at her. "Tell me something I don't know about guys."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," I replied hopelessly. "Something random."

She thought for awhile, but I knew from the smile on her face that she had thought of something she liked. "You know how, like, guys always like lift up their shirts to scratch their stomachs and stuff?" she asked me.

I nodded, smiling mostly to myself. "Bryce does it all the time when he comes over."

She found this piece of information incredibly funny for some reason. I watched, confused, as she giggled. "Honey, do you want to know why guys always do this?"

"Umm... because their stomachs itch?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "Jaelynn, honey, does your stomach itch that frequently?" I shook my head. "They do this because they want to show off their abs to any girls around them."

I blinked. "Are you sure?"

She nodded assuredly. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"But why would Bryce want to..." I drifted off.

Annisa was clutching her stomach now, still giggling. I could feel my face growing hot as a sudden memory of the night of the party flew into my head. I glared at her, smacking her shoulder. "Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about." I watched as Annisa struggled to stop laughing.

"Can we please change the topic now?" I asked, almost desperate.

Suddenly, she stopped laughing. Her face quickly lit up, as if she had an idea. "Ooh! Ooh! I know!" She appeared excited.

"I think," she said, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen and handing them to me, "that you should make a list."

"A list?"

She nodded. "But not just any list. I want you, Jaelynn Simmons, to make a list of what you think the perfect boyfriend should be like." I stared at the piece of paper in front of me blankly. "Just write," she urged me.

It took me awhile before I could start writing.

1. The perfect boyfriend should be just as sweet as he is funny.

2. He should be comfortable enough around me to be himself.

3. He should play silly games with me and be competitive.

I reread my list and almost rolled my eyes. This was the stupidest list in the history of stupid lists. Nevertheless, I handed it over to Annisa's outstretched hand.

"Aww, how cute," she cooed after reading it. She handed it back. "Keep it."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to do anything with it. It's not like it's going to help me or anything." Still, I took it anyway.

"No, you'll thank me one day." She smiled.

"Anyhoo, let's move on." Annisa leaned against the counter, tapping it with her newly-manicured nails. "Hmm. What else, what else," she murmured to herself. I could tell that she was mulling over all of the guy-related information in her brain, which, needless to say, was probably a lot of information.

I waited patiently before her eyes finally lit up. "Oh my word! This will totally be important for the future," she suddenly said. "Okay, well, like, certain kinds of guys are a bit... strange when it comes to who they're interested in. Like, one minute they may be interested in a girl, and the next they may not. Or, it can totally be the other way around, too."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'll give you an example. With some guys that go to our school- okay, scratch that. With a lot of guys that go to our school, competition is, like, everything, you know?"

I nodded. "But what does that have to do with girls?"

"Sweetie, that has everything to do with girls," she answered. "Let's say there's a girl... let's call her Jane. Okay, now, like, say that Jane here is single, but she's totally in love with a boy... Alex. But Alex doesn't notice Jane in that way, so one day Jane decides to date another guy named Brian. As soon as word gets around that Jane and Brian are dating, poof! Alex is all over Jane, trying to charm her into dating him. And that," she said, "is the easiest way to get a guy like Alex."

I squinted my left eye. "What? Who is Alex?"

"No, no. Alex isn't real, per say. But he's basically the kind of guy that girls everywhere secretly fantasize over. The player, the lady's man, the oh-look-there's-a-girl-I-think-I'll-hit-on-her kind of guy. You get the point."

Adam.

"So you're saying," I said, thinking out loud, "that if I start dating some guy, then Alex will magically be interested in me?"

Annisa bit her lip. "Well, I guess there a few exceptions. But as long as Alex sees this guy you're dating as competition, then yes."

I almost slapped my hand down onto the counter. "Are you serious?"

"Jaelynn, when it comes to guys, I'm always serious."

I suddenly hugged Annisa. This was the kind of information I had been waiting for. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She looked taken aback at first, but then smiled cutely and returned the hug. "You're welcome!"

"Okay, can you drop me off at my house now? I need to talk to somebody."

"Sure, babe." Annisa grabbed her keys.

It was dark when we reached my house. I told her thanks and then watched as she sped off. It wasn't until I turned around and started walking up to the front door that I noticed someone sitting on my porch.

"Taylor?" I called out.

She quickly stood up. "Your brother isn't home, is he?"

I shook my head, but since it was dark, I knew she couldn't see it. "No, he's out with some of the guys."

"Are you sure?"

"Taylor." I stared at her hesitantly. "Why are you so jumpy? What happened? What did my brother do? Why aren't you on your date with Jake?" The questions sprang from my lips.

"Nothing. It's not a big deal. I just..." she drifted off.

I grabbed my keys and unlocked the door. "Well here, let's go in." She slowly followed me into the house. Once inside, I guided her upstairs to my room, sat down on my bed, and faced her. "Is it bad?" I asked her gently.

"I don't know, Jaelynn." Taylor groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I have absolutely no idea." She finally looked up at me. "Paul kissed me."

My eyes grew to the size of golfballs, and I shot up off of the bed. "What?"

She nodded and pulled me back down. "I know."

I was still freaking out. "Paul? As in my brother, Paul? As in that annoying guy who looks kind of like me and is supposedly related to me?" I was talking so fast that I almost choked. "Paul?"

She closed her eyes. "I know," she moaned. "It happened right before my date. He came to my house, and I opened my door. And then he just... kissed me." She sounded like she herself couldn't believe it. "Then he apologized and left."

"What?" I suddenly let out a small laugh at the absurdity of it.

"I know. I was so confused." She sighed. "I cancelled my date. I felt horrible that I did, and I was totally confused. I ended up here, but I was too afraid to knock, and I was too afraid to leave, so I just sat and waited."

I was hardly listening to what she was saying. Instead, I was glaring daggers into my wall. "I'm going to kill him," I muttered through clenched teeth.

She suddenly looked alarmed. "Jaelynn, don't even mention anything to your brother. Please." Taylor closed her eyes and rubbed her face with her hands. "This is so weird."

"Paul is my brother, and I love him," I told her. "But that also means that I see the way he treats girls, Tay. He can be a serious jerk sometimes."

"I know!" she exclaimed. "That's what makes it all confusing."

I gaped at her. "So are you saying that if Paul wasn't a player, you would choose my nasty, constantly-burping brother over perfect Jake?"

She wouldn't meet my eyes.

My mouth dropped open. "Oh my gosh. You're not in love with him, right?"

"In love? With Paul Simmons? God, no."

She was blushing like crazy and replied to my question so quickly that I looked at her suspiciously. "Gross. Please choose Jake."

"I'm being serious here, Jae. I really like Jake. He's funny, smart, and absolutely amazing. He's always so nice to me, and I love being with him."

"Well, great!" I said happily. "Jake's a great guy."

She swallowed slowly. "But the way I feel around Paul is so different. Sometimes I can hardly breathe around him."

"He does smell most of the time," I commented, agreeing.

"Jaelynn." She gave me an admonishing look. Finally, she sighed. "As lame as it sounds, Paul gives me butterflies. I mean, is that even normal? I never get them when I'm with Jake."

"Please don't fall in love with him," I said softly. My eyes flew to the clock behind Taylor, and I panicked slightly. "Umm... Paul said he'd be home at nine, and it's nine-thirty."

She jumped up, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Shit."

I rushed her out the door as quickly as possible. I really didn't know what to think about this. My brother wasn't always a date-em-and-leave-em guy, but he had broken a few hearts. Jake, on the otherhand, was the perfect boyfriend and genuinely had feelings for Taylor.

Just then, Paul came through the door and carelessly closed the door shut. He glanced at me for a second before walking towards the kitchen. I followed him.

He took out a bottle of water from the fridge and gulped it down. Finally, he acknowledged me. "What, are you going to yell at me now?"

I widened my eyes innocently. "For what?"

He rolled his eyes and put his water back into the refrigerator. "Please... You two tell each other everything."

I looked at him blankly. "Us two...?"

"Duh. Taylor."

"What about her? I haven't talked to her at all tonight. In fact, she's still on her date with Jake, I believe."

Paul didn't turn around from the fridge. He didn't act like he had heard me, but I noticed his hand tighten around the door handle.

I hesitated. This was my own brother. Not to mention my best friend. I suddenly felt horrible.

"Listen, Paul-"

"Why is she out with Thompson?"

"Umm, well, he asked her," I lied. "So she said yes. But I don't even know if they went through with it or not."

Suddenly, Paul started walking towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" I asked, almost in panic.

He didn't answer me and slammed the door on his way out.

…ooOOoo…

"Bryce!" I called out. "I've been looking for you all day." I took his arm and pulled him gently over to the lockers. He seemed to freeze from the contact, and I tried to ignore the hurt that came over me from this. For some reason, he still seemed to be on guard around me, even after the apology. "Listen... I think I'm ready to start phase two of the plan."

"Since when has there been a phase two, Jaelynn?"

"Umm," I bit my lip. "Since yesterday."

He leaned against the lockers and crossed his arms. "I'm listening."

I smiled. I had figured out what I was going to say to him last night, so I was prepared. "Well, I've been doing all of these things: running for student council, changing my clothes, changing my hair, working on my attitude. And they've been working really well." It was true. I had never had so many random people saying hello to me in the halls. It was almost scary how accordingly everything was working out.

"I've noticed," he commented, noting a freshman passing by us, waving frantically.

I smiled at the freshman, feeling a little weird. I'd never had so much popularity before. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to draw Adam away from Jessica.

"Well," I continued, "I'm ready to move onto to the next step, and I still kind of need your help. I need you to find a guy for me to," I felt my face flush, "hook up with."

Bryce's mouth dropped. "What? You want to have sex with a guy?"

My face burned even further, and I panicked a little. "Oh God, no! That's seriously not what I meant, Bryce."

"Oh, that's good." He paused for a minute, almost hesitant. "Because, you know, you wouldn't be able to trust any of the guys I hang out not to take advantage of you and stuff."

I was guessing he was including Adam in that statement too, but I tried not to think about that. "I just meant that I need to be seen hugging somebody and flirting with him. Maybe even being his girlfriend. I don't know. Just something to get people's attentions." Namely, Adam's. "And, well, he has to be popular, obviously."

"So you're doing this for popularity." It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yes," I lied. "Will you help me?"

He didn't answer for a little bit and stared at me as if trying to figure me out. "I'll try," he finally responded.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said, hopping up and down. "Times a billion."

I stopped jumping and frowned. "It might be difficult to find me a fake boyfriend, though. There aren't really very many-" The words froze in my throat as I caught a glimpse of some black hair coming down the hall.

Bryce stared at me, confused, and then glanced in the direction that I was staring.

"Healy," Adam said, nodding towards him. Bryce didn't greet him in response. In fact, his jaw had clenched tightly shut. Adam didn't seem to notice.

He nodded to me after noticing me. "Hey."

"Hi," I answered quietly.

He grinned, winked, and then continued down the hall. I stood, frozen to the ground. Adam had just winked at me. I didn't think it was possible, but I was officially even more in love with him than I had been before.

I shook my head, trying to regain my focus. Bryce was watching me quietly, not saying anything.

"You know... I could do it," he offered finally.

"Huh? Do what?"

"Be your boyfriend. Pretend to be, I mean," he corrected.

"You?" I asked, confused.

He nodded. "Well, yeah. It would be a lot easier, for one. We wouldn't have to find a guy. Plus, we both know it's a fake relationship, so we wouldn't get attached in that way. It would be platonic."

I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say.

"But... Bryce, I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking me. I'm offering. Besides," He shrugged, "I wouldn't really be able to trust any other guy to not take advantage of you. They might end up making you do things you don't want to, or something like that."

Right then, the bell rang.

"Bryce Healy," called a voice. We both turned around to see Charli. She smiled sweetly at me, though it looked a little forced. "Hi Jaelynn. How is Danny doing?"

"He's doing good. He told me you're his favorite babysitter."

"That's so cute," she cooed. "Tell him he's my favorite boy."

"I'll do that," I replied.

"How's your first day been?" Bryce asked Charli.

Before she could answer, I tightened my hold on my book bag. "Listen... I better get to class. I'll see you too around later."

"We'll talk about that other thing later, okay?" Bryce asked me. I nodded to him before leaving.

It felt strange being around Bryce and Charli together. They had had a history I knew absolutely nothing about, and I felt a little hurt that Bryce had a female friend that he was closer to than me.

I glanced back towards them and then quickly turned around again when I saw them hugging.

…ooOOoo…

The shower was hot, and I sighed as the water soothed me. When I was done, I stepped out and wrapped a towel securely around my body. I walked leisurely over to the mirror by my locker and began to brush my hair out. I absolutely loved my new haircut. It was such an improvement.

I suddenly heard a loud whisper that made me jump in surprise. "Jaelynn?"

I looked around frantically but didn't see anyone. The voice had come from the door on the other side of the lockers. "Bryce?"

"Is anyone else in there? Can I come in?"

I nodded, but then remembered that he couldn't see it. "Uhh, I guess. But what are you doing here? In case you haven't noticed, this is the girls' locker room."

"Yeah, I know," he said. I knew from his voice that he was making his way over to me. "But I asked one of the girls leaving if you were still in here, and she told me that if you were, you'd be the last..."

His voice trailed off as he froze, looking straight at me.

I looked down and remembered that I was in my towel. "Bryce, it's okay. I don't mind. It's really not that big of a deal."

Still, he didn't move or say anything.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Alright, fine. If it bothers you that much, I'll get dressed. Turn around for a sec."

He complied and turned his back to me. "Don't look," I ordered, and got dressed as quickly as I could. When he finally turned back around, he looked a little flustered. From embarrassment, most likely.

"So what's up?" I asked him.

He rubbed the side of his neck feverishly. "Umm."

I walked up to him so that I was right in front of him. He took a hesitant step back. "What's wrong?" I asked him worriedly.

"Nothing," he immediately answered. When I gave him a weird look, he cleared his throat and shrugged.

I suddenly heard footsteps coming towards the locker room and grabbed Bryce's arm. "Someone's coming!" I hissed. "If one of the coaches see you in here, you're a dead man." I quickly ushered him into the showers and darted back to my locker just as somebody walked into the locker room.

"Just the person I was looking for," she said, smirking.

"Krista," I greeted coolly.

"How are your preparations going for the election? Good? Bad? Horrible?"

"What do you want, Krista?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

She ignored me and continued talking. "Mine are going extremely well. I absolutely love my campaign managers!" She looked at me. "Now, your campaign manager... It's Bryce, right? Because you two sure seem to be getting cozy."

"What are you talking about?" My voice was hard.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that the two of you certainly seemed mighty comfortable around each other on Friday night." I stared at her, trying to look confused despite the alarm that was going through me.

Krista laughed. "Oh please, Jaelynn. Cut the innocent act. My friends and I saw you two making out in that bedroom at the party. Who knows how far you guys went?"

My heart dropped. "What do you want, Krista?"

"I want to win the election." She looked at her watch and smiled to herself. "Well, in a few minutes everyone will know that Jaelynn Simmons had sex with Bryce Healy at the party Friday night."

My blood froze. "But... I never... I didn't..."

"Oh, cut the act, Simmons. It doesn't matter, anyway. Whether you had sex or not, people are willing to believe anything these days."

She was right, and I knew it. "But why would you even do that?"

She smirked and placed a finger to her chin. "Hmm, let's see. My friends and I tell everyone you had sex with Healy. Then I add a couple more guys to mix. I mean, who's going to deny it? Guys at our school will do anything to look macho. Even if Bryce denies it, that's just one guy. Pretty soon, you'll be the school slut."

"And that's how you want to win the election?" I asked her angrily. "I didn't think that even you would sink that low."

Her eyes were cool. "Well believe it."

"Hi, ladies," someone suddenly said from behind me. I whirled around in panic. What was Bryce doing?

Krista looked equally in shock, if not more. "Bryce? Where did you come from?"

He ignored her, walked right up to me, and loosely wrapped an around my waist.

"Bryce?" I squeaked out, jumping slightly.

Bryce gently pulled me in front of him, but me being the klutz that I am, stumbled a little. Instead of removing his arm, he wrapped both of them around my waist and pulled me closer to him so that my back was pressed up against his chest.

Krista looked confused. "What's going on?"

He finally seemed to notice her. "What, is there something wrong with spending time with my girlfriend?" He sounded almost annoyed.

"Girl... Girlfriend?" she asked, perplexed.

"Mmm," he murmured. I suddenly froze when I felt him brush his lips very softly against my neck, just below my left ear. The tingle on my skin made my breath hitch.

Bryce pulled away and motioned towards the exit. "Now would be a good time to leave, Krista."

Krista didn't have a clever response to that one. "Umm... sure." She almost looked at him as if to say, 'Why her?' and then retreated on her heel. The minute that she left, Bryce's arms removed themselves from my waist, and his warmth left me.

I softly touched the area on my neck that he had kissed only to find goose bumps. Nobody had ever done anything so sweetly to me before.

"Well," he said calmly. "That was close."

"Yeah," I breathed out my agreement. Pulling myself together, I turned to him. "You do so much for me, and I have yet to figure out why."

He smiled a little. "Because you're the most amazing person I've ever known, Jaelynn. Duh."

I laughed. "Well of course I am! I'm Jaelynn Simmons."

He grinned.

"Thank you, Bryce." I pointed my index finger at him. "But are you sure you're not just doing this because you can't get a girl?"

"You're welcome," he said dryly.

I smiled. "We should probably get out of the girls' locker room now, Bryce."

"Why? It's not like I haven't been in here before."

I laughed, but he looked at me, completely serious. My mouth dropped open. "What? With who?"

"Coach Day. She's only 25 years old, you know."

He looked at my expression and finally, he laughed. "That was called a joke, Jaelynn."

I laughed and shoved his shoulder. "But seriously, we should get out of here before you get kicked off of the basketball team."

He picked up some of my stuff off the bench, and I closed my locker shut.

I stopped him before he could leave. "Wait... Do we start acting like a couple now? I paused. "Or should we wait? Krista's probably told somebody already... Oh, God. I don't feel too good about this anymore."

"Jaelynn, relax." He laughed. "Here-" He lightly took my hand and intertwined his fingers in mine. "We'll start small."

I stared down at our joined hands. His practically engulfed mine, but they looked good together.

"Ready?" he asked me.

I looked at him. I trusted Bryce completely, and I felt completely safe around him.

"I'm ready."