My brilliant plan was put to test the next few days at work.

I had only written things such as smile or laugh, but I hadn't see any changes in Bennett.

Which meant one of two things. Either he knew they were from me and threw them away without even reading them, or he read them and thought that I was going to be that delusional and optimistic girl that wasn't ever going to leave him alone.

Or both.

"Syd, you okay? You look a little constipated." I jumped up at Jessie's voice, my mind snapping back into reality. I looked around the food court around me, taking in my surroundings.

"I. . . I'm great." I waved my hand, shrugging off the strange look she was giving me. The look dropped within seconds and she threw her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god, Syd! Kyle is walking over here." I was about to turn around when she gave me a quick shake of the head.

"Hey, beautiful." Kyle slapped his hands on to the table in between us, his dark green eyes on me.

"Hey." I pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear, giving Jessie a quick glare through my lashes. She shook her head, trying to push her brothers hand off the table.

"Uh, no." I said, smiling as I pried his hand off the table in front of us, "I still don't think you know what personal space is, kiddo." I reached up to ruffle his hair, but he was giving me a disgusted look.

"Don't call me kiddo, I'm like a year younger than you two." He flicked his sister's forehead, smirking, "But babe, I promise I have experience if you'd like to give me a try." He winked at me, ignoring the gagging sounds my best friend had started to make.

"Actually your like eleven months. You had to go and be Mom and Dad's premature miracle." Jessie said, ruffling his hair as she sipped on her milkshake, "And if you hit on Sydney one more time she'll personally get Bennett Banks to kick your ass." I gave Jess an astonished look.

Why would she say something like that? Especially when she knew that neither of us could back it up.

"Banks? You mean that douche that hates everything?" He asked, pulling a chair from the table behind him and sitting in it. "You two have something going on?" He added after a second, his eyes darkening a little.

No matter how hard I had tried to let my best friends younger brother down easy, he still made a habit of telling his friends we were dating and that I was just playing hard to get.

"Yeah, they've been having sex during their breaks down at Doughboy." I glared at my best friend, shaking my head. Why was she lying? Did she like getting a rise out of her little brother?

"Oh come one, Jess. Like I'm gonna believe that. Syd might like to change guys, but she knows that Bennett is a lost cause." I frowned at Kyle's words, slowly turning my head back in his direction.

He was staring across the room at the McDonald's, or maybe at the girl that was standing in front of it, a smile tugging at his lips again.

"He's not a lost cause." I spoke up, getting strange looks out of them both. I corrected myself before they could ask what I meant.

"He's a jerk, yeah, but he isn't a lost cause, guys. Everyone has good in them, even Mr. Pessimist." I could see Jessie trying not to laugh as Kyle shrugged and stood up.

"Syd, love." Jessie said, "Stop trying. It's not going to happen." I stood up myself, glaring at them both.

They obviously didn't understand that I wouldn't stop until I had Bennett talking to me, explaining why he was such an ass. That I wasn't going to break, no matter how hard Bennett hit me.

"It will." I finally growled at them both, "Just watch."

**

When I pulled into the Doughboy parking lot, there were almost no parking spaces. I decided to just park in front of the Home Depot next door and hope I wouldn't get towed.

"I'm so glad your here!" Tristan immediately shoved my apron into my arms when I walked in, his hazel eyes frantic.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, following his worried eyes to the crowds of people in the bakery.

In the week I had been here, I hadn't ever seen it this busy. The line was nearly at the back of the room, the people talking so loud I could barely hear what Tristan was saying beside me.

". . . and write it down. Here. Go take their orders." He swung over the counter, grabbing a pen and notepad before shoving it into my arms and gesturing for the next person in line to move forward. I slipped the apron over my head and started scribbled on the notepad a little to make sure that it worked.

"Hi, I'm Sydeny and I'd be happy to take your order." I said, stepping in front of a little girl and her mother. I started working myself back up to the front, trying to act as personable and optimistic as possible.

When I finally managed to make it back up to the register, I found Bennett standing behind it, handing out everyone's pastries and cakes.

"You got them all already?" Tristan asked, handing a woman back her money. I leaned back against the counter, handing over the notepad.

"Anything else you need me to do?" I asked, grabbing a hairnet from beside Bennett, careful not to touch him. He gave me a long look as I put my hair up under the hair net, before he shoved a tray in my hands and started putting pastries on them.

"Make yourself useful, Hale." He mumbled before he forced a smile back on to his face and handed the next cake over to the next costumer. I glanced down at the notepad Tristan had handed back and started to walk back to the end of the line.

I found myself looking back up at the counter, at the way Tristan was moving around frantically and still managing to keep his composure pretty well and talking to the costumers. My lips started to part when I met Bennett's cold eyes across the room. For a second we only stood there, frozen as we stared into each others eyes. And for an instant I swear I saw them soften a little and he went back to helping Tristan out behind the counter.

When the crowds finally died down, I made my way back up to the front of the store, preparing myself to be snapped at by Bennett.

To my surprise, both Tristan and him were laughing about something when I reached the counter.

"What?" I asked Tristan, dropping the notepad on to the place mat, "What's so funny?" I looked back and forth between them, raising my eyebrows.

"Nothing." He said, starting to calm down. I gave them both a look before pulling the apron over my head and laying it down in front of me.

"I should probably get home." I mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed. Had I done something that made them laugh? Were they laughing at me?

"Why, your boyfriend waiting for you?" Bennett asked, shooting me an amused look. I pulled my hair from the hairnet, smiling.

"Yeah. We're planning on pulling an all-nighter. I could send you a picture if you want." I joked. Tristan bursted into laughter, but Bennett didn't find it as funny.

"Damn, Sydney. I didn't know you were that type of girl." Tristan leaned over the counter, smirking. I returned his smile, laughing.

"Well, you don't really know me then, do you?" I replied. Bennett made a sound somewhere between a snort and a grunt before he stalked out of the room and disappeared in back.

"Somebody needs to get laid." Tristan muttered, watching after his friend before turning back to me, "You wanna be the lucky girl?" I could tell just by his playful tone that he was joking.

"Nah, I think I'll pass." I waved my hand, standing back up and grabbing my purse, "I'll see you tomorrow." I stopped a few feet away, digging through my purse until I found the envelope.

"Tristan, could you give this to Bennett when you have the time?" I asked, sliding the red envelope containing a sticky note toward him. Tristan stared at it for a moment, looking like he was holding back laughter, then nodded.

"Sure. Should I let him know who it's from?" He questioned, lifting his head up to meet my eyes.

"No." I knew he wouldn't read it if he knew that it had anything to do with me.

"Kay. Bye, beautiful." Tristan saluted me, a goofy smile on his face as I waved back and ducked out of the store and into the dark night.

**

I was sitting quietly in my bed, trying to figure out some ridiculous math problem so I could get money from my mom when I heard a thud against my window.

I grabbed one of my heels from beside my bed and crossed the room, ready to hit someone with my shoe. I let out a sigh of relief when I found Kyle standing outside.

"What the hell are you doing here so late?" I asked, "It's like midnight, Ky." I growled, pushing my window open. He climbed into my room, slamming the window shut.

"Jessie and her on and off again ass boyfriend are fighting again. And we all know what the results in." He ran a hand through his hair, yawning, "Make up sex." He threw himself back on to my bed, knocking my book on to the floor and picking up my pack of sticky notes.

"Ooh! Who are you giving these too? Syd, are you trying to ask someone out? Because I'm totally a pro at it if you need help." I cringed at his words, ripping the stack of sticky notes out of his grip.

"Oh come on, Syd. Don't be pissed, you know I like it when you play hard to get." He joked, grabbing my arm. I shoved a blank sticky note over his mouth and smiled sheepishly.

"And you know I love it when you shut up." I said innocently. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my phone from my nightstand.

"Kyle-"

"You've got a text from Banks." I jumped up, blinking in confusion as I sat on the bed beside him, taking my phone out of his hands. He was right, Bennett's name was on my screen. When the hell had he put his number in?

"Read it." Kyle muttered, nudging me. I crossed my legs and opened the text, still confused.

You aren't ever going to stop, are you?

I could feel a smile tugging at my lips as I read the text, my fingers already moving across the phone.

"Stop what?" Kyle asked, resting his chin on my shoulder. I ignored him, hitting send as I stared at the text I had sent in response.

Not until you give in

***AN***

Hope you enjoyed!

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24