When i got back home my mother was on the phone. She was squealing and crying. "Oh this is wonderful dear i am so happy for you, i just want you to you know how much your father and i love Richard and think he will just make the best son in law." My mother gushed.

        Son in law? Oh great Kimberly has decided to jump off the deep end, into the la la land of marriage. This will definitely be something we'll hear about for months to come. great... And it doesn't matter who i marry he will never match up to freaking Richard.

        "Oh! your sister just walked in, let me tell her the good news. Call me later." She said hanging up. "Brooke i know you won't be able to believe this but your sister has done it again." She said beaming. "She and Richard are finally getting married." She said wiping the tears out of the corners of her eyes. "Good for her." I said putting my keys on the hook by the door. 

         "Hm well ok then i guess I'll see you in the morning." She said trotting off. I blew my breath out. I can not believe my sister and her pencil pusher of a boyfriend were getting married. He was in law school so of course my parents couldn't be happier. He was one of those old school types with the gelled and slicked back hair. He even wore suspenders. I mean come on who really wears those anymore? He has the button up collared shirt with the black pants and shiny shoes. The whole package. Well good for her just another notch on her belt that makes her better than me.

       Friday at school i was in the bathroom with Kaitlyn. "Ok be honest how dumb does this look?" I asked showing her the dress i had to have it on for first block. Walking about school was like one big renaissance festival. "Well i see what you mean about it being on the small side. But its kind of hot, how is Tyler not all over you?" She asked giggling "Don't ok we don't like each other that way. "You're kidding me right?" She asked. "No. He even said so." I said pulling the dress up as high as i could. 

       We walked out of the bathroom and Tyler was waiting. I felt his eyes go straight down and blushed. Of course they did this dress was just to much. We still had about fifteen minutes till we had to start class. I really didn't want to walk around school like this. I folded my arms over my chest. "I have a jacket in my locker if you'd like it." He said smiling. 

       "Really? That'd be great. Thanks." "No problem." We walked to his locker he got it out and handed it to me. "Thanks i said taking it and putting it on over the dress. I zipped it up as high as it would go. "That's better." I said slipping my hands into the pockets. 

       I smelled his scent on the jacket. It smelled wonderful. It was crisp and clean. "We should probably practice the lines real quick." He said pulling out our 'script' Once we had run through it a couple of times Kaitlyn clapped. "That's great you guys." She said. "Thanks." Said Tyler hanging his head. The bell rang. "Good luck guys." Kaitlyn said turning to head to her class. "Thanks see you at lunch." I said. "Ready for this?" Tyler asked me. "Ready as I'll ever be." I said pushing the door open.

       Once it was our turn to come up i removed the jacket and sat it in my seat. I could feel stares as we took the front of the room. We finished the play. "I hope these costumes where ok it was all we could find." I said. "And their a bit small." Tyler said looking back down at me. I elbowed him in the ribs and he looked back at Ms. Vale. "More than fine dears ladies back in the day wore dresses just like this to show there assets off." She said. 

       We started back to our seats. "And you've got some nice assets." Said Kevin. Tyler kicked his foot hard as we took our seats. "Knock it off Keven." He hissed. I don't think he meant for me to see him do it though.

        I slipped his jacket back on until i could get back into the bathroom to change. We watched the rest of the plays. They were all very good. Once class was over i went to the bathroom to change. I wasn't going to see Tyler again till lunch so i had to keep his jacket. I picked it up and draped it over my arm. I gathered my things and went to second block.

       The end of the day finally arrived and i was out in the parking lot waiting for Tyler. I finally saw his muscular frame amble over to my car. "Ready to go?" I asked. "Yep." He climbed into the passenger seat and we headed towards the mall. Wasn't a long drive. 

       Once we were inside he looked around. "Ok where should we start?" He asked. "You can go first." I said. "Okay, tell me what were supposed to do again?" He asked. "I thought you'd ask i read the paper last night. Were supposed to pick an outfit we think that defines the other person. Something we think they would wear. Something that describes them." I said.

        "Ok then lets go into here." I peered into the store. "Here are you sure?" He asked. "Well if i heard you correctly I'm supposed to get an outfit that describes you." He said. "Right." I said. 

       "Ok then were in the right place." I heaved a sigh. "If you say so." He found a rack of jeans and looked through them. "Pick your size." He said pointing to the pair he wanted. It was a plain pair of jeans. Then he walked to another rack and found a plain blue button up collared t shirt. "There you go." He said pointing. 

       "Great. "I grabbed my size and walked towards the dressing room. When i came out i looked in the mirror. "Really now? This is me?" I asked unsure. "Yes down to a t." He said. "Ok why?" I asked generally curious. "Well the jeans cover your legs and there's nothing fancy about them what so ever. The t shirt is preppy and something a brain like you would wear. I mean i swear you wore something just like this last week in fact." "Ok stop right there that is the point of this. To shed off stereotypes. So what if i care about school and want to do good is that so wrong?" I asked. "Not wrong at all and i know were supposed to shed off stereotypes but the assignment was to pick what i think represents you." "Fine, so you did."

        "Yep and this is what i wanted to pick. Your turn." He said lacing his hands behind his head. "Fine." I said going back to change. Once i was done we walked a few stores down and we took a right into the one i had selected. "Ok here you go." I said pointing to a jump suit. "I would never wear this." He held it out. "Not the point the point is it  who i think you are." "Fine." He said begrudgingly taking the jumpsuit off the rack.

       It was blue and had buttons all the way down the front and it looked like something a gardener would wear. When he came out i couldn't help but laugh. "It's not funny. Why did you pick this?" "Because i think you keep all your feelings bottled up inside. You have trouble letting people in." "I let you in didn't i?" "I guess you did but i had to fight you tooth and nail for it too." I said.

         "Well ok then you have me pegged some what ok? Are you happy?" He asked. I nodded as i smiled. "Yes." He went back to go change then we went to another store. "Okay part two. Were supposed to pick out an outfit for the other person one we think they should try." I said. 

       He looked for an outfit that should describe me. He found a white tank top that was cut off and a grey mini skirt. "I'm not wearing that." I said handing it back to him. "Fine." He said laughing. He looked around a bit more and picked up a dress. It was on the short side but not terribly short. It had thin straps and a slight V. It had a fun print. He handed it to me. I could work with this.

       I put it on and came out. "Why did you pick this?" I asked curious. "It's a fun dress. It represents that you need to let lose it's ok if you don't spend your weekends studying. He rand his hands down from my shoulders to my arms. "This...don't be afraid to show people the real you. Don't hide yourself. All the layers is like you trying to be who you think your parents want you to be. Or one up your sister. Or hide because you're scared of getting hurt."

       Then he ran his hand up my leg and i felt sparks. "Now the literal route. You can wear shorts...ok at least capris come on. Why cover your body up?  It's not like your gross or anything. And your legs are strong and powerful. It means you'll do great things." He said standing so close behind me i could feel his breath on my shoulders. 

       Not gross great, he might as well of said that i was gross. I was angry, i turned around and was inches from his face. I took a step back. "I don't like you." I said glaring at him. I stalked back to the dressing room. "Wait what did i say?" He asked. "I admitted that at least i thought you were okay looking and i get "not gross." How am i supposed to feel good about myself?" I asked.

       I was starting to really not like Tyler. I did not like the fact that his hair hung in just the right spot and how soft and perfect it looked and how i wanted nothing more then to run my hands through it. I didn't like how he opened up to me at times and it made me feel special because i knew he wasn't telling these things to other people. And that he broke up with his last girlfriend because he couldn't talk to her. Now i was thinking about being his girlfriend and somehow it had me wanting to kiss him. Whatever this boy was doing he was good at it and i didn't like it. I came out. 

       "Your turn." I said a bit angry. "Come on Brooke don't be mad at me." "I'm not." I said stonily. "really? Cause you seem kinda mad." He said. I picked up a stripped button up shirt and some jeans and thrust them at his chest.  "Yea what do you know?" I said. He went into the dressing room.

        "A bit preppy for me don't you think?" "Oh I'm not done just yet." I came over and ripped the shirt open so i could see his chest. I regretted doing that now that i remember how nice it looked. "What's that for?" He asked making a face and looking up at me. "For making me wear that stupid dress, it represents how you should open up more. And the peppiness of the shirt represents how you shouldn't be so tough all the time. I don't know just let your guard down sometimes." 

       He walked up to me on his way to the dressing room. He leaned down to my ear. "Haven't you learned anything yet? that's how you get hurt." I was angry at him. "How dare you tell me i can't study all the time? I can't hide away because i don't want to get hurt then you turn around and do the same thing!" I said.

        He walked in and changed and came back out. "Double standard much?" I asked. He sighed. "Look maybe you're right. I don't know." He said. "Fine then." I said.

       "Ok now what?" He asked. "Well were supposed to find an outfit that we think describes ourselves. Just so the other person can see how we see ourselves." I said turning to leave. "Ok that should be easy. 

      We walked into the next store. He picked up a grey t shirt with a white skull fading into the background. The shirt was faded and looked soft. "Grey and you think i need to break lose where's the color buddy?" I asked smirking at him. "Hey i like this shirt ok?" He said finding his size. 

       "Fine then no making fun of my clothes." "Fine." He found a pair of blue jeans he liked and went into the dressing room. When he came out i drew in a breath. The t-shirt fit him perfectly. It clung to his muscles very nicely. The jeans fit great too, not to big in the legs and when he turned around i noticed the jeans made him have an even nicer butt. I mentality kicked myself for noticing that in the first place. 

       "Well what do you think?" He asked spinning around. I bit my lip. He was cute. The outfit was doing things for him. "It's you." I said with a tight smile on my face. "Why are you looking at me like that? It looks stupid doesn't it?" He asked looking down. I put my hand on his shoulder. "No it looks fine. Go change." 

       "Ok your sure it looks fine?" He asked. Since when was he self conscious? Me yes because i get compliments like "Not gross." "Yes go." I said pushing him gently towards the dressing rooms. When we left we found the last store of the day. I looked around finding it hard to find something i liked. I didn't always wear jeans. In fact i liked to wear shorts on occasion. 

       I found a dress that was calling out to me. It was a halter dress. It was red with polka dots on it. I held it up. "It's not pants color me shocked." He said mock gasping. "Hey i don't always wear pants ok." I said taking it to the dressing room. "Maybe not but you've worn them all but one day that I've seen you." He said. 

       I walked out and looked in the mirror. It had the plunging neck line i could never get these dresses to fit right. I turned around. "See this is why i wear what i wear. It's to hard to find things that fit right. What do you think?" I asked. "Huh what?" He said. "The dress, what do you think? Can you at least be here for five minutes is it really that bad?" I sighed. "It is that bad...it's...not gross." I said. He laughed. "Are you still mad about that? Ah that's why you were being cold earlier." He nodded a knowing look on his face. "I'm sorry i don't always know how to give compliments." He shrugged. "But the dress looks good on you." He said. "Oh." I said shocked. "Well thank you." I smiled going back to change.

       We wandered over to the food court for something to eat. We got in line for chick fila. Once we were sitting down i looked at him. "So did you learn anything from this exercise?" He asked me. "Just that your scared of getting hurt. But i already knew that." "Right, and who isn't scared of getting hurt?" He said. "I don't know, i guess everybody is scared of getting hurt but when you think about it even two people who really do love each other sometimes get hurt." I said. I guess all of my hiding wasn't keeping me from getting hurt like i thought it was.

        "What do you mean?" He asked. "Well it's just that everybody fights." I said popping a waffle fry into my mouth. I mean we sure had our fair share of fights. "Yea that's true." "So what were your parents like when they were together?" I asked looking up at him through my lashes. I wanted to make sure i wasn't stepping over some line. Before we were officially friends he would have yelled at me. He said he would stop, but i didn't know if i asking to much again. As his friend i should be concerned of his feelings.

        "Uhm well things were nice, we did stuff together like most families did and once we found out my mom was pregnant again we were all really excited. We were even thinking of extending onto our house so she would have a room and stuff." He said. "Really?" I asked. "Yea if you go to the back of my house you'll see the remains of what was going to be. After my mom died my dad couldn't bring himself to finish it." He said. "I see, I'm really sorry." I said placing my hand over his. "It's ok i guess I'm learning to cope. All i can say is it is what it is. Or everything happens for a reason even if i don't know what it is." I said. "Yea. I like that." I smiled. 

       "So are you going to talk to your parents?" He asked out of nowhere. "Why would i do that?" I asked confused. "About the sisterly rival thing maybe they don't know they're holding her up so high?" "Oh trust me they know they're doing it." I said. "Well yea but maybe you could just tell them that it bothers you or something?" He said. "Maybe i doubt it will help though, I'm not much for those cliché family moments were we all cry and it's all blah. Besides my sister has decided she's going to marry her boyfriend. I can't compete with that kind of thing." "And how do you feel about that?" "I don't know I mean Richards a nice enough guy i guess just really formal i mean every time i see him he shakes my hand. But i guess its whatever as long as he makes her happy."  I said.

       "Does he wear bow ties too?" He asked laughing. "And suspenders." I said laughing along with him. "You know i was kind of looking forward to meeting my little sisters dates at the door with a shot gun." He said grinning evilly. "You would" I said shaking my head. I sighed. "I'm not gonna talk to them, besides I've decided trying to compete with my sister is exhausting." I said. He held his hand up for a high five. "There you go!" He said.

       Once i was down to the crumbs he looked at my plate. "About done?" He asked. "Yea i guess so." We picked up our trash and took it to the trash cans. I got a text from Katlyn. "I'm gonna run to the bathroom." He said. "Okay I'll meet you by the door." I said. "Hey how's everything going with Mr. McDreamy pants?" She asked. "Can we stop calling him that?" I asked. "Don't count on it." She said. "Fine. It's going well. Were done. I'm about to bring him home." I said. "Oh that's no fun.

       I called her. "He's in the bathroom i gotta make this quick. What do you mean no fun?" I asked. "Come on you can't tell me you don't feel ANYTHING for him." She said. I sighed. "Look i don't know what i feel. I'm confused. I've never gotten this close to a guy before." I said.

        "Then i have an idea. You need more time to figure out how you feel. I know! Lie and say you need to log a few more hours" She said. "I don't know, I don't like to lie you know that." I started to turn red. "Besides he says I'm a terrible liar." I said. 

       "What's up?" Tyler asking seeing me on my phone. "Sorry Katlyn called." "Oh is she ok?" "Uhm yea she was asking if i had logged enough hours with you. She said that she didn't log enough with Frankly and didn't want anything to be said." I said smiling. I lied i just lied. Please if i ever wanted to get away with a lie this was it. I didn't want to lie, i hated to do it in fact but i was put on the spot and i didn't know what to say. "Thanks for the heads up K, I'll call you later." I said hanging up quickly.

       "So did we get enough hours, do we need to do something else together?" He asked.  "I guess so, and you know we don't just have to do homework." I said. I was also supposed to be a good influence on him. You know see that I'm going places and he could to. Stay in school kids! "Ok well i don't have anything else to do if you want to hang?" He asked.

       "Ok that sounds good." "Maybe we can go back to my house to watch a movie or something." He suggested. He said. "Ok sure." I said grabbing my keys as we walked out of the mall to my car. 

       When we got back to his house we went into his room to look for something to watch. I saw his sketch pad and some pencils scattered on the floor. "Can i look at this?" I asked picking it up. "Sure." He said. I took a seat on his bed and flipped through the pages. 

       "These are amazing." I said in awe or his art. He had drawn some buildings that were so beautiful. I can only imagine them in real life the sun gleaming off them. "Hey why don't you let me draw you?" He suggested smiling. 

       "Really?" I asked almost shy. "Yea here let me see that." I handed his book back to him. He walked over to his desk and pulled his chair around to face me then he picked up a black pencil off the desk. He exchanged the one notebook for a different one. "Yea just sit still if you could." "Ok." I took a seat. I was worried of how it would turn out. But he was clearly talented so i was putting my faith in him.

       He started to draw some strokes on the paper so i sat as still as i could. He had this intent look on his face as he was looking at every inch of me. I tried to smile so he would get my lips right. But after a while that hurt. Finally when i thought i couldn't hold my smile any longer he said he was done. 

       "Come see." He said. Gladly. I walked over and he handed the note pad to me. "Wow it looks just like me!" I said surprised. "You are so good at this! Would you mind if i keep this?" I asked. "Uh yea sure let me see?" "I can rip it out." "No I'd rather do it." He said a bit frantic. Well it was his stuff, so i handed the note pad back to him. But i was really curious as to what he had in this notebook if it wasn't more buildings.

        He quickly ripped it out and flipped the note pad shut. He took the pencil and signed his name at the bottom. "Oh this is great, thank you." I said smiling. "Anytime." "So when are we going to start filling out college applications?" I asked. "Don't start with that again." He said. "What oh come on you have untapped potential you're great at art and it would be a shame to waste it. And were friends now so i can tell you that and you can't yell at me." I said. He grinned. "I did say that, I'll think about it." He said.

        "You do that, because Sat's are coming up soon and I've got a practice book." I said. "Why does that not surprised me?" He asked. I picked up a shirt off his floor and threw it at him. It hit him in the face and just stayed there. I all of a sudden started laughing uncontrollably. 

       "This is not funny." He said muffled. He reached up and pulled the shirt off. "You're dead." He said giving me a look. "What? No." I turned to run but he was faster then i was and he grabbed me by the back of my shirt and play tossed me on the bed. 

       "Now I'm going to tickle you." He said. "I'm not ticklish." I said trying my best to lie. "Oh if there's one thing you are it's a bad liar. He leaned down and started tickling me. I giggled trying my best to stop him. "No please stop." I said placing my hands on his arms in an attempt to stop him. He looked into my eyes and bit his lip. The air left my lungs. Well this sealed the deal. I was definitely falling for him.

       But in Tyler fashion he pulled back quickly. "I think my dad's calling me." He said standing up. He even went out into the hall and pretended to talk to him. "Yea dad did you need me?" "No." His dad answered back. "I should go." I said picking up my drawing. "Okay." He said not even trying to stop me. We had a moment. He knew it. If he wanted to just be friends he could have at least said so. He didn't have to fake a talk with his dad.