The following day, the doorbell rang, and there were some roses at the doorstep. It must be another one of Liliana's admirers.
I took them inside and set them down on the table. I didn't bother to check the card because who else would it be for?
"Liliana! You got some flowers again!" I yelled.
She ran downstairs excitedly. Her face twisted into a frown when she read the note.
"It's for you," she said and handed me the card.
"Huh?" I was confused.
"These are for you, Jane. Just read the note," she said, annoyed.
To Jane,
You are beautiful. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Please go out with me.
Love
Aaron
I didn't know how to feel the first few minutes. Is he making fun of me? Whatever it was, it's nice to be complimented for once. And these roses are beautiful.
"Who is Aaron? I thought you didn't have a boyfriend?" Liliana asked. I knew this came as a shock to her that I am getting flowers from a guy of all people.
"Aaron Morris," I said.
Her face turned dark then she looked downright angry. What was her deal?
"You mean, THE Aaron Morris? Jake's brother Aaron Morris?" she asked again.
"Yes, him. Why do you look like that?" I asked.
"This can't be right," she snatched the card out of hand and read it again. "Why would Aaron Morris ask you out?"
"Why not? Why do you care?" I was curious about her reaction now.
"I've had a crush on him since ninth grade!" she squealed.
"What! No shit," I laughed out loud. "I thought you said you weren't into bad boy jerks?"
"Aaron is not a bad boy jerk. He was just misunderstood. And he clearly changed after graduation," she said and pointed at the flowers.
"I suppose," I said.
"You can't go out with him!" she cried.
Excuse me? She can't tell me what to do! Who does she think she is?
"I am sorry Lili, but Aaron clearly prefers me over you. Just deal with it," I smirked. Even though I have no desire to go out with Aaron, I could still mess with Liliana.
"Maybe it's a prank. He is just playing you. Or maybe he meant to send these flowers to me and got out names mixed up," Liliana insisted.
Wow, I can't believe how self-centered she is.
"I don't think so," I said nonchalantly. "Besides, his brother likes you. Why don't you go out with Jake instead? He is just as good-looking. They almost look alike, and he already likes you, so all you have to do is say yes to him," I offered.
"No way! Jake is just a pure jerk and so immature," Liliana said.
"Oh, you don't know that! Maybe he is just misunderstood," I said mockingly. I was starting to get tired of this argument.
"Just do this for me and reject Aaron," Liliana said.
Bitch please....after the way she treated me, I will date the hell out of Aaron just to spite her. Just watch me. Whether it is a prank or not, this was my chance to get back at Liliana.
"Well, too bad. It looks like I'll be going out with Aaron after all," I said and left the room.
Jake cornered me at school the next day. What else is new?
"I told you I wasn't done with you, Janey," he said. His dark eyes bored into my soul.
"It's Jane," I corrected him.
"Whatever, I need to ask you, what the hell was that about at the party?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.
"With my brother! Since when did you two become buddies? Are you fucking him?" he cried.
"Eww, gross. No," I made a face. "I am still as pure as the driven snow, thank you very much," I declared.
"Huh?" Jake looked at me questioningly.
"VIRGIN! I am a virgin," I blurted out without thinking. My face turned red as I embarrassed myself. Why did I tell him that?
"Oh," he said and went quiet. "Then why was he making googly eyes at you?" he asked.
"Fuck if I know, Jakey boy. I've never even talked to him before the party. It's my life goal to avoid the Morris brothers at all costs, which you are totally ruining for me right now," I replied.
"Well, stay away from him. The last thing I need is some loser hanging around my house," Jake said.
"Not a problem. Is that all?" I asked.
"Yes. Why did Liliana treat me like I am a cockroach?" he sounded almost desperate.
"Why don't you ask her? You do realize we go to the same school, right? Go harass her instead," I said. I looked around to see if an administrator was walking by somewhere so I can escape this situation.
"I don't know...I don't want to scare her," Jake said.
But scaring me is okay? What a piece of cow excrement!
"There's literally nothing I can do, Jake. She does not like you. In fact, she told me yesterday that she has a huuuge crush on your brother. So I guess there's that. None of us get to win. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go and mourn my heartbreak over her stealing my future husband. Bye now," I said quickly and tried to leave, but Jake caught my arm again.
"What the fuck did you just say! She likes Aaron!?" Jake shouted so loud that his voice echoed through the walls. Some students looked at our direction in confusion but kept walking past us.
"Calm down, jeez. No need to yell at me. I have no control over this, K?" I exclaimed.
Jake looked like he was deep in thoughts. "This is not good. This is all wrong. She can't like Aaron. She belongs to ME!" he said.
"I know, right! Totally. Now can I go, please? I am going to be late for class," I said. I don't know why he is still holding me hostage. He should go interrogate his brother for being better-looking and stealing his future wife.
Jake didn't release me and just stared at me intently. I could tell he was cooking up some other plan in his evil little brain. I hoped it didn't involve me in any way.
"I know how you can help me, Janey," he said and smirked.
"H..help you?" I asked. What was he planning?
"I changed my mind about you dating my brother. You are going to date him and keep him away from Liliana so she will forget about him and date me instead," he declared.
Jake, you stupid shithead, that's not how life works!
"NO WAY! I am not dating Aaron, the former bad boy, because you told me to. Forget about it. So far, I've been listening to your stupid ideas, but this is where I draw the line," I said. I was suddenly feeling courageous. "You are going to do what I say, Jane, or I will make your life living hell," Jake said with gritted teeth. "That's not fair!" I exclaimed. "I hardly know him. Why are you dragging me into your business? It's not like we are friends!" I cried. "We don't need to be friends. You are her sister, so you got all the inside information on her. So now you get to be my wingman," he smirked. "Also the tool to drive away my competition, aka my brother," he added. Lucky me, I thought. "You are an idiot," I mumbled. "What did you call me?" he said, anger flashing in his eyes. "Nothing! I said nothing!" I said quickly. He didn't press me any farther. "I'll be watching you. I better see you going out on a date with Aaron th
Friday night came, and my heart thumped against my chest. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew I couldn't let my guard down. It was Aaron Morris, after all. I don't remember him much from high school. He was older and unapproachable. Not to mention from a completely different social circle. I remembered seeing him on rallies and hallways sometimes. Girls always surrounded him. What's with girls always flocking around the bad boy types? What's so great about being treated like shit? I'll never understand. I decided to dress up a little. I dug out a summer dress I never wore and put it on. It was a white sleeveless short summer dress with blue flowers on the skirt. Very girly. I straightened my hair with a hot iron, so it didn't look coarse and crazy. It took me an hour to get it done. This is why I don't dress up. I looked in the mirror and felt a little more confident about ourdate. Liliana was right. I don't look half bad when I dr
We walked into the house, and I instantly regretted coming here. It was quiet now as there was no party going on this time. The place seemed much larger than I remembered. "Where are your parents?" I asked and looked around nervously. "They are out of town on a business trip. They are hardly ever home, so it's always just the two of us," Aaron said grimly. So that's why Jake was able to throw those wild parties. They had no adult supervision. A sudden realization hit me and made me more nervous. I'm about to be home alone with two teenage boys. Ones with a bad reputation, not to mention I was completely defenseless. What the hell was I thinking? I can be so stupid sometimes. "Oh, don't look so scared. We don't bite," Aaron smirked. "Scared? Who's scared? Not me...haha..." I stammered. "Um, where's Jake?" I needed to get this over with, so I can get the hell out of here. "JAKE!" Aaron yelled, almost busting my eardrums.
The next day at school, I saw Jake harassing Liliana by her locker, and my heart filled with joy. Ah, he is finally taking the initiative and bugging her directly and not using me as a wing woman. Thank the Lord. He had her pushed against the locker. He was about 6 foot 2, so he towered over her as he hovered over her face staring into her eyes. His lips twisted into a sickly smirk. Liliana saw me passing by and mouthed, 'help me,' but I kept walking. It serves her right for being a bitch to me Jake followed her eyes and saw me. He released her right away and started to walk in my direction. The fuck...why. "Janey, wait up!" he yelled, but there's no way I'm stopping. Jake caught up to me in the hallway as I was walking to my class. He ran up behind me and yanked my ponytail. I yelped and almost fell backward, but he caught me. "What the hell is your problem?" I snarled. After seeing him way too many times, inside and outside of the sc
"Nice going, Janey," Jake snarled at me. We met up in the basement after school, much to my dismay. "This is all your fault, buddy. YOU pushed me!" I protested. "Whatever," he waved his hands in dismissal. "Let's just get this over with, so I can go home," he said gruffly. "Yeap, let's...why don't you start by moving those boxes over there, and I'll sweep the floor," I offered. Jake didn't argue anymore. He went over to the corner and started to move stuff around. I picked up the broom and started sweeping. Jake sneezed a few times as the room was dusty. His eyes were slowly turning red. Dust allergy? I guess my sweeping skill was rusty because I was doing a terrible job. All I did was move the dirt around and made the room dustier. We worked together quietly for the first half-hour. I was surprised he didn't attack me with smart-ass remarks or call me nasty names for this long. It must be a new record for him. "Would y
"Ouch! Why did you hit me? Is this how you thank me for helping you?" Jake frowned. "Well, helping me doesn't involve feeling me up, asshole!" I cried. "But thanks...." I added. He really did help me. I was feeling much calmer and started to breathe normally again. I guess it was all in my head. "Can't believe you had a panic attack over this. We've only been stuck for like 20 minutes. Such a nerd," Jake shook his head. I just ignored him and looked at my phone. I only need one bar to send a text, so I started to walk around, trying to catch a signal. "Any luck?" he asked. "I don't know.....wait...I think I got something!" I said excitedly. I decided to text Aaron. He has a car, and he shows that he cares about me sometimes. Help! I am trapped in the school basement with Satan! I typed it and hit send. The text came back with a message failed signal. Fuck... "Wait, Jake. You are taller! Hold the phone high over
"So Aaron and I are going to be in the team against your team," I said. "Are you sure you want to do that? Because you are definitely going to lose against Jake Morris, the laser tag champion," Jake declared. "Scared yet?" he smirked. "You are wrong! You are the one that should be scared, Morris. prepare to feel my wrath!" I cried and started to stretch my legs. The bad boy is going down tonight! I may be plain, unpopular, and invisible among social circles, but I was invincible when it comes to video games and laser tag. So Jake is in for a treat. The person in charge of the game divided the players into two teams. I purposely went against Jake's team because I promised him death. "Are you sure you don't want to play with me instead of against me? I don't want to make you cry," he smirked. Oh please... "Pfft...just worry about saving your own buttocks, good sir," I dismissed him. Jake stared at me with an amused look o
He pressed his lips on mine and kissed me softly. It wasn't anything like what they show in the movies or how they described in romance novels. I didn't hear any fireworks go off, or my heart didn't jump out of my rib cage and run away. It was short, and it was sweet. His lips felt soft and warm, and he was a good kisser. I mean, I guess he was. I wouldn't know since I had no one else to compare it to. He gazed into my eyes with those gorgeous green eyes, and I felt like I was going to melt. Why did he have to be so handsome? "I am glad I got to be your first kiss, Jane Brown," he said and smiled. "I totally sucked, didn't I?" I asked. I just had to know the truth. "No, of course not. I love your lips," he said quietly. "These?" I gasped and pointed at my lips. "You don't think they are way too big for my face? I've always felt awkward about them," I said sadly. "Are you kidding? They are gorgeous!" Aaron exclaimed. My heart di