Finding opportunities to be together with Ryan was proving a lot harder than I thought.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t think of ways to do so, it’s just that not only was Ryan preoccupied with a large number of girls all trying to get his attention, but the number 1 obstacle preventing me from getting anywhere near him was the Queen Bee herself, Melissa.

Who could have guessed that she would go from one day ignoring his existence to the next, trying to get into his pants, or should I say his bank account.

“Ava I know you and Ryan aren’t together or anything,” Rose had said to me, “but I overheard Melissa the other day and it seems like her next target…is Ryan.”

“What! Why him, what could she possibly want with him?” I exclaimed.

But I already knew. She was a sly shallow bitch if I ever saw one and her family wasn’t any different. Her mom was a wannabe socialite who didn’t marry a man quite rich enough to fund her expensive dreams. Like mother like daughter, the both of them were social ladder climbers obsessed with becoming a part of the world of the rich and famous. And now with Ryan having revealed that he is most definitely part of that world, I can guarantee that Melissa is just using him as a stepping stone to get what she really wants.

Not only was she fake, but she was manipulative too. As the ‘Queen Bee’ she had the power to make or break your reputation, and for many girls, their reputation was everything. Of course if you didn’t give a damn about that or had the smarts to realise that you can make your OWN reputation, she had nothing on you.

But as it turns out, the majority did care very much indeed about being popular, which left Melissa with pretty much free reign to do whatever she wanted with Ryan without any real competition.

I don’t know if I count as competition if I’m trying to spend time with him, in order to get over him. But I’d like to think that I always put up a good fight anyway.

To make matters more complicated, it’s spring break now and I have even less excuses to see Ryan.
‘Less’ but not none at all; I had one more trick up my sleeve.

See after the Winter Formal, I never found the right time to return the dress that I had borrowed. (Recently it seems like no time is ever the right time with Ryan since we haven’t exactly been on good terms.) Of course I could have just driven to Rodeo Drive myself and given the dress back to Anastasia, but faking that I forgot the address of the shop (as well as apparently being too dumb to just google the brand name and search for the store online) provided the perfect excuse to pay a visit to his house.

Or so I thought until got out of my car and walked up his driveway.

‘What am I doing? This is the stupidest excuse to go see him but you know what I’m tired of feeling like I’m all over the place. I need to get my shit together. I’m just going to act cool.’

With all of the confidence I got from my little self-pep talk, I rang the doorbell resolutely and rehearsed a million different ways to explain why I was here at his house in my head.

Tucking a fly-away strand of hair behind my ear, I gripped the dress-bag a little tighter and stood up a little straighter. I’d been a mess in the library and I needed to show Ryan that I was still as cool and collected as the day we met.

I heard muffled heavy footsteps trudge to the door.  ‘Since when did Ryan walk like an elephant…’  I wondered.

But as the door finally swung open, it wasn’t Ryan that I saw.

“Well hello there gorgeous,” said the smug, handsome face that greeted me as he leaned casually against the doorframe, giving me a once over.

If it weren’t for the chocolate-brown hair, grey eyes and 5 o’clock shadow, (not to mention his major attitude problem) I could have sworn that on first glance, this guy was Ryan.

“I assume you’re a friend of Ryan’s is that correct?” He asked coolly when I didn’t respond. I was too busy observing how he looked so similar, and yet so different, to Ryan.

He was just as hot as Ryan but in a different way; slightly taller, definitely more dishevelled and he looked older too. Not just that he looked physically older and more mature, but that his cheeks were a little gaunt and his eyes didn’t hold the spark that I saw in Ryan’s.

“Correct,” I finally responded, pursing my lips as I tried to figure out a way to confirm that this old-jerk version of Ryan was who I thought he was, without trying to sound too tactless.

“Well then, if you’re done checking out my handsome face, I’ll introduce myself; I’m Brad, Ryan’s older, hotter, cooler, smarter, and in general more awesome brother.” Said old-jerk version of Ryan, confirming my suspicions.

“If you’re looking for Ryan, he’s inside studying, what a nerd! He never comes out to play and he’s too busy to see anyone right now or any other time during the week so I’m sorry but you’ll have to catch him at school next week, bye now.”

And with that, he slammed the door in my face leaving me standing there in a stunned state of disbelief.

‘What a jerk!’ I thought angrily.
‘But a very hot jerk’ came a stray afterthought from the little devil on my shoulder.
‘Ugh, he’s a dick with an attitude problem, speaking to me like a child!’
‘But he’s still hot, you can’t deny it’
‘I’ll admit he’s hot but only because he looks a lot like Ryan’
‘…or is it the other way round?’

And then I realised that instead of having a pointless argument with myself in my head, I should just do what I usually do; brush it off and find another way to get what I want done.

I still had the keypass that Ryan had given me the first time I came over AND I knew where the back entrance was.

Brad has never seen the likes of me before.

I took my time strolling around the corner of the house, past the fountain where Ryan used to wait for me, past the double French doors to his room and finally the pool that I once pushed him into until I reached the back entrance that lead into the kitchen and dining area where we’d made a huge mess the first time I came over…

Holding my keypass to the sensor on the door, a little green light flicked on and an audible click sounded as the bolts unlocked.

I opened the door hoping that the coast was clear so that I could sneak over to Ryan’s room. But just my luck, Brad walks around the corner into the kitchen with a carton of milk in his hand.

“What the! How did you –what?” exclaimed a surprised Brad, shaking his head as he put the milk back in the fridge.

“Honey are you a Russian spy or something sent to kidnap us? Because if you are, you can take me hostage. I don’t mind being tied up” He said smirking as he winked at me.

Ugh! This guy…

But his joking face quickly morphed into a grave expression as he asked me, “But seriously though, how did you get in? This is trespassing of private property.”

“Look, Brad, I’ve been to your house before so I know how to get around, and I also have this.”  I countered, whipping out my keypass.

“It’s not exactly breaking and entering if I have a key now is it?” I challenged, raising an eyebrow defiantly.

I watched his eyes widen momentarily in surprise, but he quickly masked it.

“Touché” He replied, amused. “Now what exactly is your business here that required you to technically-not-break into our house?”

“I’m here to return this dress to Ryan,” I said gesturing to the bag I was holding.

“And what was Ryan doing with this dress in the first place? Not exactly his style if I remember correctly,” He said folding his arms.

Ryan’s build was a little lankier than Brad’s, but his muscles rippled in the exact same way when they folded their arms against their chests. And as such, they seemed to have the same distracting effect on me.

“Hey you think I don’t see you checking me out?” He questioned me, raising his eyebrow at me.

“Get your head out of the clouds,” I reproached him just before I explained the situation with Anastasia and the Winter Formal and how I needed to ask Ryan how to get back to the shop.

“Ok well why didn’t you just call or text him? Or better yet just google the store and then go straight there? Not that Ryan would mind that much.” said Brad.

Damn it, I forgot that both brothers are smart.

I had this wild, imaginative excuse about wanting to go with him to thank Anastasia in person, and not being good with directions, being scared I might get lost or some shit like that but I know Brad was clever enough not to buy it.

“Look, will you let me see Ryan or not? What even are you, his personal bodyguard or something?” I snapped. The best way to avoid a question is by asking one of your own, and asking aggressively.

But apparently he was smart enough to see through that too.

“Dang, you are just another one of those girls.” He tsked disappointedly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I shot back. I wasn’t going to take his condescending tone lying down.

Brad took a deep breath and exhaled dramatically, rolling his eyes as he did so.

“Let me spell it out for you. Hoards of girls have been coming over here all week to see Ryan and by now I’m sure I’ve heard every stupid excuse there is.” He said, looking at me like he was so done with this shit.

“At first Ryan couldn’t turn them away because he felt bad about hurting their feelings. So I did it for him. I answer the door and tell them he’s out, or tell them he’s busy and then make them go away. Though I was a little harsh with you, I apologise for that.” He continued. At least he had the decency to apologise…

“I’m actually proud of my little bro, I go away to college at the start of the year, come back 6 months later and he graduated from his nerd glasses to contacts. I didn’t know he had it in him to make so many girls fall in love with him…” He said staring off into space with a smile on his lips.

I’m glad that even though he’s a jerk, it seems like he really cares about his little brother. For some reason this made me feel happy.

Wait a sec what was that last part he said? ‘Make so many girls fall in love with him’

“Oh but I’m not_____in love with him…” I faltered.

“Righhhhht,” He said, sounding unconvinced. “Who even are you anyway?”

I tried to introduce myself “My name’s Ava, I – “

“OH so you’re the infamous Ava ay? I knew you looked familiar…” He cut me off, holding his hand to his chin as he looked me up and down again like he was inspecting a sports car or something.  Recognition flickered in his eyes and something seemed to click in his mind as his eyes narrowed slightly and he nodded his head.

“What?” I asked warily.

“Oh nothing, nothing” he muttered, trying to hid the smirk that grew on his face.

“Well now Ava, how did you get your hands on that keypass you have there?” He asked quizzically.

“Ryan gave it to me. He said he gave one out to all his friends.” I explained, not getting what was so funny about the whole thing.

Pacing around, he chuckled and whistled low “Damn, he was in so deep.”

“What did you say?” I asked, more confused than before.

“He must’ve trusted you a lot. Listen here Babe, each of us in the family has a pair of keys, 1 that we use, the other that’s a spare. Ryan must have given you his spare because these keypasses aren’t easy or cheap to make multiple copies of, and my dad already got so pissed at me when I lost mine back in Cambridge. I currently only have my spare left.”

“Why would Ryan give me his spare pass then? Why did he lie to me about giving them to all his friends? Nothing makes sense anymore.”

“Speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be at Harvard? Why are you back home?” I asked sceptically.

“Hmm so you know about me too then, been doing your research have you?” He winked.

“Do you have an OFF switch for your attitude?” I snapped.

“Geez ok, how about this: I am touched, that my little brother has been talking to you about me,” He said sardonically, placing his hand on his heart.

Then he spoke to me like he finally took me seriously “I have some medical issues so I’m home for a month and then I’m back to Harvard and away from my pushy parents.”

“You know, you are so not like how Ryan described you.” I told him, “You’re kind of cocky, no –you definitely are cocky, and insufferable. You’re like the opposite of Ryan even though you guys look similar.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing Babe!”  He laughed. His laugh was different too. It was deeper and somehow less carefree than his brother’s.

“Stop calling me Babe!” I demanded.  Babe makes my skin crawl and it produces the same gross feeling I get whenever I hear someone say moist or secretion. BLEH!

“Why?” He probed curiously.

“I just hate it and I don’t think we’re even close enough to be on a nickname basis. In fact you barely know me and– wait a second,”

I might’ve had the biggest lapse in short term memory, because it only registered with me at this present moment, that Brad has been talking to me like he knows about me, he even said something earlier like ‘the infamous Ava’ or some shit.

“Just before you said that you knew I looked familiar, and you act like you recognise me even though I’m 99% sure we’ve never met before. So how exactly do you know me?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Oh, well I was snooping through Ryan’s phone the other day and–“  

“Are you kidding me? What are you, 12 years old, how could you do that? It’s disrespecting his privacy!” I yelled.

 “Hey I was only looking at pictures!” He said defensively, “You know to check if he had porn on there or something.”

“That’s preposterous! Ryan would never have that kind of stuff on his phone!” I countered, crossing my arms.  Ryan was too innocent, he was my angel.

Uh, correction he’s not mine I meant he was like an angel…

“You seem to know him well Babe” He said, raising his eyebrows amusedly.

“Stop calling me that!” I hissed, getting irritated.

“Haha but you hit the nail on the head, there was nothing like that in his gallery, not that I expected there to be. Ryan’s too good, sometimes I think he’s too boring. Well that’s what I thought until I found a bunch of pictures of this girl,”

WHAT GIRL? WHO WAS SHE? Ryan you idiot who has been sexting you!

“But she wasn’t facing the camera in any of the shots so obviously he’d secretly taken them.  And of course, like the great big brother I am, I confronted him about it in the most embarrassing way possible. But all he gave me was a name, well your name.”

My name? He had pictures of me on his phone? My heart swelled.

“Yeah and then there was this one time I walked past his bedroom after getting a glass of milk from the kitchen at like 3am and I heard him mumbling something over and over in his sleep and I couldn’t work out for the life of me what he was saying. But now that I think about it, it sounded like, well your name.”

I was past denying that my heart was soaring to hear that Ryan still thought about me, that maybe he even dreamed about me.

“See I knew it, I knew you liked him.” He laughed.

“No you’re mistaken,” I said firmly. The first step to getting over someone is telling yourself you don’t like them anymore. But who am I kidding?

“Don’t give me that Babe, your cheeks are red and I just saw you smile that self-satisfied smile that people smile when they’re thinking about something secret.” He teased.

“Did not” I said.

“Did too” he shot right back.

“Argh! You’re so annoying how does Ryan put up with you?” I groaned in exasperation, throwing my hands up in the air.

“How does Ryan put up with you?” He countered, “Actually don’t answer that, you’re gorgeous.” He winked at me again.

“Who even are you!?” I said in irritation and disbelief. This guy… he had Ryan’s face albeit a little older but he was nothing like him. If he was the dark, Ryan was the light. If Ryan was my angel, his brother was a devil.

“I’m Bradley Jonathan Haywood and if you really aren’t in love with Ryan, then maybe you could be mine instead.” He said twirling me around and holding me by the waist before I even knew what happened.

“Never in a million years, and don’t you have a girlfriend anyway?” I narrowed my gaze at him as his sexy grey eyes with the same long lashes as Ryan, glanced down at me smugly, his grip growing tighter as I tried to break free.

Suddenly, we heard the front door open and then click shut.

 “Hey Brad I’m back, Mama Jo gave you an extra scoop of chocolate fudge and she told you to come in person the next ti- what the_____ Ava?”

Ryan looked so confused, and then angry and dejected all at once.  The plastic bag he was carrying that held 2 small tubs of icecream, fell with a soft thud onto the floorboards, the sound echoing like anxiety in my ears.

Shit! Why did Ryan always find me in the worst situations?

“Ryan it’s not what it looks li– “

****************************************************************
I am SO SORRY that this is unbelievably late.
I can only try to promise that I'll update more regularly, but the plan I had for the rest of the story has changed slightly and now I have to rework a lot of things!

Please be patient with me!

Vote and Comment if you liked this chapter and this new character ;)

Cerise xx