Rule Number One: Bros Before Hoes

It started with a pizza. The pepperoni kind.

On that particular Thursday afternoon, I was in Pizza City with half the senior class, just trying to stir up some trouble.

I live in that small, middle-of-nowhere kind of town where everyone knows each other, and everyone's had the same friends since preschool. It was the kind of place where we would all get married and our kids would be friends.

I'm that kid who likes to keep it interesting; keep life from getting boring, you know, to make it more bearable. If I do say so myself, I, Nicholas James Maguire, am exactly what the town needed.

"Hey, Maguire!" Robert Maxin called to me from across the restaurant. "I wanna hear that story again!"

"Promise not to pee your pants this time?" I shouted back. He wanted me to tell it because it made him look good and he was sitting next to Hannah Green, his crush since the second grade. But I could never pass up an opportunity to make fun of Robert.

"You wish," said Robert. I hadn't really insulted him, since he does that to me all the time, but he knew better than to argue back.

"Don't have to." I leaned back in my seat and adjusted the Red Sox cap on my head. Austin Banks, my best friend held out his hand to pound my fist.

We sat at a booth in the back of the room with our other best friend, Carter O'Connor. Some people call us the three musketeers because we're always seen together; same sports, same classes, same irresistible personalities...we have a lot in common.

"How long do you think it'll be before Hannah comes over here?" Austin asked us.

I shrugged. "Five minutes. Give or take. Maybe shorter if he tells her about the time he went to Build-A-Bear with us."

Austin cracked a grin. "Poor guy. He really doesn't know how to talk to girls."

"You two should give him lessons," Carter said, finally looking up from his phone. "He could learn a lot from you."

I looked at Austin. Carter had always hated how we behave around girls. He thinks we act like animals or something. He'd always been really old fashioned when it comes to dating.

"So who're you texting, then?" Austin elbowed Carter. "Who's the girl?"

Carter had been texting non-stop since we got to the restaurant, and since we knew he wasn't texting Austin or me, it had to be a girl. Carter doesn't get along well with other guys, besides us anyway. Girls really like him. Probably because he's the one guy they'd never be able to get with. He's too good for that.

But the other guys don't care. They still see him as a threat. Of course, if I were them, I wouldn't be too worried about Carter. He's a bro, and he sticks to the code. He would never take another bro's girl.

"My sister." Carter pushed Austin's arm off of him. "My mom doesn't want to cook dinner so she's sending Eliza to eat with us. I hope that's okay, dude." He looked at Austin.

Austin shrugged. "Yeah, whatever, man. She's your sister." Austin was trying to be cool about it, but I could tell from the way he'd crossed his arms defensively that he didn't want Eliza to come over.

I wasn't surprised. The bro code states that a dude will never date his friend's sister. Austin, however, is the absolute boss and because Eliza used to have this major crush on him, Carter okayed the relationship.

It ended badly though. As it turned out, Eliza didn't really like Austin. She really liked Austin's older brother, and now things are awkward between the three of them.

And that's why bros don't date their bro's sisters.

I've always kind of liked Eliza though, even despite all the drama with Austin. She's pretty, she's fun, and she can kick my ass at Call of Duty, and that can't be said for a lot of girls. But I wasn't going to go out with her. Carter would kill both of us. Besides, there were other girls in the world.

"It'll be fine, man," I said to Austin. "We haven't seen her in a while. She's probably forgotten all about it."

Eliza had been in Australia all last year as part of a foreign exchange program with a few other girls in her grade so we hadn't seen her when we went over to Carter's house. They'd just gotten back last week.

"I hope so." Austin shook his dark hair to the side of his face and nodded towards the young waitress walking towards us with the trays. "Grub's here."

"Here you go, boys." Natalie, our waitress, put the food on our table. "Careful, it's a little hot."

Natalie is our age and she actually goes to our school. She's kinda hot, in a nerdy librarian kind of way with the slender figure and rectangular glasses. Nice, too. "Enjoy," she said, giving me a small smile.

We watched her walk away from us and Carter kicked me under the table.

I grinned. "Not my type," I told them as I began digging into my pepperoni pizza. It was thin crust with extra cheese, and it had been cooked to absolute perfection. Pizza has always been my favorite food, and the slice I was eating did not disappoint.

"Girl is your type." Carter rolled his bright eyes.

Right on cue, Hannah Green walked over to our table. She didn't sit down though. She just stood at the end of the booth and smiled at us.

"Hey, Carter," she said, twisting her hands through her long, chocolate-colored hair. "Robert told me about that time you all to Build-A-Bear?" She looked at him through her long eyelashes. "I'd love to see that teddy bear sometime."

I caught Austin's eye and tried not to laugh. So Robert had told her that story. That was too bad, really, because it did nothing for him and everything for Carter.

Carter had no idea how to respond. As it turned out, that didn't matter because at that moment, the door to the restaurant opened and in walked the girl.

She was blonde, tan, and she'd grown about six inches since the last time I saw her. It was hard not to stare, especially when her gaze connected with mine and my heart started racing. I hadn't felt like that in a long time. It felt good.

"Well," I started to say to Hannah, but then the girl walked over to our booth and became the new center of our conversation.

When she reached us, Carter immediately moved over so his sister could sit next to him. I was sitting next to Austin, on the other side of the bench. Hannah quickly greeted her, and went back to talk to Robert and some of the other girls in the restaurant so Eliza could catch up with us.

Hannah and Eliza actually used to be best friends. Probably still were.

"Thanks for letting me come, guys," Eliza said as she took a sip of her brother's water. "I wouldn't have, but mom kind of made me."

I smirked, just like I always do around her. "Well look at it this way. Now you get to see me."

"Still cocky, huh, Nick?"

"Me?" I pretended to be offended. "Nope. Just honest. I know you missed me."

The other guys just shook their heads. Eliza and I go way back, since I've been friends with Carter for forever and she's only a year younger than us. She's the only girl I've ever met who doesn't blush and try to flirt back with me when I flirt with her, and that's really what makes it fun. Carter never really minded it either, I think he knows it's just for fun. But then again...if any other guy talked to Eliza the way I talk to her, Carter would literally kill him.

She was different though, since the last time I saw her. Something had changed, she seemed more grown up in some way. Something had changed for me too. I'd always felt that butterfly sensation when I was around her, ever since I hit puberty, but now it was magnified by a billion.

Not that I couldn't handle it, or anything. Just an observation, really.

"How was Australia?" I asked, since no one else was saying anything. And I genuinely wanted to know the answer. I liked to know what she was up to.

The blonde girl shrugged. "It was pretty fun. It's good to be back though. I never want to see another kangaroo again."

"In that case, Carter," I teased my best friend. "You should probably leave."

Austin coughed into his hand to cover up a laugh and Carter kicked me under the table. "Good one, Nick. Real wit right there."

Eliza rolled her eyes and stood up to find Hannah again. Apparently she's too cool for us now. That hurt, a little, when she left. I wanted her to stay.

"Barely recognized her, dude. It's only been a year and she looks so different," Austin said to Carter when it was back to the three of us. "That was pretty weird."

"I know." Carter shuddered. "Josh Daley asked her out yesterday. Two years ago he didn't even know who she was."

Josh Daley? I wanted to scream. That kid is such a tool. Major douchebag. "What'd she say?" I asked, not wanting to know the answer.

"She shot him down, thank God." Carter took the last bite of his pizza. "But that's not gonna be the end of it."

"Sorry, man," Austin and I both said. Carter was weirdly protective of Eliza. It was probably because their dad left them a few years ago and he was filling in the role of a father figure for his sister. That was my guess anyway.

"Hey, Nick." Carter looked at me like he'd suddenly just gotten a brilliant idea. "You're in a lot of Josh's classes, right?"

"Just the electives," I answered him. We were in the same gym, home EC, and shop classes. They were required to graduate, and neither of us had taken them yet, so as seniors we were stuck in them.

"Yeah, I think Eliza's going to be in some of those too. Do me a favor and make sure she's doing alright, would you?"

I nodded. I was sure Eliza would be fine, but I would be more than happy to take the opportunity to spend more time with her. She'd always been this quiet, girl-next-door type. Still was, from what I could tell, but now she was prettier than ever, and I had this weird feeling that if I couldn't be near her, I was going to explode.

Electives have always been my least favorite classes. But now, it looked like I had a reason to attend.

_______________