Your Definition of Love

Chapter 12
Liar, Liar

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I found Taylor on the way out of the school, and Bryce offered to give her a ride. It wasn't until we were inside the car that Taylor finally said something.

"So. Why were two holding hands back there?" she asked casually.

I glanced at Bryce, but he seemed to be deep in thought. He looked a little worried, in fact. We hadn't really talked about how we were going to break the news to all of our friends. Finally, I sighed. "When you go back to school tomorrow, you might hear people saying things about how we're... together."

"Well, I wouldn't blame them. From the way you two were walking back there, I would have-"

"No, Taylor," I interrupted. "It's because we are going out. Well, sort of."

The smile slowly died from her face, and in it's place was confusion. "Huh?"

"Well, we're not really going out. It's actually part of the plan."

I couldn't mention Adam's name in that. Taylor was the only person that knew the entire plan, so it would have to wait until later.

A look of dawning crossed her face. "Ah, I see." Still, she seemed a little unsure. Oh well. I'd have to talk to her later.

"Do you want to come over?" I asked her.

She panicked. I noticed it before she could hide her face. "Uhh... what?"

"Paul isn't home right now," I assured her. "He's hanging out with some guy named Andy."

"Mm, that's nice," she said. She was trying to sound nonchalant in front of Bryce. Still, I knew better. "But sure, I guess I could come over."

The ride home was mostly quiet, and by the time we reached it, we were all ready to go inside. I invited Bryce in, and we all headed in with the intent on snacking out on some junk food. However, when I reached the front door, it was strangely unlocked.

I got a little spooked right then, especially when I noticed a foreign car sitting in my driveway. On reflex, I grabbed for Bryce's hand.

He only shrugged at me and reached for the doorknob. When he opened the door, we slowly walked into the house, and I shut the door after the two of them.

I suddenly heard Taylor make a startled noise, and it wasn't until I turned around that I saw the reason why.

There Paul was, on the couch lying down. The only thing was that there was another girl with him on there, and the two of them looked attached at the lips... and pretty much everywhere else on their bodies.

As soon as Paul noticed us standing there, he jumped off the couch, accidentally throwing the blonde off of him.

"I'm... uhh... I've got to go," Taylor stuttered. She moved back to open the door and left quickly.

Paul made a move to go after her, but I stopped him, knowing she would want to be alone right now. "Leave her alone, Paul."

The blonde looked a little uncertain. "I think... I think I'm going to go home now. See you later, Simmons."

He looked down. "Bye, Andy."

It wasn't until she had left that I said anything. "So that's Andy? She looks a lot like Taylor, don't you think?"

"Jaelynn, just shut up."

We were both glaring at each other.

"No. I am sick and tired of watching you hurt all of these girls. Just pick one and stay with her, for goodness sakes!"

He threw up his hands. "You know what? Fine. Fine, goddamnit!" He pointed at Bryce, who had been silent during the scene. "You. Krista told me that you two are dating. You better have a damn good explanation for this, Healy."

I froze. "Paul-"

"What the fuck are you doing taking advantage of my sister, huh?" he continued. He pushed past me and walked up to Bryce.

"It's not like that, Paul," I pleaded. I didn't know he would be this angry. Well, I supposed I had, but I hadn't wanted Bryce to be here when it happened.

Paul ignored me. "Huh? Answer me!" Then, he did something that surprised me. He shoved him- not hard, but enough to make Bryce take a step back.

"Paul, stop this!" I yelled. "You're acting crazy!"

"Who the hell do you think you are, Healy?" He shoved him again.

I knew I had to stop this. Paul was turning on his own best friend, and Bryce was just taking it. He wasn't saying anything, his face revealed absolutely nothing, and he wasn't even trying to stop Paul. Moving fast, I moved right in front of Paul, blocking him from Bryce.

"Get out of the way, Jaelynn," Paul ordered me.

"No way in hell," I said. Paul looked a little taken aback. Probably from hearing me say the word 'hell'. Even I was a little surprised.

"Why him?" Paul asked me. He sounded a little tired. "Did you have to choose my best friend? Just the other day you two wouldn't even fucking talk to each other."

"Why does it even matter?" I pleaded. "Whoever I choose, I know that you're going to blow up at him anyway. Isn't it better knowing that I'm with someone that you and I have both known our entire lives?"

Paul wasn't looking at me anymore. "I guess," he grumbled. He looked a little defeated. Quickly, he pointed at Bryce again. "But if you try anything-"

"He won't," I assured.

"I'm serious, Healy. I don't know if I'm okay with this, and if you even try doing something to my sister without her consent- okay, without my consent- I'm going to track you down and feed you to my dog."

I rolled my eyes. "We don't have a dog."

"I'm going to track you down, buy a dog, and feed you to it." And with those words, he stormed up the stairs to his room and closed the door behind him.

It was then that I finally glanced at Bryce.

"That was... embarrassing," I commented.

"I'm just surprised at how well that went. If I had known that he would take it so lightly, I would have..." He drifted off.

"You call that lightly?" I asked him, incredulous. "He's going to be peering over our shoulders for every little thing now."

"No broken bones." Bryce shrugged. "I call that an accomplishment."

"But you're his best friend," I reasoned.

"Yeah, and I'm going out with his sister." He glanced at me quickly. "I mean, not really, but-"

I decided to get straight to the point. "There's something else wrong, isn't there?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess." I waited for him to go on, and finally, he looked at me. "Why did you tell Taylor that we weren't really going out?"

I bit my lip. "I guess it's because she's my best friend... I can't just lie to her."

Bryce looked down. From his expression, I suddenly realized what was wrong with him. Paul was his best friend, and yet we were still keeping it from him. In a way, it was almost as if he was choosing me over his own best friend.

I suddenly felt extremely happy at this thought, but then guilt washed over me when I realized just what exactly I was happy about.

"Bryce, look... You really don't have to do all of this for me. It's not too late to back out."

He wouldn't look at me. "Come on, Jaelynn. You know I wouldn't do that to you. Can I just... Can I tell Charli the truth then?"

I felt a pang of... Was it disappointment? "Oh."

"Never mind. It doesn't matter anyway."

I shook my head. "No, no. It's fine. You can tell her."

"Are you sure?" he asked me, sounding a little concerned.

I met his eyes again and forced a smile. "Of course."

…ooOOoo…

The next day found me being greeted by probably half the school.

"Are you and Bryce really actually dating? Like for real?" a cheerleader asked me, twirling her curly brown hair around her index finger.

"Umm... yes?"

She pouted cutely. "Bummer. He's such a babe, too."

"Well, he's a taken babe now," Annisa suddenly cut in, putting an arm around my shoulder. She turned to me. "Walk with me."

We started down the hall, despite the high shrills of the surrounding girls wanting to know more.

"So, I'm sure you know that Krista has been spreading around the entire the school the news that you and Bryce Healy are now an item," Annisa finally said when we were away from the girls. "She claims that not only did she see the both of you making out at the party Friday night, but that you were also getting it on in the girls' locker room yesterday." She faced me. "Why was I not informed?"

"Because it kind of just happened yesterday."

She raised a perfectly tweezed eyebrow. "What about the party Friday night?"

"I was drunk out of my mind. Completely wasted."

"But how- But when-"

"I don't know, Annisa. It kind of just happened. I guess everything that you've been hinting to me has gotten into my brain."

She was practically beaming. "I so knew it! I could like totally tell that you were madly in love with each other. Ah, this, like, so absolutely amazing!" She winked. "You know, I'm always right about these kinds of things."

I smiled, feeling a little guilty for lying to her. Still, the more people believed it, the better this would all turn out.

"Ladies," a male voice said from behind us. Adam came between us and put his arms around our shoulders. "Talking about me?"

"Actually, Adam," Annisa answered, knocking his arm off of her shoulder, "we were talking about Bryce."

Adam only shrugged at her action and kept his other arm on my shoulder. I couldn't stop smiling.

"Yeah, about that. What's the deal with you and Healy?" He was talking to me now.

"They're an item," Annisa answered for me.

"Really." It wasn't a question.

"Hey Connors," Bryce said from behind us. "Get your hands off of my girlfriend." I turned around, confused, but saw that he was only kidding.

"Sorry man." Adam's hands were up, as if surrendering. "Not my fault that she's so hot."

My eyes widened, and Bryce's grin froze in place and then slowly slipped off of his face.

Adam must have seen our expressions, because he laughed. "Chill." As if on cue, Jessica Mullins came up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

My heart deflated. A lot.

"Hey baby," she murmured.

"Hey." He turned back to us. "Why don't you come to Mario's tonight?" Mario's was a restaurant that a lot of teenagers from school hung out at a lot. They had just about everything.

"I'm already coming," Annisa said.

"Then I'll see you there, Brown." He grinned at her. "What about you two? I promise it'll be fun."

I looked at Bryce, who was looking back at me.

"I don't-" he started.

"Come on, Bryce," I urged. "It'll be fun."

He looked at me, as if trying to figure me out. Finally, he turned to Adam. "Alright. We'll be there."

"Okay. Cool." He smiled that infectious smile of his one more time before turning around and walking down the hall with Jessica practically strapped to him.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. The only thing I could really think about was the fact that I was going to a restaurant with Adam Connors. I was actually starting to make my way into his world, and maybe Annisa's tips would actually be true; maybe Adam would ask me out one of these days. And once he did, maybe he would turn out to be the same amazing boy I had talked to all those years ago. And then maybe popularity wouldn't matter as much to him anymore.

I could hardly control my excitement. In fact, when Bryce came to pick me up later that night, I was practically jumping with anticipation. But even with the thrill I felt, I couldn't suppress my anxiety.

Bryce, obviously, noticed it. "Hey, are you okay?" He sounded concerned.

"Yeah... I guess." I bit my lip, which was fast becoming a nervous habit of mine. "But it'll be kind of hard, won't it? Being around other people?"

He looked confused. "What? Why?"

"I don't know..." I said. "I guess because we'd have to pretend we're in love with each other and everything."

He looked at me for a second before finally smiling. The smile seemed a little forced, but I didn't really think much of it. "Oh, right. Yeah, that'll probably be the hardest part."

The rest of the ride was silent. Neither one of us was up for much talking. It didn't matter, however, because the ride was a short one, and before I knew it, we had pulled into the parking lot of Mario's.

When we walked in, I felt little chills from the cool air. There were tons of kids from school here. It was almost intimidating. My eyes quickly landed on Adam, and he seemed to notice us as well.

"Bryce! Over here!" he called, raising an arm and motioning him over to his large table full of jocks and cheerleaders.

Bryce gently reached for my hand and intertwined our two hands. Smiling, encouragingly at me, we headed towards the table.

"Why if it isn't the cutest couple ever," Annisa commented. I laughed, mostly from being nervous.

One of the seniors finally seemed to notice me. "And who is this lovely lady?"

Bryce looked as if he were about to answer, but somebody beat him to it.

"Oh, wait. Wait." Adam pointed his finger at me. "Jaelynn Simmons." As cheesy as it may have sounded, I loved hearing him say my name.

"Simmons?" A girl suddenly asked. "Are you related to Paul Simmons?"

Inside I groaned. On the outside, I smiled. "Yeah... He's my brother. On most days, anyway." A couple of people laughed lightly at what I said, and it made me feel a little better.

"Sit next to me, Bryce!" a gorgeous brunette said, scooting over to make room for him.

Bryce laughed. "Sorry, but I'm a taken man now, Casey. Maybe next time."

I suddenly noticed Jake sitting down as well. "Yeah, Case," he added jokingly. "Give the man room to breathe."

Adam only shrugged nonchalantly, taking a sip of his drink. "Make room for the lovebirds, somebody."

Some people slid over to make room for Bryce and me, and we sat down next to one another. Because of the tight space, I was almost sitting in his lap.

"Hey, aren't you running for Junior Class President?" a friendly-looking guy asked me. He was sitting next to Annisa. "I'm Greg, by the way." I already knew his name. He was one of the guys that Annisa thought was hot. Not to mention a good friend of Adam's.

I nodded.

"Against Krista the Ice Bitch?"

I nodded again.

He seemed impressed. "Nice. Someone seriously needs to bring down her reign of terror over the Junior Class."

"Gregory Scott!" Annisa said. "No need to be an ass." She was saying it in a flirty manner. She was probably the only person I knew that could still look so cute calling somebody else an ass.

He shrugged. "Admit it, babe. It's the truth."

I glanced over at Bryce, but he seemed to be talking about basketball with one the other guys. He must have felt my gaze, because he turned to me and gave me a reassuring grin.

"So when did you two start going together?" Casey suddenly asked. There were so many conversations going on around me that it took me a while to realize she was talking to me.

"Not very long, I'm guessing." Adam said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I don't know, Connors," Bryce commented. "Compared to your usual relationships, you'd probably say we've been dating for a while now. I mean, it did happen just a couple of days ago."

"Yeah, I guess that would be a long time for Connors, wouldn't it be?" Greg commented, laughing.

Adam grinned with them, shrugging. He called for the waitress and ordered another drink. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked me unexpectedly.

I stared at him, surprised. "Umm, sure. Iced tea for me."

Adam said a few words to the waitress.

"It's on me," he said, turning back to me when she was gone.

"Thanks." I couldn't help it. I was smiling like crazy.

Bryce suddenly put his arm around me, and following his lead, I leaned into him. Adam didn't seem to notice.

"So are you coming to the basketball game on Friday?" he asked me.

I glanced at Bryce, since we hadn't really talked about. He nodded. "She's going to be there for me while I play."

Adam raised a brow. "Well, since Bryce is going to be playing all night, you can sit by me during the game."

"Umm..."

"Come on, it'll be fun," he urged.

Finally, I smiled at him. "Sure, I guess."

"Aren't you going to sit with Taylor?" Bryce asked me.

Jake's attention turned to us at the mention of Taylor's name. "Tay's coming to the game?"

I shrugged. "She doesn't really go to basketball games. But if she goes, I guess I'd just sit with her..."

"She can sit with us too," Adam added. "Bring whoever."

Surprisingly, the rest of the night went by smoothly. It was almost hard to believe that I could carry on conversations with Adam Connors, probably the hottest guy at our school, without stumbling or feeling embarrassed. Once it was time to head out, Bryce and I were probably one of the last ones to leave.

"What was that all about?" he asked me once we were in the car.

"What?"

"Adam asked you out to the basketball game, and you just accepted."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, confused. "He was just saying I could sit next to him since you're going to be playing all night."

His eyes stayed on the road. "Yeah, well, in Adam language, that's usually a date."

I bit my lip, trying to stop my smile from showing. Bryce glanced at me, obviously noticing it.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, exasperated. "What the hell, Jaelynn? He's not-"

"Bryce, really," I interrupted. "Nobody else will think anything of it. In fact, I'd say we did a pretty good job at convincing people back there. They all believe that we're a couple."

And despite the fact that Bryce seemed to think that the basketball game was a date, I knew the only reason Adam invited me to sit with him was probably because he thought I had nobody else to sit with. And the sad part was that I was going to sit with him anyway.

"So we're still friends, right?" I confirmed. "I wasn't trying to ruin everything, I promise." I tried to smile cutely at him, though I probably looked stupid doing it.

It must have worked, however, because after a while he finally smiled back at me.

"Yeah, we're friends."