Bad Boy's Game

//trailer made by @novemberdreamer

a/n:
The story will include mild language and any slight similarities to other storie
s are a coincidence. All characters of mine are fictional.
Status: Complete
Rewrite: Sweet Nothings
Translations: btragedies
P.S. I've commented inline fun facts in every chapter.
P.P.S. I know my book is clich, you don't have to comment that it is twelve times
lol
P.P.P.S. If you hate girls with "boy" names... You're not going to enjoy this. I
personally love having female characters with "boy" names.
All Rights Reserved
Bad Boy's Game
He lit his cigarette, I lit nothing.
He drank alcohol, I drank water.
He smirked, I smiled.
He didn't love me, I didn't love him.
He and I together wouldn't last a day.
Bad Boy's were all the same, smart-ass hot boys that made girls vulnerable. They
ditched school and if they came they were drunk. They picked fights with the sc
hools football jocks. They toyed with girls hearts just to fulfill their needs t
hen tossed them away. They were notorious and I wouldn't dare fall for one.
And then the game started...
He said he found me intriguing, unique, interesting because I didn't swoon over
him.
"You and me Grey, let's play a game. We'll date and in three months time I promi
se you will fall for me. When you fall in love with me between that time span, I
win. If in any way you were to win I'll give up all the alcohol, cigarettes, an
d player ways."
It was a game I wasn't willing to lose, but all games had accidents and conseque
nces. It takes a broken heart to know how to break a heart.
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1. Let's Play a Game
//trailer made by @lovelilycollinsxoxo
"Sweet talk me."
I frown a bit at the statement, looking up from the tinted blue glass shakes cup
s I find myself staring into ocean blue eyes. The same ocean blue eyes that the
average girl fell for, however, I was anything but an average girl. It took a lo
t more than pretty eyes to have me swooning.
"Hard to do when there's nothing sweet about you to talk about." I reply in my m
ost monotonous tone.
Sarcasm and wit were the two gifts I was bestowed with, I mean since I wasn't bo
rn the daughter of a noble family those two qualities would have to do.
Mr. Ocean Blue Eyes gives me a cold laugh, almost out of courtesy and obviously
forced. Archer West was something and I can't yet decide if he was something I w
anted to run away from or verbally battle. He was a challenge, I can't say if he
's one worth taking or one worth not even a penny. Truly something.
No, actually he was more than just something. Archer was a character, the baddes
t of bad. He was more bad than the average 'badass' that rode a beaten up motorc
ycle they found at some junk yard to school bad. In fact he even put the ass in
badass. He also made me want to move my ass ten miles away from his ass right no
w.
"Sweet talk me," he says once more, the words coming out more as a demand.

A demand he doesn't even say the word 'please' with. Somebody lacks manners...
I say nothing for seconds, contemplating a good comeback before I find myself wh
ispering, "Apple pie, red velvet cheesecake, cannoli, creme brle-"
I then feel a hand press against my mouth before I have the chance to say flan.
One of my personal favorite dessert dishes.
"Haha, very funny Grey." he says, however he's not laughing and he has a very un
impressed expression plastered on his devilishly good-looking face.
Yes, I did in fact admit he was good looking. Devilishly good looking. Although,
he was possibly the hugest asshole/badass/troublemaker of this decade and yet I
must say he was bestowed with good looks. The whole dark hair and blue eyes com
bination that he accessorizes with a cigarette has almost every girl swooning. K
ey word is almost, as in every girl with the exception of me, I wouldn't dare fa
ll for his killer smirk or cocky personality.
He then uncovers my mouth and I'm wearing a don't-fucking-touch-me-and-please-le
ave-me-alone smile.
"Wow, you know my last name and I'm not even a girl you've banged. Aren't I spec
ial?" I say bitterly sweetly.
He gives me a dry laugh.
"I don't even remember the names of the girls I fuck, knowing your name... That
makes you extra special." he replies with a damn smirk that has me almost swooni
ng.
Key word is almost.
You know, the killer smirk that makes you want to faint/die/cry. Yeah, that one.
The one I want to slap off his pretty face, if only he had more than looks...
"What do you want from me?" I ask, cutting to the chase.
He doesn't say anything, he just stares at me. Stares and stares while I stare b
ack. Somehow this had turned into a staring contest because the moment I interru
pt our stare down with a blink he speaks, "You and me Grey."
I have a name other than Grey like you supposedly have another name other than a
sshole...
"You and me Grey, let's play a game. We'll date and in three months time I promi
se you will fall for me. When you fall in love with me between that time span, I
win. If in any way you were to win I'll give up all the alcohol, cigarettes, an
d player ways," he says rather loudly and swiftly in one breath with a sense of
seriousness in his blue eyes.
I blink just to still be faced by him.
To think he thinks I'd play house with him, yeah okay sure. That I will willingl
y date him and fall in love with the number one asshole to ever exist, yeah okay
sure.
"I know what you want," he says softly, to where only I can hear.
He knows what I want? Now I haven't heard that line before.
"And what is that, pretty boy?" I ask in the same whisper, leaning against the c
ounter.
He moves his face closer to mine, his lips are inches from mine. Just about too
close for my comfort, he was invading my personal space.
"Revenge," he whispers.
I laugh and take a step back. "You're a funny fella."
I wait for him to join my laughter but he doesn't and looks at me with intensity
.
"Ryder cheated on you, Ryder cheated out on me," he says with just about no emot
ion played on his face, "We would be dating in public to rub it in his face and
then I added a twist. If either of us happens to fall in love with each other in
the next three months then they lose. Wouldn't you like to be the one that poss
ibly made the bad boy a softie?"
I bite my lip and just grab a rag to wipe the counter down, the rag being taken
out of my hand a second later.
"Are you afraid you'll lose and fall in love with me?" he says with a fake littl
e pout.
I laugh a big hearty laugh and just throw a glance at him.
"Please, the world would have to be at its end before I fell in love with you."

I snicker.
He doesn't give me some wisecrack remark and simply just stands up, tossing a fi
ve dollar bill on the counter and grabbing my arm. He then takes a pen from my b
louse pocket and writes his phone number on my arm, I roll my eyes as he does. N
ot even bothering to stop him.
After he finishes his little masterpiece he closes the pen and tosses it back at
me, grabbing his jacket before he walks straight out the restaurant's door.
"Call me," he yells as the front door bell chimes, him being out the door in a m
oment of seconds.
Call me when you're up to the challenge.
//
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2. Ring Ring!
"Ring, ring! Your favorite badass is out at the moment, please leave a message a
t the buzz... Or not I couldn't care less. Have a fucking fantastic day. Yours t
ruly, Archer West."
Archer West was an idiot, he tells me to give him a call and yet he doesn't even
answer.
Why am I calling you may ask... Well, while I was laying in the comfort of my be
d at about 2:16 a.m. I had a freaky moment like one from That's So Raven in whic
h convinced me to play along with the asshole's game. Like there's no way I woul
d fall for such an arrogant, cocky, and narcissistic asshole. So might as well p
lay the game, and plus I wanted revenge on Ryder Cheating Nilsen.
A valid reason for the fact that he didn't answer was probably because it was bl
oody three in the morning, but whatever.
Thirty minutes pass of silence and darkness before I hear my phone vibrating. Th
e phone's screen flashing with his name on it.
"I knew you would call," he says the moment I pick up.
I ruffle my nose. "And how is that?"
"There's only one person who hates Nilsen more than me, you would do anything to
get back at him." he replies swiftly, I could just imagine his ever so cocky gr
in.
"I don't necessarily hate him."
He snorts through the phone and I hear his breaths. "Darling, you hate him with
your whole entire soul."
I don't reply, I do hate him. Sure, hate is a strong word but I fucking hate him
. He's probably an even bigger asshole that Archer West. And that says a whole l
ot.
"Whatever, so what's the game plan." I ask, shifting the phone to my other ear.
"Glad to hear that you're speaking my language," he begins, "At school tomorrow
I'll properly court you and then win the game because you'll fall in love with m
e quicker than it takes Taylor Swift to write a song about her ex."
I laugh; he's got a half crack decent sense of humor. Maybe these fake three mon
ths wouldn't be entirely awful; I mean as long as I keep a wall up that is perfe
ctly indestructible.
"Court me?" I ask and pause before continuing, "Who am I Juliet?"
He snickers. "You've got a big smart ass mouth, Grey."
I cockily smile to myself in the midst of the night. Moonlight peeking through m
y slightly dusty blinds.
We talk for fifteen minutes about aimless nothing until I find myself yawning.
"Go to sleep," he says softly through the phone.
I shake my head, in which he obviously can't see and yet he sighs in response to
my unsaid reaction.
"No, you go to sleep." I whisper into the phone.
I could now imagine him shaking his head.
"Okay," he says, three consecutive beeps occur and notify me that he has hung up
.
Goodnight, Archer.

* * *
Five a.m.
At five freaking in the morning I received a call from the same voice I had last
heard from two hours ago.
I ignored the call at first, but then the ringing and vibrating of my phone beca
me ever so frequent. He even bothered to leave voice mails, by the tens. The con
stant beeps of my phone caused me to want to throw it at a wall.
Tip: Don't agree to some asshole's proposition on a whim.
Our little game hadn't officially started yet and I was already ready to call qu
its. He was so obnoxious, and to think he believes I would fall for a douchebag
like him... Ha.
Four calls later and I find myself picking up my phone and answering it very sle
ep deprived.
"What do you want?" I groan into my phone.
He doesn't say anything for a second; I then hear a tap in my room. I turn towar
ds the noise to see him tapping against my window at freaking five in the mornin
g.
I then slide out of bed and make my way to the window, struggling to open it. On
ce it's a crack open he pulls it all the way up and slides through.
He's wearing a maroon hoodie with dark grey joggers. His hair's disheveled and y
et he still looks like somebody who could be on the runway.
"Good morning, Princess." he says, his voice not at all fazed by the time of day
.
I don't say anything and just roll back into bed. After a minute of me laying my
phone rings, I answer.
"Morning, Princess."
I throw my phone back down and bury my face into my beloved pillow.
Seconds later and my phone rings again.
"What the fuck do you want?" I yell into my phone.
"You," he says smoothly.
Why was he calling me when he was literally two feet away?
I prepare myself to retort something witty back, but before I get the chance I h
ear a knock on my bedroom door.
Shit.
"Honey, are you okay?" I hear my dad ask.
My eyes bulge slightly and I push myself up from my comfortable position and sta
re at Archer. Then I hear the sound of my door knob twisting.
In the point two seconds of it twisting I run toward my door and put all my body
weight against the door.
"I'm okay, Dad. Just-"
Then Archer smirks at me and makes a fake moaning sound. The asshole makes a moa
ning sound, and not a my tummy hurts moaning sound.
"Honey?" my dad asks through the door.
I glare at Archer.
"Cramps, girl stuff." I mutter.
I don't hear a reply for a long moment of silence. He's onto me.
"Okay, if you need anything just tell me." he replies and I hear his footsteps f
rom him walking away.
The moment the coast is clear I move from the door and give a big 'f you' to Arc
her.
"I love you too, darling." he replies with a cheeky grin.
He bets his fine ass he does, or at least he will in less than three months. Can
't wait until the day he says those three words meaningfully and when I'll crush
his big bad boy heart.
I love you.
10/11/14
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3. Blue Beetle Kisses

By seven in the morning Archer had crawled back through the window he initially
came through and had gotten out of my way.
I hop into the shower, putting on some mixtape Ryder had given me before I step
into the enclosed space.
Yes, Ryder Effing Nilsen's mixtape he made for me for our two year anniversary.
It was full of sappy love songs, crap, and romantic poem readings. All the disgu
sting stuff I once thought I liked. I mean I did like it all until I found out h
e had also given that mixtape to my cousin.
As in one day when she drove me to a family brunch it was playing and I knew it
was no coincidence. Mostly because the very first song on the cd was of him sing
ing a cover of some indie love song. I didn't say anything for a little while, c
ontemplating whether she knew he was my boyfriend or that he had never told her
that he happened to be dating me. But, then I asked her what her new boyfriend's
name was. His name was Ryder and let me tell you that Ryder is not the most com
mon name where I live.
Ryder and I broke up. No, I broke up with him. I may of also keyed his prized po
ssession out of rage, his brand spanken new mustang his parents bought for him a
month before our breakup.
It's still scratched to this day and it makes me grin every time he drives up to
school in his rage keyed car.
My cousin Delilah cried and apologized when she found out, she still does. Love
sucks.
I conclude that thought and then dress myself in a simple, effortless, and very
Monday of an outfit.
Ten minutes after I wrestle with my hair I'm running downstairs.
"Morning, dad." I say quickly, making a run for the front door.
Dad, please don't ask about this morning and the moan I clearly did not make.
I'm about to twist the doorknob when my dad speaks, "Morning, sweetheart."
I turn around and place a small innocent smile on my face.
"Have a nice day at work-"
"I went to the pharmacy and picked up some pain relievers; I can schedule you an
appointment for the lady doctor if the bad pain continues." he says with genuin
e concern laced in his voice.
My dad was great, especially after my mom died. However, although she died I don
't want him to think he has to be the one who has to be there for my womanly adv
entures. I rather him just be the normal dad who avoids the subject.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," I say before saying a final goodbye.
As I walked out the door all I wanted was to slap Archer for making my dad and I
go through that small bowl of awkwardness.
* * *
"You and me Grey," he proclaims a bit loudly at lunch, the second I'm about to t
ake a bite out of my grilled chicken wrap.
The courting had apparently begun and let me say that he was no Romeo. Not even
relatively close.
The line he used was so original and he was quite the charmer... Not.
I mean he was holding a wilting rose and he had a new purple bruise near his chi
n.
I internally smirk, if he thinks he's quite the catch I would love to tell him o
therwise.
I feel at least ten eyes staring at the unraveling scene. I mean it was quite sp
ectacular, school bad boy and the all-American douchebag's ex girlfriend.
I decide to make this interesting, we've got a small crowd to entertain.
He never said I couldn't play hard to get.
"Uh huh," I reply with a raised eyebrow.
"How would you like the opportunity to go on a date with one of the hottest guys
in the world?" he rolls off his tongue with a smirk,
I hold back a laugh because what he just said was one of the worst pick up lines
ever.
"I would love to go on a date with Zac Efron," I say cheerfully.

"Babe, no I meant me."

I then laugh, a hearty laugh.
"That's funny, as if I would date somebody like you. Sorry, West. I don't date b
adass wanna-be's." I say rather bitchily, looking down at my bare nails.
His jaw drops for a second before he recollects himself and then I feel his hand
push my chin upwards to face him. His body moving closer to mine.
"Who's the wanna-be?" he asks a bit huskily, his face inches away from mine.
"You," I whisper.
He let's go of my chin and then backs away. Keeping his eyes on mine.
"You'll be mine by the end of the week, Grey." he says, fixing his jacket.
"Sure, babe." I say, mimicking him.
He then begins to walk away while sets of eyes linger on me, he turns around rig
ht before he's out the cafeteria door.
"Stop staring at her, she's my girl."
* * *
I walked out to my car immediately after the last bell of the day rings just to
see Archer leaned against my car slow clapping.
Today was a long day, apparently our little charade became the gossip of our sch
ool by fifth period. I could feel eyes trailing my every move, even a few snicke
rs. Ending the day by seeing him wasn't necessarily the best thing in the world,
but I guess it made us two steps closer to achieving revenge. The more people s
ee us together the more people talk, and the more people talk means the more lik
ely Ryder will hear about us.
He and I had obvious reasons to be at odds ends, he and Archer apparently had so
me feud as well. Ryder was always the jealous type and I wanted him to regret ev
er cheating on me.
"You're quite the actress," Archer says, snapping me out of daze
I unlock my car, opening the trunk so I can throw my book bag in. I roll down my
car windows in order to cool the car down faster.
"You too, babe." I reply.
He snorts and then shifts past me, opening the driver's side of the car. My car.
My beautiful baby blue beetle, it was my mother's.
"Excuse me?"
He shuts the door, cocking his head out of the rolled down window and says, "You
're excused."
I feel a few eyes on us and just simply get into the passenger side, pushing my
car keys in the keyhole and rolling up the windows. They were too far away to he
ar us, but they definitely could still see us.
"What do you think you're doing?" I question him.
He starts the car and then gives me a small glance before responding.
"Driving," he replies matter-of-factly.
I turn the key and the engine shuts off.
"Try again," I say.
He once again starts the engine then speaks slowly and concisely, "I'm driving."
I twist the key again, however, instead of just simply turning off it makes a gr
owling noise before shutting down.
He tries to turn the key and start the car once again; his attempt at restarting
the car utterly fails.
"Look what you did!" I proclaim, opening my door and slamming it hard behind me.
He too gets out of the car and then walks around to my side.
"You're the one who kept turning off the damn car," he retorts, throwing his han
ds in the air.
"It's not my fault you jackass," I say under my breath.
He shakes his head roughly before replying, "And it's mine, princess?"
I nod my head, he sighs.
"You're not the most tolerable person, no wonder Ryder cheated on you." he says
rashly with pure conviction.
I shush up for a second, pressing back my hair with frustration with my right ha
nd. I was trying to play it off and it was hard because those words hurt. But, t
hey didn't hurt enough because I was filled with a much stronger emotion than so

rrow. At this point in time I didn't care if I was out of character and wasn't g
oing along with this fake relationship plan, I was mad.
And apparently Archer was also equally mad, I felt the frustration seconds later
in our kiss.
He kissed me.
His lips were consumed in rage as he touched mine and kissed me hardly against m
y now broken blue beetle. His arms placed around my waist. In-between the frustr
ation I felt as if his lips regretted what they let out and he was also trying t
o apologize for what he just said.
His eyes were closed throughout our kissing session, however, mine didn't stay c
losed and became wide open. My eyes became wide open and I suddenly found myself
staring straight at Ryder.
12/1/14
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4. He Says
I found myself staring at him, he found himself staring right back at me.
Archer kissed me abruptly because he saw Ryder, Ryder saw us abruptly kiss.
After our lips shifted apart I cursed under my breath. I wasn't ready for this.
Sure, I wanted revenge and to be able to get him back. However, I didn't think I
would have to face him so soon.
Or rather have him face me. He dropped his book and scurried to pick it back up.
A few seconds passed and he's in front of me, Archer's arm now around my waist
as if he's acting as a support system rather than a lover.
"Hi," Ryder says softly, ignoring Archer and looking straight at me.
I don't say anything for a moment.
"Hi," I reply back faintly, my voice shaky and about to crack.
He gives a small smile, the smile I thought I loved. No, I did love.
He then glances at Archer coldly before asking, "Can we talk?"
He says he wants to talk; I could of talked three months ago. Before he cheated
and before he began to feel indifferent towards me. We could have left the mess
of a relationship before it even officially became a mess. But, he didn't think
that through. Probably like he didn't think I would find out about his secret gi
rlfriend.
"Aren't we talking right now?" I ask in a cold voice, I see his smile drop.
He shakes his head slowly before replying, "Alone."
I don't say anything and instead I do something, I take Archer's arm from around
my waist and nod my head away. Motioning that we can talk, alone, over there. H
e picks up on my notion and begins to lead me; I feel a hand grasp my wrist befo
re I can walk too far away.
Archer is staring deeply at me, as if he's trying to say something through his e
yes. I give a gentle smile and he lets go of my arm.
Ryder leads me a whole ten feet away before I tug on his shirt and cause him to
turn around.
And when he's facing me properly I take my hand and slap him across the face.
He says he wants to talk. Talk is cheap.
* * *
To be completely honest it wasn't my initial intention to smack him across the f
ace, it sort of just happened.
The opportunity was just simply presented.
I actually considered for a split second to hear him out, but what fun would tha
t have been. And I had the right to slap him silly.
After I slapped him I strutted away, giving a glance back at him once just to se
e him with his hand over his freshly rosy red cheek. I always was told I made an
impression on people.
It didn't hit me until I dramatically got into my car that I realized my car was
nonfunctioning at this moment due to a certain bad boy.
After I saw Ryder drive off I ejected myself from the drivers seat and headed ba
ck around to Archer.

"Do you need a ride?" he asks as if what he just saw didn't occur.
"Yeah, I mean you broke my only one." I say, still a little upset.
But, just a little because slapping Ryder felt great.
He sighs and tells me to wait a moment, I wait.
Approximately three minutes later he shows up in front of me with a loud motorcy
cle.
"The bad boy has a bike, that's totally not stereotypical." I say loudly as he p
ulls up.
He stops the contraption and then gets off, throwing me a helmet.
"Can't afford a car yet. Wear the helmet, wouldn't want her majesty to be unsafe
."
I chuckle and put the helmet on, hoping whoever has possibly worn the helmet had
n't had lice.
"Nobody has used that helmet before by the way." he says before getting back on
the bike.
He motions for me to hop on behind and I do as I'm told.
When I get home I would probably lung for a pint of ice cream and Netflix. My tw
o true loves.
I didn't have to tell him where I lived due to the fact he already somehow knew
so we immediately left. I would say it was kind of him for offering me a ride, b
ut then again this situation was entirely his fault.
After about ten minutes of driving we've arrived in front of my abode. It was cu
te and quaint.
He parks the bike in the driveway and then we get off, I place the helmet I had
worn on the bike's handlebar.
It wasn't until we made it to the front door that I realized that I had left my
keys in my broken car along with all my other possessions, minus my phone.
I sigh and dig a little in the window's flower box until I find the spare, today
has me feeling mixed emotions.
"Well, see you tomorrow." Archer says before walking off my patio.
When he's about to hop onto his bike I call out for him, who knows why but I do.
"Yeah?" he replies, stopping his actions.
"I've got some killer leftover lasagna, people say it's legendary... Too bad I c
an't finish it by myself." I say, the words kind of just falling out of my mouth
, "Unless you want to stay for a bit and help me out."
I liked to cook, boys love food. One point for Elliot, only need a dozen more an
d then he'll be head over heels for me and when he is he'll have to become a goo
dy two shoes... Or at least somewhat good.
He turns around with a smirk and begins to walk back up to the porch.
"I would love to have some killer leftover lasagna with a girl as lovely as you,
" he says smoothy, taking the dirty key out of my hand and unlocking the door.
Lovely, ha.
I walk in, he does too.
He kicks off his shoes and plants himself on the couch, I pick up the tv remote
and find some movie to watch.
"I love this film," he says quietly.
I then walk away from him and heat up the lasagna, it was pretty damn good if I
do say myself. After five minutes of reheating I take two plates of warm delicio
usness out to the living room, he then takes the plate politely out of my hand a
nd eats a bit.
He eats in plain silence; he's completely focused on the movie.
We sit for ten minutes in utensil clattering silence until I speak during a comm
ercial break.
"What did Ryder do to you?" I ask rather bluntly.
He doesn't reply so I try again and ask, "What did Ryder do to you?"
He shakes his head and snorts, putting his mostly eaten plate down on the coffee
table.
"No, the question is... What did Ryder not do to me?" he replies bitterly.
Whatever happened must of been bad, I mean if he was willing to do something lik
e fake date the guy's ex-girlfriend he now regrets cheating on something of larg

e calamity must of happened. It's not easy to believe that his hatred came from
a one time disagreement
"It's nothing," he says.
I guess today wasn't the day I would find out about the bad boy's past and what
led him to be such an asshole.
He changes the subject, "Are you working at the diner this weekend?"
I look at him with a raised eyebrow; he wanted to drop the subject that badly.
However, I did indeed work Friday night at the diner and would be closing up on
Saturday.
"Yeah, I am." I reply quietly.
"Good because I've been craving a milkshake." he says in relief.
"They're open everyday?" I question him.
"I know, but you're not there everyday." he says.
I almost swoon, but hold the swooning back because everything nice he said was t
oo good to be true.
He's just trying to win the game.
The movie then starts back up again and the next hour and a half is pretty silen
t with just the occasional commercial break small talk.
Once the credits role I pick up both finished plates and head towards the kitche
n to wash them. It had to be like seven in the evening now, or something.
I then hear the doorbell ring mid-wash and then hear Archer's footsteps walk tow
ards it.
A minute later and Archer is in the kitchen, him and all his glory.
"Some guy is here, he says he's a friend." he grumbles.
I give him a confused look and then see a certain blond boy walk into the kitche
n seconds later.
I drop the plate in the sink and run past Archer, jumping into the boy's arms on
ce he is only about a feet away. The boy just simply catches me and laughs befor
e he speaks to me for the first time in three months.
"I missed you, Smelliot," he says.
12/13/14
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5. Boy Next Door
Liam Blancet was quite the notable figure.
He's been my next door neighbor since childhood, I mean until things got a bit c
omplicated for him. Complicated as in his father cheated on his mother and then
the divorce and then the custody battle. He lived at least four months a year in
each home and then got to chose the rest of the time. He could of just chosen o
ne parent to stay with, but he was too good of a son to isolate his cheating fat
her.
We were best friends, not quite lovers, and the strangest of two. He was Liam an
d I was Ellie. After all, that's what the tree in-between our houses says.
And now at this moment he was Liam, Archer was Archer, and I was Elliot.
"I missed you, Smelliot." he says.
I wrap my arms around his neck and release a deep sigh.
"I missed you, Liam." I say.
Archer then sways a bit and then gets Liam's arms out from around me. I then dro
p down from the jump embrace and then pull down my shirt due to fact it had rise
n a bit.
"Save the pda for later," he says grumpily.
I blush a bit, it wasn't supposed to be pda. I swear. I was just excited.
Liam lets out a deep chuckle and then sits himself down on an island stool.
"Later," Liam says and then gives me a wink jokingly.
I blush a tint darker, I hate boys for making me feel all sorts of ways.
Archer then scans Liam, Liam looks nice. He's wearing a plaid button down with s
ome khaki colored pants. He has the whole preppy look going on, it works with hi
s blond hair.

"Archer West," Archer says flatly as an introduction to Liam.

Liam smiles and then replies, "Liam Blancet."
I then make my way back to the sink to finish washing the dishes and monitoring
the boys. Something told me they weren't hitting it off...
"Boy next door wanna-be?" Archer asks.
"Self-obsessed bad boy asshole?" Liam asks back, giving a small fake smile.
Boy, was I right.
"Can't deny that," Archer says in defeat before he retorts a tricky response, "A
self-obsessed bad boy asshole who that kissed Grey."
He did not just go there.
Liam doesn't say anything for a moment.
"She's a good kisser," Archer then says in order to get under Liam's skin.
I then let out a deep breath. Archer was such an ass. I dried the dishes and the
n walked over to the boys.
"Ellie?" Liam asks.
"Yeah," I reply chirpily, hoping he won't go all over protective.
He does that sometimes, who knows why but he does.
"You kissed this douche?" he asks, staring me right in the eyes.
I lick my lips.
"Yeah, she did. Have a problem with it, boy next door?" Archer then inserts befo
re I have the chance to answer.
I'm now biting down on my lower lip.
"Jealous?" he then asks.
Liam scoffs and then gets up from his barstool.
"I'll be next door," Liam then says, brushing his hair back frustrated with his
left hand.
He then slams the front door, leaving Archer with a big smirk.
I then breathe.
"Must you always be a jerk?" I then manage to ask.
He shrugs.
"Liam's a nice guy." I say, defending my friend.
He then shakes his head before saying, "Nice guys don't want to make out with th
eir best friend."
What, Liam doesn't want to make out with me? Not everybody is hormonal like him.
..
"I would love to see you break his little boy next door heart." he then says wit
h a smirk.
I then cut him off before he spews out more crap.
"Sorry, but the only heart your going to see me break is yours."
* * *
1:00 a.m., it was now 1:00 in the morning and I still wasn't completely guilty o
r sorry for what I said.
Because it's true, or at least will be. He shouldn't be too butt hurt because he
is only also trying to break mine. After I fired that back at him he left in si
lence.
And now I couldn't sleep in this silence.
A second later and my phone is buzzing. I check the flashing screen.
Liam Blancet.
I'm sorry about earlier and storming out, that guy just really pisses me off...
Talking about you like your a conquest or object... You deserve a nice guy.
I smile a bit and squint at the bright screen as I reply.
As I'm replying my phone buzzes once again.
Archer West.
I'll see you tomorrow night at the diner and cause you some heartache. I won't b
e just any guy who's vulnerable to heart break. You'll be mine in a week, fallin
g for me and becoming weak. Sorry in advance for being quite the player, I guess
for now I'll just see you later.
A second later and the message is continued.
I liked how your lips felt against mine, that's a nice feeling I won't deny. Boy
next door has every reason to be jealous; you're quite the catch I hope you kno

w it. Falling for me won't be easy, knowing it'll be one sided won't help it eit
her. Tell me you love me and don't be ashamed. Maybe I'll say it back to you in
one of your dreams, or even someday. I've got these bad boy tendencies and less
than a million bucks, I'm betting two million that you'll run out of luck and fa
ll for the asshole you're thinking about at one a.m. Thursday, good luck.
I set down my phone and sigh a deep breath.
I couldn't afford to have my luck run out.
Good luck, Elliot.
12/25/14
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6. Sweet Nothings
"One chocolate milkshake with a side of you." Archer orders confidently Friday e
vening at the diner.
I give a short laugh, a short one because that's such a cheesy line.
"Sorry, but I'm not on the menu."
He slumps a bit back in his barstool against the diner's counter where we first
spoke.
"I'll sweet talk you though." I say with a small smile.
He shrugs and then moves his face closer to mine.
I find his ear and whisper into it some of my best sweet nothings, "Cannoli, Tre
s leche, Scones, Macaroons-"
He moves his head to the point his lips are almost against mine.
"We've got about a centimeter in-between, I wouldn't be a smart ass if I was you
. One slip up and our lips could touch."
I move a little back, backing away slowly. I prepare his milkshake and then come
out from around the counter to deliver it and seat a group of customers at the
door.
Once I'm in close distance he wraps an arm around my waist. I jump a bit at the
touch. He catches the milkshake before it can fall.
"Sorry, my arm moved on it's own."
I smack him gently and he makes a fake pained expression.
I chuckle and then seat a group of boys around my age, maybe a bit younger.
The moment I greet them their eyes pop out a bit. They must be younger because t
hey're acting like they just saw some model. Girl crazy if you ask me.
They follow me to the counter and I seat them a seat away from Archer. Archer is
just sipping on his milkshake.
I make my way back around the counter and give the teen boys a couple menus.
"What can I get you to drink?" I ask one of them.
He shuffles quickly to the drinks page of the menu.
"Cherry coke," he rushes out, giving me a smirk.
It's so forced I'm almost laughing. Teenagers these days.
Wait, I still am one... Well, I'm seventeen.
Archer then whistles at me, I excuse myself from the boys and slide over to him.
"Yeah?" I ask.
He glances at them before quietly saying, "Tell them off."
I raise an eyebrow.
"For what? Being hormonal teenage boys." I reply.
He shoos me off.
I continue getting orders from the boys, feeling a few hands meet mine as I put
down glasses and such.
I see Archer get up and walk up behind the boys, placing his arms around two as
if they're arm rests.
"You boys aren't trying to steal my girl right?" he asks them.
Cherry coke boy stutters out, "Your girl?"
"She's beautiful isn't she?" he replies.
I smile a bit, asshole called me beautiful.
"She is- I mean no, she's your girlfriend so of course not."

Archer's girlfriend.
That's funny.
"See you tonight, babe. Right?" Archer then says, winking at me and dropping a f
ive on the counter.
I pick up the five and put it in my apron pocket.
"I'll have to check my schedule." I say back, giving him a real smirk.
* * *
Once I get over with my shift I walk out front to see Archer and his bike parked
. He's leaning against the bike.
"Good evening, Miss Grey."
I take a helmet from him.
"Good evening, asshole." I say daintily, hopping on the bike behind him.
"You're as charming as... Never." he then says with a dashingly fake smile.
I just smile back and he gets on.
"Where are we going?" I ask, him starting the booming engine.
"A party," he replies, placing my hands around his waist.
I'm not really the alcohol, raging music, and flirting type so this ought to be
a blast. However, I do not protest. After being around somebody like Archer I co
uld use a couple drinks.
He takes the bike out of the parking space and into the roads, the drive is a su
rprisingly short one and he parks us in front of a bright-lighted building.
A kids arcade party place.
I raise an eyebrow in the dark of night.
"It's my cousins birthday, I promised I would come at least for the cake." he ex
plains, leading me into the building.
We shuffle past groups of screaming children and make our way towards a large ta
ble of adults assorted with children.
Archer makes his way towards an older lady and kisses her on the cheeks.
"Good evening, Nana." he says in a soft tone, one that's not as rough or harsh o
r cocky as his usual.
The old woman then messes with his hair and then has her eyes on me.
"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend, let me have a look at the lucky girl."
she exclaims with a grin.
I awkwardly walk over and give a wave.
"We're no-" I begin just to be cut off.
"We're now dating, I asked her to be my girlfriend earlier tonight. That's why I
was late." he says with a smile, deceiving the old women I presume is his grand
mother.
I don't say anything and just smile.
"Archer!" a little boy yells, jumping into Archer's arms like I jumped into Liam
's.
"Woah, you've gotten big." he says, almost struggling to hold the boy.
He was wearing a special hat with the number eight on it, he must be the cousin
who's birthday it was.
I was meeting Archer's family and I didn't exactly know how this happened or wha
t to do. I didn't even meet Ryder's family until we had been dating for six mont
hs.
"Happy birthday," I say to the boy.
He gives me a toothless grin and jumps out of Archer's arms.
"I'm Luca, who are you?" he asks rather bluntly.
"Elliot," I tell him.
He shakes his head.
"No, your name is Archer's girlfriend right?" he asks.
"That's right!" Archer says, tickling the little boy a little before continuing,
"I've gotten myself a girlfriend and now you can stop asking."
I laugh a little, so the little boy has been curious if Archer has had a girlfri
end. And now I've been named 'Archer's girlfriend' hah.
I then feel a thump against my leg, I look down to see a little toddler clinging
to it.
"Sofia," a lady probably in her mid thirties says with a sigh.

She's got a large baby bump and looks genuinely exhausted.

Archer picks up the little girl and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
"Sofia, be good to your mother." he says, as if the two year old would listen.
The mother then walks over after a little and hugs Archer. She's his aunt I beli
eve. They look alike in ways.
"Could you watch Sofia sometime, she loves her cousin Archer very much... And I
could use some help once the little boy's due date draws closer." she says with
a small hopeful smile, one hand on her pertruding stomach.
Archer just nods and hands Sofia back, Sofia pouting as she leaves Archer's hold
.
I turn around to the sound of heavy crying. Archer pulls my attention back to hi
s direction, he leads to me a corner table in which we take a seat at.
"Sorry for all the noise," he says, apologizing.
Him apologizing.. I guess family does bring the best out.
"It's fine, I'm just not used to all the excitement." I reply.
He laughs, I change the subject.
"So, we're dating?" I ask.
He stops laughing and shrugs.
"Well we're fake dating, same thing." he says, brushing the subject off lightly.
"I know we had planned to fake date, but I didn't think I'd meet the family... A
nd you're lying to your family... They're nice people from what I can see." I sa
y, glancing at his happy family.
He raises an eyebrow before saying, "We're lying to half our school. Ryder."
I'm silent and give him a wary look.
"Come on, Grey. Leave the heavy thinking for 1 a.m. and dance with me to the Kid
s Bop that is playing." he then says, extending a hand in which I sigh and accep
t.
He takes me to an open space of the place and puts his hands against my waist.
"We're dancing, not getting married. Lighten up," he says, giving a slight tap t
o me against my waist.
I put my hands around his neck.
"It's hard to relax when I'm with you. You confuse me." I say softly.
"Why is that?"
"You're an asshole one moment and then the next you're a gentlemen." I say, brea
king my hands away from his neck.
I then walk over to where his family is without him and take a seat next to Sofi
a's mother.
Luca had started to open up his gifts while Archer is stuck where I've left him
for a minute before he joins his family. He places a small box into the large gi
ft pile.
Luca finished opening presents fifteen minutes later and everybody is now leavin
g. Including us.
"It was nice meeting you, Elliot." his grandmother says to me.
"You too, Clarisse." I say with a genuine smile.
I had heard somebody call her Clarisse so I just followed their footsteps.
"No, call me Nana." she says, giving me a hug.
After Archer hugs her we're back outside, the weather a bit cooler than when we
arrived.
I feel a coat be put over my shoulders.
"Wouldn't want my fake girlfriend to catch a cold," Archer says, a smirk on his
face.
I give him a small smile of gratitude.
"You're going to be an asshole tomorrow aren't you?" I ask him, hoping he'll not
be.
"No promises, sweetheart." he replies, hopping on the bike.
I too hop on the bike. He then takes off to my house to drop me off, saying some
thing before I can walk into my house.
"Thank you for making my grandmother smile... I think she was beginning to give
up on me." he yells out to me.
I shake my head.

"I don't think anybody could give up on you." I reply genuinely.

He scoffs, his bad boy persona coming back out.
"I'm quite a problem," he replies, looking down.
"Any problem can be fixed," I say truthfully, I believe every problem has a solu
tion.
He lifts his head and gives me a curt wave. Backing the motorcycle back out of t
he driveway.
"Don't fall for me too quickly!" he shouts as he departs.
I then smile a little, walking into my warm house.
I wouldn't dare fall for him I thought.
I wouldn't dare.
12/24/14
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7. More than Kisses
Monday had rolled around, Archer and I had now had decided that we would take ou
r fake relationship public. Or even more public.
We would arrive at school together on his death trap and do all the couple thing
s that didn't make up completely throw up.
And mostly, we would be out in the open to display for Ryder Cheating Nilsen.
Since Friday we outed ourselves randomly to his family this couldn't be too bad.
We've been fake dating for a whole two days.
He would walk me to classes, sit with me at lunch, and take me home after school
. All the couple things.
Well taking me home from school because he broke my only car. My poor baby beetl
e...
And well he would kiss me whenever Ryder came around, casually of course.
Hopefully all my kisses would have him fall for me and then I would get revenge
on Ryder and beat the bad boy at his own game.
I was playing with fire and wasn't going to let myself get burned. Fire is awful
ly dangerous.
Sunday we didn't do too much, we just simply made up our fake relationship's bac
k story. It involved the diner of course, him breaking my car, and his lunchtime
proclamation.
The usual.
And to start off Monday morning he swung by my place and picked me up. I was goi
ng for a slightly more edgy look today, I mean it was the total opposite from th
e preppy look I used to go for. The look that got me Ryder.
My make-up was a little darker and my hair not as neat. I wore some black jeans
with a black leather motto jacket. It was cool and stuff I've had laying in my c
loset, I just never had the guts before. But, when you're fake dating the school
's bad boy... You grow the guts.
After my own mind conversation and a number of stoplights we've arrived at our c
rumbling high school. It was charming, a little smelly in places, but charming.
Like how Archer was charming.
The bike then stops and settles down. Archer then gets of the bike, giving me a
hand off and slinging my bag around his back.
Our little lovers act had begun.
He gives a smirk at me and takes one of my hands, we walk together. Him just a s
tep or so in front of me.
His grip firm on my hand as we pushed through groups of people. Our interaction
catching the eyes of some fellows.
Archer stops once we've reached the school entrance and turns around, moving clo
se to me and whisper words into my ears.
"He has arrived," he says hushed.
I don't turn around on the message, that would be too obvious. I simply open an
entrance door and lead Archer in. I'm a step or so in front of him now.
We make our way to my locker and I open it up. Revealing the emptiness, this was

more for show. So, Ryder could have more time to look at us at pause.
I probably seemed beyond bitchy at this whole Ryder situation. Well, takes one t
o act like one and I found myself very much enjoying this project of revenge. I
wanted him to be sorry for ever cheating on me. After I get the chance to break
his heart like he broke mine I would continue the heartbreaking and go after Arc
her's.
As I place my hand on the locker ready to shut it I get pushed a bit against it,
Archer's face becoming centimeters from mine.
"Looks like we're kissing," he whispers, his breath minty.
The locker door obstructing an upcoming Ryder's view.
I then see the locker door move more open and Archer puts his arms around my fac
e. As if he had to balance himself while kissing me, he was good at this whole f
ake dating good.
A kind of ticked off Ryder is revealed.
"You're blocking my locker," he says with a forced smile.
Archer just moves his arms and shrugs, moving me out of the way and shutting my
locker door. He then grabs my hand and walks me to my class on the right. I feel
Ryder's eyes on us the whole time.
I give Archer a kiss on the cheek, leaving a bit of lipstick on it, and walk int
o class with a grin. I give a glance back to see Archer against the doorframe sm
irking, his hand against his cheek.
I sit myself down and take out my class supplies, the girl next to me giving me
a few glances a minute.
As she glances I realize that Ryder's locker is no where near mine. Hah.
I then get my thoughts interrupted by the glancing brunette.
"Are you two dating?" she asks curiously.
I think her name is Anne or something. She's nice, a little of the curious type.
I give her a small smile.
"Something like that, we're definitely more than just kisses."
12/25/14
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8. Gossip Girls
By fifth hour our relationship had been fully outed. We could probably thank cur
ious Anne and a few gossiping cheerleaders.
Or maybe even Archer's little fan club of girls that want to date him. They were
probably in tears all day... Praying that I would go away.
So sorry for them. But, I was likely to be around for the next three months.
Or at least until Ryder has admitted to being an idiot and once Archer has falle
n for his enemy's ex girlfriend.
Something told me these next few months would be quite interesting. Probably a l
ot more interesting than kissing Ryder ever was.
In each hour of the day I've gotten glares and whistles and even more. I became
newsworthy from being seen with Archer and from tweaking my appearance.
And boy, doesn't news travel fast.
Each period of the day the scoop had evolved a bit, going from person to person.
People have been saying Archer only wanted me because I was easy, people have be
en saying it was because I threatened him, and nobody was saying it was just a b
ad boy's game.
I thought talk was cheap, well gossip was cheaper. It was just a string of lies,
a string of lies that would probably get back to ole boy Ryder Nilsen.
Hopefully, all the gossipers lies wouldn't catch up with Archer and I's. We woul
dn't want anybody to figure out our lie... That we're dating for show.
A few nosey people have asked me about my new relationship. I either diverted th
e topic or answered vaguely. From all I've told today Archer and I met at the di
ner I worked at, he gave me a ride when my cars engine refused to start, and we
had just begun dating.
I sure do hope he was sticking to that original storyline. If not things could g
o a little off...

Well, one day done. Two or so months to go.

Before the guy next to me in class has the chance to ask me something the bell r
ings and I'm out the door, walking to my locker.
I walk up to it just to see Archer leaning against it, a smirk plastered on his
face. If only his personality matched his good looks...
I walk up to him and slightly push him out of the way, I've got books to drop of
f in my locker.
He whispers, "Rumor has it that you have the hots for me."
I scoff a bit.
"Rumor has it that I'm only dating you for your looks." I reply.
He shrugs before saying, "Valid rumor, I am quite the model."
His statement causes me to roll my eyes. I shut my locker door, grabbing his han
d and walking out of the school building.
All this physical contact with him was becoming second nature, however it was st
ill a bit puke worthy. I mean who knows where his hands have been... Or his mout
h.
I then dismiss my concerning thoughts and then get on his bike. I've been on a m
otorcycle almost everyday, it was becoming such regular activity to get on behin
d him and wrap my arms around his waist.
Second nature.
We drop by a local coffee shop, I walk towards the shop just to see him not foll
ow me in.
Instead he takes out a cigarette from his pocket and lights it, placing it in-be
tween his lips.
I then turn back around.
"That's disgusting," I say softly with a little disgust.
Smoking was a dirty habit that could lead to various medical problems. It was li
ke he was asking to live a shorter life.
"'Hey, you haven't won the game yet. I can still have my tendencies... Smoking,
drinking, and player ways." he replies, puffing out a small ring of smoke once h
e has the cigarette out of his mouth.
"Yet?" I question.
He adjusts the cigarette in his hand.
"I wanted to give you some false hope," he replies, covering up his verbal mista
ke.
He very knew that I had a chance.
I then turned back towards the shop and stepped in, the smell of coffee rather t
han smoke filling my nose.
I ordered two regular brewed coffees and sat myself against the window he stood
outside of.
I watched him as he took a couple puffs and brushed his hand through his hair ev
en more times. He was thinking, hopefully about how he knew I had a huge chance
of winning this game of love.
Maybe the next rumor about us I'll personally spread. It'll be how the common gi
rl broke the bad boy's heart and all his tendencies.
Now wouldn't that be quite the gossip?
12/26/14
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9. Suit Up or Shut Up
The annual winter formal was coming up, Sadie Hawkins style. In fact it was tomo
rrow night.
It was only expected that I ask Archer. However, I was hoping he would just reje
ct me and say dances are dumb.
Or at least that is what I hoped before I found out Ryder got asked to the dance
and was going. Going with one of my old good friends.
"Archer, go to the winter formal with me." I state, stating rather than asking.

He gives me a raised eyebrow, contemplating what I just said. It was now a week
after we've outed ourselves. We were now eating a tub of ice cream in my backyar
d, it sort of just happened. I did crap on a Calculus test and so he offered up
two tubs or ice cream and music in the backyard.
"No," he says, bursting my hopeful bubble.
"Why?" I ask, putting down my ice cream spoon.
He shrugs.
"I would then have to buy you a flower bracelet thing and dress up." he says in
a grumble.
I roll my eyes, he was such a lazy pig.
"Oh, shut up. I bet you look great in a suit... It would be only for a few hours
and I'll even get my own corsage." I reply, countering his grumble.
"No," he repeats.
"You're hopeless," I say with a sigh.
"No, I was saying no about the whole you buying your own corsage. I'm not lettin
g you buy your own, I may not be able to afford a car but I can afford some flow
ers on a rubber band." he says clearly and precisely.
"Oh, thanks." I reply.
He then fetches a cigarette out of his pocket. This would be the ninth cigarette
I've seen him smoke, I was hoping I would get him to stop before he spent his e
ntire college tuition on cigars.
I give him a slightly disgusted look, people said cigarettes in a good looking g
uy's mouth was hot. Not to me...
After he finishes up his little smoke and I finish my ice cream he leaves. I the
n vacate to my bedroom. Once I get to my room I hear a ping from my computer and
read:
Turn around.
I turn around to see nothing, or nobody. Until a familiar blonde reveals herself
.
I smile a big smile and she drops her Prada bag on the floor.
"Ellie!" she yells, walking over in her high heels.
I walk over and hug her.
"Hey, Arden."
* * *
It's now a little past midnight and Arden, my best friend, had now been partiall
y informed about the fact I'm dating. I may have left out the whole part that it
's fake dating, but whatever.
She was very excited about the fact I had found somebody after Ryder and proceed
ed in telling me that she always thought he was a scumbag.
She was very opinionated and stubborn, born a natural fashion icon and came from
a good family. It was kind of funny that we were friends, saying that I would n
ever trade my worn out Chuck Taylor's for her high glam pumps. She was fab and I
was drab. But, I guess opposites click the best... And well I had to admit to b
eing a bit stubborn.
Arden's been a foreign exchange student for the past two months in France. Only
two months because if she wasn't back for Christmas she wouldn't get her Christm
as gifts or money.
Her hair was a bit lighter with blonder highlights, her personality still bold a
s ever.
She was happy that I was dating again. However, when I told her who I was dating
she was bit apprehensive and let her bold personality show it.
"Archer fucking West? You just went from one douche to another!" she proclaimed
once I told her the name of the lucky guy.
I just gave a small smile and laughed.
"Oh shush. Nobody is a bigger douche than Ryder." I say, almost defending Archer
.
She proceeds by rolling her eyes.
"I can't believe this... And for like three weeks..." she says with a face of di

sbelief.
Don't worry, I can't believe it either. And I didn't think I was allowed to tell
her that what Archer and I had wasn't real, or at least it wasn't yet. No, actu
ally I wouldn't tell her even if I allowed because she's quite the gossip girl.
"Do you like him?" she then asks, the disbelief washed off her face.
"Yeah?" I question.
She then proceeds in hugging me.
"My gorgeous best friend with the hot bad boy... Don't fall too hard too quickly
." she says quietly as she hugs me.
I just give a small smile.
"I won't, I promise."
12/28/14
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10. Excuse Me
Bright and early the door bell rung, I grunt at the constant sound. I glance at
the clock just to see it read 8 in the morning. Too early it you ask me, Arden o
bviously also thought so because she moved around on the air mattress and onto t
he ground trying to escape the noise.
Yesterday it got so late into our talk that I just suggested for her to stay, I
mean had an emergency drawer of clothes in my room. You know, just in case.
I resisted my way up, my dad probably left half an hour ago. They couldn't open
the door if they weren't here so I guess I had no choice.
I put on some warm fuzzy slippers and then sleepily made my way to the the front
door, unlocking it and twisting the door open.
"What the fuck, Ellie?" a very pissed off Liam asks me.
I squint my eyes at the sight of the sun. Why was I up... And why was Liam pisse
d off at me so early, could he not have waited three hours to be pissed off?
"Excuse me?" I yawn out.
"I can't believe you," he says, letting himself into my house.
I just shut the door behind him and walk to the kitchen, getting ready to prepar
e some nice coffee.
"What can you not believe?" I question him and all his rage.
"You're dating that asshole."
I give him a raised eyebrow, leaning against the island's counter, him also lean
ing but on the opposite side.
"What?" I ask.
"You're dating Archer and I find out from a text message from Arden." he says, n
o normal smile on his face.
I'm dating the asshole, right.... Oh yeah. Man it was too early for interrogatio
n.
"Arden?" I yell out.
She had been here for less than a day and had managed to casually tell Liam. I w
as hoping to not tell him for a while, I mean he hated Archer. I was at least ho
ping he wouldn't find out until he enrolled in school...
Oh yeah, Liam was entering our high school. He had been online schooled for most
of his life due to his parents messy divorce and all the moving back and forth,
but requested to be in public school for his senior year.
Arden yawningly walks out to the kitchen, taking a seat next to the pissed off L
iam.
"Good morning, Liam." she says, rubbing her eyes.
He doesn't say anything back and continues to stare at me.
"He asked me out, I said yes... And that's about it." I tell him, trying to shak
e him off of the subject.
"You said yes to him? To him out of all people..." he mumbles, his words not as
harsh.
I nod and then brew some coffee, getting three mugs prepared.
I then serve the cups, Arden immediately drinking the warm deliciousness. Liam a

bit hesitant and only tracing over the top rim of the cup.
"Ellie, I can't approve of you dating someone like him. You deserve a good guy w
ho will care for you and be there whenever you need him. Somebody who won't mind
drunken calls at 2 a.m. or watching The Notebook with you." he says, then takin
g a sip of coffee after he says that.
I don't reply, knowing he ought to be right about this. Fake relationship or not
, this could end up disastrous. I needed a good guy who will care for me and be
there whenever I need him. Somebody who won't mind drunken calls at 2 a.m. or wa
tching The Notebook with me.
And well, Archer West wasn't a good guy. He was a bad boy who in the end only ca
red about cigarettes. Somebody who probably has a number of friends with benefit
s and speeding tickets.
He was a bad boy, I was me, and somehow our fates collided and brought us to bot
h feel an intense amount of hatred towards Ryder.
The worst of guys.
* * *
By noon Liam had piped down and Arden had finally decided she looked decent enou
gh to go out, since the formal was today and I still had no dress for the dance.
We then packed in Liam's Jeep and headed off to the mall, us three hadn't hung o
ut in a while. I mean all I've been doing recently was playing a game with Arche
r and working.
Once Liam parked in a parking garage we got out and made our way to the food cou
rt, I getting in line for some Tex-Mex. I ordered a few soft tacos and then met
up was the two at some table, sitting next to Liam in the booth. We ate quickly
with occasional small talk before we made our way over to some formal attire sho
p.
I scanned the racks for a dress that didn't eat my funds and looked nice enough
for the occasion. Arden picking up a few for herself, she would probably find so
mebody to dance with tonight. Boys adored her.
I picked up a couple dresses in my size from the clearance rack and then head in
to a dressing room, shutting the curtain behind me. Arden was probably still loo
king, I had told Liam to just wait and sit down somewhere so he could tell me wh
at he thought.
I take off my jeans and today's outfit, I was just wearing some cropped black sw
eater with flats. I reach for a strapless black one, it was simple and quite nic
e. A little more than I wanted to pay, but cute. Shimmying into the number took
a good second, I open up the dressing room curtain to reveal a very familiar fac
e.
Archer's.
He gives me a look, glancing over me in silence. He's holding a couple jackets a
nd ties in his hands.
"Hi," I say, that being the only thing I could manage to spit out.
"Hi," he replies, still staring at the dress on me.
I then start to feel conscious of his stare and cross my arms a bit.
"I'm just shopping for a dress," I say, although it was obvious.
He nods.
Another familiar face walking up to the dressing room area, this time it's Liam.
He doesn't have a clear view of Archer from the back so he doesn't react until
after he speaks.
"How long does it take you to put on one dress?" he asks me with groan.
He then sees my face and sees where my eyes are looking. He scowls immediately w
hen his eyes reach Archer.
"I'll be waiting in the sitting area, ask your boyfriend for the opinion." he sa
ys with edge laced in his voice, walking back away.
"You told him?" Archer asks.
I nod.
Liam wasn't thrilled with me dating Archer or going to the formal with him. He m

ust really hate Archer, but then again I kind of don't blame him.
I excuse myself and go back into the dressing room. Hearing my phone buzz second
s later just to see a message on the screen from the one and only Archer.
You should get the black dress.
I give a small smile, that's what I was thinking too. I guess knowing he thought
so too made me feel reassured on buying the dress.
I put on the clothes I came in and walk out with the single strapless black dres
s, feeling a hand on my arm as I get ready to walk out of the dressing room area
.
I turn around and see Archer in a sleek black jacket with a simple bow tie.
He steps back a bit after letting go of my arm and models the look, flexing his
muscles and everything. He looks so ridiculous as he shows off his attire.
"Do you like it?" he asks me, taking a more serious pose.
I look at him, he did look nice in something other than his regular sweats or ch
inos.
"Yeah," I answer, "You look really dapper."
He nods on my statement.
"I'll pick you up at six," he says, "I even got you the flower thing."
I nod and give him a small smile, "See you tonight."
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11. Dance, Dance
He picked me up at 6 p.m. like he said he would. Not with his usual beaten up mo
torcycle, but with a grey SUV.
He apparently borrowed it from his aunt tonight, Sofia's mom.
My dad happened to be home at the time, observing me as I walked out the door. I
f he knew who I was with or Archer's reputation or the fact Archer had been in m
y room before... My dad would be a bit upset, no that would be an understatement
. I was his little girl and if he saw me with a bad boy he would surely be very
unpleased. He wanted me to end up with some impractical nonexistent prince, or L
iam. He liked Liam a lot, probably because Liam was around for me when my mom wa
s really sick.
Anyways, so Archer picked me up, I got in the car and he passed me the corsage.
It had a red rose and a couple smaller flowers around it, I opened the clear box
it was in and found another solo red rose. I put on the corsage around my wrist
and then held the spare rose in hand.
We drove up to the school's gymnasium area and found a parking space, the lot wa
s beginning to fill up. He shuts off the engine and walks over to my side, openi
ng the door up.
"Thank you," I say courteously, showing him the red rose that matched my corsage
.
He stands still, I place the rose in his jacket's pocket. Him staring at me the
whole time.
"You clean up well, Grey." he tells me, the rose in his jacket pocket and he now
extends a hand out in which I take.
We then walk hand in hand to the entrance, showing our school ID's and then ente
ring the white with silver balloon decorated gym. As soon as we walked in I spot
ted Arden in a one shouldered chiffon red dress, not so much wintery for the win
ter formal but then again I guess black wasn't either.
Arden pushes Archer and I into one of the three photo booths, the two of us bare
ly fitting in the cramped space.
Archer reaches his hand out and presses a couple settings in the booth and the c
ountdown begins.
The first picture we're pulling off ridiculous faces.
The second picture we're smiling.
The third photo I'm still smiling straight at the camera while his smile has tur
ned into a smirk directed at me.

The fourth photo and his lips are just a mere millimeter away from mine.
Somehow in the quick transition in-between three and four he managed to get me t
o look at him then almost kiss me. If there were a fifth photo it would be of me
wide eyed.
After the photo booth says 'thank you your photos are printing' he moves his lip
s away from the close position.
"What the heck was that?" I ask him.
"A photo booth." he says.
"You almost kissed me." I reply back, a tiny bit off guard.
"Key word is almost, it'll make a good photo. It'll look real enough so when Ryd
er comes by the photo booth print out wall he'll see ours and be pissed as fuck.
" he says, justifying his actions.
He somewhat gently pushes me out of the booth and I grab the printed out strips,
tearing him one and tearing one for myself. I place mine my clutch and he place
s his in his jacket pocket. The third strip we drop off at the area a couple vol
unteers were sitting and collecting the photos to display on a wall people could
view.
I lead him and I to a table Arden and some guy I recognize as a football player
are sitting. The football player immediately sitting up more and more tense when
Archer arrives.
Arden introduces me to her impromptu date, his name's Carson and he's actually a
year under us. He's got blond hair like her, but his is several shades darker a
nd his eyes are hazel. Even in bad lighting I could tell a thing or two. Another
thing I could tell was that he was intimidated by Archer, not bothering to look
him in the eye.
When Archer excuses himself to the bathroom Carson begins to talk a bit more.
"Is your last name by any chance Grey?" he asks me.
I nod, he bites a lip. He probably had heard of the whole cheating incident and
repercussions.
"Don't worry I won't key your car, I mean as long as you don't hurt Arden I won'
t." I tell him jokingly.
He laughs.
"I won't hurt Arden, I'm not an asshole like Ryder..." he then says.
I like the kid, he knows what is up. I then give a little satisfied smile, so pe
ople think Ryder is an asshole... Suits him right for being a dirty cheater.
Archer walks back up to the table, whispering something in my ear.
"Nilsen just arrived with some underdressed girl," he says hushed.
My smile then drops a bit at the news, I excuse myself and Archer from the table
and we head to the food area.
"Carson's a nice guy," I say as we push through dozens of fellow students.
Archer doesn't say anything to that and just simply pulls me by the hand through
the crowd until we reach the food station. We then both grab plates and put a f
ew snacks onto them, grabbing a couple cans of soda too.
The walk back to the table is far easier due to the fact more people have made t
heir way to the dance floor.
But, once the table is in sight I see an unexpected person sitting at it now. Ar
den with daggers in her eyes next to Carson, the unexpected, and his date.
I tense up a bit, Archer's hand now against my back.
"I'll see you later, Carson." Ryder says, taking his date's hand and walking rig
ht past Archer and I.
The thing that gets me as he walks by isn't the familiar scent of him, it's the
fact that his date has the same exact necklace he gave me on my birthday last ye
ar. Unless his grandmother owned two silver heart shaped lockets from her husban
d I bet that it was the same one I threw at him when we broke up.
He was cheap and made me feel ten times cheaper.
After he excused himself with his date I excused myself out of the formal. Walki
ng out the entrance without saying anything to anybody, not even Archer or Arden
.
I was an idiot for still being affected by him.
Fuck, what was I doing.

Revenge was stupid and now all I was doing was asking for my heart to be possibl
y broken again.
I stood in front of the tennis courts with the smallest of tears camouflaging wi
th the beginning of a hard rain.
I stand in the slow rain for a series of long seconds, a hand then placed on my
shoulder and interrupting my next tear. I turn around to see Archer.
"You alright, Grey?" he asks, already knowing the answer.
I shake my head no and feel a number of shivers go down my spine.
Rain was falling, it was cold.
"He's an asshole, I don't know what you ever saw in him. I'm sorry you fell for
such a bad guy." he says hastily, slipping off his tux jacket and slipping it ov
er my shoulders.
He probably had no idea as to why I was crying, I barely knew why and yet he was
still trying to be of some assistance.
I put my arms into the sleeves and clench the jacket, biting my lips in attempt
to calm myself down from this little relapse of tears wasted on Ryder.
Archer holds out a hand towards me.
"We never got the chance to dance," he whispers.
I force a small smile.
"I even got you a corsage," he continues.
I take his offered hand and with his free hand he pulls out his phone in the rai
n so that he can turn on music, it being faintly heard in this weather.
He takes the lead in our little dance, if you can even call it that. My arms aro
und his neck, his around my waist.
Seconds later and we're slow dancing in the rain to a faintly playing unrecogniz
able song.
We're like two slow dancers who are never quite in-sync.
Dance with me darling and I'll show you what you mean to me.
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12. Chills
I've got chills, maybe they're from the air conditioning vent that's pointed str
aight at me or because Archer West didn't arrive at school Monday.
Maybe I did something wrong as we slow danced in the rain Friday night...
No, we just danced. It's not like we got married.
And all we did after our little dance was drive away, he took me home and that w
as about it.
I was concerned, that's not good. Snap out of it, Ellie.
Or maybe he didn't come on purpose because he wanted to see my reaction and want
ed me to approach him. Well, I won't. I refuse. Kind of like how I refuse to thi
nk about how Ryder and his cheapness.
If I couldn't make Ryder feel jealous and regret cheating on me I would at least
like to slap him once more. Slapping him across the face was one of the most sa
tisfactory moments of my life.
If I couldn't make Ryder feel jealous and regret cheating on me I would at least
like to win the bad boy's game.
First one to say I love you loses right?
* * *
Wednesday, half the week had gone by and Archer still hadn't returned to school.
These past three days I've had to catch a ride with Arden. Not that it was bad t
o hang around with her, it just wasn't what was initially anticipated.
It was now 4:15 p.m. and Arden has been driving for ten minutes, for me to get h
ome it does not take ten minutes. She then parks her car in front of a blue sidi
ng small home. I let out a deep sigh.
"This isn't my house," I say, taking a look at my surrounding.
"Yeah, I know. It's Archer's." she replies with a big fat smile.

I give her a look of disbelief.

"You miss him, I mean all those lovesick sighs." she says, cutting the engine co
mpletely.
I then remember that she thinks we're dating for real... But, still how does she
even know where he lives, she must have some serious connections. Oh, and I hav
e not have been sighing lovesick sighs.
I roll my eyes and get out of the car, I don't need her being suspicious and com
ing up with wrong assumption. I give her a little wave before she drives off, le
aving me in front of Archer's house.
It's quaint, probably built in the seventies, and needed some loving.
I make my way up to the front door, the front porch creaking. I knock on the doo
r softly. The sound of footsteps drawing closer to me. The door then swings open
to reveal a shirtless Archer.
"Keep the chang-" he begins, not looking up for a little while before he realize
s it's just me.
He puts his ten dollar bill into his sweatpants pocket after realizing it's just
me.
"What are you doing here, Grey?" he asks, now leaning against the front door's f
rame.
I look at face, not wanting to look at anywhere else. Especially not his bare ch
est, I didn't need him to think I was checking him out.
"You've been absent the past three days," I say.
He nods his head before slowly saying, "Yeah... Good job for noticing."
I wait for an explanation in which he gives, "I've been out with a killer cold."
It's not even that cold and he got a cold. What even... The bad boy has a cold.
He coughs into his arm.
It all then making sense as he struggles.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry." I manage to say quickly.
It was my fault, he gave me his jacket when it was pouring rain. He must of gott
en a cold from that.
A pizza delivery man then walks up to the door.
"One order of a medium triple meat pizza, that'll be $8.99." the guy says, his h
air covering half his face.
Archer fishes out the ten dollars and then gives it to the guy, the guy giving h
im the pizza box.
"Keep the change," he says, the delivery guy then departs after saying a thank y
ou.
"I've got a fresh box of pizza... It would be a shame to have to throw away half
the box I don't eat." he then says.
I laugh and he leads me into his house, the smell of peppermint entering my nost
rils. He sits me down at a round oak table and sits himself down across.
"Try not to get sick by me," he says a he grabs a slice of pizza.
I grab a slice and say, "I don't think I will... Unless we like make out or some
thing, my immune system is pretty darn good."
"Oh forget about what I originally said. The last time I had a kiss was that tim
e against your car... Too long ago. Let's make out on my twin size bed." he says
with a small smirk.
I scrunch my nose in disgust, that didn't sound a bit romantic. To make out on h
is childhood bed... I then file through his statement and realize the whole last
kiss was you part.
"The last person you kissed was me?" I question.
He raises his eyebrow before saying slowly, "Yeah."
He finishes up his first slice and moves onto a second. I too eat.
He hadn't kept to his renown player ways so far. Sure, he was an ass a lot of ti
me... But, he hadn't spread his germs to dozens of girls since we started fake d
ating. That kind of surprised me, I mean especially since he has a notorious str
ing of girl pals.
Knowing that I was the last person he had kissed made me smile a bit.
He sees my little smile and gives a crooked grin.
"You're weird, Grey."

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13. Phone Calls
At six fifty seven in the evening Archer's phone rang, when he didn't reply the
first time it rang again. And again until he answered.
"What?" he asks into the phone roughly.
We've now defeated the box of pizza and I was fixing to go.
"I think I've ought to go," I then say to him, picking up my belongings.
I then walk to the front door and twist it until it opens up, a body blocking my
way a mere second later.
He then gives me one finger and mouths:
One second
"Zac, I don't have time for this and I feel like shit." he says into the phone.
I can faintly hear a semi deep voice on the other end and then Archer hangs up.
"You don't have a ride," he then says to me, blocking my way out.
"I'll walk," I say, trying to move around him.
"You don't even know where you are," he replies.
I then let out a deep sigh, he was right. I could be anywhere.
"And?" I question, hoping he'll cut to the chase.
"Let me drive you," he then offers, or demands.
"You're not driving while sick," I retort, pushing him out of my way slightly.
"Yes, yes I am."
He then moves his arms around me and he's got a soft grip on my waist.
"I'm going to kiss you and spread my sickly germs if you don't let me drive you
home." he threatens.
I then sigh, a sigh of defeat, he then grabs a set of keys and leads me to a cov
ered up car. Taking off the cover to reveal that the car is in fact mine.
"That's my car," I say out loud, wide eyed.
"I may of fixed it up in my free time," he starts to explain, just to continue a
fter he opens the passenger door, "I'm not done fixing it up, but it at least wi
ll run a couple times."
I then step into my baby blue beetle.
He then too steps in and starts the engine, no cranking sound coming out.
"How about this... I drop you off tonight and then you let me finish up with you
r car in the next couple days." he proposes.
I nod, that would be okay. I mean I was living without it alright.
"So, instead of towing the car to a repair shop you just took it here?" I questi
on.
He then nods and puts his arm around the passenger seat, backing out of the driv
eway.
"No wonder no shop has called me like you said they would... I wish you at least
told me." I state.
He then turns on the radio, loud. Not wanting to listen to another word I say.
Who's car was it?
We then sit in silence the ten minutes it takes to get to my house.
The moment the car gets parked right in front of my house his phone rings yet ag
ain.
He then picks it up, I remembering that I never returned his jacket from winter
formal night and so I tell him to wait up as I get it from my room.
I scurried to my room and grabbed it from my desk, it's been there ready to be r
eturned. He just hadn't been at school so I could return it.
By the time I reach the car again he's still on the phone, I'm leaning into the
passenger side window.
He then puts the phone down for a second.
"I've got your jacket," I say, giving it to him.

"Thanks," he says with little sincerity.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.
"I will be once I take in a little alcohol." he replies back.
I don't say anything after that and just wave him off. He then takes off.
I walk back to my front porch and just look out to the road.
Something must of happened within that phone call.
* * *
At two a.m. my phone rang, it rang Archer's designated ringtone at 2 a.m. in the
morning.
I then picked up my phone to see a flooded screen. Flooded with multiple texts a
nd one missed call from him.
I then dial his number and start a call in which he immediately answers. However
, his voice is not what I hear when he answers. A series of bangs and clatters f
ill the line along with heavy breaths.
"Archer?"
No response other than a small hiccup and deep chuckle. He was drunk. So, he was
serious about the whole drinking his pain away thing.
"Archer?" I call out once more, my voice slightly raspier than usual.
I then hear a loud crash as if he dropped a glass bottle on the ground, the phon
e then picking up a few shifting sounds.
"You're so beautiful, Grey." he slurs out through the phone.
The words he says is not at all what I expected. I shift the phone, sitting myse
lf up.
"I wanted to tell you that earlier, but didn't want you to think I have some sil
ly crush on you. " he says, hiccuping again before continuing, "I wish you refus
ed to let me drive you so I could kiss you."
I then feel a blush coming up to my face no matter if I liked it or not.
He was drunk and had no idea what he was saying.
I then take a breath and ask, "Are you alright?"
He chuckles.
"Probably, I'm still breathing aren't I?" he replies, his sarcasm and wit presen
t in his drunk self.
"Do you want to tell me what's going? I don't like seeing you upset." I say, ign
oring his previous comment.
I then hear him shift the phone.
"Nothing's going on, my father's just in prison again for some financial theft a
nd got in extra trouble for being under illegal drugs at the time of his arrest.
" he replies nonchalantly.
I don't say anything, that's not nothing and I have no idea how to respond.
"Hey, Grey. Tell me why you were crying and ran out at the dance." he says, chan
ging the subject.
"Ryder's date was wearing the necklace Ryder gave me for my birthday. The same o
ne I threw back at him when we broke up. It just hurt knowing that he gave it to
some other girl so easily. It was stupid for me to cry over him again." I expla
in.
He's silent for a good minute, only his heavy breaths being heard.
"Don't you dare cry over him again," he tells me seriously through the device, l
aughing a moment later.
I nod, a nod he can't see.
"You're beautiful, Grey." he says, repeating the line he used previously.
"You've said that already." I point out.
"Really?" he asks loudly, shock present in his voice.
I give a small laugh.
"Go to sleep, Archer."
"Only if you agree to babysit my cousin Sofia with me next Saturday." he counter
s.
"Fine, fine." I tell him, ready to go back to sleep.
He's probably got a crooked smile on his face right about now.
"Goodnight, Grey." he says, letting out a yawn.
"Goodnight, Archer." I say.

1/3/15
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14. Good Morning
"Good morning, Grey." I hear a deep voice say.
My eyes slowly opening to see the brightness coming off of the sun, it was bit t
oo bright and a bit too early if you ask me. I wasn't the biggest fan of morning
s or Mondays or men who wake me up.
I then turn around to see Archer standing less than two feet away, also glancing
at the clock to see it reads ten past eight.
"Aren't you supposed to be hungover?" I ask him, my voice a bit raspy from being
parched.
"Nothing a few pills couldn't handle," he replies with a shrug.
I then sit myself up in bed, slightly wrapping my blanket around myself. His sta
re made me a bit conscious.
"How did you get in?" I ask.
Arden appearing at the doorway a quick moment later.
"That would be me," she says, showing me the spare key my dad and I hide in the
flower box.
I let out a deep sigh, of course it would be Arden who let him in. Because we're
'dating' and she probably wants to first hand see us together.
I groan, yawn, and get myself up completely. Pushing Archer out of my room so I
can get dressed into some outside worthy clothes, I don't think a camisole and s
ome flannel pants will cut it. Also, I wasn't comfortable with walking around in
front of Archer with a spaghetti strapped shirt that exposed the little belly t
hat had formed after endless nights of ice cream and tears.
I then throw on a plain white t shirt and some ankle rolled up boyfriend jeans w
ith a pair of white Chuck Taylor's, the ultimate lazy but presentable look. Ten
out of ten recommend.
As I walk out of my bedroom door I smell an aroma of food, I very much adored fo
od. What surprised me was the fact that Archer was the one cooking the food. He
was standing with a pan full of scrambled eggs in one of his hands, scooping the
eggs into two plates alongside some crispy looking bacon.
I sit down at the breakfast bar, finding a note placed on the tabletop.
Have a nice breakfast with your boy, I'll see you guys in an hour after I go pic
k up a film for us to watch. Archer's free all day and said he would love to spe
nd the day with his girlfriend; he sounds like a keeper. Maybe I was wrong about
him being such a bad guy...
She likes him, he's won her over... Too bad he's not a keeper. Hopefully she won
't be too upset once I tell her that this whole 'relationship' is built on lies.
Archer then walks over to the island and places two warm plates down, a few seco
nds later and two mugs filled with steaming coffee are right next to them. He gr
abs a set of utensils before taking a seat next to me.
"Bon apptit," he then says.
I take a fork from him before asking, "You speak French?"
He then laughs with a small accidental snort.
"Not at all, it's just something I hear on the cooking shows my mom watches." he
explains, a small smile on his face.
"You're a mama's boy aren't you?" I ask teasingly.
He nods a bit, "Yeah, yeah."
We then eat our breakfast in silence, it was a simple meal but much appreciated.
He could cook, that's good because I surely couldn't cook all the time. But, if
he thinks the way to a woman's heart is through food... I've got another thing
coming for him.
"I'll wash dishes," he then announces, taking my empty plate and walking over to
the sink.

I don't stop him and just stay seated, thinking about the past few weeks as he w
ashed the dishes.
In the past month I've found myself wound up in the bad boy's game, fake dating
a guy I don't love just to win a game and perhaps get a bit of revenge although
the bad boy knew my motive and yet I didn't know his. I didn't know why he hated
Ryder, why his father commits robbery...
"You should get along with Liam, if you want me to even think about going for yo
u. He's important to me." I tell him, him now drying the dishes.
"I don't want to get along with a guy who likes my girlfriend." he replies.
He then makes his way over to me and gestures for me to follow him to the couch.
He surely made the place like home, cooking and everything.
I then take a seat on the couch, he takes one beside me.
"He doesn't like me," I correct.
Archer just gives me a glance and shake of head.
"His eyes say it all."
A man's eyes say it all? Then why couldn't I read Archer by his. They were a dee
p blue and yet I couldn't tell a thing.
"And what do yours say?" I question back, him staring into mine as I stare back
into his.
"Ask me in two months," he replies, breaking the stare.
I then sigh and reach for the television remote.
Hopefully I won't have to ask and i'll be able to tell. Hopefully his eyes will
be filled with the adoration he thinks Liam's eyes are filled with. Hopefully.
* * *
After finishing up the comedy Arden had brought back with her the three of us de
cided to get out of the house and into the infamous diner Archer and I first con
versed at. Mostly because I had a dining discount due to the fact I work there a
lmost every weekend, I mean minus this one weekend because I asked off.
The three of us piled into my car, Arden insisting that Archer sit up front with
me. Archer then tells me he'll drive in which I'm okay with, driving wasn't my
favorite thing. Once Arden buckled up and he started the engine, he places one o
f his hands into mine, holding hands being something couples do. I was rather gl
ad his hands weren't rough or clammy...
The diner was only about five minutes away from my house, nine if the roads are
clogged up. We arrive minutes after one and park in a parking space up front, a
white sedan next to us.
It isn't until we're showed to a window side table that I realize who's sitting
at a corner booth. I immediately divert my eyes once I recognize the face and ou
t the menu up, I don't need recognition or to deal with an infuriating ex.
I then tell Archer to switch seat with me so I can be by the window, he obliges
wearily. Arden excusing herself to the restroom.
"Why are you being so weird?" he then asks me.
"I'm not being weird." I respond, biting a lip.
He then takes a glance at the restroom, stopping his surveying once he too recog
nizes the asshole jock within a table full of his company.
Him giving me a look a second later. I give him one back. Our little strange loo
k battle ending once I find our waitress, my coworker Ryan, standing at the tabl
e with a smile.
"Ellie, I know it's your day off... But, Candice just called in saying she's got
the flu and Jeremy just left. We've only got two servers and the afternoon crow
d could come in anytime. So, if you could help us out for an hour or two until t
he night shift comes in that would be great." she tells me, adding a hopeful smi
le at the end.
"I'm sorry," I tell Archer, he just simply slides out and lets me through.
As I begin to walk away I feel a hand on my wrist to stop me.
"Ryder's table has yet to have a server," he tells me with a smirk.
I give him a somewhat devious grin before walking to the back, throwing on an ap
ron and taking some pens from a cubby. After I prepared myself to wait tables I
tell Ryan i've got the large corner booth. She shakes her head with gratitude.

I then step up to the table, charming fake smile planted on my face.

"Good afternoon, my name is Ellie and I'll be serving you today. Can I interest
any of you with a milkshake or float?" I introduce and ask all in one breath, th
e smile still plastered on my face.
On the introduction part I see Ryder lift his face from the menu and look at me.
"I didn't know you worked here on the weekends," he says softly.
I force the smile a bit more before replying, "Yeah, I do. My ex boyfriend didn'
t know either, he was too busy being preoccupied with my cousin."
Every boy other than him makes a little hoot or holler, knowing which ex boyfrie
nd I was indirecting.
"Cherry coke," he then says, a little less than satisfied with my response.
I nod and write his order down on a notepad, taking the other five boys orders b
efore fetching the drinks.
I then balance a number of cups on a tray and start to distribute them to the co
rrect guys.
"I hear you're dating Archer West," Ryder then says, taking his drink from the t
ray.
"Yeah?" I reply, it coming out more of a question.
"He's no good, you should dump him." he tells me, probably not aware that Archer
was sitting a couple tables away.
"Like she dumped you?" I then hear a voice ask from behind me.
Archer stepping from behind and holding out a hand to Ryder.
"Nice to finally meet the asshole she's told me about; my name's Archer but you
can just call me her boyfriend." he says, a fake smile plastered on his face.
1/8/15
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15. Bad Boy's Best Friend
It wasn't until I actually met the person Archer had been getting constant calls
from for the past few days that I realized he had friends. The fact that he pro
bably had them had completely slipped my mind until his best friend one day arri
ved at Archer's house.
I had been over Archer's house to pick up my car from him, he completed it by to
day. Today being Friday, of course. As he unveiled my car, with a fresh baby blu
e paint job, a silver car rolled up into his driveway. Revealing a dirty blond h
aired smirking fellow, his smirk told me he had to be a friend of Archer's. Thei
r smirks were similar and they probably broke a string hearts together.
The guy walks up to Archer, patting him hard on the back.
"I'm home, Archie." he says, his voice sounding much like the caller that had be
en ringing Archer recently.
He must be Zac, his name coming up a lot in these last few days in sentences lik
e:
Zac's a fucking idiot.
Shut up, Zac.
Zac, I'll see you soon you asshole.
After they have their little bro reunion dirty blond boy finds himself staring a
t me.
"Is this the girlfriend?" he asks, giving a look top to bottom.
I stood awkwardly, leaning against my car.
"Yeah," Archer says, walking over to me and placing an arm around my waist.
His touch causing a little spark, a shiver in the skin.
"She's pretty," he says directed to Archer, soon after diverting his attention t
o me, "What are you doing with somebody like him?"
"Somebody like him?" I ask, a little curious on what he means by that.
"He's dirt, likes to smoke a pack in a few days and drink his college funds." he
tells me.

"Shut up, Zac." Archer says, moving his arm from around my waist and smacking hi
m lightly on the forehead.
Zac rubs his forehead.
"Want to hit the cinema? You can bring your girly friend." Zac asks Archer.
Archer looks back at me, as if he's asking if I want to tag along.
I nod, all three of us piling into Zac's car seconds later.
Archer sitting in the back seat with me.
The movie theater isn't too far and we get there rather quickly, the car parking
in one of the many parking spaces.
Archer gets out quickly, making his way to my side. Zac locking the car doors.
"So, what's a pretty girl like you fake dating Archer?" he asks me, turning arou
nd to face me.
A smile on his face. He knows.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
He gives a small laugh, Archer now knocking on the window.
"Archer told me over the phone the other night that's he dating a girl and you'r
e not like anybody he's dated before. You're a lot better. There's no way he got
you, your body language says it all." he explains, unlocking the car doors.
Finishing off the statement with a friendly grin, he came off like the boy next
door type. Charming, handsome, and a bit on the playful side.
Archer opens my sides door, giving a raised eyebrow.
"The car acted up," I lie.
I get out of the car, Archer taking one of my hands into his. Zac walking ahead
of us, glancing back to give me a wink.
Archer's grip on my hand firm.
He leans a bit closer to me, whispering into my ear, "The car didn't act up."
I swallow a gulp of air.
He continues, "If I were you, I would act like you're madly in love me before yo
ur facade fully falls and people can easily see through us."
I don't say anything and just walk a bit faster, leading him rather than being b
eside him. He's got an institution that Zac's wary of us, well isn't he spot on.
'Act like you're madly in love with me', he says.
I'm not an actress, it's hard to act like I'm in love with somebody I'm not. I d
on't simply fall in love, but if he wants me to act I will. Although I don't act
I rather do that than fall in love because love is an inescapable act.
I just trudge forward, stopping once we reach a ticket vendor. Zac choosing an a
ction film, not even bothering to consult us.
He was most definitely a friend of Archer's.
Archer with his spare hand buys two tickets, one for him and I.
We show a young man our tickets and head inside, quickly finding our theater. Du
e to our arrival time and the movie's start time we've gotten ourselves a wide a
rray of seat selection.
Archer pulls himself and I in front of Zac, I following him into a row towards t
he back of the room. Our seating arrangement ending up for it to be myself, Arch
er, and then Zac.
"I'll get some snacks," Zac announces before hopping out of his seat and heading
towards the exit.
He puts up the arm rest in-between us, shifting over a bit closer to me and plac
ing an arm around me.
"It's cold," he says softly.
"Cold, is that how your heart feels then?" I ask in the same soft tone.
He doesn't flinch at the question, instead pulling me in even closer to him.
"No, my heart's warm sometimes." he says.
Yeah, I guess... Around his family maybe.
"It's warms up for you after all," he continues.
He takes one of my hands and puts it against his chest.
"Feel that?" he asks me.
My hand placed right above his heart.
"That's my heart and it's beating for you."
Instead of revolting at the cheesy statement I smile in the dark of the theater.

He was a little too good at acting like he was in love.

Going from asshole to almost a sweetheart as quickly as it takes for my face to
feel flushed.
Zac returns, passing a cold cup over to me and a bag of gummy bears.
I move my hand from Archer's chest.
"I hope you guys aren't the couple that makes out in intense scenes." he says to
us.
I hope so too, mostly because I don't know what I would do if Archer kissed me r
ight now.
1/8/15
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16. Midnight
The movie wasn't a complete bust, oh and Archer didn't kiss me by the way. He ju
st had his arm around me the whole time, I didn't mind too much. All the acts of
being a couple became so natural, it was almost like we were actually dating.
After the credits rolled we piled back up in Zac's car. Zac made sure to tell us
what he thought of the film.
"That was amazing, if I could be in a movie it would be that one. It was so real
istic and wow. Just wow. Bravo." he says, starting the engine.
I then feel my phone buzz, I check it to see a text.
Are we still going to hang out tonight?
The text was in a group message. Shoot, I totally forgot that Arden, Liam, and I
were supposed to hang out and catch up.
I then show the text to Archer, he squints to read the bright screen.
It was eight p.m. and the sun had set in the time we were in the cinema.
"Tell them to meet us at the diner." he tells me.
I do as I'm told, Archer then tells Zac the directions.
Five short minutes of driving and we're parked in a front row parking space. Lia
m's car already parked nearby.
I then let myself out, walking around the front to meet Archer and take his hand
into mine.
Once we're inside I spot Arden and Liam sitting at a corner booth.
"What took you so lon-" she begins to say just to stop at the sight of Zac.
I thought she would like him, he was pretty good looking if I could say so mysel
f.
"Hi, I'm Zac." Zac then says to her, a wide smile on his face.
She then gives a small smile back before saying, "I'm Arden. Arden Michaelson."
They would look good together, I guess I would work on perhaps setting them up.
I liked to play matchmaker occasionally.
Archer and I then take a seat and slide into the large booth.
"Didn't know you were bringing the asshole," Liam says to me softly, taking a se
at next to me.
But, not soft enough because Archer hears it. I know this because he rolls his e
yes, placing his arm back around my shoulders.
He enjoyed pissing off Liam.
"You're in college?" I hear Arden ask Zac.
He nods and then takes a seat next to Archer, Arden taking one next to him.
"I'm a freshman, studying in the college of business." he tells her.
He probably was trying to impress her with all his college talk and business maj
or.
My friend, fellow waitress Ryan, then appears at our table with a notepad in han
d.
"What may I get you to drink?" she asks us.
* * *
The night was full of laughter, flirting, and angry glares. The laughter shared

throughout, the flirting between Arden and Zac, and the angry glares exchanged b
y Archer and Liam.
When the clock nears midnight and our burgers and fries have been devoured we de
cide to call it a night. Arden giving her number to Zac, he then offers to drive
her home in which she obliges to, Archer ready to follow the flirtatious two in
to Zac's car.
"I can drive Ellie home," Liam says, before I can follow behind Archer.
Archer then stopping at the restaurant front door, turning around with a raised
eyebrow.
"So can I," Archer then says, holding a hand out for me.
"She lives next door, come on." Liam says insistingly.
I then step in before it turns into a duel and say, "I'll go back with Liam and
you can just return my car tomorrow.
Archer then puts his extended hand down and gives a weary nod. Walking out an in
stance later.
Liam's insistence in driving me home would be convenient since I lived next door
. It was also just about midnight so I obliged to Archer's dismay, it was just a
ride home and I was tired.
The car ride was pretty silent, the only noises coming from the stereo and the f
rom our breaths. A short but silent ride.
Once Liam parks the car in his driveway he sighs, brushing a hand through his ha
ir. Not bothering to take his keys out of the car, leaving the soft music to pla
y.
"Ellie, I like you." he says.
"I like you too?" I question back, a little confused.
"No, like my heart swells a bit when you're around type of like. Like the I want
you to break up with Archer because he's an asshole who doesn't deserve you kin
d of like." he explains in a soft tone, now staring me in the eye.
"Archer and I aren't even really dating," I find myself saying.
Liam deserved the truth at least, if I couldn't tell him I liked him the way he
wanted me to I had to tell him this. I mean Zac knew, intentionally or not but h
e knew.
Once he comprehends what i've said the smallest of smiles appear on his face, fo
llowed by a sigh of relief.
"You and him aren't really dating, like it's for show or you're only with him ca
sually?" he asks me.
I nod.
"We're in a relationship, but not for the right reasons. Everything you've seen
and heard are just a string of lies, Archer's just helping me out." I explain to
him.
I couldn't lie to Liam, I just couldn't.
"Then do I have a chance?" he asks me, a little glimpse of hope in his voice.
I think for a moment, does he? I mean I think he's incredible ad he surely would
never hurt me, it's just that I've never thought of him in a romantic way. It w
ouldn't be a bad thing to date him, he's a really good guy...
"You'll always have a chance," I find myself answer.
"I promise not to get too jealous when you're with him, knowing that you don't f
eel anything for him... Unless you do, do you?"
I think for yet another moment. Giving no reply for a good bit of time.
"I don't know, but I sure do hope I don't feel anything."
1/14/15
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17. Strike
"Grey, won't you make me a very happy man and let me take you out today?" Archer
suggests, leaning against my baby blue beetle.

The same one we first kissed against, except now it had been several weeks later
and he was now returning the car after damaging it.
I give Archer a slightly raised eyebrow, looking down at my attire. I wouldn't c
all a plain white t shirt and rolled up boyfriend jeans date attire. I was weari
ng a very Monday lazy day of an outfit.
"Depends, what's the agenda if I say yes?" I question back, not bothering to say
a definite answer.
Today was supposed to be a snuggly ice cream in bed type of day. The type where
I would think about how Liam told me he liked me and how two people knew that Ar
cher and I weren't a real thing... Well actually four people, but who's counting
us.
I should probably tell him I told Liam, but then again no.
"I take you to a romantic bowling alley because today's half off and then you pr
ofess your undying love for me." he answers, opening up the passenger door as if
he knew I would say yes.
I roll my eyes, then tell him to wait a moment and grab my cross body and a flan
nel from inside just in case I get cold, taking a seat next to him in the car. I
think he drives my car more than I do.
He hooks up his shatter smartphone into the car and puts on some alternative mus
ic, his music taste seeming to be much like my own.
The ride being pretty boring with the occasional comments one of us makes, the r
ide being short after all.
However, it wasn't short enough to have me not be able to think. Mostly about Ar
cher, a little about Liam.
The moment the car clock strikes noon we've pulled up to the local bowling alley
, numerous amounts of people making their way in and out. I step out of the car
and start heading for the inside, Archer's hand on my lower back as we walk.
Once we reach the front counter he pulls out his wallet.
"One lane, two people, two games." he says to the girl running the counter.
She nods and then tells him the total amount, her then asking for shoe sizes.
"Eleven for me, eight for my girlfriend." he tells her, she returns back with th
em seconds later.
He takes both pairs from her and shows me to our lane, passing me a pair of shoe
s.
"How did you know my shoe size?" I ask him.
I take off my Chuck Taylor's, wrap my flannel around my waist, and put on the gr
oovy bowling shoes.
He simply shrugs, "I guessed."
I take a seat at the electronic game board, ready to set up the game. Archer tel
ls me that he's going to go get us some bowling balls to use.
I punching in our names into the system.
Archer and Grey.
After him calling me by my last name so much I've just automatically been callin
g myself by it too.
As I'm working in finding a bowling theme I feel a tap on the shoulder, I turn a
round to see a dark haired and brown eyed guy. He looked about nineteen.
"Hey, beautiful." he says, his voice deep and his smirk predominant.
I just give a small and polite smile back.
"I'm Blake, I'll be at the lane next to yours if you need anything," he says, gi
ving a wink before walking back to his area.
I don't react to his flirtatious gesture, Archer now in sight holding two round
balls. He places them in their cubby.
"Who was that?" he asks, staring at the guy who just had spoke to me.
I shrug.
He gives me a raised eyebrow of a look before putting his own bowling shoes on,
myself pressing start for the game.
I grab the lighter of the two balls because I have the upper body strength of a
two year old and then throw the ball down the alley. Hitting just about two pins
.
A rather bad showing, I know this because Archer laughs at me.

I deeply exhale and grab the ball again when it returns, throwing it once more j
ust for it to get in the gutter.
Archer laughs again, this time a bit harder.
"Sweetheart, that's sad." he manages to say after his laughter before picking up
a ball of his own.
He then positions himself a feet or so from the foul line and throws the ball st
raight down the alley, he hits all ten pins.
"Strike!" he exclaims, doing a victorious hand motion.
I roll my eyes at his prideful action, he invited me to play a game he was an ex
pert at. Was this a date or just a way for him to show off?
"You're lame," I say as he walks by me.
He gives a cocky smile.
"Says the girl who's losing."
I then roll my eyes for what seems like the hundredth time today.
Also, failing to get a spare or strike the next three times. Archer getting eith
er one each time.
It's the last throw for us both, Archer's turn now. He stands with a ball in han
d, taking unnecessary dramatic breaths before his last shot. I stand behind him
in a bit of a slump.
"You may not win the game, but you could win my heart." I hear a familiar deep v
oice say, Blake walking up next to me as I watch Archer in his preparation to wi
n.
I give him a small smile.
"Sorry, but I've got my boyfriend's heart to win over." I tell him, honestly.
He scoffs a bit before whispering into my ear, "That's no fun. If you ever want
to have some fun however you can just call me, we would have to tell the boyfrie
nd."
I shiver in disgust, he was just another player who didn't care if a girl was ta
ken. I only seem to attract players. One after another, minus Liam of course.
I close my eyes and sigh, hearing a groan the moment I open my eyes.
I look over to see Blake clutching his family jewels and all their glory.
"Sorry, the ball just slipped out of my hands." I hear Archer say, a plastered l
ook of sympathy on his face.
Blake then gives a sharp glare at Archer before walking away the best he can.
Archer then placing the ball he whacked Blake with back into the cubby. He walks
up to me and brushes a few loose strands from my pony tail away.
"I think that's enough bowling for today," he announces, in just above a mumble.
He stares at me, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Why do you have to be so pretty? You seem to always catch boys attention." he s
ays, moving seconds later and taking off his bowling shoes.
I give a small smile at what he just said and take off my shoes, putting my Chuc
k Taylor's back on. We both pick up a single bowling ball and walk over to the b
owling ball racks.
I look for the rack that holds the nine pound bowling balls, ready to tell him w
hat happened after the diner last night. I feel like I was obliged to tell him,
to tell him that his suspicion of Liam liking me were correct.
"Liam told me he liked me last night when he dropped me off," I say, placing the
bowling ball back on it's rack.
He too returns the one he used to it's designated rack.
"And what did you reply?" he questions looking straight at me, awaiting a favora
ble reply.
"That he's got a chance." I reply, looking him right back in the eyes.
He then breaks the eye contact immediately before saying, "You shouldn't give th
e boy next door false hope."
"What if it's not false hope?" I ask, he stops his actions.
"What if I do like him, what if he's the guy I need-" I continue just to be cut
off by him.
"I won't let you fall for him, I'm the only person you're allowed to fall in lov
e with." he says, dropping the subject and returning our borrowed bowling shoes.
He then takes one of my hands and leads me to the car, opening the passenger doo

r up for me and then getting in himself.

"Don't forget that okay?" he asks me, starting the engine.
"Okay," I find myself saying.
1/16/15
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18. Happy One Month
//photo for this chapter gives me the feels... Arlliot/Ercher feels.
Happy one month anniversary
I see displayed on my phone's screen right before I'm about to jump in the showe
r. The message from Archer of course because the only person I'm semi relatively
dating is him. In fact it's crazy to think that we've been fake dating for a mo
nth, a whole month. It felt like so much longer and yet I've still not charmed h
im quite enough. I still barely know about him and yet he seems to know every as
pect of my life.
I shake the thoughts out of my head and finish up with my shower. I didn't like
to take too much time in it.
Once I've dried myself a bit and semi clothed myself I take a step into my close
t. Looking for something appropriate to wear for the occasion, maybe I could wea
r a nice dress or something.
After several debating moments I pick out a casual black dress and jean jacket c
ombination, pairing it with some black sandals. A cute and simple look, I would
let my make up stand out a bit. A natural look, but yet one that highlighted my
face and brought out my eyes.
I apply a coat of mascara before taking a step back from my room's mirror and ju
st stare. I looked pretty good, a bit happier too. Whether I would like to admit
it or not... Being around Archer made me a bit happier, I mean ever since the w
hole Ryder thing. I couldn't figure out exactly why but that's alright.
As I'm putting on my sandals I hear a knock on my bedroom door. I open the door
to see a smirking bad boy who's holding a dozen red roses, the same red roses th
at my corsage had.
"Happy one month anniversary, Grey." Archer says, his smirk turning into a smile
.
I give him a smile back and he gives me the roses, I accept them and breathe the
ir light fragrance in. I place the bouquet in a empty jar, filling up the jar wi
th water from the faucet.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, let's get to school before we get a detention
or two." he then says, gently pushing me out of my room and into my car.
In the time he was escorting me out of my room I managed to grab my backpack, hi
m grabbing my keys. Whenever I was around him I didn't have to drive in which wa
s very awesome because I don't love driving. And I haven't driven at all for the
past week, Archer coming by every morning on his motorcycle. Once he arrives we
drive to school together in my car.

This week was pretty average, this Friday probably also following the previous d
ays trend. The days went by with the usual stares from others and flirtatious re
marks from Archer.
"We babysit Sofia tomorrow," he tells me, reminding me of what I agreed to do wi
th him when he was drunk and relentless.
I nod.
"What's the plan?" I ask, the car stopping at a red light.
"My aunt is dropping her off at my house at ten in the morning because she's got
some maternity class and then a doctor's appointment. If you could come by just
around ten that would be great. My aunt will be back around to pick up Sofia at
four in the afternoon and then we can watch a movie at my place or cuddle and s
hit." he tells me, I laugh.
After Sofia gets picked up he would be willing to 'cuddle and shit' oh okay. The
thought of us cuddling made me laugh, he did not look like a cuddle lover at al
l. A good kisser maybe, but I don't know about him being a good cuddle buddy.
We arrive at school with ten minutes until the first bell, he walks me to my fir
st class.
The same girl who originally asked me if Archer and I were dating sat next to me
, looking at me with a kind smile.
"You two are cute, the bad boy and the good girl... How long have you two been d
ating?" she asks me as I get myself ready for the upcoming class.
"Exactly one month," I tell her with a similar small smile.
One whole month.
* * *
"You look beautiful today," I hear a voice say next to me as I shut my locker.
I look at the voice to realize its owner is Liam. He's got a genuine smile on hi
s face and a nice blue shirt on that brings out his eyes.
"Thank you. A girl would be stupid to not date such a kind flatterer like you."
I tell him honestly.
His smile fades a bit before replying, "You must be stupid then."
I give him a small smile; I surely must be stupid to not like such a great guy l
ike him.
I walk with Liam to the cafeteria, spotting the table Arden's sitting at. She's
got her earbuds in her ear and she's madly texting away, to Zac I presume. I mea
n she's told me how they've been chatting and that she's got a date with him thi
s weekend.
Liam then walks over to Arden and takes an earbud out of her ear to ask, "Arden,
what if Zac turns out to be a big asshole?"

She takes out the other earbud, wrapping them around her pink cased phone. She a
lso manages to roll her eyes at Liam's statement.
"You never know, I mean after all his best friend is the biggest asshole in the
world." he says, not aware that Archer just arrived at the table and is standing
right behind him.
Archer just simply taps Liam on the shoulder, Liam turns around with a deep sigh
.
"The biggest asshole in the world that's dating Grey." Archer says with a dazzli
ng fake smile in order to try and get under Liam's skin.
And it works a bit because Liam bites his lip before muttering out a response.
"Fake dating," he mumbles.
My eyes widen a bit, hoping that Archer did not hear what he said. He didn't kno
w that I told Liam about how we weren't really dating.
"What? I didn't quite hear what you said pretty boy." Archer says, taking a seat
and gesturing for me to sit next to him.
"I said-" Liam begins, just for me to take one of his hands and sit him down nex
t to me.
I hope that he'll get the message to perhaps not spill the beans.
"I said that you're dating her for now." he then says, Archer then shaking his h
ead.
Arden laughs, a smug look on her face, I think she enjoys seeing the boys all ri
led up.
The boys have a synchronized huff before they start to eat their lunches, the si
lence of us eating not lasting more than five minutes.
"Happy one month, babe." Archer says, placing a thin wrapped up box onto the tab
le.
I give him a glance, he's got a smile on his face as he watches my reaction to t
he gift.
I then pick up the small box and begin to unwrap it, once I've taken off the pap
er layer it reveals a CD.
"The CD has the first song we ever danced to, that night at my cousin's birthday
party." he explains.
I turn the CD around, it having the poorly sung Kids Bop song indeed listed on t
he CD case.
My lips turn into a big smile. It was somewhat cute that he remembered the song
we first kind of danced to.
"You're lame, but thank you." I tell him, giving him a hug.
He's taken a bit by surprise by the hug I give him, reacting several seconds lat
er. Once he does he puts his arms around me firmly, as best as he can because we
're sitting down.

"No problem, only the best for my girl." he replies quietly into my ear.
1/20/15
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19. Babysitting
I arrived at Archer's at ten like he told me to, arriving at the same time as So
fia did. Her mother was wearing a look of exhaustion as she handed her daughter
over to Archer, her belly round. I greet the very pregnant lady politely right b
efore she takes off for her appointments.
Archer holds Sofia in his hands, she's messing with the glasses he's got on. Oh,
yeah. He's sporting a pair of glasses that I've yet to see and he wears them ve
ry well by the way.
He moves from the doorway and lets me in, making his way to the couch to put Sof
ia down. I take off the Chuck Taylor's I'm wearing and put my cross body down be
fore making my way over to the couch. He's put on a children's channel on for he
r by the time I sit down next to her, he sits on the other side of her.
"She takes a nap after lunch and for lunch I've got some gourmet macaroni and ch
eese planned." Archer says, his eyes looking down at the little girl.
She's got a smile on her face as she watches the program in which causes both Ar
cher and I to smile. Sofia was adorable with her wavy brown hair and blue eyes,
after all it only made sense because her mother was beautiful. I guess good look
s run in Archer's family, I wonder if he looks like his parents a lot. I mean I'
ve never seen them, not even a photo of them displayed on the walls.
Once the first program ends Archer tells me to watch Sofia as he cooks lunch, I
do as I'm told. I turn off the tv and then get out a few books from her diaper b
ag beside me. Once she sees the books she snuggles a bit closer to me and points
at the book she wants me to read to her first. It's a princess book.
I open up the book and read each page slow enough so she gets a chance to stare
at the drawings, she looks up to me with various faces as the story goes on.
About thirty minutes pass and I've finished up reading both stories, twice. Arch
er calling us for lunch right when we finish up. Sofia wiggles off the couch and
runs to the dining table, Archer having to help her up onto a chair. I walk ove
r and take a seat next to her, our lunch already sitting in front of us. Utensil
s and everything.
"Mac and Cheese!" she yells in her high pitched voice, taking her plastic spoon
and digging in.
I laugh at her behavior, the little girl surely loved herself some macaroni. Arc
her then sits himself down, placing three juice pouches on the table.
"I hope you like watered down fruit punch," he tells me, placing Sofia's straw i
nto a juice pack for her.
I eat in silence, the macaroni reminding me a bit of when I was little and when
my dad would try cooking for my mother and I. Archer's macaroni tasting ten time
s better than my father's burnt to the crisp version.
Our meal overall is pretty silent, Sofia preoccupied with her beloved mac and ch
eese. I too hungry to talk; I may of skipped breakfast.
Once Sofia finishes up her bowl of pasta and juice she begins to rub her eyes, i
ndicating that she was becoming tired. Little kids needed naps after all, they w
ere still growing and all that great stuff.
I pick up the finished dishes and place them in the sink, beginning to wash them
. Archer then picks up Sofia and wipes her hands and face off.
"I'm going to put her down for a nap." he tells me, walking off seconds later.
I nod, finishing up with the dishes and placing them onto a drying rack.
I then take some time to browse around in the kitchen, placing already dried dis
hes into their designated cupboards. As I'm about to place some cheese Archer le

ft out from when he cooked into the fridge I spot a familiar photo strip. It's o
f Archer and I at the winter formal; the last photo looks like we're kissing. Al
l the photos nice, especially the one where he's got a wide grin on his face.
Looking at the small photo he smiled in I began to display a smile.
"Do you like the photos?" I hear him ask as he walks back into the kitchen.
I turn around and give a nod.
"I thought that they were definitely fridge worthy." he says, a small smile on h
is face.
He's been smiling more often rather than just smirking. It was nice and I really
enjoyed his smile.
"I bought some ingredients to make cookies, let's make them while the little mun
chkin is asleep." he tells me, pulling out a few items from the cabinets and ref
rigerator.
He pulls out a few mixing bowls and whisks, also opening up a cookbook to a page
that displays a cookie recipe.
I read the first few lines and begin to prepare the ingredient, measuring them o
ut and everything. He helps by placing out baking pans and nonstick spray, I gue
ss he meant I would be doing the baking and he would be helping.
I dump all the ingredients into one large bowl after they're all measured out, A
rcher leaning against the counter with a suspicious look. I ignore the look and
just stare at my bowl of miscellaneous ingredients, ready to whisk them all toge
ther.
"Our children would be good looking motherfuckers." he says out of the blue, cau
sing my whisking to come to a halt.
His little statement causes me to whip my head around towards him, my eyes no lo
nger on the cookies I'm preparing to bake. His suspicious look now a smirk.
"Our," I manage to say, "Our children?"
He nods and does some sort of shrug.
"Yeah, like if you and I fucked and forgot to use protection it wouldn't be awfu
l because at least our child would be like model status." he explains with a bit
too much passion in his voice.
I gape at him.
It's as if he would be okay if we had a kid, as if we were a thing. He was quite
unbelievable and I did not want to become a mother so young.
"Babe, close your mouth before I close it for you." he says, then picking up a c
ookie cutter to mess with.
I pick up some flour from the bowl next to me and throw it at him before exclaim
ing, "I'm not your babe!"
He chuckles before leaning over and grabbing a handful of flour also.
"But, you will be."
I then find flour splattered across my plain black tee. He wanted to play dirty,
I could play dirty.
I picked up an egg from the carton and then cracked it on top of his head.
"Oops," I say before chuckling.
He picks up two and by then I'm running for my dear life around the house, him c
hasing me. He's chunking eggs, flour, sugar, and rainbow sprinkles at me while I
run away from his attack. So much for baking. At some point I trip in which tri
ps him and somehow he ends up on top of me in a not so compromising way, his arm
s supporting his weight.
"Sprinkles and raw egg is a good look for you." he whispers with a small smile o
n his face.
My right hand wipes some egg substance off his face and he lets out a deep set o
f chuckles, in which make me chuckle.
"Are you going to get your fat body off of me someday?" I ask teasingly.
He frowns. "I'm not fat, it's all muscle."
I raise my eyebrow and wait for a real answer in which he delivers seconds later
.
"After this," he says lowly.
I look at him weirdly before I notice his eyes are staring at my lips. I don't m
ove and just stare at him. He makes a move and lowers his face to be closer to m

ine, I don't reject his advance and begin to feel the very tip of his lips again
st mine.
"I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I lost..." he whispers into my lips, lost in t
he moment.
By this point I'm ready to just pull his face to mine and kiss him hard. I wante
d to kiss him as much as he probably wanted to kiss me. He's about to connect ou
r lips when I hear the sound of footsteps, I try to ignore them and just remembe
r Archer's lips almost against mine.
Before his lips get the chance to fully touch mine the doorbell chimes, twice.
We then pause, my hand about to throw sugar at him, and then I try my best to ma
ke myself presentable. He too does the same, picking some sprinkles or egg out o
f his hair.
"Fucking hell!" he relatively yells right before I open the front door to see hi
s best friend.
"Did I interrupt something?" Zac asks, an unnecessary smirk on his face.
Archer and I both don't reply and I just continue to pick sprinkles out of my ha
ir.
"Thought I heard something... Something like the moaning of Archer's name." Zac
says, putting a hand against his head as if he didn't plan to say that.
I blush a deep red and then pushed Archer in front of me to cover my blush.
"Aren't you guys babysitting... Does watching Sofia inspire you two to make your
own baby?" Zac asks.
The boy needed a sensor on his mouth, or some duct tape.
"We would make adorable children wouldn't we?" Archer chimes in and asks Zac, hi
s frustration in the interruption of our almost kiss only slightly present in hi
s voice.
"Well, Ellie's quite outstanding and you're okay... So yeah." Zac replies slowly
as if he truly thought about it.
"Archer," I say with a sigh.
He turns around on me, his face close to mine.
"Grey," he says with the same sigh, giving me a dimpled smile right after.
Zac lets himself in, walking past us and finding his spot on the sofa. He turns
on the tv and finds some movie that's playing.
"Movie night, come on lovebirds." he says to us, gesturing to the couch.
We hesitate for a moment, I mean we were obviously dirty and would only mess up
the couch. He gestures again, Archer giving a shrug as if indicating that it did
n't matter if we would possibly stain the couch.
Archer and I then park ourselves on it, Archer placing an arm around my shoulder
s once I've sat down. I lean against him, ready to doze off.
The little food fight took out all my energy, I also happened to go to sleep lat
e last night too.
I close my eyes just after seeing a small smile form on Archer's lips, his eyes
on me.
Also feeling his heartbeat before completely drifting off. Oh, and it was beatin
g quite fast.
1/21/15
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20. Cuddles
I wake up to the sound of the front door close, I move around a bit to notice th
at Archer's arm is no longer around me. I find myself frowning a bit at that.
"I'm here," I hear his voice say, his body making it's way back to the couch.
He places his arm back around me and lays us down a bit, my head against his che
st.
"Sofia woke up about thirty minutes ago and just got picked up. I've got cookies

in the oven right now and Zac's picking up some takeout." he informs me, his vo
ice low and soft.
I don't say anything and just close my eyes once more, hearing his gentle breath
s.
"Grey, I'm not a pillow." he says to me softly.
"You're the one who came back and put your arm around me." I reply.
"I didn't say I didn't like being your pillow, just saying that I'm not that sof
t. I've got abs."
"Thanks for the cuddle and shit," I mumble out.
I hear a loud noise come from outside, Archer's grip a little firmer on me.
The front door then twists open to reveal Zac, he's got a number of paper bags i
n his hands. He locks the door behind him and then drops the bags onto the coffe
e table in front of Archer and I.
"I accidentally kicked the recycling bin on the way in," he says, taking a seat
next to me.
Archer nods and sits us up in order to grab the tv remote, choosing a movie on N
etflix to play. I think it's some sort of comedy. Archer then completely moves h
is arm from around me, taking out the to go boxes from the paper bags.
I get up and grab a few water bottles from the fridge, giving a glance at the ph
oto booth strip of us before returning to the couch.
I really liked the photo strip for some strange reason.
Once I sit myself back down Archer's digging into a small paper box, sauce and e
verything splattered on his face. I laugh at the sight and get a napkin, wiping
his face with it a second later.
Archer the excuses himself in order to go to restroom fifteen minutes later, Zac
's attention diverting from the food and landing on me once he's out of sight.
"You've either become quite the actress or have started to develop feelings for
my best friend... Which one is it?" he asks me quietly, picking at his food.
I say nothing and just continue to eat.
"No comment?" he asks.
I just stare at him with a crooked smile.
"I have started to develop feelings for your best friend, it's okay if you devel
op some for mine." he tells me, returning a smile.
Archer comes in sight and plops himself on the couch.
"I'm tired Zac, we can finish the movie some other time." he says within yawns.
Zac sighs, getting up and putting his jacket on.
"Night lovebirds," he tells us, Archer and I on the couch looking at him.

Zac winks at me and walks out the door, Archer getting up seconds later to lock
it.
I get up and throw away our foods trash, Archer joining me in the clean up proce
ss.
"It's late, Grey." he tells me.
"Yeah?" I say, it coming out more of a question.
"Stay the night, I don't want you driving at the same time drunkards do." he say
s, staring at me now.
I check the time on the microwave, it was getting late and I was too exhausted t
o drive. My dad worked late and surely wouldn't mind if I stayed over with a fri
end or a boy that I'm fake dating... Surely.
I nod at his statement netherless, he gives a small smile and then walks off to
fetch some clothes I can use as pajamas. He returns a few minutes later with gre
y joggers and a new (not sprinkle or egg yolk infested) white t shirt.
I take the clothes from him and change in the bathroom, leaving my clothes next
to my purse. So I wouldn't lose them.
Once I'm done with wiping off whatever make up I have on and using the restroom
I see that the living room and kitchen lights are off. Only the room down the ha
ll's faint light on, I enter it to see a shirtless Archer who's wearing identica
l grey joggers.
He lays himself down on the unmade white bed and gestures for me to come and lay
down with him, I do as I'm told and lay down next to him. He turns off the lamp
on the bedside table right before placing an arm around me, snuggling his nose
against my neck.
I give off a small smile he can't see in the dark, still lingering on the hope t
hat Zac's second presumption wasn't true. Although my heart was definitely sayin
g otherwise.
1/30/15
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21. Sunrise
At about five in the morning I found myself awake, awake to not find Archer snug
gled near me. Instead the bedsheets are wrapped around me and the alarm clock is
illuminated my blurry red numbers. I unwillingly prop myself up, placing my fee
t on the plush carpet.
"Archer?" I call out, just to receive no sort of response.
I then get up completely and tiptoe out to the living room, just to see Archer s
itting down on the back patio with a mug in hand in the darkness.
I slide open the patio door and take a barefoot step out. The winter air hitting
me as soon as I'm completely out.
He slightly turns around and gives a faint smile.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." I hear his deep voice whisper.
"Morning, West." I reply.
I take a seat next to him, he gets up. He opens the sliding doors and goes insid
e just to return a minute later with a thick blanket. He places it over my shoul
der and then sits back down beside me, I then place the blanket over both our sh

oulders.
"What are you doing up so early?" he asks me.
I raise an eyebrow and mimic the statement he just asked me, "What are you doing
up so early?"
"I like mornings, gives me time to think." he replies.
"Think about what?" I question, hoping he'll give me more than a short sentence
response.
"Anything. Everything."
I then watch him as he grabs a glass bottle I didn't notice he had, an alcoholic
one.
"It's five in the morning," I murmur as he takes a swig from the bottle.
He snorts before replying, "Time has never stopped me before."
I don't reply and just glance over every so often to see him take the whole bott
le as the sunrises, even grabbing another. His breaths and hiccups apparent by w
hat is probably six.
"You're drunk aren't you?" I ask him.
"I'm alright," he responds.
I roll my eyes, he liked his alcohol still. Probably still liked his cigarettes
too.
"I haven't smoked in two weeks," he randomly exclaims, as if he read my mind.
I smile a bit at the statement.
"Can't quite give up the alcohol yet though." he continues, his breath stinking
of whatever he's been consuming.
What a shame.
"Let's play a game!" he exclaims, throwing his hands in the air like a child.
Before I can say yes or no he's already speaking again.
"We ask each other questions in which the other person has to answer truthfully.
Whoever refuses to answer a question first... Loses." he explains.
I tilt my head back a bit before sighing, "Okay, okay. You first."
There's silence for a long moment, probably for five minutes or so. The only sou
nd being of birds chirping, cars passing, and our intertwining breaths.
"How many boys have you dated?" he finally asks, the question being so simple an
d yet he took so long to ask it.
"Two, minus us fake dating." I reply, remembering my two previous boyfriends.
One being Ryder Cheating Nilsen and the other, my first boyfriend, being this gu
y I dated for three months in middle school. We were only Facebook serious, don'
t worry.
"How many girls have you been with?" I ask in return.
He thinks for a moment before answering, "None."
I look at him with slightly wide eyes.
He laughs.
"Really?" I question.
"Yes, really. I've never had a real relationship." he responds, giving me a loop
y smile.
The alcohol was definitely settling in. I know this because he was always more s
miley when he was drunk.
It was also a bit shocking to hear that he's never had a girlfriend, I mean of c
ourse he's had kisses and flings surely but knowing that he's never been in a re
lationship was unbelievable. Archer West has never been in a 'real' relationship
.
That made me unselfconsciously sigh a sigh of relief, it was good to know that I
was possibly the closest thing to a girlfriend he's had.
"Do you want kids in the future? I mean you do great around your cousins and the
y make you happy." I say, using up yet another question and shaking off my previ
ous string of thoughts.
He doesn't hesitate to answer, "Yeah, I do. I want my own little soccer team."
"Your poor future wife... She's going to have to deal with being pregnant multip
le times and giving birth to all those little Archer's." I reply jokingly.
He laughs, his cheeks a bright pink.
"What are your parents like?" he asks, changing the topic of discussion.

I hesitate for a second before softly responding, "My dad's a police officer and
well... My mom passed away a few years ago."
He gives a light nod, to indicate he heard what I said.
Minutes pass of full fledged silence, his voice breaking the silence after a lon
g moment of staring at the risen sun.
"Grey, since we're telling the truth why don't I tell you one more thing?"
I give a raised eyebrow, he sets the latest alcohol bottle down and gives a chuc
kle.
"I'm the reason Ryder cheated on you," he whispers, as he leans his head against
me.
Not at all fazed by the words that left his mouth, however, I wish I could say t
he same.
"It's my fault Nilsen cheated on you."
2/10/15
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22. The Truth
"It's my fault Nilsen cheated on you."
"What?" I ask, taken off guard by what he just said.
He moves his head from my shoulder and takes a look at me. Realization appearing
in his drunken eyes in less than a minute.
"I'm drunk, I don't know what I'm saying!" he exclaims, trying to roll the subje
ct off as he picks up the alcohol bottle again.
I shake my head and take the bottle out of his hand.
I get myself up, the blanket that gave me warmth falling down at my action.
"Tell me the truth," I order.
He stares at the bottle in my hand instead of staring directly at me. He may be
tipsy, but he was still conscious.
"Ryder met your cousin because I set them up. I didn't know she was your cousin,
I swear, and he offered me money if I got him laid. He said he wasn't getting a
nything from his girlfriend and I needed cash. But, then he got caught cheating
and so he didn't give me the money. If I knew it was you he was cheating on I wo
uldn't have set him up. Grey, believe me when I say I'm sorry because I am." he
states in a jumble.
"You're willing to ruin peoples happiness for money, you're no worse than Ryder.
He may of been the one who cheated on me, but how come I feel like as if you di
d too in a way."
He doesn't respond.
"Grey, I'm sorry." he says, staring at me in the eye.
I divert my eyes and open up the glass door, closing it behind me.
I grabbed my keys and bag, ready to leave. However, I feel a hand on my wrist be
fore I can reach the door.
I turn around to see regret in his eyes.
"Grey," he whispers.
I move his hand off of me.
"I have to go," I whisper back.
I open the front door and close it behind me, walking to my car with the slight
hope that he would stop me. If he did wouldn't that mean he cared?
But, he doesn't come after me and I get in the car, drive away, and bury myself
in my bed.
I take out my phone from my cross body and unlock it once I've come up with a pr
oper text message to send.
Send to Archer.
Sorry I found out Ryder was cheating on me, sorry you couldn't get that cold har
d cash you wanted. Don't worry about picking me up for school or walking me to c
lass, I can just find another asshole. After all they seem to be the only guys I
attract.
2/11/15

Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
23. A Chance
It was late afternoon now and Liam had come over, he came over with brownies una
ware of the mess of a state I was in.
Archer West had me feeling a number or emotions. And happy was not one of them.
Once Liam realized how upset I was he called Arden over, not even bothering to a
sk what was upsetting me.
Fifteen minutes of him trying to make me smile and Arden's bursting through my b
edroom door.
I groan because I was not in the happy spirit, I just found out Archer introduce
d my ex boyfriend to my cousin just so get could get paid.
I couldn't tell if the news upset me or if it made me sad, maybe a mixture of bo
th. All I know was that it shocked me and I needed space and time to relieve mys
elf of it.
"Let's go to a party, it'll be fun." Arden says, pulling me out of bed.
"It's a Sunday," I mumble.
"We don't have school tomorrow and it's first string quarterback's birthday." sh
e responds, shutting my hesitations down.
I don't say anything and just sigh, she takes my sigh as 'yes' and proceeds by k
icking Liam out of the room.
I stand in front of my bed, ready for Arden to rummage through my closest and fi
nd a party appropriate dress. I mean, if I chose something she would just instan
tly reject it.
She then pulls out a little black dress and some pumps for me to wear in which I
dress myself into. She then grabs an outfit for herself, we practically were si
sters so I didn't mind.
I put on some make-up, nothing too drastic other than maybe my red lipstick.
In about twenty minutes we're dressed and ready, Arden wearing red and I wearing
black.
We walk out to the living room to see Liam in a different shirt from before. He
must of gotten a bit ready too.
"You look beautiful," he says to me.
I give him a small smile, Arden rolls her eyes.
We then make our way into Liam's car, the drive to the party being no more than
seven minutes.
Once we drive up to the lot the sound of music rings in my ears, numerous other
cars also parking.
The car stops and Liam walks over to my side in order to open the door for me, I
thank him.
Liam puts an arm around my waist and says in my ear, "I don't want guys thinking
they can just hit on you."
"People think I'm dating Archer." I say into his ear.
"Well that sucks because I don't plan on letting you go." he exclaims.
The house is shaking when we step inside, a number of strangers walking past the
foyer.
Arden then excuses herself from Liam and I, claiming that she left something in
the car.
Liam then walks us to the kitchen, numerous bottles of alcohol on display.
He takes a bottle and pours the liquid in a red plastic cup, don't worry it isn'
t alcohol. He doesn't drink, his dad was a major alcoholic for the longest time
and he doesn't feel like following his father's footsteps. He's now got one hand
holding the cup and one of his hand's holding one of mine.
It kind of just happened and I didn't exactly mind it.
He offers me a soda in which I accept, he takes a canned one versus pouring a li
ter of soda into a cup.
We then squeeze our way out of the kitchen and make our way outside by the pool.
The host of the party walking up to us.

"Hey, Liam." he says to Liam, patting him on the back.

"Hey, Evan. Nice party." he replies, his grip on my hand firmer.
Evan then takes a glance at us, past us, and then looks at our interlocked hands
.
He smirks before saying, "I would let her hand go if I were you, Liam."
Liam gives a confused look, taking a glance behind him. I take a glance back as
well, dropping my soda as soon as my eyes see a quite familiar sight.
Archer, and he's standing there with a bottle of Vodka in his hands.
Archer looks at me, I look back at him and take my hand out of Liam's.
He opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out.
I too don't say anything and just walk back inside. I then see Arden and pull he
r away from a girl she's talking to.
"I have to go," I tell her, expecting for her to try and convince me to stay.
But, she doesn't. She just gives me a small smile.
"I'll see you back at your house in less than an hour, I've got some things to s
ort out." she tells me, pressing her phone against her right ear.
I walk outside of the house, hearing the footsteps of another trailing behind me
.
I turn around entirely.
"You can't leave without me," Liam says.
I sigh a sigh of relief, it wasn't Archer. It wasn't Archer because he didn't ca
re enough to chase after me.
Liam and I then get back into the car, however, he doesn't start the engine.
"What happened with him?" Liam asks softly, knowing that it was probably a touch
y subject.
I sigh once more.
"Archer's an asshole." I manage to say.
He laughs a bit before replying, "I could of told you that, Ellie."
Silence fills the car for the next minute.
Silence because anyone could tell that Archer was an asshole. He was.
"Ellie, could you do something for me?" he then asks, breaking the momentary sil
ence.
His eyes were now looking at me, a serious expression on his face.
"Give me a chance."
He then starts the engine and we're driving away from the house. His eyes don't
glance over at me the whole car ride.
The car stops in between our houses, he doesn't shut off the engine and just sta
res at the dashboard.
"I love you and yet you're hung up on some smirking asshole." he says in barely
a whisper.
I put one of my hands on him, just above his right knee.
He looks over at me.
"I can trust you with my heart right?" I ask him, a small slightly forced smile
appearing on my face.
He gives a nod and moves himself closer to me, planting a kiss on my forehead.
"Surely."
2/17/15
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24. Archer
***Archer's pov***
Sorry I found out Ryder was cheating on me, sorry you couldn't get that cold har
d cash you wanted. Don't worry about picking me up for school or walking me to c
lass, I can just find another asshole. After all they seem to be the only guys I
attract.
I was just another asshole to her, I was just another asshole.
I wouldn't blame her if she decided to call quits on our fake relationship or if
she proclaimed vocally her hatred towards me.

I couldn't blame her for a thing, it was me who deserved all the blame.
I knew it was wrong that I ever made the deal with Ryder, it was so utterly wron
g. I was so desperate for the cash that I swept any morals away.
And now I'm stuck out on my back patio with a bottle of whiskey and too many iss
ues to count.
Too many liquor bottles drunken on half assed feelings preoccupying various loca
tions of my house.
My mother surely wouldn't be proud of this, if she was here I would definitely b
e shipped off to a reform school or be grounded for an eternity.
But, what did that matter?
Why would she care?
She was two states away laying on possibly her death bed because the medical bil
ls are adding up and our savings is terminating. If anything she was caring abou
t other serious things, like if she was going to live to see the next day.
Cancer was a pain in the ass.
It made my father a certified alcoholic, my mother weaker than lead, and made me
just another cigarette smoking asshole.
One that was following an awful father's footsteps. I had probably reached his a
lcohol intake and my lungs were probably just as crumbled.
All I needed now was to become a federal criminal and start a family just to bai
l out on it.
Bail out on my family like how Ryder bailed out on me.
Him bailing out on our poisonous deal had two side effects.
1) Allowed me to spend time with a smart ass girl in spite of making Nilsen feel
like shit.
2) Allowed the said girl to eventually find out about the poisonous deal and hat
e me.
And then there was the third thing, one that wasn't quite a side effect but defi
nitely something.
3) Allowed me to feel a spark I had never quite felt before.
A spark that made me extremely confused, so confused that I found myself taking
a twenty minute shower.
Hoping that it would wash away the strangeness, that it would make me forget the
look she gave me before walking out.
But, it didn't work and I ended up feeling lightheaded with a craving of vodka.
I had heard there was a party going on a block away, at some football playing at
hlete's house.
The host didn't matter much to me, I only cared if they had a good drink selecti
on. I could use it.
I threw on a button down, the button down I first kissed Grey in, and head out t
he door.
It was seven or at least that's what my watch said.
I arrived at the party house just minutes later, my motorcycle being one of the
first vehicles.
I hop off the bike and place my helmet on the seat, walking over to the front do
or and ringing the doorbell.
Our school's quarterback opening the door and saying, "Welcome to the best party
of the year."
I give a nod and he shows me inside, I notice a few familiar faces.
Once he goes back to the front door in order to greet more guest I make pour mys
elf a drink, feeling a hand stop me from picking it up. They take the cup away f
rom me.
I turn to the side, seeing a blonde in a bright shade of coral.
"How about we talk over drinks?" she asks.
I nod, it wouldn't hurt anybody. I guess having company would make drinking not
so lonely.
Or so I assumed.
As in I realized after over an hour of hearing her talk I was wishing to be left
alone. Wishing for her to give me an excuse to leave her.
The party was now in full swing and I was probably on my fourth cup. Or somethin

g like that.
She was also now not only talking my ears off, but also making her way closer an
d closer to me.
Every inch closer she got made me shiver, I didn't like her talking let alone be
ing of any physical contact.
8:30 p.m. and she's leaning in for a kiss, I place a hand over her mouth before
she can touch my lips.
She blinks a couple times and gives a confused look.
"I have a girlfriend," I tell her, making her attempt at making a move on me my
excuse to leave her.
I grab another drink or rather a whole bottle of Vodka and walk myself outside,
I could use the fresh air. It was getting awfully warm and over hormonal inside.
As in the girl I didn't even bother to remember the name of was getting over hor
monal and as in I was getting warm due to all the alcohol.
As in when I walked completely outside I saw a way too familiar brunette holding
hands with a blond boy.
And she meets my stare with a stare of her own.
I open my mouth in attempt to apologize to her or ask to talk, but no words stum
ble out.
A flash of pain in her eyes, a flash of anger in boy next door's.
Before I can try again to speak she walks away, leaving me to face Liam.
"Don't cry when she isn't yours anymore, know that it was your fault for hurting
her." he says.
"How did you know it's me who she's upset over?" I ask him.
"You're the only guy she sighs over."
He goes after her, leaving me with my single bottle of Vodka.
I freeze for a moment, going over the expression she wore minutes previous.
I put the Vodka bottle down on a random table, making my way back up front. I gr
ab my helmet and strap it on, sitting myself on the back.
Forgetting the fact that I've got alcohol in my system.
Suddenly remembering that same fact once I see red, blue, and white lights flash
ing in the bare moonlight.
Red, blue, and white.
2/17/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
Archer made the deal with Ryder because he needed money desperately in order to
pay for his mother's medical bills. Surprise.
I like writing in his pov, I do.
25. Behind Bars
***Archer's pov***
Somehow in the past ten hours I had found myself in trouble with the law, yester
day being a total blur.
All I can recall is drinking a little too much, Grey leaving me, seeing her at t
he party, and then seeing her once again leave but with her childhood friend who
's in love with her.
The worst of what I happen to recall being that she was holding hands with that
pretty boy. Unbelievable.
Almost as unbelievable as the hangover I had right now, my head was fucking thro
bbing and I was stuck in a jail cell so medication wasn't super accessible.
I guess this was a repercussion for me trying to drive drunk, a repercussion for
me hurting Grey.
If only I could explain myself, explain why I needed the money so desperately.
Maybe if she knew I needed the money to pay for my mother's medical bills she wo
uld somewhat understand. Understand that I'm not just a man who lives for money
and had a reason to be desperate... However, it still didn't make me a better pe
rson if I told her, but at least I could give a reason for her to let me back in

to the walls she has built up.

The clanking of metal startles me and causes me to look up from the concrete gro
und, an officer stands opposite of me and he's not alone.
Grey stands opposite of me next to the officer, except unlike the officer she is
n't staring at me with disappointment. In fact I couldn't even tell what she was
staring at me with, it was just as if her blueish-grey eyes were gazing into ob
livion.
"You're free, thanks to Miss Grey. Consider yourself lucky because your license
is only suspended for three months, but if you get caught again then I can guara
ntee not so great consequences." the officer tells me, however, I only comprehen
d half of what he says because my eyes are stuck on the Miss Grey that bailed me
out.
She bailed me out even after knowing what I did.
The officer then excuses himself for a moment to take a phone call.
I walk out of the cell and stand only about a foot away from her, we were close
and yet we felt so far. So out of touch.
"Why did you bail me out?" I ask her, my voice raspy from the lack of water.
She gives me the blank stare, her eyebrows ruffle a bit. Her beautiful face not
showing the signature smile I had seen previous.
"I don't know," she finally manages to respond.
She then looks away from me and heads out for the door. I grab her arm before sh
e can push on the door.
"I'm sorry about Sunday morning." I tell her, apologizing to someone for once in
my life.
She doesn't respond, her uncertain expression showing up in the reflection of th
e glass door.
"Am I too late?" I ask her weakly.
I let go of her arm slowly when I don't get a response, she's got an indescribab
le blank face that doesn't have any sort of emotion.
She simply doesn't respond again and walks out, the station's door chime rings.
The officer then walks back up to me and tells me he'll take me home, warning me
once again that I'll be in serious trouble if I'm found intoxicated again.
I nod at his notion, taking a seat in the officer's vehicle. I stare at the bare
branched trees that pass by every second as the car moves.
Once the sight of my house appears I get out and thank the cop for letting me go
without serious charges. He gives a nod before speeding away.
I turn towards the poorly painted house I call mine, seeing Zac leaned against h
is grey SUV in the driveway with a less than amused expression on his face.
I walk up to him, expecting him to say some wise crack statement. But, he doesn'
t. Instead his knuckle reaches my left eye, hard.
I stumble back a bit from the impact, he's got his knuckle still clenched.
"What the fuck?" I yell, placing a hand over my left eye.
"You're an asshole, Archer." he says, a look of disgust plastered on his face.
I give a confused look, still holding my left eye.
"She's the best fucking thing to happen to you and yet you treat her like shit.
I don't know exactly what you did, but Arden told me how she's been hung up all
over you because you probably fucked her over. She even bailed you out of jail a
fter you said so much dumb shit." he says loudly, swearing more times than I can
even manage to count.
I don't say anything, shocked by the fact my best friend punched me and because
I can't think of anything to retort.
"Wake up, Archer. You like her, whether you're ready to admit or not. And you're
going to lose her if you don't put your ego aside for a second and tell her." h
e continues, unclenching his hand.
I move my hand from my eye, it's throbbing and probably fixing to bruise a beaut
iful blue.
"I'm too late," I whisper.
He rolls his eyes in response.
"If you were too late she would have moved onto boy next door already. She would
of not bailed you out, you idiot." he replies as if I'm stupid.

Which I kind of am, honestly.

And whether I was ready to admit it or not... I was beginning to like Grey. It b
ecame apparent because I missed her like hell. It's been only a day and yet it f
elt like months. I missed her so much that last night she was the only person wh
o clouded my drunken mind.
She was my girl and we still had a game to play, I just had to play my cards cor
rectly now.
"You like her and I'm pretty damn sure she likes you too. You better now cover u
p the bruise forming around your eye with some of Arden's concealer I borrowed k
nowing that I would punch you and tell her how you feel." he says, his voice now
much calmer.
I nod.
"I will," I reply.
2/20/15
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{check out my other book 'Cigarette Daydream' if you like bad boys and perhaps b
ad girls as well}
26. His
***Archer's pov***
It's funny how one person can cause a change of heart. How one person can cause
a swelling of heart, a change in mind.
I no longer cared for revenge or other frivolous things, I just wanted her to kn
ow how I felt. I wanted forgiveness.
Time and Mother Nature just weren't on my side, it was snowing inches of white f
luff from the sky. It was Christmas and any plans of me visiting her and profess
ing my feelings that are more than a mere attraction were delayed.
As I'm stuck on figuring out a romantic gesture that will win her trust back I h
ear my phone ring.
I pick it up just to hear my mother's frail voice, "Merry Christmas, honey."
I smile a bit although she can't see it from her sterile prison.
"Archer?" she asks.
I sigh.
"Is something the matter?" she questions when I don't reply.
"Yeah," I say, just above a whisper through the phone.
I hear her phone shift a bit and hear her ask for the nurse to get out of the ro
om for a second so she can console me in peace.
"I like this girl, mom." I tell her, continuing after she lets me know I can con
tinue, "But, the problem is... The problem is that I did something wrong and she
's upset with me."
"Honey, what did you do?" she asks.
I sigh and think of a nicer way to put it.
"I hurt her in attempt at getting money for your hospital bills." I say slowly.
She gives a sigh in the phone.
"Your cancer stricken mother doesn't need her son to become a criminal in order
to come up with a few cents... Talk to her, Archie. She'll forgive you, she's pr
obably a smart girl who knows how to forgive and forget, after all you're fallin
g for her. But, if she doesn't then she isn't the one for you." she tells me, a
nurse's voice in the background.
"I have to go, Archer. I love you." she says, hanging up before I get to say any
thing back at her.
The moment I'm about to head into the shower another phone call interrupts, this
one being from the best friend who punched me days previous.
My eye was still a lovely shade of purple and black, thanks Zac.
"Whittington Lane, New Year's Eve." I hear his voice say the moment I press the
device to my ear.
"What?" I ask, confused at the words he threw at me.
"Ellie's going to be at Whittington Lane on New Year's Eve." he explains, still
a bit vague on the whole subject.

I raise an eyebrow, why was he telling me this?

A lightbulb flashing in my head a few seconds later.
"Whittington Lane, New Year's Eve. Grey's going to be at Whittington Lane on New
Year's Eve." I repeat.
2/24/15
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27. December
One week, it's been one whole week since I last saw Archer.
He didn't come to school all week and by Friday he had racked up five days of ma
ke up work.
I couldn't say that I didn't miss his sarcastic remarks and his somewhat egotist
ic personality because I did. I knew this because I found myself saying a few li
nes borrowed from him under my breath.
"Ellie?" I hear Liam call out, I blink a bit in attempt to focus on what we're d
oing.
I then remember that we're baking cookies, sugar ones. The process being a lot d
ifferent from when Archer made cookies with me. Mostly because Liam and I were o
nly making small talk and he wasn't going to end up almost kissing me.
Spending time with him was safe, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. But, I also knew th
at there wouldn't be a thrill. He was safe, the obvious choice.
I said I would give him a chance, but I feel like that was just words. I couldn'
t, it wasn't fair to him because me taking the chance would be half heartedly an
d Liam deserves a wonderful girl.
She just couldn't be me. She wasn't me.
"I'm sorry, Liam." I whisper.
He turns away from the bowl he's mixing and gives me a confused look.
The same confused look he had on his face when I told him about the whole Archer
and Ryder thing. I mean I had to tell him, he was one of my best friends.
"Sorry for what, Smelliot?" he asks me with a small frown.
"Sorry, I'm sorry..." I begin, just to trail off.
He raises an eyebrow and awaits for my answer. An answer I can't manage to spit
out.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help you anymore with the cookies. I'm not f
eeling well." I tell him, partially lying and beating around the bush.
That wasn't what I was sorry for, I think he knew it too. He just simply nods an
d tells me to lay down in my room, that he'll be by my side soon.
It was true though that I didn't feel well. My stomach was churning with a feeli
ng that felt like sick butterflies.
Five minutes pass of me laying in bed with furrowed eyebrows before Liam comes t
o my bedside.
I sit myself up and he takes a seat next to me on my bed.
"Ellie, don't force yourself to try and like me." I hear Liam say, a small smile
forming on his face.
A small hurt smile.
"I want you to be the Ellie I fell in love with and not some girl who has to for
ce up a smile."
I give a smile, one that isn't forced up.
Silence fills the air for about two minutes, the only sound being our breaths. U
ntil I decide to speak.
"I'm an idiot aren't I? I like some smirking asshole rather than the kindest boy
next door." I say softly, the words falling out of my mouth.
"You like some smirking asshole?"
"I do," I whisper, realizing that I in fact have feelings for Archer West.
He runs a hand through his hair.
"So you finally realize it." he says.
I give a raised eyebrow, what did he mean I finally realized it? I just now real
ized it, this was news. News to me and my heart.

"C'mon, you bailed him out of jail after he admitted that he helped Ryder cheat
on you. You voluntarily spend every weekend with him when you guys are only supp
osed to be school official. You smile when he walks into a room. You sigh when h
e's not around. You've liked him for a long time, Ellie." he explains, almost as
if he's giving a lecture.
I bask in the moment, thinking about the whole past. The past two months with Ar
cher. The past two months that weren't filled with the painful truth. The past t
wo months that were of us playing some sort of silly love game.
"I'm going to leave you alone so you can take this all in. I'll see you at the p
arty at Whittington Lane on New Year's Eve alright?"
I give a robotic nod.
"The cookies are going to burn if you don't get them in the next five minutes."
I give a robotic nod.
"I love you, Smelliot."
I give yet another robotic nod, not comprehending a word he says.
I hear him give a small chuckle.
Before he walks out of the room door, he grabs a CD from my desk and plops the d
isk into my CD player. He presses play on track eleven, walking out the door onc
e the music begins.
It takes me a bit to realize that the song playing is the same song that Archer
and I danced to at his cousin's birthday. The auto tuned Kids Bop song from the
CD Archer gave me for our one month.
I sit and stare at the stereo as the track plays, realizing that Liam might of b
een right. The feelings I felt for Archer weren't ones that could just grow over
night.
They were feelings that had been growing ever since he first kissed me.
3/7/15
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28. Happy New Year
Whittington Lane, eleven forty five p.m.
The party was close to its peak, the New Year was just around the corner... And
yet I was sitting alone with a frown on a black leather couch, a can of Sprite i
n my hand.
Arden, Zac, and I had arrived at the party promptly at eight. However, in the pa
st three or so hours they had sneaked off. They were probably being all cutesy a
nd doing couple like things because they were practically dating.
Practically?
Well, they're definitely kissing. Or at least they are now. It was apparent by t
heir appearance when they walked up to me at just over eleven forty five.
The lipstick on Zac's face said it all, the lipstick definitely belonging to my
best friend. There was only one person who wore that specific shade of fuchsia.
Arden sits herself on the ledge of the couch, Zac stands behind her with a hand
around her shoulder.
"It's nearly midnight and you haven't even taken one shot of alcohol." Arden say
s.
I shrug, my eyes not staring at her but past. I'm staring at the various couples
that are preparing for their midnight kisses.
"What's going on, El? There's something going on between you and Archer, what ha
ppened? Did you guys break up?" Arden asks.
"No, I just don't feel like dancing or drinking." I say, hoping she'll buy the e
xcuse.
However, she doesn't. Instead she says a slightly colorful word and let me tell
you this:
Arden Michaelson doesn't cuss.
"Bullshit, something happened." she replies.
She grabs one of my hands, takes one of Zac's hand in her other, and pulls us to
a more private area.
"Ellie, you can tell me whatever is bothering you. You're my best friend and I w

ant what's best for you, it ." she says sincerely.

"Archer hooked Ryder up with my cousin," I finally say after a long moment of si
lence.
Zac mumbles, "He definitely deserved that punch..."
I give a slightly raised eyebrow and then look at Arden for a reaction.
She licks her lips before replying, "Well, he made a bad decision in the past an
d I bet he wishes he could take it back. But, he can't. I think you guys should
talk it out, he wouldn't do something like that for no reason."
I tilt my head a bit, Arden elbows Zac gently.
"Right, Zac?" she asks.
He nods in a definite motion.
"And plus you wouldn't have gotten to spend all this time with Archer if Ryder h
adn't cheated, if he didn't set up the two. Consider it fate." she continues.
I give a long empty stare. Consider it all as fate. This was all fate.
This was all fate? Heartbreak was fate?
"El, you should at least hear him out. At least get closure if anything." she sa
ys.
I sigh, knowing that she ought to be right. Before I can sigh once again Zac spe
aks.
"Ellie, why don't you get some fresh air and have time to yourself? The balcony
upstairs is probably free and if you're up there at midnight you won't have to d
eal with lip sucking teenagers." Zac sugguests.
"You want to leave Ellie alone, when she's in a mind boggling situation?" Arden
asks with wide eyes.
Zac holds one of Arden's hands, the touch relaxes her.
"It's good you're cute," she says softly.
He gives a smile to me and nods for me to go and take time for myself.
Time for me to consider that the past three or so months was just fate, that my
happiness would only come after I go through crappy times.
There are shouts echoing the halls as I walk, the New Year's countdown starts. I
too start my own little countdown, taking myself out to the second floor balcon
y.
It's a bit chilly and the countdown chants are still present, I stare at the moo
n.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three seconds before the strike of midnight and I feel arms grab my waist, my bo
dy is pulled closer to another's. My lips against somebody else's a mere second
later, I end up kissing them back at the same intensity as the one who I'm recei
ving the kiss from. The one kiss ending up to be a series, a series that has me
dropping a single tear onto my cheek.
The lips were recognizable, definitely recognizable.
"Happy New Years, Grey." the owner of the lips mumbles in between kisses.
Happy New Years.
4/3/15
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QOTC: ***hypothetically speaking as if Archer and Ellie like each other*** Who w
ould you say liked who first?
29. Resume
"You're a good kisser, Grey." he says.
Archer says.

I pull back a couple inches away so that I'm not tempted to kiss him again.
"You too," I whisper back, a couple tears beginning to trickle down.
"You have no idea how long I have been waiting for those kisses. Two months with
out kisses were brutal.." he tells me, hands still rested on my waist.
I begin to sniffle a bit from the tears dropping down.
"Grey, why are you crying?" he asks in just barely a whisper.
He moves his right hand from my waist and brushes a couple tears away.
"You look a lot prettier with a smile on your face." he says, wrapping his arms
around me tightly.
I wrap my arms around him tightly.
"I try so fucking hard to be mad at you, but then you pull stuff like this and m
ake me so vulnerable." I say against his chest.
"I'm sorry?" he says questionably, but then he corrects himself, "No, I am sorry
. I want you to give me a chance to explain everything, I want you to be able to
trust me again."
I snort, the tear falling stops.
"Who ever said I trusted you in the first place?" I ask.
He loosens my arms around him so I can see the small smile on his face.
"That's the Grey I know and l-," he begins, just not to finish.
I wait for him to continue the statement, but he doesn't. He instead presses his
lips back together.
There's silence between us for a good bit of time.
"So about the explanation, how about I talk to you over coffee tomorrow?"
"Is the Archer West asking me out?" I ask.
"Yes, yes he is." he replies with a cheeky grin, "Queen's coffee house at ten in
the morning."
"Queen's coffee house tomorrow at ten in the morning." I repeat.
He presses his lips against my forehead and kisses it before whispering, "I've g
ot some explaining to do. I've also got something to tell you."
"You could tell me the something right now and explain tomorrow." I reply with a
hopeful smile.
He then moves his lips back over mine, just a centimeter away from touching.
"Or I could tell you everything tomorrow and we could just kiss right now?" he s
uggest.
I give a small chuckle and move my lips away. I also move his hands away from me
and mine away from him.
"Not going to happen, that's enough kisses tonight." I reply, to his dismay and
maybe mine too.
He groans and runs a hand through his hair.
"Grey, come on... I know you love your lips against mine. One more?" he insists,
placing his arms around me once again.
I lean in a bit towards his lips, his lips ready to kiss me. He's about to close
the gap, but then I pull away at the last moment.
"Zero more, oh and by the way it's you who loves your lips against mine."
I get out of his hold and make my way back to the balcony door.
"You're right, I do love my lips against yours. I'll see you tomorrow, Grey." he
says before I can twist the door handle.
I walk back inside, leaving him outside in the cold.
"See you tomorrow, West."
4/5/15
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QOTC: Who is your favorite Bad Boy's Game character?
My favorite character has to be Zac, but Archer is a close second.
30. Him
***Archer's pov & song***
I loved the way my lips felt against hers.
Loved.
I couldn't say that I wasn't scared of the word I described the feeling as, it w

as an extremely daunting word that I didn't think I would be saying in a million

years.
And yet I was, and yet it was nearly what I felt for her.
I didn't quite love her, I just didn't. I really liked her though, love was just
a whole different story though. I didn't even know if she liked me or if she wa
s still just trying to win the game.
I wasn't still just playing a game anymore. I hadn't been for quite a bit of tim
e.
Today I'd come clean about the whole Ryder situation and maybe even tell her tha
t I felt something for her. Today at the coffee shop at ten in the morning, just
her and I.
Ten in the morning.
It was about nine thirty right now and I was over at my aunt's house, Sofia's mo
m. She's heavily pregnant and beyond ready to have baby number two. Sofia's also
ready to be a big sister, she'll definitely make a great one.
I was now sitting on the couch next to my little cousin, her favorite program on
the television. She had her head leaned on my side and one of my arms was aroun
d her little shoulders.
"Archer!" I hear my aunt yell from her room a split second later.
I move Sofia and then stand myself up, making my way to my aunt as quickly as I
can.
"Archer, my water broke." she says, a hand on her stomach.
I don't say anything, my face said it all. I was surprised and a bit confused on
as to what I should do.
My uncle Rich was probably at work at the moment and he worked almost an hour aw
ay. He couldn't possibly zoom and take her to the hospital, he just couldn't.
But, I could.
I could at nine forty five a.m.
I could, I should, I had to.
Even if it meant missing her, missing her at ten.
I exhale and say to my aunt, "Let's get you to the hospital. I'll call Uncle Ric
h on the way and watch Sofia until he arrives."
She nods and then grabs her hospital bag, I get Sofia.
It's a ten minute drive to the hospital, the entire way my fingers are drumming
against the steering wheel.
Once we arrive I help my aunt and Sofia out of the car, a nurse helping my aunt
along the way to the entrance.
It's five minutes before she gets placed into her room, leaving me to sit in wai
ting room with Sofia.
It's then that I decide to call my uncle and alert him, it's also then that I re
alize that my phone is nowhere in sight. I must of left it back at my aunts.
I sigh and walk up the front desk and ask if I can borrow their phone. They allo
w me to use the phone, I dial the memorized number. I tell him, he tells me he'l
l be there as soon as possible.
In forty five minutes.
It's a long forty five minutes, Sofia tries to make me smile multiple times and
chat. But, my mind is in other places.
I was really happy and excited for a new cousin, but really upset about standing
Grey up.
I don't even get the chance to call or text and explain. I hope she was willing
to forgive me for yet another thing.
I sure do hope so.
Time passes with every waking second, the seconds turn to forty five minutes, th
e forty five minutes turn into two hours.
Two hours of nervous cracking of knuckles and shaking of legs.
Uncle Rich finally arrives at twelve, apparently there was mad traffic.
I say a quick goodbye to my aunt, uncle, and Sofia. Rushing to the car in attemp
t at fixing the problem I've come across.
My aunt and uncle had gotten their future, now I had to see if Grey was in mine.
It was like luck wasn't on my side though, like her and I weren't supposed to ma

ke it.
The moment I'm seated in the car I feel the nerves kick back in, my head fills w
ith aimless worries.
The nervousness lasts throughout the twenty minute car ride to the coffee shop,
my hand thumping against the steering wheel to the beat of silence.
She couldn't still be at the coffee shop, she shouldn't still be there.
She had to leave, it's been nearly two and a half hours. She had to leave, but I
still had to check.
I'm biting down of my lip hard when the coffee shop comes into view, parking hor
rendously once I'm in the lot.
I walk at an irregularly fast pace into the shop, the sound of Elvis fills my ea
rs the moment I step in.
The music calms me a bit and I look for her, I search for her. Not caring if peo
ple think I am insane due to my semi frantic actions.
The sight of her fills my eyes, she's seated at a corner table with a probably n
ow cold cup of coffee.
I walk up to her and just stand, not saying anything at all. She looks up at me
and gives a wholehearted smile.
It's twelve in the afternoon.
"You took your time, West."
Wise men say only fools rush in
but I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you
Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
some things are meant to be
take my hand, take my whole life too
for I can't help falling in love with you
Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
some things are meant to be
take my hand, take my whole life too
for I can't help falling in love with you
for I can't help falling in love with you
4/10/15
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QOTC: When do you think that Archer started liking Ellie?
Highest ranking: #57 Teen fiction
(Feel free to check out my profile and other books, I suggest Cigarette Daydream
)
31. In Time
***Archer's pov***
"You took your time, West."
I stand astounded, she's still at the coffee shop after two hours of no company.
"Grey, you waited?" I ask in just above a whisper.
Her smile she warmly greeted me with remains on her face.
"I couldn't have left even if I tried."
She stands up from her seat and does the unexpected, she hugs me.
"You worried me, I thought something might of happened to you. I thought you mig
ht of have gotten into an accident or in trouble with the law. Archer, you had m
e so worried." she says in a rush, her grip on me tight.
I move my hands to wrap my arms around her, she relaxes into my arms.
An unbelievable amount of comfort comes from her, I almost forget my world full
of problems.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for making you worry. My aunt went into labor and I for
got my phone at her house. I'm sorr-" I begin to say after a good minute, just t
o be cut off by a hand.
Her eyes are now staring directly at mine, she's no longer in my embrace.
"Hey, Arch?" she asks, her hand still over my mouth.
I nod the best as I can, indicating that I am in fact listening.
"Can you tell me as to why you had the deal with Ryder? Why do you need the mone
y?" she asks, moving her hand away from my mouth right after.
I lick my lips and take a seat at the table she's been sitting at. She takes a s
eat as well.
The hand I place on the table soon gets a companion, she holds my hand as if she
knows I'll need the support.
"My mom has ovarian cancer," I say quietly, my throat all of a suddenly feeling
dry and my voice ready to crack.
Her eyes don't widen, she doesn't yell false sympathy. She simply sits and gives
a small nod before looking down at our interlocked hands.
"She was diagnosed with cancer six months ago on her birthday, out of all the po
ssible days in the year she was diagnosed on her birthday. It's a month later an
d the medical bills are piling up, she's a state away, and I'm desperate..." I b
egin to explain, just to trail off after a bit of talking.
Her gaze is still directed at our hands, but she opens her mouth to speak.
"You love your mom don't you?" she asks.
"Of course I do, she has been raising me all by herself and has always been ther
e for me." I automatically reply.
She looks up, her eyes now staring at me.
"Archer West, I can't help falling in love with you."
I blink, startled by her statement.
"You're doing everything you possibly can for your mom, you even participated in
a twisted deal for her. I'm not going to say that the deal with Ryder was the b
est idea, but you had good intentions. A man who loves and cares for his mother
as much as you do for your mom... They certainly must know how to treat and resp
ect a lady." she tells me, her hand holding tightly onto mine.
There's a few clinks of glass, the background music ends, and she takes a sip fr
om her mug before continuing.
"I'm not going to leave you, I'm not going to hold some petty grudge. But, I am
going to be there for you through this. I want to be with you through the ups an
d downs, I want to be there when you need me. Hell, I'll be there even if you ne
ed me at three in the morning... Archer, I like you and I'm here for you. You do
n't have to make anymore deals, hide behind a facade, or even mute your sorrow.
I'm wholeheartedly here for you and want you to know that." she finishes saying,
her eyes showing that she is in fact genuine.
They have the slightest sparkle in them, a certain kindness and truth to them.
"Thank you," I whisper.
"I'd love to even go and visit your mother with you some time soon, I bet she mi
sses her boy."
"How about today?" I ask, half kidding and half serious.
I did want to see my mom, I haven't visited her in almost a month.
"What?" she asks, a bit thrown off by my question.
"Would you mind visiting her with me today? The drive to her hospital is just ov
er two hours, we would still make visiting hours. I don't think my aunt would mi
nd if I took her car, I mean she's having a baby right now and can't possibly dr
ive. I didn't get to see my mom over the holiday... So, what do you say?"
It's an unreadable expression that she initially displays, one that slowly turns
into the smallest of grins.
"Okay, let's do this."
* * *
It ended up being two and a half hours, two and a half hours of mostly silence.
I was focused on the road and destination, she was focused on the scenery.

It's about three when we arrive at the hospital, three fifteen when we get appro
val to see my mom. Grey, excusing herself so she can go to the bathroom before t
he door to my mom's room opens.
I twist the handle to reveal my mother, she's looking a bit paler and more worn
out. She's watching some low budget drama on the television in the room, her hea
d turns at the sound of my footsteps.
"Archer?" she calls out with a bit of uncertainty.
"Mom," I reply, wrapping my arms around her seconds later.
She too wraps her arms around me in her natural motherly way.
It's not until I give some room to my mom that she speaks again.
"How did things go with the girl you like? Did you tell her the truth, Arch?" sh
e asks me, remembering our last conversation.
I give a small smile, a knock on the door following my action.
The door opens to reveal a brunette with yellow flowers in her hands.
She walks in slowly and cautiously, my eyes following her movement.
I reach out a hand to her in which she accepts, my mother now stares at her. She
stares at us.
"Things are going good," I say to my mom, she gives a small grin.
"And you are?" my mom asks kindly to the girl I have an interlocked hand with.
"Hello, I'm Elliot Grey." she says.
"What a lovely name for such a beautiful girl." my mother replies, a smile not b
othering to leave her face.
It's then that Grey gives my mom the light yellow flowers, excusing herself shor
tly after so that my mom and I can have some time alone.
"She seems very nice, she's definitely the one." my mom says once 'she' is out o
f sight.
I nod my head, not even bothering to deny that she is the one.
"Are you two dating?" she then asks.
"No, not yet. I haven't told her that I like her." I answer, receiving a raised
eyebrow from my mother the moment the words fall out of my mouth.
"Arch, you need to tell her soon or else she's going to think you're not serious
about her." she tells me, almost scoldingly.
"I'll tell her soon, I promise."
5/13/15
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Sorry for the month hiatus.
(While waiting for updates you can check out my other work, I suggest Cigarette
Daydream)
32. Falling For You
***Ellie's pov***
It's the sound of a door clanking open that startles me; it's Archer's face that
scares me.
He's got almost a deathly white face; his eyes look straight past me. Through me
.
"Is everything okay?" I ask him, standing myself up from a waiting room seat.
We're still at the hospital; it's just a good three hours since we've arrived. H
e's been talking and being with his mom for the past two, I've been reading any
magazine in the waiting room that I can possibly find around me to kill time.
He shakes his head no, but then shakes it yes.
"Arch, what's wrong?"
He exhales before saying, "We need to talk."
It's not even a second later before my eyes divert themselves from his and shoot
for the ground.
The four words that any girl surely dreads. It's the four words that usually sta

rt a break up, something that is seemingly impossible in my case... Saying that

Archer and I weren't really dating.
Unless he's calling off the game... But, why would he be acting so grave about i
t?
Or maybe it's that his mother didn't like me and is suggesting for him to kick m
e to the curb. No, she's such a lovely lady, that couldn't be it.
"Grey?"
I look up; his eyes stare at me with uncertainty.
"There's a park not even a mile away, we can talk there," he says, taking one of
my hands into his.
I follow him out of the hospital's sliding doors and mimic his footsteps until w
e reach our destination.
He lets my hand go, I give him my undivided attention.
"I'm going to tell you something, but you're not allowed to freak out. Okay?"
I raise an eyebrow, but agree to his proposition. His eyes stare deeply into min
e.
"I think I'm falling... Falling for you."
He thinks he's falling for me? He thinks he's falling for me.
My eyes widen, a smile finds its way onto my face.
He gives a sigh of relief.
"Why would I freak out about that?" I question, genuinely curious for the answer
.
"Because you're weird, Grey." he says, not even having to think about it.
I give a small snort.
"Well, you're the one who's falling for a weirdo... I think that would make you
equally as weird, not saying that I'm weird or anything." I say in my defense.
He gives a little laugh.
"Why did you look so ghostly before telling me? You scared me, I thought you wer
e going to deliver some bad news." I ask, genuinely curious for as to why.
"Truth or the fabricated version of as to why?"
"Truth."
"Because I was nervous to tell you, scared for a reaction." he says slowly, look
ing down at the ground after.
"I told you pretty blatantly that I liked you five hours and yet you still were
scared for a reaction?" I question, getting a response I would never expect.
He was nervous and scared; Archer West was nervous and scared.
"No, you told me that you can't help falling in love with me. Never said that yo
u liked me, Grey." he corrects.
I sigh.
I thought I made it obvious that I like him. I mean I bailed him out, kissed him
at midnight, and told him that I couldn't help but fall in love with him.
I guess he just needed the three words to confirm, three words I would be happy
to say.
"Archer, I like you." I say quite loudly so there is no confusion.
"Good, because I like you." he says, not even a second later.
I wrap my arms around his neck, closing the distance in between us.
"Elliot, I like you." he whispers into my right ear, his arms making their way a
round my waist.
I say nothing and just stay at a close distance. Perfectly content with how ever
ything has been turning out.
"We should head home," he suggests, moving his arms away.
I stop them and place my hands over his on my waist.
"Can we stay like this for a little longer?" I ask.
"Would that make you happy?" he asks in return.
"Yes."
"You're so weird, Grey." he says, giving me a dimpled smile.
"Call me weird one more time, I triple dog dare you." I reply as seriously as I
can.
"What is this, kindergarten?" he exclaims.
"You're such an ass." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Whatever you say, weirdo." he mumbles.

"One more time, say it one more time."
"What are you going to kiss me if I keep saying it?" he asks, a smirk on his fac
e.
"No, I'm going to not ever kiss you if you keep calling me weird."
"Like you could even resist these lips forever, you're obsessed with the feeling
of my lips against yours." he says, pointing at his lips.
I lean in closer to his lips and say, "You wish."
He closes the gap, pressing his lips against mine. It's a nice feeling I can't d
eny, his lips fit perfectly against mine.
He backs away from the kiss after about two minutes of lip lock.
"First one to say I love you loses?" he asks.
I give a grin.
"First one to say I love you loses."
5/18/15
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1st time Archer has called her by her first name ahaha.
HighestRanking: #27 Teen Fiction
(THANK YOU SO MUCH)
33. Labels
***Ellie's pov***
Labels, labels...
What label fit Archer and I?
We weren't quite dating, we weren't quite not dating. But, we were definitely mo
re than kisses.
It's been two weeks since we told each other how we felt and yet we were still s
tuck in this grey area of aimless kisses.
All I know is that we're not just simply playing the game. It's more than just a
game now and I didn't want to break his heart anymore.
If I broke his, I'd only be breaking mine.
Now it was just a little competition between two people who liked each other.
Talking about Archer, he was sitting right next to me at the coffee shop we orig
inally were supposed to meet at the other weekend.
You could say that I liked the coffee shop a lot; it had become our little place
to hang out at.
Today Archer's sat with a triple espresso and a gaze.
"Can I trust you from now on?" I ask Archer, snapping him out of his gaze.
"Trust me with your heart?" he asks, taking a sip of his espresso after.
"No, trust that you won't keep things from me anymore. That you'll be honest wit
h me." I reply.
He turns away from his cup and looks at me instead.
"Of course you can trust me, I'd do anything in the world to get you to have fai
th in me." he says genuinely.
"Anything?"
"Anything."
I give a long stare at him. He's willing to do anything...
"Do you want my trust?" I ask, looking him straight in the eyes.
"More than anything," he answers.
"Stop drinking." I state.
"Could you repeat that?" he questions, blinking his eyes a few times.
"Stop drinking." I repeat.
There's a deathly pause for a while.
"Okay," he says softly.
I smile.
"I want you stop drinking because when you drink you tell me stuff you really sh

ouldn't. I don't want you to confess your undying love for me drunk." I explain.
He scoffs a bit at the whole him professing his drunken love to me part.
"I'll do it. I'll quit, I've quit smoking. I can just quit two things."
I smile; he was willing to give up alcohol for me. He quit smoking.
This game was nearly done; all he had to do now was to say three little words.
* * *
"Hey, Arch?" I call out, interrupting the still silence that has been between us
for the past hour.
He's been doing a calculus review, I've been doing some reading and annotating.
"Yeah?" he questions back, putting his pencil down.
"What label defines us, what type of relationship do we have?"
He stares at the journal I have pulled out for annotating and asks if he can bor
row it, he then takes his pencil and begins to write onto one of the clean white
journal pages.
I raise an eyebrow and just simply sip my tea as he writes. He finishes up his m
asterpiece in a few short seconds after the pencil hits the paper. After he's sa
tisfied with whatever he has written, he slides the journal towards me.
I read what he has written, a smile making its way up.
Label: More than kisses, more than drunken phone calls. Dating I think they call
it.
6/1/15
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I'm from the U.S. (Texas to be exact)
I'm hosting a one-shot contest; there are some really cool prizes so you should
definitely check it out. More information regarding the contest can be found in
the last chapter.
34. Officially His
"Grey, wake up."
No thanks.
I keep my eyes shut and begin to roll myself over as an attempt to escape my ala
rm, Archer. I open my eyes to see him laying with his eyes staring straight at m
e.
"It's ten thirty, come on. We're suppose to meet up with Zac and Arden in thirty
minutes." he says to me, as if that would get me out of bed.
I wrap my arms around his neck, he was still in yesterday's clothes.
He had spent the night, my dad allowing it to happen because I promised him we w
ouldn't do anything and that we kept the room door semi-open.
Not that we would have done anything even without the promise. We had just start
ed officially dating.
"El, come on." he says in a semi-serious tone as he removes my arms from around
him.
I slide out of my bed reluctantly and grab my car keys, tossing them to him a se
cond later.
"Go home and get yourself ready, just swing back around to pick me up." I tell h
im, he nods and leaves.

I get into the shower once he's gone and play the Kids Bop CD he got me for our
fake one month.
It's absolute horrid, but perfectly horrid.
It's twenty minutes of auto tuned teenagers while I get myself ready for the day
. I end up wearing a white blouse, high-waisted skinny jeans, and flats.
Casual, cute, and comfy. The three necessary C's in my life.
I hear a honk from outside, the honk indicates that Archer was back.
I hurry out the door and into the passenger seat of the car, it smelled of his c
ologne.
"You smell nice," I tell him.
He nods and replies, "I know."
Yeah, his egotistic comments were still present.
"We're meeting them at the burger place across the street from school." I inform
him.
"I know," he replies once again.
"Zac likes Arden." I say, even though Zac didn't exactly tell me that he does.
He does though. You can tell by the way he looks at her.
"I know," he replies for the third time.
I roll my eyes at his robotic response.
He could be such a pain at times, he was such a smart-ass.
"I like you so much," I say with a hint of sarcasm, expecting his new favorite l
ine.
However, instead of another 'I know' he says something in it's place.
"I like you so much, too."
* * *
"We're dating." I say to Arden and Zac, the two of them sitting opposite of Arch
er and I at the burger restaurant.
We had only arrived maybe three minutes ago.
Arden gives a slightly raised eyebrow before replying, "Yeah, you guys have been
for like three months."
Zac has a smirk and replies to me, "So I was right about the whole fake dating t
hing?"
"Fake dating?" Arden questions, looking more confused than ever.
"Yeah, we've been fake dating up until now for the sake of ruining Ryder... Surp

rise?" I explain, hoping she won't be too upset at the fact that I didn't tell h
er.
She exhales a large breath before asking, "So basically it's been three months o
f meaningless kisses and now you two are for real dating?"
Both Archer and I nod.
"Gross, then that officially means that we're those best friends who date each o
ther's boyfriend's best friend." Arden says to me.
My eyes widen a bit, did she just confirm that she's dating Zac?
"Arden and I are dating by the way." Zac chimes in.
I smile at the statement.
Arden and Zac were cute together, really cute. Knowing both their personalities.
.. They suit each other, they'll balance each other out.
Our waitress drops off the drinks we had ordered minutes before.
"How long have you guys been dating?" I ask.
It takes a second for one of them to respond.
"Three weeks," Zac ends up saying.
Three weeks? They've been dating for three whole weeks and I didn't know or noti
ce?
"That long? Damn." Archer says.
"Hey, I wasn't going to deny the spark between Arden and I, I'm not you and Elli
e for the past three months..." Zac responds, poking fun at Archer and I.
It's then that I remember the guy Arden went to the Sadie Hawkin's dance with. I
thought they had hit it off.
"What ever happened to Carson? The guy from the dance." I ask Arden.
Zac raises an eyebrow at the name. I guess he didn't know about him.
"We didn't have chemistry past that night, the connection just wasn't there. For
a bit of time I thought that maybe it was wrong of me not to give him a chance
because of the lack of chemistry, that just maybe the whole instant connection a
nd chemistry thing was only in the movie-" she explains, just to be cut off befo
re she can finish.
"But, then she met me and got all the chemistry she could ever need." Zac says.
I laugh, they worked well together. Definitely.
Kind of like how Archer and I worked well together. We had much more than just c
hemistry, I felt much more than just a connection.
Perhaps what I felt was a four letter word.
6/6/15

Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
QOTC:
How did you find this book?
#17 Teen Fiction -- Holy crap
Thank you so very much.
P.S. I know that chapters are short, they're just how I want them at the moment
though.
P.S.S. I'm working on a new book named 'Alix to Zane' and yeah I'm excited to po
st it. The book's based in New York and the characters are in college. If you li
ke this book you might like the new one. However, there is a bit more foul langu
age and talk.
35. Baby Antonio
As soon as Archer unlocks his house door, he places his hands on my waist, kissi
ng me hard against the door. I kiss back with equally as much passion before the
door being opened causes us to topple back.
"Ahem," I hear someone say.
Archer stands himself up more properly, wiping my lipstick off his lips. I strai
ghten myself up, good impressions were suddenly not my thing.
"Aunt Bella, what are you doing here?" he asks casually, or at least as casually
as he can.
"I'm here to meet my new nephew, your mother said that it would be fine if I sta
yed here with you. The family is coming over right now." she explains, staring a
t me.
I give her a smile in which she surprisingly returns.
"Elliot Grey," I say, extending a hand.
She shakes her head.
"You're my nephew's girlfriend, not a stranger. No need to be so formal." she sa
ys with the smile.
I nod and head to the bathroom, I should make myself more presentable.
I had expected that we would just watch movies on the TV and have a chill day, I
had expected wrong. His family was coming over.
After four minutes I hear a knock on the bathroom door. I open it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know we were having a get together today. You can go home i
f you want." Archer says.
"No, it's fine, I'll stay. Hanging with your family could be fun. Perhaps they'l
l tell me embarrassing stories of when you were a kid."
It's the screams of whom I assume to be Luca and Sofia that almost completely sh
atter my hearing when I completely walk out of the bathroom.
"You were kidding about the whole soccer team of kids right?" I ask rather loudl
y to Archer, so he can hear over the screams.
He shakes his head, a smile present on his face.
"Nope, I want a lot of kids because a lot of kids means a lot of se-" he begins
to say, his aunt with baby Antonio interrupting.
His aunt wears a raised eyebrow.
"What do a lot of kids mean?" she asks Archer.
His eyes widen a bit, obviously not anticipating for anybody other than me to he
ar his remark.
"A lot of second washing machines, to wash their clothes. You know babies, they
mess up dozens of clothes when eating." he manages to sputter out.
She rolls her eyes and turns her attention to me.
"Would you like to hold him while I go to the bathroom?" she asks me, gesturing
to the sleeping baby.
I nod my head, she places him in my arms. I walk over to the couch and sit with

the newborn.
He's got the tiniest of hands and smells like baby wipes. His eyes blink open an
d he stares at me.
"Hi, baby Antonio." I say softly as I stroke his tiny arm.
Archer moves close to where I'm sitting and puts an arm around me.
He puts a finger in front of Antonio in which soon after is getting held onto.
"At least three," he says softly.
I smile down at the baby.
"I wouldn't mind two," I say.
"Two? Only two." he complains.
"Hey, it's me who's pushing out the babies." I reply, he gives an agreeing nod.
It's then that the sound of silverware dropping startles Antonio, causing him to
cry out.
Archer takes him from my hands and rocks him a bit before getting up.
"Let's take him to my room, it's more quiet and he can sleep in peace there."
I nod and follow Archer, stopping once I reach the doorframe before his room. I
lean against the doorframe and watch.
Archer rocks Antonio for the next minute before he sets him down gently onto his
bed, lying down beside him shortly after. He stares at the tiny human.
"Come lie with us," Archer says to me.
I walk over to his bed and lie down on the other side of Antonio, Archer puts an
arm over him to connect us.
"Grey, I want one."
"Me too," I say, without even thinking about what I'm truly saying.
He smiles and flicks me in the head.
"Shouldn't have said that because now you're going to find yourself pregnant in
a few weeks."
My eyes widen.
"I'm kidding, El. We've only been dating for like two weeks, plus I'm not ready
to have a baby. Maybe in five years we can have a baby."
"You think we're going to be together in five years?" I ask.
He nods and gives one of the cutest smiles I've ever seen.
"Of course I do, after all I'm not going to let you go."
I give a big ole grin, Antonio wiggles a bit.
"I hope I haven't scared you off," Archer whispers.
"You haven't, you just made me like you even more."
6/10/15
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36.1 Let Her Go
*Archer's pov*
"I have news," she says to me the moment I step into her home, a large smile on
her beautiful face.
She rushes to the kitchen's bar and picks up an envelope, taking out the content
s of the envelope.
I smile at the sight of her; Elliot Grey was definitely something.
After the impromptu family gathering yesterday she left because it was quite lat
e by then. We had a good time, she fits right in with my family. I found myself
liking her more than ever before after it.
Now here we were back at her place, us both wearing smiles.
"I got accepted to the school in New York I told you about." she exclaims, the s
mile not daring to leave her face as she shows me the acceptance letter.
However, my smile leaves my face.
"What?" I question, as if I didn't hear what she said the first time.

"I got accepted to the design school in New York." she says, happiness emitting
from her.
I don't say anything; she got into the school in New York. The school that was n
early three thousand miles away.
"Archer, are you not happy for me?" she asks, her smile smaller now.
"Three thousand miles," I whisper.
"Archer, are you okay?"
"Three thousand miles," I repeat louder.
She doesn't say anything this time; her smile falls off her face.
"Grey, you're going to be nearly three thousand miles away from me. You're leavi
ng me."
She opens her mouth, but no words come out.
"We just started and yet we're already drifting away from each other. Literally
drifting, you're going to be living a whole different life in a whole different
state. I'm going to be here in California, you'll be in the city that never slee
ps. Grey, I don't want to lose you." I explain, hoping she'll just maybe reconsi
der the school.
She shakes her head.
"You're not going to lose me, I'm not leaving you. I'm going to college. It's go
ing to be okay." she says, trying to reassure me.
Her attempts only being mere attempts.
"If it's three words that will make you stay, I'll say them." I say rashly.
Her eyes widen a bit at the statement; she drops the envelope.
"No, stop it Archer. You're not going to say it. You're not going to do this to
me. Don't be unfair and guilt me. Please don't." she says, her voice getting sha
kier by the word.
She's nearly got tears in her eyes at this point. She went from smiles to near t
ears in less than five minutes.
"I don't want to hear the three words like this." she says softly.
I stare at her, however, she doesn't stare at me. Her gaze is towards the ground
.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." I say softly and head towards the front door.
I open and shut the door quickly, not being able to see her cry because of me.
Was I being selfish? Was I scared? Was I being an asshole?
Yes.
* * *
"I fucked up didn't I?" I ask Zac.
He's leaned against his car; I'm next to him with a bottle of Vodka in hand.
We had met up at my house five minutes ago. I had grabbed myself a drink as if i
t was an instinct.
He looks straight, looking down at the bottle a second later. Not bothering to r
eply to my initial question.
"You're still drinking? Surprised Ellie hasn't convinced you to stop." he says t
o me.
I stare at the bottle myself.
"I promised her I wouldn't drink any more." I say to him.
"And yet you're about to? Some promise all right... You want her to stay with yo
u and yet you do shit like this." he begins, rolling his eyes after his beginnin
g statements, he continues after his roll of eyes, "I dare you to open that bott
le and take a sip, I dare that because that's the same as daring for you to lose
any trust she has in you."
"I don't want to lose her trust, I don't want to lose her." I mumble.
He flicks my arm hard before pulling out a photo of him and Arden smiling.
"You know, I was scared as fuck when I found out that Arden is planning to study
abroad. But, then I remembered that what she and I have is irreplaceable. I rem
embered that there was no way in hell that I would let myself lose her." he tell
s me.
I keep silent, realizing that her going was something she just had to do.

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours.
If they don't, they never were." he recites to me, the famous Kahlil Gibran quot
e.
I give a small smile, I had to let her go and live her dream. It wouldn't be fai
r to keep her from going to New York.
"I thought I was the poet, Zac." I say in response, putting down the bottle.
He gives a smile back before replying, "She's going to come back to you. Archer,
she loves you just as much as you love her."
"I know, it's only three thousand miles. She's a plane ride away, there's Skype.
"
"It's only three thousand miles. She's a plane ride away, there's Skype," he rep
eats, reassuring me.
"I love her," I tell him.
"I know you do," he replies.
"I loved her yesterday, I love her today, I will love her tomorrow."
"I know," he says.
"I have to let her go," I admit.
"You have to let her go."
I nod; it was something I had to do.
I pick up my phone and text her.
I'm so sorry, El. I'll be at your house in ten minutes. I want you to go to New
York. I won't say the three words, I won't yet.
6/16/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
QOTC:
Would you read the book if it was completely in Archer's pov?
THANK YOU FOR #1 TEEN FICTION. I LOVE YOU ALL.
Also, BBG is a running contestant in the #Wattys2015.
[Enter the one-shot contest I'm hosting, deadline is July 1st. For more info reg
arding the contest you can read the contest book]
36.2 Let Me Go
*Ellie's pov*
Congratulations, you have been accepted to enroll during the 2015-2016 school ye
ar.
I read, giving a squeal as soon as I'm finished. I hurry and get my phone from t
he coffee table and text Archer.
After three years of working my ass off at school, I had been accepted to the co
llege of my dreams.
It was a design school in New York, a place I've had my heart set on way before
meeting Archer.
Hopefully he would be just as excited as I was regarding the grand news.
I sit myself on a bar stool as I await his arrival, my legs shaking from pure ex
citement. I place the acceptance letter neatly back into its paper home.
It's seven minutes later when I hear a knock on the front door, I bolt to the do
or just seconds later.
A smile wide on my face, I open the door to see one of my favorite people.
"I have news," I say to him the moment he begins to step into my house, the larg
e smile still plastered on my face.
I rush to the kitchen's bar and picks up the envelope, taking out the contents o
f the envelope right after my hand reaches it.
I glance up before pulling the letter completely out, I see a small smile on his
face.
"I got accepted to the school in New York I told you about." I exclaim, the smil
e not daring to leave my face as I show him the acceptance letter.
My smile not daring to leave my face, however, his smile dares to leave his.
"What?" he questions.
"I got accepted to the design school in New York." I say in the same excited man

ner.
He doesn't give me the response I expected, he doesn't give me a response at all
. He stands silent with his mouth closed.
"Archer, are you not happy for me?" I ask, my smile drooping.
"Three thousand miles," he whispers, staring down at the tiled floor.
I stare at him, he was acting awfully strange.
"Archer, are you okay?"
"Three thousand miles," he repeats louder.
Three thousand miles. He realizes that the college is nearly three thousand mile
s away from home, from him.
My smile is completely gone by now.
"Grey, you're going to be nearly three thousand miles away from me. You're leavi
ng me." he says as if he's vulnerable to the world.
I try my best to open my mouth and reply, but no words seem to come out.
"We just started and yet we're already drifting away from each other. Literally
drifting, you're going to be living a whole different life in a whole different
state. I'm going to be here in California, you'll be in the city that never slee
ps. Grey, I don't want to lose you." he explains, his eyes searching for a sense
of sadness in mine.
I shake my head, I wasn't sad. I wasn't. I wasn't until now, until he pointed ou
t all the hard facts I hadn't yet thought of.
"You're not going to lose me, I'm not leaving you. I'm going to college. It's go
ing to be okay." I say, trying to reassure both him and I.
My attempt being weak, he's still got a lost stare.
"If it's three words that will make you stay, I'll say them." he says rather lou
dly and quickly.
My eyes widen at the statement, I was simply shocked by his statement.
He was trying to guilt me into staying, he thought that if he simply said the th
ree words everything would be okay and I would stay.
"No, stop it Archer. You're not going to say it. You're not going to do this to
me. Don't be unfair and guilt me. Please don't." I reply, my voice getting shaki
er by the word.
It almost breaks at the end, I almost break out into a streak of tears.
This was supposed to be a joyous moment and we were supposed to be celebrating.
We weren't supposed to be worrying or upset. We weren't supposed to be falling a
part. We weren't supposed to be both feet away and miles apart.
We weren't.
"I don't want to hear the three words like this." I manage to say softly.
He stare at me, his eyes looking a bit emptier than usual.
I move my gaze towards the ground, I can't look him in the eye. If I do look him
in the eye... I'll surely cry.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." he says softly, heading towards the front door.
He opens up the door and quickly shuts it behind him, leaving me in a messy stat
e of mind.
Whether to risk losing him or risk losing my dream...
I can't let a guy get in the way of my dreams, but then again Archer isn't just
an ordinary guy.
Fuck, Archer.
Why do you do this to me?
* * *
"Ellie, your phone won't shut up. It keeps going off." Arden says, glancing at m
y phone that's situated on the countertop of the kitchen's island.
I don't give a response and just snuggle myself more into the couch and fuzzy bl
anket, I was sat watching some low budget romantic drama with my best friend.
"Did I tell you that I'm planning on studying aboard in France during college?"
she asks me, tucking herself under another fuzzy blanket.
I don't give a response once again. I was too concentrated in the movie and stil
l in a stand still due to earlier with Archer.
"I told Zac a few days ago and he was initially upset, but then he was okay. He

said that if a long distance relationship was what we had to do, he would do it.
" she continues.
I take a bite out of the chocolate bar beside me.
"He's a really great guy you know. He's compassionate, caring, and has got quite
the sense of humor. Although, he can be an ass sometimes... I guess he needs a
girl to keep him in shape. There's this connection with him, there's undeniable
chemistry. It's hard to imagine a future without him. He's got quite the bad boy
past and has made mistakes, but he's aiming for redemption and has changed. He'
s-" she explains slowly until I cut her off.
"You're not talking about Zac anymore are you?" I ask, catching onto what she wa
s trying to do.
She gives a small smile.
"Glad to see that you've caught on."
I push the blanket off me a bit and sit myself up.
"There's undeniable chemistry and he has changed. But, I'm not changing. I'm not
willing to compromise my dream, it's just not something I can allow myself to d
o... Trust me, I want a future with him. I just want a future with design and hi
m, something I need to get him to understand." I explain to her as she sits and
just nods.
"I think he'll come around, he maybe just needs time." she replies.
I give a nod, he just needs time. That must be it.
It's the sound of a series of knocks that interrupts Arden's next statement.
I peel the fuzzy blanket off of me and walk over to the door, opening it without
even checking through the keyhole.
"Archer?"
He stands before me, breathing heavily in and out.
"El, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being an unsupportive ass. I'm happy for you, I re
ally am. I'm just a bit sad that you're going to be moving thousands of miles aw
ay." he says in-between breaths.
"Do you want water?" I ask him, wide eyed at his breathless condition.
He gives a raised eyebrow, one that soon after turns into a chuckle that reveals
a dimple.
"Yes, I would love a water. But, I would also like a response to my weak apology
." he replies.
I open the door wider for him and walk towards the kitchen, he follows after me.
I open the fridge and pull out a water bottle, tossing it at him soon after.
He takes a few sips before stopping and staring at me for a response.
He was ridiculous, our whole little discussion earlier was ridiculous.
"You're such an ass sometimes, Archer. You had me so worried and almost in a pre
dicament. Everything is fine. All I want to know is that you're okay with it, th
at you'll let me go to college in peace." I finally reply.
I glance over to the living room to see Arden stuck on her phone, she was trying
her best to act cool.
"I'll let you go." he says.
I nod before saying back, "Okay, perfect. I'm going to New York then."
My smile from earlier today begins to come back.
"You're going to New York."
"I'm going to New York." I repeat back, the smile wide.
I wrap my arms around his neck, causing his water bottle to drop from his hands.
"Don't worry, I'm yours. You're not going to lose me, I promise. The distance wo
n't cause us to drift apart, it'll just make us closer than ever." I say softly
to him.
He places his hands on my waist.
"And I'm yours."
I give a laugh at his cheesy response.
"You're a softie, Arch." I say to him, moving my arms from around his neck.
I then move his hands from my waist, we've ended up in that position way too man
y time.
Before I can completely move myself away from him he leans in and gives me a qui
ck kiss.

"Everything is fine."
6/18/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
QOTC:
What character from Bad Boy's Game would you like to see again?
(Perhaps see in another book)
If you haven't checked out the link I put in the last update... Check it out.
If you've checked it out and are feeling hissy pissy about what I'm doing... Sor
ry? I'm going to do what I want with my books. If you're upset that I started it
before finishing this book... I'm finishing this book before adding more parts
to it. If you're saying that it's going to be the same exact thing and pointless
... Sorry, but you're wrong. I'm going to be changing dialogue and the storyline
quite a lot.
Thank you though to all those who are constantly supporting me. Hope you guys li
ke the last few chapters.
[NOT OVER YET]
37. A Thousand Miles
*Ellie's pov*
I tie my blue apron around my waist one last time and situate myself behind the
diner's bar, ready to wait my last customers.
After today's shift I can mark 'working as a waitress at a diner' off my bucket
list.
The whole bucket list thing is a fairly recent invention of mine.
The list includes waitressing, traveling to at least fifteen states, bicycling a
round Central Park, backpacking across Europe, graduating both college and high
school, falling in love, and etc.
Let's just say that I've accomplished two things on my bucket list.
Archer and I were doing well, we were spending as much time together as possible
. Neither of us have said the three little words though, it's just two weeks bef
ore graduation. It's been two weeks since I told him I had been accepted to the
New York college.
The diner door chime interrupts my train of thought and a boy in a button up cau
ses my eyes to widen.
I blink a couple times, as if that would do anything.
"I heard that it's your last day," he says with a crooked grin.
I nod slowly and hold onto the counter tightly, the counter could surely protect
me from whatever was to come.
"El, you look like you've seen a ghost." he says in response to my cautious acti
ons.
El
Him calling me that made me a bit uncomfortable, he never called me that when we
dated.
It was what Archer called me when he wasn't referring to me by my last name.
"I've seen you, close enough." I reply with an ounce of hostility.
He opens his mouth to say something in response to my remark, but stops himself.
He bites his lip for a few seconds before speaking again.
"I can't believe you're dating Archer West, him out of all people..." he ends up
saying, taking a seat at the bar.
I back up a few steps, wary of any close contact.
"So you came here to slander my boyfriend?" I question with a raised eyebrow.
He shakes his head before replying, "No, that's not why I'm here."
"Then what are you here for? A cherry coke?" I ask, ready to show him the door.
I know you're supposed to forgive and forget, but Ryder Effing Nilsen makes it v
ery hard to even think about doing either of those things.
"No, I'm not here for a cherry Coke." he says in response, his voice a lot less
confident and rough than usual.

"If you don't buy anything you're not allowed to be in here, this isn't some fre
eloader's paradise." I state, not at all sure as to why he was here.
"I need to tell you something. It's about the girl I went to the Sadie Hawkin's
dance wit-" he begins just to be cut off by me.
"I don't need to hear about how great she is in bed or how much better of a kiss
er she is. I honestly don't care for what you have to say because you're full of
cra-" I begin to respond, just to be cut off by him.
"I'm full of crap, I know. Just hear me out, Elliot." he says in a serious tone.
I don't respond and let him speak.
"She ended up finding out as to why my car got keyed, she ended up finding out t
hat the necklace I gave her was the necklace I gave you. She ended up slapping m
e like you did almost four months ago... I really liked her, but because of my d
umb mistakes I ended up losing her. I don't want what I did wrong during our rel
ationship to screw up all my future ones. I don't want to be labeled as a cheate
r forever. I don't want to carry guilt and unease at the sight of you." he expla
ins.
"What are you saying?" I question quietly.
"I'm sorry," he begins before pausing in hope for a positive reaction, resuming
once he realizes it's something I'm not quite ready to give, "I know that won't
fix everything, but it was worth a shot. I just feel better knowing that I tried
to make things better between us."
I don't hesitate to give him a follow up response, to my surprise.
"Okay, thank you for the apology. Consider things between us not completely awfu
l."
Maybe I should try to forgive and forget, I know I just said it was hard to thin
k about but... Ryder's raging hormonal mistake shouldn't always weigh me down or
weigh him down, no matter how awful it was. I deserve to move on in peace, just
maybe he does too.
He gives a confused expression and says, "What? You're okay?"
I nod, "If it weren't for you being a filthy cheater, I wouldn't have gotten the
chance to fall for Archer... You're off the hook."
He mouths a 'thank you' and gives a small smile. He gets up from the seat and pu
ts a hand on the back of the barstool.
"I really did like you, despite contrary belief."
"I know," I reply.
Ryder did like me, even if it was just a little bit. We had just been in differe
nt places.
"Good luck with West." he says, walking out the diner right after.
'Good luck finding a girlfriend better than me' I reply back in my head, getting
back to work.
* * *
"Your boyfriend goes to school in New York right?" I ask my coworker Ryan, the d
iner nearly empty due to the fact that it was just past three.
"Yeah, he goes to school in New York City." she replies as she works on the dine
r's bulletin board.
"Does the long distance thing work with you two?" I question, passing her flyers
to put up on the board.
"Yeah, it does. We manage to work with the distance, we've been dating three yea
rs so we find ways to make it work." she answers.
I nod my head and pin a few photos to the cork board.
"I'm a little sad to be leaving this place, can't believe today is my last day."
I say with a sigh.
She gives me a confused look.
"Today's your last day? What do you mean it's your last day, Ellie?" she questio
ns, unaware that I'm planning to move for college.
I guess I never did get the chance to inform her about everything, things have j
ust been crazy recently.
"I'm going to college in New York, surprise?"

She stops working and just stares at me, giving a sigh a second later.
"I can't believe you're going to college... You've grown up right before my eyes
, I still remember the first time I met you. And to think that you're leaving me
, unbelievable. I'm going to miss you, Ellie." Ryan says in a mockingly sad voic
e as she wipes fake tears with her apron.
The exaggeration real.
She puts down the stuff she is holding and gives me a quick hug.
"I'm serious about the missing you part, I'm going to really freaking miss you."
she says.
I smile.
"I'll miss you more," I tell her.
"No, I'll miss you more!" she replies loudly.
The door chimes.
"Ryan may miss you, but I'll miss you most." I hear a very familiar voice say.
I look towards the door and see Archer, he's standing with a bittersweet smile a
nd a single rose.
I give a glance at Ryan just to see her get back to her bulletin boarding.
I then walk over to him and wrap my arms around his neck, not even caring if I g
et pricked with the rose's thorns.
"Grey, I'm going to really fucking miss you." he whispers into my ear.
He holds me tight, afraid to let go.
"It's not like I'm vanishing forever, I'm just going to college." I tell him, a
small smile on my face.
"Do you know how many miles will be in between us?" he asks me, removing my arms
from around his neck.
I shake my head and give a guess even though I already know, "Not that many?"
"About three thousand. three thousand miles that will separate us." he corrects.
I frown.
"Are you trying to make me fee guilty again? Trying to make me stay?" I ask.
He immediately shakes his head.
"Of course not, I'm just saying that I'm going to miss you here in California. I
'm going to miss you being a mere car ride away." he replies.
I give a large smile.
"I'm going to miss you too, but hey we've still got weeks together. I'm not movi
ng for another month."
He walks over to a bar stool and takes a seat, I get behind the counter.
"What would you like?" I ask him.
He gives a smirk.
"You."
I roll my eyes.
"You already have me, what would you like that is edible and available in the ki
tchen?" I specify.
He thinks for a second, playing with the flower he brought with him.
"Chocolate shake with fries."
I write down his order and tell the kitchen what it is.
When I walk back to Archer he's got furrowed eyebrows.
"Ryan said that you were talking to some guy earlier." he tells me, gesturing th
e Ryan.
I look over at her and she gives an innocent smile.
"Who was it, Grey?" he asks.
Ryan must of left out some details.
"Are you trying to get me into trouble?" I ask her.
She shakes her head before replying, "No, Archer asked me what has been going on
here today and I just told him that you talked to some guy for a little bit ear
lier as one of things that has happened today."
I give a nod and look back at Archer, he still had got the furrowed eyebrows.
"It's nothing," I say to him.
"El, tell me."
I sigh before explaining, "Ryder came by earlier, I talked to him for a bit. Not
hing else. We just talked, he wanted to smooth things over."

His expression softens.

"Good, it was just your cheating scumbag ex-boyfriend and not some guy trying to
steal you away."
I give a sigh, was he worried that I would be swept away?
"Nobody is going to steal me away, no need to get jealous. If anything, I should
be the one worried about their significant other being stolen away. After all y
ou're quite something, Archer West." I tell him, he gives me a smile.
"A good type of something?"
"Of course, you're the best type of something. You've got the cutest dimples whe
n you smile and beautiful blue eyes. You may be stubborn, a bit self-conceited,
and rash... But, still I think that that you're quite something. The good type o
f something." I explain, blushing right after once I realize how cheesy I was be
ing.
He holds the rose he brought in with him up and places it right in front of me,
pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear with his right hand.
"You're truly beautiful, El. Inside and out. Thank you for liking somebody like
me."
6/19/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
QOTC:
What is your favorite chapter of the book?
Oh, and there's three more chapters, I want to write till forty and not end on a
weird number.
Oh oh, read my other books as well please. They're alright and may help occupy y
our time.
[NOT THE END]
38. The Graduates
[Watch the book trailer, @lovelilycollinsxoxo made it]
Congratulations Class of 2015
"Archer?" I call out, pushing my way through the crowd of graduates.
I had finally graduated, after four years of high school and then some.
When I woke up for the first day of kindergarten, I certainly didn't know that I
would be graduating with such great friends, a scholarship, and Archer.
"El!"I hear someone yell out.
They repeat their call and I follow the voice, running into a few familiar faces
along the way, even stopping at the sight of one.
He's giving me a small smile and holds his graduation cap in his hand. I return
the smile.
"Smelliot, we did it." he says, hoots and hollers filling my ears.
I walk over and give him a hug.
"We did it, Liam."
He holds me in the hug.
"Thank you," he whispers into my ear.
I don't say anything in return, it would just get lost in the crowd of hollers.
And plus I was confused as to why he was thanking me.
"Thank you for letting me fall in love with you." he clarifies.
I move away from his hug so that I can face him.
"Thank you for loving me, I hope you find a girl who will love and cherish you."
I tell him.
He gives a larger smile than earlier.
"I hope you and Archer make the distance. I really hope he treats you right and
you end up happy with him." he responds.
A group of people walk in-between us, separating us.
I mouth a 'thank you' in-between heads and he gives a nod.
"El!" I hear yelled, the voice even closer than before.
I excuse myself to many people I hardly recognize and find a hand grasp my arm a
fter a minute of searching. I turn around at the contact.

Archer's got his cap on, the tassel now indicating that he's graduated. He has h
is dimpled smile on once he realizes he has found me.
"Congraduations," he says to me.
Congraduations? Really?
"You're so lame," I tell him and he gives a chuckle.
He grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd, so that we can greet family and
friends.
Archer's side is present, my dad too.
Archer releases my hand and I run over to my dad and give him a big hug.
"Thank you, Dad. Thank you for everything, I couldn't have done this without you
." I tell him.
He holds me tight in a fatherly way for a second; I feel a number of teardrops t
ouch my cheek.
"Your mother would be so proud, I'm so proud. My baby girl is all grown up, next
I'm going to be walking you down the aisle." he says, sniffling.
I get a tap on the leg before I can even react, I move away from my father to se
e Sofia.
She holds her hands up and I pick her up.
"Cogratlatons," she says loudly.
I laugh and walk us over to Archer, he's teary eyed.
"Arch?" I question.
He gives me a smile and gestures to the tablet in his hand.
His mother's on it, she's got a smile much like Archer's.
He puts an arm over my shoulder and I give a wave to his mom with my free hand,
Sofia getting squirmy.
He talks to her for another five minutes and I stand with him for the chat.
Afterwards, I pass Sofia to him and look for my best friend, Arden.
I spot her just about ten feet away with Zac's arm around her waist.
She immediately detaches herself from Zac the moment she spots me.
I run up and hug her, she returns it without hesitation and we just stand huggin
g.
"Ahem," Zac says.
I detach myself from Arden and give him a hug.
"I wanted you to loosen up your hold on my girlfriend and perhaps let her go som
eday, but a hug's nice too." he says to me.
I immediately move away and give a roll of the eyes.
"Ah shush, Zac. You know you're happy for me and are going to miss me."
He gives a questionable nod, one that says what I have said is in fact true.
"I am happy for you, you and Archer. After all, you two are my OTP and I kind of
set you guys up."
I shake my head, yeah, it was Zac who set us up...
"You're too old to be saying 'OTP' and to be playing matchmaker." I tease.
"Hey, I'm only twenty!" he exclaims.
I give a chuckle and Arden returns to his side, putting an arm around him.
"So what's going on with you two? Arden is attending college two hours away, how
about you, Zac?" I ask them.
"I'm still attending college at the same place. I'll be driving to hers on the w
eekends so we can spend time together, she'll be driving down for holiday breaks
." he answers.
They must of talked it through, something Archer and I have barely done.
We had a lot more miles in-between, it would be us traveling back and forth prim
arily just for the holidays and maybe birthdays.
They excuse themselves and I find my way back to Archer and the family.
Archer holds in front of him something wrapped in blue.
"Open it," he says to me.
I take it from his hands and gently rip off the wrapping; it's our photo booth p
hotos but enlarged and framed.
I look up from the present to see a large grin on Archer's face.
"I didn't know we were doing gifts..." I say softly, feeling a bit bad that I di
dn't get him anything.

"I wanted to give you something that you could bring to New York, something that
ensures that you won't forget about me."
I hear a car honk in the background; the car honk gives me an idea.
"I know my car is a 'chick' car and all, but I want you to drive it until you ge
t yourself one. So you don't forget about me." I say.
He's shocked by my suggestion; he doesn't say anything for a bit.
"Are you sure, El? I may just break it again." he finally replies.
"Well, you can just fix it again." I state, knowing that he knew how to fix cars
.
He fixed my car before.
"Are you sure? It means so much to you." he asks again, making sure.
"Yes, I'm sure. After all, you mean so much to me."
6/24/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
QOTC:
Would you guys rather have an extra on Liam or an extra on Ryder?
Not totally sure about this chapter, it's kind of just filler fluff that leads t
o the end and is hella short and has an abrupt ending and may have made you want
to puke a bit. Sorry.
Also, sorry for not posting this yesterday, my house's wifi was being complete c
rap and wouldn't let me do anything internet related throughout the evening, aka
when I write/post.
Also also, there are now French, German, and Italian translations of the book. T
here is a whole reading list for them titled 'translations' so they're accessibl
e.
Also also also, if anything strange ever happens just check my profile's message
board, I'll surely address it.
(Strange as in chapter 38 not showing up, in which that explanation is on my mes
sage board)
39. Us
OH AND NEW TRAILER ALERT, IT WAS MADE BY THE LOVELY NOVEMBERDREAMER.
For a solid six months I thought that I would never dare fall in love again, of
course those months followed after finding out the guy I had been dating for ove
r two years had cheated on me.
I let myself go somewhere in that mess of time, I put on some weight and thought
less of my appearance. Ice cream had been a very close friend of mine.
Heartbreak is kind of a big deal to a seventeen-year-old.
Especially when you get in your first real romance and all the signs are unclear
. Especially when you hopelessly fall for someone who found no complete satisfac
tion with you.
But then again, heartbreak is also easy to get over at the age of seventeen.
Why?
Because when you're seventeen, you may just find yourself an Archer West.
* * *
"Happy birthday!"
A series of confetti poppers and streamers fill my vision the moment I open the
front door of my house.
I look behind me at Archer; he's got a big grin on his face.
"Surprise, babe."
I take one of his hands and make my way into the house, friends and family givin
g me quick greetings.
I walk until I reach the hallway that leads to my room, stopping once I lose sig
ht of the crowd that has taken over my house. He stands with his smile, one that
turns into a smirk very soon.
"You can kiss me now."
And I do, I kiss him hard. He doesn't even hesitate to kiss back. He kisses me a
s if there's no tomorrow, as if he will never get to kiss me again.

The sound of a flush interrupts our kiss; I back away a bit from Archer. But, th
at's not good enough because the one who occupied the bathroom comes out very aw
are of what had been happening.
"You two are gross, there are children here." Zac says, drying his hands on his
jeans.
He walks away and I blush a light pink in embarrassment, at least it was only Za
c.
Archer and I walk back to the main area, I immediately get called over by Arden.
She holds a silver bag with black tissue paper.
"For my best friend," she states before plopping the bag in my hands.
I take the closest seat and remove the tissue paper, taking out the contents of
the bag out shortly after.
Immediately I recognize the metal, the charms surrounding it.
"Arden, you didn't have to," I say to her, looking down at the charm bracelet.
"Of course I did. You always told me how much you loved the bracelet; it's a par
t of me I want to give to you. I even switched out a few charms so it suits you.
" she tells me, a wide smile on her face.
I put the bracelet around my left wrist and then give my best friend a hug. Arde
n Michaelson was the best possible friend; she was simply amazing in every way.
It's not even a minute after I hug my friend until I get called over to another
area, this time the area is the kitchen's island that has a stunning two tiered
birthday cake.
"You guys spoil me," I say to everyone with a smile.
One of my high school friends lights the eighteen candles and I stand with huge
smile, I couldn't believe that I was eighteen. That I was about to take a plane
to New York, attend college, and start the rest of my life.
Everyone attending begins to sing and Archer places his hands around my waist, I
blow out the candles once they finish their off-tune rendition.
"Did you make a wish?" a number of people ask me.
"No, I actually didn't," I reply truthfully.
I get a number of raised eyebrows.
"I have everything I could've ever wished for."
* * *
Everyone left, except for Archer, by six. The surprise party was wonderful; it w
as like a last hurrah for me.
"You're eighteen now, how does it feel?" Archer asks me, he's been cleaning up t
he kitchen.
I love my friends, but they're extremely messy and have left their damage. So no
w I'm thinking that maybe I love them a tad less now.
"I feel old," I groan, sweeping up confetti and wrapping from the floor.
"You are," he quickly replies, putting up a cheeky smile.
I roll my eyes; sometimes I wonder if he really does like me...
"Then what are you? You're almost nineteen, Archer."
"Don't remind me," he groans.
I throw away a few handfuls of trash before crashing on the couch; I could use a
break from the cleaning. Archer takes a seat next to me a minute later.
He has a wrapped box in his left hand; he gives it to me.
I unwrap the grey wrapping and find a DVD, The Notebook.
"You like stuff like this right?" he asks me.
I nod happily.
"I do," I reply.
He takes the DVD from my hands and walks over to the TV area, plopping the disk
into its appropriate player.
"What about cleaning?" I question.
He shrugs and takes a seat back on the couch, placing an arm around my shoulders
.
"Why do you like me?" I ask him, the movie beginning.
It was something I've been wondering for a while now; it's kind of been botherin
g me.
"What do you mean?" he asks back, his arm around me tight.

"You could have any girl and you chose me," I reply, he moves his arm from aroun
d me.
He doesn't say anything for a moment, reaching over for the remote controller an
d presses pause. I sit myself opposite of him.
"Well, you're not any girl. You weren't like the others and didn't swoon or star
e at me with crazy eyes. I like you because you're a challenge, you being the mo
st beautiful girl is just a bonus," he explains, staring at me with a dimpled sm
ile.
"Why do you like me?" he asks me.
I put on a smug smile.
"Because you're an asshole, a really good looking asshole who is sweet when it c
omes to me. You're an asshole, but you're my asshole."
"So, I'm sweet... Must mean that I'm a sweet talker."
"Oh really?" I question.
"Yeah."
"Sweet talk me then." I say, challenging him.
"Cake, cupcake, doughnut, waffle, cookie, chocolate-" he begins to reply, a smir
k playing on his handsome face.
"You're lame, West." I say, cutting him off, rolling my eyes shortly after.
I snuggle up to the throw blanket on the couch; he gives a slightly crooked smil
e.
"And you're weird, Grey."
7/24/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
QOTC:
Do you want a sequel?
Ask.fm: https://m.ask.fm/btragedies
(spam me with questions or write me a cute message or something, if you ever hav
e a question you can just drop it there)
ALSO, THANK YOU FOR 6 MILLION READS AND #1 TEEN FICTION AGAIN. THAT'S FREAKING I
NCREDIBLE!
[ONE MORE OFFICIAL CHAPTER, NOT THE END]
40. The End
T H A N K
Y O U
"Thirty minutes until boarding begins," I say, nervous to walk through security
and leave Archer.
He unlocks the car's doors and pops open the trunk, he walks out and gets out my
luggage, I stay in the car for a few more seconds. We were at the airport now b
y the way, my flight six-hour flight to New York being in just under an hour.
He knocks on the passenger side window, wondering if I ever plan to come outside
of the car.
"El, you're going to miss the plane at this rate. Come on, you have to go," he s
ays to me, his hand on the door handle.
He opens the door for me and I get out, grabbing one of my luggage bags. He woul
d at least walk me to baggage check before leaving altogether.
I roll my luggage and feel the sleep deprivation begin to kick in, I pulled an a
ll nighter so I could spend my last night home with Archer.
We walk up to the check in area and I stop in my steps, he does too.
I face him and give the smallest of smiles, hopefully one that covers a few emot
ions I don't wish for him to notice.
"I'm going to miss you, Arch."
I lean in and tippy toe a bit so that my lips reach his; my arms make their way
around his neck. His arms move to my waist and he holds me for one last time.
He kisses me with more passion then I could even imagine, his lips move fast bec
ause he knows the time we have left is little. I kiss back with equally as much

passion, not even caring about the disgusting amount of PDA we were displaying a
t the airport at six in the morning.
"I love you, Grey." he mumbles into the kiss.
The moment I hear the words I try to push away from the kiss, his arms not allow
ing me to completely.
"What's wrong, babe?" he asks, a little disappointed from me backing away.
Did he not realize what he just said?
"You just told me you loved me," I whisper.
He gives me a raised eyebrow in confusion that slowly turns into slightly widene
d eyes.
"Game. Set. Match. No more cigarettes, alcohol, or player ways," I tell him with
a big grin.
His eyes relax, his grip on my waist firmer. I feel a couple pairs of eyes on us
.
"You're a lot prettier than whiskey bottles and cigars. I would rather have your
lips against my lips than have a cigarette against my lips. This was a game I'm
happy to lose... As long as you say 'I love you' too."
"I love you too."
He kisses me on the forehead.
"Bye, Grey." he says, letting me go.
I give him a wide grin and hold my entire luggage by their handles.
"Bye, West."
8/14/15
Vote/Comment/Fan/Share
[I'll have an author's note next, I highly suggest for readers to read it, it'll
answer nearly all the remaining questions you may have]
Banner made by yufannx
(Isn't it absolutely gorgeous???)
THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END.
*EDITED PART IN*
Read the next part before telling me that I absolutely have to write a sequel.

Eight Years
Thank you for 10 million reads.
"Bye, Grey," Archer whispers, holding my left hand in his, he traces the tops of
my fingers with his right until he hits a ring.
He gives me a large grin that has no intention of fading.
"Hello, West."
Bad Boy's Rumor + French Kisses
i.
New bad boy book due to popular demand and the desire to write another book in f
irst person present tense.
Bad Boy's Rumor:
[Teen Fiction]
It's the morning lip service, afternoon sexual tension, and midnight release tha
t fuels Maverick O'Connor.
In which leaves Rumor Scott pleading for him to give her a chance at his heart.
For Rumor, he's willing to give her anything.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/69417129-bad-boy%27s-rumor
ii.

Zac and Arden have a spin-off!

French Kisses:
[Chick Lit]
In hope of reconnecting with her ethnic ties, Arden Michaelson sets off for Fran
ce to study abroad her sophomore college year for a semester, leaving her best f
riend and boyfriend behind. Upon arriving to the "City of Lights" she is kissed
by a set of foreign lips.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/29869007-french-kisses