Breaking the Bro Code

By Kai Michaels

Copyright © 2012 Kai Michaels

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of publisher.

For information regarding permission contact:

Kai Michaels, 1060 Fairway Place, North Salt Lake, UT 84054

To all the bros in my life whose endearing bro traits inspired this book

Chapter one

The date had been just okay—maybe a little less than okay.  Well, to be completely honest, it was a huge let down.  When Logan first asked me out, I was delirious with excitement.  I mean, Logan Sparks and me?  I knew I was the envy of dozens of girls that night.  Maybe I had built it up too much.  But with Logan’s reputation, I guess I expected him to be so much more.  Instead, it was a night of pizza, with only the toppings he chose, and then an action movie with the mega, family-sized, greasy popcorn, which he ate almost completely himself, and to top it off, the doorstep scene.

“So, tonight was awesome, don’t you think?” He asked, moving in closer.  That smile told me exactly what he was planning.  It was a confident smile, like he’d successfully done this a thousand times before.  Several small pieces of popcorn were wedged between his teeth and I could still smell the butter on his breath.  Had there been a moment, it would have been ruined.  But there was no moment, at least not for me.

I’m sixteen and I’ve never kissed anyone.  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not that I haven’t had the chance.  My friend Keegan tried almost weekly last year before I moved.   It’s just that I’ve been waiting for the right guy.  Keegan wasn’t that guy.

When Logan asked me out, I thought for sure he was the one.  I had admired him from across the room in English all year, but had never gotten up the nerve to talk to him.  When he approached me I was speechless.  But standing there on my porch staring at that popcorn grin, I knew he was definitely not the one.

“Yeah, it was a nice evening,” I lied.  “I haven’t seen a movie with so many people getting shot or blown up in a long time.”

“Pretty sweet, huh.” He moved in even closer, putting his hands on my waist.  My first fear was that he would leave greasy fingerprints on my clothes—my new clothes I had bought with my own money just for this date.  What a waste.

He closed his eyes and leaned in.  My heart leaped into frantic mode. I tried to step back but was already up against the door.  Suddenly, the light of the doorbell caught the corner of my eye. I slid my hand over and pressed it.  Logan’s eyes popped open.

“Oops,” I said.   “Sorry, I must have hit that with my arm.”

A moment later, a big, wrinkly face appeared pressed up against the long glass window next to the door.

Logan jumped back, gasping. “Whoa! What is that?”

“Sorry, that’s just my grandpa.  He likes to see who’s at the door before opening it.  You know, in case it’s some kind of maniac.” I let out a little laugh.   Logan didn’t laugh. He just stood there staring at Grandpa’s distorted face smashed against the glass.   Finally, the door opened.

“Who’s out there?” He grumbled.  “Do you know what time it is?”

“Hi, Grandpa, it’s just me, Maddie.”

“Hello, sir,” Logan said.

My grandmother showed up right behind him.  “Close the door, Earl.  You’re letting in moths.”

“Well, I’d better go,” I said.

I couldn’t tell if Logan was still freaked out by Grandpa or if he was disappointed that he didn’t get his kiss.  Either way I was glad the night was over.  The other girls could have Logan. He definitely wasn’t for me.  Unfortunately, I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone for me.

Mom and dad were still out at a dinner party and my ten-year-old brother was in the family room playing a video game.

“Would you like some soup, sweetie?” Grandma asked.

“No thank you, I had pizza earlier.”

“Pizza is not real food.  Come in and have some soup with your grandmother.”  I knew she would just continue asking until I finally gave in.

“Okay, just a little,” I said.

“I need some soup, too,” Grandpa called out.

Grandma shook her head. “Earl, you’ve had your dinner.”

Grandpa mumbled something and headed to his room.

They were both in their eighties.  They moved in with us two weeks ago.  Grandma hasn’t driven a car in years, and with Grandpa’s poor eyesight he couldn’t renew his license.  Now Mom drives them everywhere they need to go. Since they have trouble with stairs, they took over my room forcing me to the basement.  I was still upset about that.  Last Spring when we bought the house, I was given the first choice of rooms.  I chose the one with the largest closet.  It also had it’s own bathroom.  It was perfect.  My brother Cam got stuck with a room in the basement.  However, with Grandma and Grandpa here, I was now stuck with the small room in the corner of the basement.  Up until now, we had been using it as a storage room.  Mom and Dad had promised to clean it out, but there were still several boxes lining one wall.

We moved in the first week of April, just in time for cheer tryouts.  Making the team gave me an instant group of friends and things to do.  We practiced every day during the summer and attended a weeklong cheer camp where I roomed with Kennedy.  She quickly became my best friend.

Kennedy is loud and obnoxious, but she knows everyone.  At times she can be a little spacey.  She drags me to parties and introduces me to tons of people. She definitely made my transition to a new school easier.

“Grandma, what’s in this soup?” I asked.  It had a strange taste to it.

“Oh, a little bit of everything: potatoes, celery, corn, pickles, and of course love.”

Pickles.  That’s what it was.  Grandma’s famous for not wasting one bit of food.  If you don’t eat it for dinner, chances are it’s going to end up on your sandwich the next day or in your spaghetti sauce or in your soup.  She’s always trying to help out with the cooking.  Mom says it helps her feel like she’s not a burden.  I’m always nervous when I open my lunch.  So lately I just go out to lunch with Kennedy.

I faked a few sips and then poured it back into the pot when she left the room. Then I went to the family room and sat on the couch to read my texts.  They were all from Kennedy, asking about my date.  I promised her that I would call the moment it was over.

“Hi Cam,” I said. My brother was playing video games with his friend Zane. Cam is your typical ten-year-old brother who believes his only purpose in life is to master video games and to torment me.  His evil little friend, Zane, lives down the street.  When those two are together it is trouble.

“Isn’t it kind of late for you two to be hanging out?”  I asked.

“We’re having a sleep over.”

Great, I thought.  That was all I needed.  Last week they had a sleep over.   At two in the morning I woke up to find them in my room with a flashlight reading my diary.

“Well, stay out of my room this time. It’s off limits,” I said.  I set my phone on the coffee table and went back to the kitchen for a drink.  I still had the pickle taste in my mouth.  When I returned my phone was gone.  “Where’s my phone?  Cam, did you take my phone?”

“I’m not sure.  What does it look like?”  The two worms giggled.

“Hand it over!”

Cam tossed it to me.  “Don’t worry.  We answered it for you while you were gone.”

I quickly opened my sent messages and read, “Yes, we made out like crazy.”

“You little freak!” I yelled.

“Hey, we were just trying to help.”

I grabbed the remote, turned the television off and tossed it to the corner of the room.

“Hey, we were on the last level!” Cam screamed.  He scrambled on his hands and knees for the remote.

I pressed speed dial number three and waited.

“Hey, Kennedy.  I’m back.”

“No, that was my idiot brother.  He took my phone.”  I went into the living room for a little more privacy.  Kennedy wanted every last detail, down to the pizza toppings.

“So you really didn’t make out?” She asked.  “That’s so weird.”

“What do you mean?  It was a first date.”  I knew that didn’t mean anything to Kennedy.  She makes out with everyone on the first date, if not before.

“Well, it’s just that I know how Logan is,” she said.

I explained that he did go for a doorstep kiss but that I didn’t let him.

“Why not?”

“I just don’t think I like him, at least not that way.”

There was a pause on the phone.  I could tell Kennedy was trying to process that.

“I don’t get it,” she finally said.  “What does liking him have to do with anything?”

Kennedy went on to tell me all about her night with RJ.  They went to dinner with three other couples and then went back to RJ’s house to watch a movie.   “While we were deciding on a movie to watch, the guys started to play a video game.  I don’t know what it is with guys and video games, but an hour later they were still playing.  They were so into it, we finally left.  I don’t even think they knew we were gone.  Sometimes guys are so lame.”

I agreed and told Kennedy goodnight.  With cheer practice every morning before school, I loved the weekends when I could finally sleep in.  I went to my room, locked the door and crawled into bed.

Chapter two

It was seven o’clock in the morning when I woke up to something moving under my covers, down by my feet.  I immediately kicked and screamed before leaping out of bed.

Slowly, a lumpy shape made it’s way out from under my blanket.  It was Zane, rubbing his head where I had kicked him.

“You pervert!  What are you doing in my bed?”  Just then Cam ran in and shot his friend with a Nerf gun.

“Gotcha!” He yelled.

“Stop!” I screamed.  I slammed my door shut, holding them hostage.  “What were you doing in my bed, Zane?”

“I was hiding.”  He looked at me like it was a logical answer.

“Yeah, we’re having a war,” Cam added.

“Listen, you freaks.  This is MY room!  You do not come in here, EVER!  Plus, I locked the door last night.  How did you get in?”

“Easy.” Cam showed me the long nail he used to unlock my door.

I kicked them out and fell back onto my bed.  My first chance in a week to sleep in and it was ruined.  I tried and tried to get back to sleep, but I was so wound up that it was no use.  Finally, I got dressed and went upstairs.

“Good Morning, Madds,” Mom said.  “You’re up early.”

“Yeah, thanks to Cam and Zane.  Can we please outlaw sleepovers at our house with those two?”

“I’m sorry,” Mom said.  “Zane keeps him busy.  Otherwise, he’s bothering your grandparents.”

I sat down at the table and Mom brought me a plate of pancakes and sat down next to me.

“How was your date with Logan?”

I told her all about it.  I tell my mom everything.  Kennedy is my best friend, but my mom is my best friend whose advice is actually useful.

“Trust me, Madds,” She said.  “You made the right decision.  You don’t want to kiss just anyone.”

“What?  Who’s kissing people?” Dad asked, coming through the kitchen door with the newspaper.

“No one, Chad, no one is kissing anybody.” Mom replied.  “Here, have some toast.”  She stuffed a piece of toast into my dad’s mouth.  He sat down in his usual place at the end of the table.

Just then, the two little maniacs ran up the stairs and into the kitchen yelling.

“Hey, you two, slow down,” Dad said.  “And keep the voices down.  You’ll wake up Grandma and Grandpa, and I just need a little break from—”

“It’s like a tornado in this house,” Grandpa shouted, walking through the doorway.

Dad shook is head and mumbled, “Great.”

Grandma walked in a minute or two later.  Her hair was a mess, sticking up all over.

“Good morning!” Mom said.  “This is wonderful.  We can all sit down and eat together.”

Grandpa and Grandma sat down on one side of the table and Cam and Zane sat down next to me on the other.  Mom sat at the end, facing Dad.  Cam grabbed the entire stack of pancakes with his hands and then held them in front of Zane, who took three, but then put one back on the plate.  Cam took two and put the rest back on the plate in the middle of the table.

“Hey, don’t touch them all!” Grandpa complained.

“Oh, I’m sure they’re fine,” Grandma said.  She stabbed a pancake with her fork and plopped it onto his plate.

“I’m not eating those,” Gramps said, pushing the plate away.

Cam and Zane dug into their food as if nothing happened.

Zane ended up staying the entire weekend with us.  I spent as much time in my room as possible.  I begged my dad to install a new lock on my door, but he’s not very handy and simply told me he’d look into it.

By the time Monday came, I was excited to get out of the house and back to school.

Kennedy has her own car and drives me to school every day.  I offer to pay her gas money, but she never takes it.

“Okay, Maddie, this week we are finding you a guy.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said.  “But I want someone nice.  I’m not just looking for someone to kiss.  I want someone who wants to get to know me first.  Someone who, when he does get to know me, is still nervous about that first kiss.  I want to look into his eyes and see that he likes me without him saying anything.  I want the thrill of feeling like he likes me but not knowing for sure.  And I want him to feel the same about me.   Both of us will be too nervous to be the first to admit our feelings.  It’s that moment before the actual moment that I want.  Do you know what I mean?”

“Um, no.  I have no idea what you mean.  Start over and I’ll try to follow along.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said.  “I’m not sure exactly what I mean either.”

We got to school and headed for math.  Kennedy hurried in and grabbed the only seat next to Zach.  She always ditches me for boys, especially cute boys.  I scanned the room for empty seats.

Logan was in the far back corner.  I chose a seat on the opposite side of the room, up front by the door.  I’m sure he was happy about that.  Since I shut him down Friday night, I was confident that he had lost all interest in me.  At least I hoped he had.  I glanced over just to see what he was doing.  As I did, our eyes met.  He pointed to the empty chair next to him.  I turned away pretending I didn’t notice.

The bell rang and a boy named Carver came running through the door and slid into the seat next to me.  Mr. Walsh, our teacher, was nuts about punctuality.  If you were late, you were the first chosen to do a problem on the board.

“Well, Mr. Nelson, let’s have you come up and take problem number one.”

Carver sighed heavily.  As Mr. Walsh picked four other students, Carver leaned over to me and whispered,  “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck!” I whispered back smiling.  He smiled back.

I didn’t know Carver very well but a chill shot down my spine when he smiled at me.  And he smelled good, too.  I think it was his cinnamon gum.  He went up and did the best he could with the problem.  His answer was nothing close to the answer I got, and I was pretty sure mine was right.

I couldn’t help notice how Carver’s tight tee shirt displayed some pretty impressive biceps.  He rubbed his hand through his thick wavy brown hair as he squinted unconfidently at his answer.

Once everyone finished, Mr. Walsh asked each of them to explain their solutions to the class.  “Mr. Nelson, tell us how you arrived at x = 127.”

Carver fidgeted, looking at his work like he wasn’t sure exactly how he arrived at his answer.

“Well, first I figured I could simplify this by pulling an x from each side.”

“Wrong,” Mr. Walsh said.  “Try again.”

Carver stood back and rubbed his chin.  “Right.  Maybe I should have divided each side by the five . . . no, I mean multiply by five.”  He erased and tried something else, then erased again.

“Do you have any idea what you are doing, Mr. Nelson?”

Carver made one last effort and then stepped back.  “No, sir.  Not a clue.”  The class laughed and Mr. Walsh dismissed him.  Carver fell into his seat and leaned over to me.  Next time, wish me more luck.  Again, that cinnamon breath.

“Ms. Hunt, maybe you would like to show us how you would solve this problem,” the teacher said, turning to me.

“Um, okay.” I walked up to the board and wrote down, step by step, my answer to the problem.

“Congratulations,” Mr. Walsh said.  “Perhaps you can tutor Mr. Nelson on his assignment.  And preferably before tomorrow’s test.”

I felt bad for solving the problem so easily. “Sorry,” I mouthed to Carver.

Just before the bell rang Mr. Walsh passed out the study guide for the exam.

As I put my math book into my backpack, Carver said, “Thanks for showing me up.  You know I was just about to get the answer.”

“Oh, totally.  I could tell,” I said.  “You were all over that problem.”

“Yeah, I mean there are only so many numbers it could be, right?  Eventually I’d get to the right one.”

I couldn’t help grinning.  I’d never talked to Carver before.  He was funny and comfortable to talk to.

“So, can I take you up on that?” He asked.

“On what?”

“On tutoring me.  You know, since Mr. Walsh said it.  That makes it kind of like an assignment.”

Was he flirting with me?  I couldn’t tell, but I liked it.  We walked out of class together.

“Well, I’d hate to miss an assignment,” I said.

“So, what do you say?  7:00?” Carver asked.  “With the test tomorrow, I could really use the help.”

I couldn’t tell if he simply wanted the help or if he wanted to get to know me better.

“Sure, tonight will be great.”

“Perfect!” He said.  “My house is totally crazy.  How about your place?”

Obviously, he hadn’t met my brother or my grandparents, but I agreed anyway. We exchanged cell numbers and went to class.

Chapter three

As soon as I closed the car door, I turned to Kennedy.  “Carver Nelson.  How well do you know Carver Nelson?”

“What are you talking about?” Kennedy asked.

“Okay, I’m not exactly sure what happened, but one minute I’m wishing Carver good luck on his math problem and next the thing I know we have a study date tonight.”

“Carver Nelson,” she began.  “Good body, great face, but believe me you don’t want to go out with him.  I took him to a dance last year.  If you’re looking for that first kiss, he’s not the guy.  I held his hand, leaned on his shoulder, asked him to check my eye for a stray eyelash.  I tried everything and got nothing, not even on the doorstep.  He gave me a courtesy hug and walked away—total waste of an evening.  Do you know how much I paid for my shoes alone for that dance?”

“Yes, but was he fun?  Did he make you laugh?  What’s he like?”

“Yeah, yeah, he is all of those things, if that’s what you like.  By the way, where do you want to go for lunch?”

We ended up at a drive through.  The more she told me, the more interested I was in Carver.  After all, I wasn’t so much looking for my first kiss.  I was just looking for that moment. The moment before the moment.  Everything that leads up to the first kiss.

The rest of the day all I could think about was Carver. After school I was grabbing my things from my locker when Logan showed up.

“So, up for another movie this weekend?” He leaned against the locker next to me.  “Ryan, is working on Friday and can sneak us in and get us free popcorn.”

“That really sounds incredible, but I think I have plans with my family Friday night.”

Logan looked up at the ceiling, “Hmm.  Ryan won’t be working on Saturday so we can’t go then.  There’s no way I could enjoy a movie, knowing that it could have been free the day before.  I guess we could just hang out and watch a movie on Saturday at my house.”

“That would be great, too.  But I think I’m busy all weekend.  I’m babysitting my brother on Saturday.”

Just then Kennedy and Morgan walked up.  “Hi Logan.  Sorry, we need Maddie.”  They pulled me away and dragged me down the hall.  Morgan and Kennedy are identical.  Both selfish, both boy crazy, and both determined to always get their way.  Their hair color was the only thing that was different.  Kennedy’s was blonde and Morgan’s hair was a deep brown, almost black.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Myrna.  That’s what’s going on. She just called an emergency meeting in the cheer room.”

Myrna is our cheer coach, although she also teaches health.  She was a cheerleader in college about thirty years ago.  Now she’s just a mean, middle-aged woman who never thinks we work hard enough.  Plus, she’s always hitting on Coach Watkins, the basketball coach.  First quarter report cards just came out and apparently several of the cheerleaders received below acceptable grades.  We have to maintain a 2.7 grade point average to stay on the team.  I was on the honor roll, so I didn’t worry.  But some of the others must not have done so well.

“Kennedy, Morgan, and Tatum.  You are suspended until midterm grades,” Myrna shouted.  “If you cannot get your act together by then, you are off the squad completely.”

“That’s not fair,” Kennedy said.  “It’s not my fault Mr. Walsh gave me a D.”

Myrna stepped up directly in front of Kennedy.  “Then whose fault is it?”

“Mr. Walsh’s, of course.  He gave me the D.”

Myrna’s face was flaming red with anger.  “I don’t care if he’s the worst teacher in the world.  Just get those grades up or you’re finished.  Understand?  We have competition coming up this spring and we need everybody there.  We won’t stand a chance if we have to rely on only those of you with good grades.”  She stared at me as if to imply that I am nowhere near the cheerleader the suspended girls were.

“That is so unfair,” Kennedy said under her breath.

Myrna intimidated me.  I didn’t know why.  Myrna’s a fifty-year-old woman who tries to dress like she’s seventeen.  Her hair is bleached so blonde that it looks like a fluorescent wig.  And those fake eyelashes, the fake tan, and the over-the-top makeup are so obnoxious.  But she’s demanding, angry, and feared by all.   I always keep my mouth shut, hoping to stay on her good side, if there was one.  But so far, even with good grades and being one of the best tumblers on the team, she didn’t like me.  I’m not sure why.  She will compliment everyone else once in a while, even Kennedy, but never once has she thrown a “nice job” my way.  Today was the closest she had ever come to recognizing something positive about me.

“Kennedy, try studying with this one,” she said, pointing to me.  “She’s smart.”

This one?  She couldn’t even include my name with the compliment.  Although, knowing Myrna, I’m not sure she considered smart a compliment.

“The rest of you, starting Wednesday, we will be having extra practices after school to adjust the dance and the stunts to the smaller squad.”  I’m sure down deep, Myrna was happy that some of the girls were on probation.  She loved to hold extra practices.  She would practice four hours a day if the administration would let her.

On the way home, I wanted to learn more about Carver.

“So, anyway, you were saying that Carver is fun, right?”

“What?  Oh, yeah, I guess.  I mean it depends on your definition of fun.  But yeah.” Kennedy said.  Then she slammed her hand against the steering wheel.  “Can you believe I’m suspended?  Myrna is such a jerk.”

We pulled up to my house and I got out.  “Thanks for the ride, as always.”

Kennedy nodded.  “Hey, by the way, what time are you guys studying math tonight?  Do you care if Morgan and I come?  There is no way I can get my grade up in math by midterm without a miracle.  And Morgan is hating it worse than I am.”

Was she serious?  Had she not heard me call tonight a “study date”?

“I don’t know.  I think it was more like Carver wanting to get together, but I guess if—”

“Great!  We’ll see you tonight.  I’ll tell Morgan.”   In Kennedy’s mind everything was always about her.  We had done a lot together since I moved in last year, but in all of that time Kennedy had always chosen the movies we saw, the parties we went to, and the food we ate.  She was kind of like a girl version of Logan.

I opened my front door to find Cam and Zane throwing paper airplanes across the room trying to hit Grandpa who was sitting on the couch.  There was paper everywhere.

“Okay, I need this place cleaned up!” I shouted.  “I’ve got friends coming over tonight.” Then I grabbed Cam by the arm.  “And don’t throw those at Grandpa!”

“He’s fine,” Grandpa grumbled.  “These two couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”

“Yeah, Grandpa bet us that we couldn’t hit him,” Cam said, sending another airplane Gramps’ way, missing him by a mile.

“See! These boys don’t know nothin’ about airplanes,” Grandpa said, sliding his fingers along the crease of a piece of paper, putting the finishing touches on his own plane.  He held it up in front of his face, closed one eye and aimed.  “Watch and learn.” Then he threw the plane in a straight line hitting Zane squarely in the forehead.

“Ouch!” Zane cried.  “That hurt!  And it almost hit my eye!”

Cam thought it was hilarious until Grandpa hit him in the neck with his next plane.

“Hey!  That’s sharp!” He and Zane ran away into the other room while Grandpa laughed from the couch calling them “babies.”  Then Grandpa got up and shouted, “I’m coming after you two with more planes.”  I could hear Cam and Zane screaming as they scrambled downstairs.  Grandpa chuckled to himself.  He didn’t have any more airplanes.  He just liked to tease Cam.

I began picking up the papers when Mom came in.  “Hello, Maddie.  How was your day?”  She didn’t even ask what all of the paper airplanes were all about, but she helped pick them up.

“I can’t wait to tell you!” I started.  “I hope it’s okay with you, but I’m having some people over to study tonight.”  I told her all about math—every last detail, including his smile and his cinnamon breath.

“Well, you’re welcome to study at the kitchen table.  We’ll stay out of your way.”  Mom was the best hostess when I had people over.  I think she realized how crazy our house was with my grandparents and Cam and Zane always running around.  She did her best to help me out.

Chapter four

At 6:45 Carver called me for my address.  Not a text, but an actual call!  That was pretty rare for boys at my school.

“I know you already told me at school, but I forgot your address,” he said.

“Wow, I’m either really easy to forget or you are terrible with numbers,” I joked.

“Well, I am awful with numbers.  After all, you saw my performance in Math today.”

I gave him my address one more time.  “If you get lost, call me.”

“Thanks,” he said.  “And by the way, you are anything but forgettable.  See you soon.”

That same chill I felt at school ran down my spine again.  I don’t know why I was so excited, I barely knew him at all.  And who knows, maybe he really did just want to study.

“No, there was something there,” I said softly to myself.  “I felt it.  So did he.”

A few minutes later the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Grandma called from the family room.

“No, Grandma, I’ve got it,” I insisted.  I took a deep breath and walked to the front door.  My hands were sweating as I grabbed the doorknob.

“Oh, it’s just you guys.”

“You sound disappointed,” Morgan said.  She and Kennedy walked in like it was their own house.

“So where are we studying?  The kitchen?” Kennedy headed for the kitchen without waiting for my answer.

Just as I closed the front door the bell rang again.

“Wow, our first date and you’re already slamming the door in my face,” joked Carver from outside.

“Sorry,” I laughed, opening the door again.  “I didn’t see you out there.”

“Don’t worry about it.  I get that all the time.”

There was something so comfortable about this guy.  He was funny and talked to me like we had known each other for years.

I invited him in and led him to the kitchen.

“Hi, Carver,” Kennedy said.  “I hope we’re not crashing your study date?”

“What, I have to share my tutor with you two?”  He turned to me and shook his head.  “I hope you’re not charging me full price for this.”

Morgan, who obviously didn’t get the word from Kennedy that I was interested in Carver, began to flirt with him.  She slid her book across the table.

“Maybe I should sit over there,” she said, pointing to the empty seat next to Carver.  Kennedy jabbed her in the ribs.  Morgan wasn’t very bright.

“Ouch!  What was that for?”

“I think Maddie is sitting there,” Kennedy said.

“What are you talking about?  Maddie hasn’t even sat down yet.”

Another Jab to the ribs and Morgan finally understood.  She looked at me, then back at Carver and sighed.  “Oh, right.”

We began working on the review packet together.  I was explaining my answer to the first question when Grandpa came in looking for a snack.

“Who are they?” Grandpa said.  He pointed around the room at my friends.

“Hi, Grandpa,” I said.  “These are my friends.  This is Kennedy, Morgan and Carver.”

“Carver?  What kind of name is that?” Mom says Grandpa has lost all of his social filters over the past few years.  He just says whatever comes to his mind. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks or says.  My dad says that’s the benefit to growing old, you can say or do anything and get away with it.  Dad can’t wait to be old just for that reason.

“Grandpa!” I said.  “Carver is his name.  It’s a great name.  Sorry, Carver.”

“I know, sir,” Carver said.  “It is an odd name, especially coming from my parents whose names are Robert and Nancy.  You would think they would have chosen something a little more traditional.”

Grandpa was now poking his head in the refrigerator searching for food.

“Excuse me,” I told everyone.  “I’ll be right back.”  I hurried out of the kitchen and found my mom.  She was helping Cam make a poster for school.

“Mom, can you get Grandpa out of the kitchen?  He’s totally making fun of my date’s name.”

“I’m sorry. I thought he was watching television with your father.  You know how those two love that home video show.”

“I know, but will you please go get him?”

By the time we got back, Carver and my grandpa were laughing out loud together.  Carver was even making a sandwich for Grandpa.  Kennedy and Morgan were gone.

“Now that’s a sandwich!” Grandpa exclaimed, slapping Carver on the back.

Mom and I looked at each other and then back at the two new, odd friends.

“Remember, Earl, it’s all about the ration of mustard to mayo,” Carver said.  “You can’t scrimp on the mustard.”  Grandpa took his plate and headed to the family room.

“I’m so sorry, Carver,” I said.

“For what?”

“You know.  Leaving you here with my grandpa.”

“Don’t be sorry.  Earl is awesome!”

Mom couldn’t help but smile.  “Well, it looks like Maddie’s grandpa feels the same way.  By the way, hello, I’m Maddie’s mother.”

“Where are Morgan and Kennedy?” I asked.

“They left.”

Apparently, Morgan received a text from Braden, inviting her to a movie and both she and Kennedy left.  It was really no wonder that those two were suspended for grades.

Carver and I spent the next two hours studying, flirting, and laughing.  It was the best night ever.  Just after nine o’clock his mom called asking him to pick up his younger sister from a friend’s house.

“Well, thanks for being a mathematical genius and helping me tonight.  I had a really great time,” he said.  And from the way he looked at me and smiled, I’m pretty sure he meant it.

I smiled back.  “I had a great time, too.  We should definitely study together again.  Plus, I think you’re my grandpa’s new best friend.”

Carver left and I ran to the family room where my parents were watching television. “I just had the best night ever!”

“Well, tell us all about it!” Mom replied, turning the television off with the remote.

“Hey, I was watching that!” Dad complained.  Dad was definitely not the emotional parent in our house.

“That Home Video show?  Come on, Chad. Let’s talk to your daughter,” Mom said.  “Plus, you’ve been watching this for over two hours.”

“It’s a marathon,” Dad said.  “And I don’t care how many times you see a guy fall off the roof or get smacked by his kid with a bat, it’s hilarious.”

Mom ignored him and turned to me.  “So tell me all about it.”

I squeezed in between them on the couch and proceeded to share every last detail of the day up until the moment I ran into the family room shouting that I had the best night ever.

“What did he put on that sandwich anyway?”  Dad asked.  “I’ve never seen your grandfather so happy in my entire life.  Can you have him make one for me next time he’s here?”

“Well, that’s just wonderful, Madds,” Mom said.

Just then my phone vibrated with a text.  “It’s him!”  I opened it and read it out loud.

“The least I can do to thank you for helping me with math is to take you to dinner.  What do you think?”

My heart skipped a beat.  Mom looked just as excited as I was.  “What do I say?  It has to be something good.  You know, something clever.”

“How about asking about what was in that sandwich?” Dad suggested.

The only think I could come up with was, “Sounds great.  But if you get an ‘A’ on the test, I think I deserve two dinners.”

“Deal.”

Chapter five

“I’m coming already!” I shouted.  Kennedy honked three more times before I could make it out my front door.

“So what’s the hurry?” I asked.

“We’ve got to get to school fast.  I glanced over the review last night and didn’t understand most of it.  You’ve got to help me before the bell rings.”

“Okay, but we’ll only have like five minutes.”

Kennedy ran a stop sign and screeched around a corner.

“Or maybe eight,” I corrected.

“So, do you want to hear about my date last night?” I asked.

She didn’t.  She didn’t want to hear anything.  “There are only two tests in math before mid-terms.  If I don’t ace one of them, I’m off the squad for sure.  Math was my lowest grade last term.  If I can raise it to a C+ and maintain my same grades in my other classes, I’ll be fine.”

We skidded into a parking stall and Kennedy ripped her study guide from her backpack.  “Okay, I just need help on number three and seven.”

I looked at the guide.  “Oh, those are simple.”

“Wait,” Kennedy interrupted.  “Also, number five.  Oh, and this one, number thirteen.  And the last three, too.”

“Are you kidding?  Why didn’t you just stay at my house last night?  We went over all of—”

“Shh!  You’re wasting time. Start explaining.”

I did the best I could in six and a half minutes, but I could tell she wasn’t grasping most of what I was saying.  From her car we heard the first bell ring.

“Thanks, Maddie.  I think that really helped.” We walked quickly into school.  “By the way, I know I should have stayed last night, but Braden and Zach called and, well, you know.  What would you do?  I mean, had it been Kyle and Tyler or some other losers, it would have been easy to stay. But we’re talking Braden and Zach.  It’s not like I had a choice.”

We made it to class just before the late bell rang.  Carver came rushing through the door at the bell.  I had purposely chosen the same seat as yesterday.  And just like yesterday, the same seat next to me was empty.

“Hello Mr. Nelson,” Mr. Walsh said.  “Please take a seat as quickly as possible.  Each minute wasted is a minute less you have to complete the test.”  Carver headed toward the empty seat, but passed right by instead, taking a seat in the back of the room.

I turned around, wondering if somehow he didn’t see me.  Maybe he was so nervous about the test that he didn’t pay attention to me sitting there.  Or maybe he felt I would be a distraction for him.  Could it be that maybe last night was just a scam to get me to help him study?  No, that was impossible.  Why would he have texted me right after to ask me out.  As my mind was going crazy with “maybes,” Mr. Walsh dropped a test on my desk.

“Good luck,” he said to the class.  He then returned to his desk where he watched us like hawks.  If you even looked up at the clock you ran the risk of him thinking you were looking on someone else’s paper.  The class went silent.

The test was easier than I thought it would be.  I finished and reviewed each answer and still had almost ten minutes to spare.  I wanted so badly to turn around to see Carver, but I didn’t.  I just sat there while every possible and impossible reason for him not acknowledging me ran through my mind.  Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer.  While Mr. Walsh was looking at the other side of the class I took a quick peek back.  Carver was working feverishly on his test and didn’t look up.

“Miss Hunt, would you please bring your test to me.”

“But, I—”

Mr. Walsh held his hand up motioning me to stop talking.  I picked up my test and walked up to his desk.

“I wasn’t—” I tried again.  He snatched the test from my hand pointed back to my desk.

As I returned, I stared back at Carver.  He didn’t even lift his head.  When the bell finally rang, everyone dropped their test onto Mr. Walsh’s desk and filed out.  Carver was scrambling to finish his last problem.

“Mr. Walsh, I promise I wasn’t cheating,” I said.  “I was finished when I looked back.”  Just then Carver finished and handed in his test.

“I can vouch for Maddie, Mr. Walsh.  She taught me this stuff last night.  She definitely doesn’t need to cheat.”  He smiled and nodded at me.  I could also tell by the way he looked me up and down that he liked what I was wearing.  I knew this outfit was a good choice.  I felt better.  Not about my test, but about Carver.

Mr. Walsh examined my completed test.  He gave me a stern look, paused, and then set it on top of the others.

“Thank you, Mr. Walsh,” I said.  “I promise I do know the material.  You’ll see.”  I hurried out the door with Carver before Mr. Walsh changed his mind.

“Wow, that was close.  Thanks for sticking up for me.”

“Well I couldn’t have my tutor get framed like that,” Carver laughed.

Yes, things were back to normal.  At least I thought they were until I asked him, “So, how about that dinner?  You know tutoring isn’t cheap these days.”

Carver suddenly looked flustered, like he did in front of the class the other day trying to explain his math problem.  He turned his head sideways and nervously ran his fingers through that beautiful hair.  An awkward silence hovered between us as he squirmed.  It seemed out of character for him not to have something to say.  I felt like walking away, but I couldn’t.  What was going on?

“I, um,” he started.  “The truth is I don’t think I can make good on that dinner.”

Now I felt really stupid.

“Oh,” I said.  “That’s okay.  It’s not a big deal.  It’s just that you—”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to,” he continued.  “I had the best time with you last night. I can’t even remember having such a good time with a girl.  It was just so easy and fun.  And I know I don’t have to tell you how beautiful you are.”

What he was saying sounded like it should have been a compliment, but something didn’t feel right.  He was hiding something.

“What are you saying?” I finally asked.

Carver let out a huge sigh.  “Look, I’m just saying that I didn’t know you were with Logan.  And, well you know, it’s completely against the code.”

“Logan?  What are you talking about?” I asked.  “What code?”

“You know, the bro code,” Carver said, as if I should know exactly what he’s talking about.  “And I just can’t—”

“Wait, why do you think I’m with Logan?”  I interrupted.  “Because I’m not.  We went on one date.  One!  And it was a lousy date.”

Carver looked at me like there was really nothing he could do, like going out with me was against the law.  “Look, Maddie.  I really did have a great time,” he said again.  “If it were up to me I’d . . . well maybe in the future.”  Then he looked at his wrist like he was checking the time, even though he wasn’t wearing a watch. “I’ve got to go.” He turned and disappeared into the crowd.

“Maybe in the future?  What is that supposed to mean?  I stood there feeling like an idiot, like I had just been the butt of a cruel joke.  I wanted to cry, but couldn’t, not there in the hall.  Technically, I wasn’t really going out with Carver, but somehow down deep it felt like I had just broken up with someone I’d been going out with for months.

Logan was in my next class.  Normally, I’m not the kind of person who would confront a guy.  I’m not like Kennedy or some other bold people.  But with my budding relationship with Carver on the line, I knew I had to say something.  I walked back and sat next to Logan.  He reached over and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, Maddie, didn’t you see me saving you a seat in math?”

“No, sorry.”

“It’s cool.  No worries,” he said.

“Look, Logan, I’m not sure what you think is going on between us.  But, while I enjoyed our movie and pizza the other night, I don’t really consider us going out.  Do you know what I mean?”

Logan’s expression didn’t change at all.  He had on the same goofy smile, as if I hadn’t said anything.  “Hey, don’t worry,” he said.  “We can take things slow.  It’s all good.”

“No, I don’t think you understand.  I think we need to go out with lots of people.”

“Yeah, so do I,” he answered, just as happy as before.

This wasn’t working at all.  The teacher began talking and I wasn’t able to finish my conversation.

After class he asked me again if we could go out on Friday.  I reminded him that I was busy all weekend.  It was so weird.  It’s like I was breaking up with someone who I was never going out with.  And then as soon as we break up he’s asking me out again.  What was going on?

Chapter six

“Shotgun!”  I yelled.  Morgan didn’t care.  She climbed into the front seat anyway.

Whenever Morgan came to lunch with us I had to sit in the back.  I was still upset about Carver.  I knew neither of them would ever notice my feelings, so I had to bring it up myself.

“Okay, what is the Bro Code?” I asked.

Morgan looked back at me and rolled her eyes.  “Are you serious?” She said.  “The bro code is that stupid list of rules that every boy in this school lives by.  It’s like their little club.”

“Yeah, they even have their own blog,” Kennedy added.  “But it’s locked.  You have to be a ‘bro’ to get on.  Boys are so immature.  Like we really care about their idiot rules.”

“I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it.” Morgan said.

“I’ve heard it before, but I didn’t think it was real.”

“Oh, it’s real alright,” Morgan said.  “Last year, Nate Hyde violated the bro code and was shunned by every guy in school.  He moped around everyday at lunch with no one to eat with.  He sat at home on the weekends.  And all because he asked out Carla Lucero, who was dating Justin Ward at the time.”

“I remember that,” Kennedy said.  “I heard he finally sponsored a huge pizza party at his house to get back into good graces with the guys.  Someone told me it cost him over four hundred dollars. Guys are so stupid.”

I told them about how great my study date with Carver was and how he asked me out for dinner, only to cancel because he didn’t want to break the sacred bro code.

“What would going out with you have to do with the bro code?” Kennedy asked.

“I don’t know.  He said that since I was with Logan now, we couldn’t go out.”

“You’re with Logan?” Morgan asked, looking confused.  “I thought that was just one lame date?”

“It was.  I even clarified with Logan in history.  I told him that he and I were definitely not going out.”

“What did he say?” Morgan asked.

“He agreed.  He agreed completely!  He sat there with a big smile as if—”

“Oh my gosh, you’ve been claimed!” Kennedy interrupted.

“What?”

“Claimed!  You’ve been claimed! That happened to Tatum last year.  If a guy has enough clout among the circle of bros, and he’s trying to go out with a girl, that girl is off limits.”

“What do you mean, off limits?”

“I mean, no one will touch you, even if you’re not officially going out.  It means that Logan is pursuing you and everyone needs to back off.”

I couldn’t believe it.  “This is so wrong!” I cried.  My date with Logan was the worst.  I don’t even know why he would still want to pursue me.  There was absolutely no chemistry between us whatsoever.  He just talked about himself, how great he is, and what a great athlete he is.  Whenever I said anything about me he just gave me a blank stare, like he wasn’t even listening.  Do you know how that feels?”

Morgan and Kennedy stared at me with blank stares.  No response.

“Hello, are you two even listening?” I tapped on Kennedy’s forehead.

“Oh yeah, sorry, I was thinking of something else.”

“Anyway, my date with Logan was the complete opposite of my date with Carver.  With Carver, it was just incredible.  There was no way he wasn’t feeling the same thing I was.  We just hit it off perfectly.”  I told them how he even made my grandpa a sandwich.

“Oh, that is so cute.  A sandwich for your grandpa.” Kennedy said.

“I know!  The night couldn’t have gone any better.  It was the best!  And then when he asked me out again, I knew he was the one for my first kiss.  If it weren’t for Logan and that stupid code.”

We all agreed that it wasn’t fair that I was being punished for Logan being such a jerk.  Kennedy and Morgan offered to line me up with someone else, but I figured I was probably off limits to everyone, now that Logan had “claimed” me.  I was like a prisoner to that stupid code.

“We need to do something,” Kennedy said.  “We can’t just sit around while these moron boys keep us down.”

Morgan agreed.  “Yeah, it’s not our code.  Why should we have to suffer because of their lame little rules?”

We tried to come up with a plan over a smoothie.  We go to Smoothie Heaven at least three days a week.  I order a Mango Mama every time.  It’s my favorite.

After racking our brains for twenty minutes Morgan had an idea.  “I’ve got it!” she said.  “Let’s beat them at their own game.”

One thing about Morgan, she is devious.  This summer Myrna made us run a mile for not working hard enough at practice.  After, as we were catching our breath on the grass, Myrna ran to her car to grab something.  While she was gone, Morgan snuck into Myrna’s purse and took her cell phone.  In her contacts, she found Principal Hadley’s number and sent him a text telling him that she was quitting as the cheer coach.  It caused a huge mess and we all paid for it, since no one would tell on Morgan.  It was worth it.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Morgan said.  “Since going out with someone who’s already been claimed is against the code, let’s turn some of these guys against each other.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Morgan smiled.  “Last night, Kennedy and I had our own perfect date with Braden and Zach.  I’m not sure about Kennedy’s doorstep scene, but mine was amazing.”

“Mine was awesome,” Kennedy said.  “And I’m looking forward to a repeat tonight.”

Morgan nodded.  “Exactly.  So let’s just say that tomorrow night, after having gone out with Braden two nights in a row, I find myself out on a date with Logan and somehow we end up kissing.  Don’t you think Braden will call a bro code violation on Logan?”

Kennedy’s face lit up.  “Oh, that is perfect.  Logan’s punishment should be ten times worse than Nate Hyde’s.  After all, Nate didn’t even kiss Carla.”

It sounded good to me too, but I asked how they could be so sure she could get Logan to kiss her.

“Oh, please,” Morgan said, looking at me like I was an amateur.  “Watch this.”  She took out her phone and called Logan.

“Hi, Logan.  Remember the first week of school when we got ice cream after the football game.”  She paused.  “Well, I’m kind of in the mood for ice cream again tomorrow night, if you know what I mean.  What do you say?”  Again she paused while he responded.  “Great, see you then.”  She put her phone back into her purse.  “Phase one, complete.”

I couldn’t believe it.  Even though Logan and I weren’t going out, I still felt like he was cheating on me, since he had “claimed” me.  He is such a pig.

We pulled back into the school parking lot.  Carver was getting out of the car next to us.

“Hey, Maddie,” he said.  I knew I was supposed to be mad at him, but I got that same tingly chill down my spine. It was as if he wanted to be with me, but a power greater than both of us had him in its power.  Stupid bro code.

“Hi, Carver,” I answered.  I tried to sound cold, yet sad, and yet somewhat interested.  I wondered if he had caught all of those emotions.

“Maddie, come on,” Kennedy said, sternly.  She and Morgan gave Carver the death stare.  He hung his head and backed off.

“I think he still likes me,” I said, as we walked into the school.

“I hate to sound brutal,” Morgan replied.  “But who cares if he likes you, if he likes that bro code more?”

She had a point.  Did I really want to be with someone who thought more about some stupid rules that a bunch of moron boys came up with?  I don’t think so.  I tried to talk myself into thinking that Carver was a jerk.  Plus, the plan was in place.  If Morgan could get the “bros” to turn on Logan, hopefully it would remove all restrictions on my availability.

Chapter seven

The minute I walked in from school, Mom could tell I was upset.

“Oh, Madds, what’s wrong?”

I tried to be calm, but I couldn’t take it anymore.  I had held in my emotions all day.  When I started to explain, my voice began to shake.  Instantly, I was in a full-blown breakdown.  Mom pulled me in and I cried like a baby.  We talked and talked.  I told her about the stupid bro code.

Mom told me about some of the things the boys did when she was young.  She even told me about how Dad almost didn’t go out with her because of his “List.”

“In college, your father had a list of qualifications against which he rated every girl he went out with.  If you didn’t get a passing score on every point, he wouldn’t date you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I said.  “Dad?”

“Yes, Dad.  A mutual friend lined us up.  On our first date he asked me a few questions about school and what I was studying.  It seemed like regular conversation at first, but then he asked about my grades, about the boys I’d gone out with, how tall I was when I wore high heels, and several other strange things.  The next day I told the friend who lined us up that I was a little turned off by his weird questions.”

“So what did she say?”

Mom began to laugh.  “She told me about your father’s list.  For example, your father has always been concerned about his height.  First on his list was that a girl could not be taller than he was.  Others were that a girl couldn’t be smarter, funnier, or stronger.  My favorite was that a girl could not have gone out with more people than he had.  I guess you can say your father had some self esteem issues.”

“I can’t believe you went out with him again.  I never knew Dad was so weird.”

“Oh, your father isn’t weird.  He’s just a guy.  And guys, as you are finding out, are all a little weird.  So, yes, I did go out with your father again.  However, I told him flat out that with high heels I was taller than he was; that I was, and would always be, smarter than he was; and finally, that I had gone out with more people than he ever had, because I was in high demand.  Then I told him that if he even wanted to have a chance with me he’d better toss the stupid list.  Needless to say, the list disappeared.”

Just then Dad walked in early from work.  I couldn’t help laugh as I saw him.

“What?” He said.  “Does my hair look crazy?”   He patted the top of his head.

“No, honey,” Mom said.  “We’re just talking about boys and the silly things they do.”

“Like what?” Dad said.  Every now and then he tried to offer emotional help, but he was lousy at it.

“Oh, nothing,” I said.  “Mom’s got me covered.”

Now he looked offended.  “Come, on.  I’m a guy.  Let your old man help.”

Mom smiled and shook her head.  “Fine.  Why don’t you tell your father about your day?  Maybe he will have some great wisdom.”

Dad sat down on the chair facing us and rubbed his hands together.  “Perfect, let’s hear it.  Wait, should I get some paper to take notes?”

“Chad, come on, you don’t need paper.  Just listen to your daughter.”

“Okay, I just want to be thorough.” His brow lowered and his eyes focused intensely on me.  “All right, Let’s hear it.”

I started at the beginning with Logan at the doorstep.

“Whoa, hold on.  Time out,” Dad interrupted.  “Logan, tried to kiss you?  I think the first thing you do is never, and I mean never, go out with that boy again!”

“Dad.  Don’t worry.  I have no plans to ever go out with him.”

Dad stood up and paced back and forth.  “That’s good, but when you say that you have no plans to go out with him, does that mean that you have no plans now, but that you might in the future.  Or are you saying that you will definitely never go out with him again.  Because I think at your age, you should never go out with someone who is thinking—”

“For heavens sake, Chad.  She’s not going out with Logan,” Mom said. “But you have to accept the fact that our daughter is sixteen and one day she may go out with a boy who just may kiss her goodnight.  And she may even kiss him back.”

Dad’s eye’s widened and he threw his hands in the air.  “What are you talking about, Annette?  I can’t believe you just said that!  We shouldn’t be encouraging our daughter to kiss boys!”  Dad was hysterical.  “Look, Maddie.  I’m going to give you some advice.  I’m going to get a piece of paper.  We’re going to sit down and write a list of rules for determining what kind of boys you date.  First on the list will be, No boys who just want to kiss you.  Second—”

Mom and I looked at each other trying not to laugh.

“She doesn’t need a list.  She’s not kissing anyone.  Now, do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?”

“There’s more?” Dad said.  He took a deep breath and sat down.

“Dad, it’s fine.  We don’t need to talk about this stuff.  I can figure it out with Mom.”

“No, no!  I want to help.  I promise I’ll sit here quietly and listen to everything without saying another word.”

He had to stop himself on several occasions, but I was able to finish without any further outbursts from him.

“So what do you think, Dad?  What should I do?”

Dad thought for a minute and then said,  “I think you should tell Carver . . .” He paused to think.  “No, what I would do is tell Logan . . .” Again, a long pause while he thought.  “Well, maybe the best thing is to . . . “ Then he turned to Mom.  “Honey, what did you tell her?”

“I told her not to worry about it. Boys are weird at this age and it would probably all blow over within a week or two.”

Dad, rubbed his chin and slowly nodded, “I agree with your mother.  I would also add, however, that if this Carver boy is thinking about kissing you, I would definitely stay away from him as well.”

“Thanks for the advice, Dad.”

“Anytime.  Just remember I’m here for you.” He then excused himself from the room.  By the speed of his exit, I could tell he felt he had done enough parenting for one day.

After dinner I worked on my homework.  Morgan texted me around seven.  “Logan is out front, honking.  More info to come.”

After three hours, I began to worry that things weren’t working out with Logan and Morgan.  I finished my homework, cleaned up the kitchen, and read two additional chapters in my book for English.  What was taking her so long?

Finally, as I was about to go to bed, my phone buzzed.

“Mission accomplished!”

Chapter eight

Things were going to change—I could feel it!  I wasn’t sure if the news of Logan breaking the bro code would have spread already, but I couldn’t wait to find out.

Kennedy and I pulled into the parking lot.  She was sure that this would work.

“Of course it will work.  Boys are idiots.  They can be manipulated to do anything.  The whole ‘bro code’ will be shattered by lunch.”

I hoped she was right.  Even though I was still mad at Carver, I couldn’t help feel sorry for him and think that maybe he was a victim of the code as well.  After all, I was asking him to sacrifice his status as a ‘bro,’ and risk being shunned by the entire bro organization just to go out with me.  Maybe he figured he could just lay low for a week or two until Logan set his sights on someone new.  Then Carver could claim me for himself.

I sat in the same place in math.  Unfortunately, someone else sat down in the seat next to me where I hoped Carver would sit.  Carver ran in two seconds before the bell rang and took a seat in the back.  I peaked across the room at Logan just to see if he appeared to have been reprimanded by the guys.  Our eyes met and he flashed me his trademark smile and waved.  I ignored him.

I can’t believe him, I thought.  He was smiling and waving like nothing had happened.  Little did he know, I knew exactly where he was last night and who he was kissing.  Obviously, the news of his deed hadn’t hit the general bro population yet.

In between classes I bumped into Morgan.

“So, have you leaked the information?”  I asked.  “Logan looks as happy as ever.”

Morgan looked confused.  “I don’t get it.  I texted everyone last night.  I even told Braden I couldn’t go out because I was doing something with Logan.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.  He just said, “Okay, how about Thursday?”

I looked down the hall and saw Logan and Braden laughing together.  “Hey, what is that all about?” I said.  “There is definitely something we don’t know about this bro code.”  We decided to discuss it with Kennedy at lunch.  I had my next class with Braden and, while I don’t know him very well, I sat right next to him.  I had an idea.

“Hi, Braden,” I said.

“Hey,” he replied.

“So, my friend Morgan said she had a great time with you last night.”

“I didn’t go out with her last night,” he said.  He showed absolutely no suspicion that Morgan might have been out with someone else.

“Really?  I’m sure it was last night that she texted me.”  Still nothing.  Not even a response.  I decided to turn it up a notch.  I pulled out my phone and pretended to review the text.

“Oh, that’s right.  Sorry, that was someone else she was with,” I said.  “I think it was Logan.  Sorry, that’s embarrassing.”

He didn’t even flinch.  He simply looked at forward with a blank expression.  I couldn’t tell if he wasn’t very bright and simply didn’t get it, or if he didn’t care.

Kennedy, Morgan and I met up at Kennedy’s car for lunch.  None of us could believe that there were no repercussions from the previous night’s make out with Logan.

“I’m sorry, Morgan,” I said on our way to Smoothie Heaven.  “You may have kissed Logan for nothing.”

“Hey, there’s no need to apologize.  Logan is one of the best kissers around.”

Kennedy agreed.

I rolled my eyes.  Sometimes I can’t believe I am actually friends with those two.  We are so different in some ways.  But, still, they were my friends and I loved them.

“If only we had someone on the inside, you know, a guy, who could find out what’s really going on,” I said.

“Yeah, a bro spy!” Kennedy agreed.  “Do you know how valuable that would be?”

“What about Tyler,” Morgan suggested.  “Maybe he could help us out.”

Kennedy shook her head.  “No, you can’t trust Tyler.  He dumped Sarah last year just because that medicine she was on made her gain a little weight.”

They threw out a couple of other names, but not one that they could both agree upon.

The guy working the drive thru at Smoothie Heaven handed Kennedy our smoothies one at a time.

“Thank you, Kevin,” she said, reading his nametag.  She used her seductive, flirtatious voice.  Kevin blushed and looked flustered.  He dropped the straws outside, and then scrambled for some new ones.

As we pulled away Kennedy shouted, “Kevin!  That’s who can help us.”

“That guy in the drive thru?” I asked.

“No, Kevin Dunn, from school.”   Kevin was the mascot.  He wore the Eagle costume at the games.  He’s kind of a squirrelly kid, but he’s an amazing tumbler.  He can do a back flip wearing the big bulky eagle suite.

“Yes!  Kevin is perfect.  He hates Logan.  If he knew we could help him get back at Logan, he would do anything for us.”

“Why does he hate Logan so much,” I asked.

“I don’t know.   Something about sneaking up behind him in gym and pulling down his shorts in front of everyone.”

We decided to talk to Kevin after the basketball game on Friday night.

Chapter nine

“Where is my cheer skirt?” I yelled from the laundry room.  The game started in one hour.  I had to be there thirty minutes early.  Myrna docks us half a grade if we are late.

“Mom!” I screamed.

“Quit that yelling!” Grandpa complained.

I ran back to my room.  Maybe I had missed it hanging in the closet.  I quickly slid each hanger along the rod, but found nothing.  Back upstairs.

“Where is Mom?” I asked Cam.  He and Zane were in their usual spots in front of the television with game controllers in their hands.  Then something caught my eye.

“Zane, what are you wearing?  Is that my skirt?”  I rushed up to him.  It WAS my skirt!

“Zane!  Get that off this instant!” I demanded.

“He can’t,” Cam said.  “He has to wear a dress until he beats me. It’s part of our bet.”

“I don’t care what your bet is.  That’s my cheer skirt!”  I turned off the television causing the two of them to whine and cry.  “And you are in so much trouble when I tell Mom!”

Zane stood up and wiggled around until my skirt fell to the floor.  “How many times do I have to tell you two to stay out of my things?”

Grandpa walked in complaining about the noise.

“Sorry, Grandpa,” I said.  “Cam and Zane are always in my stuff.”

“Would you like me to take care of those two?” He grumbled making a wrinkly fist.

“That would be great!” I said.  Cam and Zane dropped their controllers and took off screaming.  They ran out the back door.  We could still hear them yelling.  Grandpa chuckled to himself.  He loved to terrorize those two as much as Cam and Zane loved to terrorize me.

“Thanks, Grandpa.” I hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  Then I went to my room to change.

I was tying my shoes when a text came in.  It was from Carver.  “Question game, you start. Go.”

“What’s the question game?” I wrote back.  I wondered why he was texting me.  Was texting not part of the bro code?

“You just have to ask a question,” he answered.  “Here, I’ll go first.  If you were a food, what would you be?”

If I were a food?  What kind of question was that?  I really didn’t have time for this, but I was happy that he texted me, so I answered him back.

“I would be some chocolate.  Because I am sweet and melt when someone holds my hand.”  I sent the text, very pleased with my answer.  Then I asked him what food he would be.

“I’d be some Chinese noodles.  They don’t look good, but you like them anyway.”  I had to disagree that he doesn’t look good, but I didn’t tell him that.  I was still angry.  Then I wondered if maybe Morgan’s date with Logan finally caught up with him.  Maybe that’s why Carver texted me.  Maybe Logan got busted.

Do I dare?  I thought to my self.  I don’t want to look pathetic, but why else would he be texting me.  I decided to test the waters.

“Do you want to get some Chinese noodles after the game?”

He responded with a big frowny face symbol and the words ‘bro code’”

I threw my phone into my cheer bag.  “Jerk,” I said out loud.

This was our first home game and our crowd was huge!  Logan was on the basketball team.  While they were warming up he came over and started talking to me.  Myrna was on the front row glaring.  Talking to the team or anyone else was strictly forbidden.  When I tried out for cheer, all I wanted was the uniform and to have fun at the games.  For Myrna, there cannot be any fun involved.  Sure, we have to smile, but they have to be professional smiles.  If she senses there is any actual fun behind that smile, she’ll take care of it.  Earlier this year Morgan and I used to stand next to each other at the football games.  It was fun and we used to laugh between cheers.  One day Myrna noticed and since then we are assigned to opposite ends.

“Sorry, Logan, can’t talk,” I said.  “Team rules.”

“Who cares about team rules?” He smiled and waved at Myrna.

Great, I’m in trouble.

“Really, I can’t talk, but good luck with the game.”  I looked at Myrna and shrugged my shoulders acting like I couldn’t help what Logan was doing.  I knew it would still cost me some points.

As soon as Logan was back with the team, Carver walked by.

“Hey, tutor,” he said.  He sat a few rows up in the bleachers in front of me.  I hoped he hadn’t seen Logan and me together talking.  I still couldn’t understand why Logan was still talking to me after I had told him I had no interest.

Just before the national anthem, Kevin came running out in the Eagle costume.  He was always late.  It drove Myrna crazy, but she wasn’t in charge of Kevin, he was simply a volunteer.

Kevin was a great mascot.  He ran up and down the bleachers.  He danced.  He made fun of the referees.  The crowd loved him.

The game was close.  We were down by two points at halftime.

“Okay, girls,” Myrna said.  “I want to see everyone going all out with this dance.  Coach Watkins is counting on us to get the crowd into the game.”  We were performing our competition dance we had been practicing since summer.

With Kennedy, Morgan, and Tatum out, we struggled a little, but still got a great response from the crowd.  Carver was standing up cheering.  Myrna, however, was irate.

“What was that?” She complained.  “Kate, you were behind the entire time.  Syd, it was obvious that you don’t want to be here tonight.  And you,” she said, pointing to me.  “Well, you—”

Just then the team came running out of the locker room for the second half.  Myrna ran over to greet them as they came out.  We do it every game after halftime.  We stand there and cheer as they run past.  Myrna looks like a fool, but she is always there with us.  We think it’s just to give Coach Watkins a high five.   This time, Kevin ran up next to her and mimicked everything she did.  She jumped up and down clapping.  Kevin jumped up and down clapping.  She high-fived coach.  Kevin high-fived coach.  She was too oblivious to notice.  However, the audience roared.

The crowd was definitely into the game and we ended up winning by ten points.  Logan ran over and gave me a hug out of the blue.  It was so weird.

Kennedy and Morgan, who had to attend the game, even though they were suspended, came down onto the floor.  “Okay, let’s go,” Morgan said.  She was really upset that Logan didn’t get into any sort of trouble for kissing her.

“Hey, Kevin,” Morgan said.  Kevin ran over, still in mascot mode.  He didn’t say anything but acted like a mime using hand gestures to talk.

“Will you knock that off,” Morgan said.  “The game is over.”  She and Kennedy each grabbed a side of the eagle head and pulled it off.

“We need your help, Kevin,” I said.  He looked happy to hear that.

“What can I do for you ladies?” he said.

“First of all,” Kennedy started.  “Awesome job after halftime, making fun of Myrna.  I wish I had that on video.”  Kevin beamed with pride.  I think he would love to live out his life in that mascot costume.

Then Morgan got right to the point.  “Anyway, we need some help with the bro code.”

Kevin looked confused.  “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, eagle boy,” Morgan said.  “We need access to that stupid bro code blog.”

“Whoa!  I can’t do that.  That is a major violation.  Do you know what they would do to me if they found out that I let a girl into the inner sanctum of the bro society?  There’s not enough pizza and soda in the world to buy a bro out of that kind of treason.  Sorry ladies, but no can do.” Kevin grabbed his bird head and turned to leave.

It looked like it was a dead end, until an evil smile crept across Morgan’s face.  “How would your beloved bros, and the rest of the school, like to hear about how you took kissing lessons from—”

Kevin stopped dead in his tracks.  Slowly, he turned.  “You wouldn’t dare! You swore you would never tell.  I even paid you twenty dollars for insurance.”

I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed to be working.

“Sorry, Kev, I don’t remember that.  Of course, if you just happened to let your blog login name and password slip, I could assure you that my lips would be sealed, at least until the next time I need a favor.”

Kevin pressed his lips together and shook his head.  He stuck his finger up to her face and tried to find the words to tell her off, but he knew he couldn’t.

Morgan just waited patiently smiling devilishly at poor Kevin.

“Fine!” he said.  “Login name is Captain Korg, and my password is spacemaster32.”

We all burst out laughing.

“Wait,” I said.  “That’s from the video game my little brother plays all day.”

Kevin stood there ready to explode, but knew he had no other choice other than to take our abuse.

“I’m glad you are enjoying yourselves at my expense.  Are we done here?”  He asked.

“Yes, you’re excused, Space Master,” Kennedy said.  I almost felt sorry for him, but I was a little frustrated with the entire male species, so I just enjoyed the moment with my two friends.

Chapter ten

We went back to my house.  I was the only one with my own computer in my room.

“Hi, girls,” Dad said.  “How was the game?”

“Great! We won,” I replied.

Grandpa heard the noise and came in.  He was like my brother Cam.  The second the door opens or the doorbell rings, they both rush to the door.

“Who’s here?” Grandpa called.  Just then Cam came running in.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Cam said.  I don’t know whom he and Grandpa expect to find, but they always look disappointed when they see who’s at the door.

“Is that sandwich boy with you?” Grandpa asked, hopefully.  He walked to the front door and looked through the window.  I assumed he was searching for Carver.

Kennedy leaned over and whispered, “Oh, look how cute.  He wants another one of Carver’s sandwich.”

“No. Sorry, Grandpa.  It’s just us.”

Grandpa mumbled and left.

“We’ll be in my room working on homework,” I told my dad.

We hurried down to my room and closed the door.  I took my laptop from my desk and we sat on my bed.  I wondered if Kevin had given us a phony name and password.  He must have been pretty worried about what Morgan had on him, because we logged right onto his page.

“By the way,” I said.  “What dirt do you have on Kevin?”

“Well, if you promise not to tell, I found out that he practiced his kissing skills on his sister Cami.”  Cami is Kevin’s twin sister.

An uncontrollable shiver shot down through my body.  “Ooh, gross!”

Morgan laughed, “Although, the funny thing is that it was back in the fifth grade.  I’ve been using that against him for five years.”

Kennedy pointed to the computer.  “Come on, open up the bro code.”

“Right.” I scrolled down to the “groups” section.

“Check this out,” I said.  “He also belongs to the Junior Spacemasters’ blog.  He is such a geek.”  The Bro Code was nowhere to be found. “Where is it?”

Kennedy squinted and took over the laptop.  “It’s got to be there.”  She scrolled down a little further.

“Right there.  Click on ‘For Bros Only,’” Morgan said.  She was right.  Kennedy clicked on and across the top of the page it read, “Honor the Code.”

We all giggled and stuck our faces up close to the screen.  I wondered if this is how Cam and Zane felt when they snuck into my diary.

There was a knock at my door and my mom stuck her head in.

“Hi, girls.  How’s the studying coming?”

“Hi, Mrs. Hunt,” Morgan said.  “We’re just plotting our strategy to take down every boy in our school.”

“Sounds good,” Mom replied.  “Let me know if I can help.” Then she closed the door and went back upstairs.

“Your mom is the best,” Kennedy said.  I had to agree.

“Wow, listen to this stuff!” Morgan said.

“Bros before does.”

“If you want to catch a fox sometimes you’ve got to be a hound.”

“That is RJ for sure,” Morgan said  “Serious hound dog.”

“Oh, these guys are such losers.  Listen to this, ‘A wingman is the guy who punches your arm at a party and says, ‘Dude, you can do better than that.’”

“Here it is!  Listen to this, ‘A bro shall not hit on another bro’s woman.  This is worthy of the punishment from the brohood.’”

“Yeah, but I’m not Logan’s woman,” I said.

“Wait.  Look at this asterisk.  ‘If a bro has a legitimate chance at getting the girl, he can claim her.  All other bros shall respect the claim and keep their distance.  Note, a claim expires at three months.  If you can’t get your woman within three months . . . sorry bro, but it’s not happening.”

The more I read the more I couldn’t believe that the guys at our school actually lived by this code.  It seemed to me that half the guys in our school would be constantly on the punished list.

“What’s that?” Morgan said, pointing to the bottom corner where there was a logo of some big red lips.  On the lips it read “Lip List.”

Kennedy clicked onto the icon.  It brought up a short list of girls.  The description above it read:  The girls on the Lip List are exceptions to the claiming clause.  If you ever need a little lip action, these girls are always ready and willing.  Enjoy.

Both Morgan and Kennedy were at the top of the list.  In unison they gasped.

“The Lip List?” Morgan shouted.  “We are on the Lip List?  Do they actually think we’ll make out with anyone?”

“I know!” Kennedy added.  “I have my standards.  In fact, last week when Jason Pratt asked me out, I didn’t kiss . . . oh, wait, bad example.  How about . . .”

While she and Morgan tried to think of anyone they hadn’t kissed, I explored deeper into the site.

“Hey, check this out.  It looks like all of these rules have either exceptions or have been altered a little.”

“Yeah, so what.”

“Well, what if we change some of these rules?  I mean, it looks like Logan, Braden, and someone named Gerald have all submitted amendments to the rules.  All we need to do is submit an amendment.  Maybe we can shorten the claim period to two weeks.”

“Maybe we can get our names off the Lip List, too,” Kennedy said.  She immediately dialed Kevin’s number.

“Kevin, we’re on the Bro’s only page.  First of all, you guys are all pigs.  I can’t believe—”

“Just get to the point,” I interrupted.

She nodded.  “Anyway, we want to post an amendment, maybe two.”  There was a long pause.

“Okay, fine.  Don’t freak out!” She said, before hanging up.

“What did he say?” Morgan and I asked.

“He said it’s not that easy.  First, of all you have to have some pull with the guys.  You can’t just change things whenever you want.  You can suggest something, but you have to get a majority of the members to agree.  Also, if you suggest anything that is too unmanly, they can vote you out and you’ll be deleted off of the page and shunned.”

“We need a better plan,” I said.  “I don’t think Kevin has very much clout with the guys at school.  He’s probably lucky they even let him on the page.”

Kennedy and Morgan agreed.  They were both still so upset about the Lip List that we decided to call it a night and work on it tomorrow.

“I’ll tell you one thing that’s going to change,” Morgan said.  “My lips are officially off limits from now on!”

“Mine, too,” Kennedy said.  “If they think my lips are a free-for-all, they’ve got another thing coming.  In fact, I hope guys do ask me out thinking they’re going to get some lip service.  I can’t wait to see their faces after they’ve spent thirty dollars on dinner and a movie, just to get a friendly handshake at the door.”

It was a start.  But it still didn’t solve my problem with Logan.

After Kennedy and Morgan left, I grabbed a snack in the kitchen.  Cam was sitting at the table in his pajamas.

“What are you still doing up?” I asked. “And another thing.  Why was Zane wearing my cheer skirt today?”

“Because,” he answered.

I shook my head.  Nothing was ever easy with Cam.  “Because why? And you’d better tell me or I’m going to get Grandpa in here to make you tell me.”

“It was because Zane told on me at school.”

“What did he tell on you for?”

“Just something.  I’m not saying.  Wearing the dress was his punishment for telling on his best friend.  I told him he had to wear it until he beat me at Space Masters.” Then Cam smiled and said, “He never beats me at Space Masters.”

I couldn’t believe it.  Already at ten years old, Cam and Zane had their own little bro code in place.  It was like a new bro was being created right before my eyes.

“Well, from now on when you punish your friend, keep my clothes out of it!”  I put my plate in the sink and went to my room.

I fell onto my bed thinking about my weird little brother and his weirder little friend.  Then something hit me.  I got up and turned on my laptop.  “Brilliant.  This is just brilliant!”  I said out loud.  I repeated my idea over and over out loud so I wouldn’t forget while I waited for my computer to boot up.

Once I was on the Internet, I pulled up that blog again.  Most of the posts were from Logan or his buddies.  One post from Logan said, “It is not cool for a bro to hide in the backseat of a fellow bro’s car and scare him when he gets in late at night.”  The first comment under the post was from Carver.  It said, “Sorry Bro,” with three smiley faces.

Another post just after that was from Carver.  It said, “A bro does not eat another bro’s pizza when he is away using the bathroom.”  Below that Logan’s comment was, “Sorry, bro.  A little revenge for the car scare.”

I logged off and went to sleep.

Chapter eleven

Without a date, the weekend felt like an eternity.  I cleaned my room, finally got the storage boxes moved to the storage room, and read ahead in both English and History.  It’s amazing how much you can get done when you have no social life.

When my alarm sounded Monday morning I was surprisingly refreshed and ready for the week.

“Good morning, sweetie,” Grandma said.  She was up and making breakfast.

“Why are you up so early, Gram?”

“Couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d be helpful.  Can I make you an omelet?”

Dad was at the table with a partially eaten omelet on his plate.  His eyes were wide and he was shaking his head, mouthing “No!” to me.

“Um, I think I’ll just have a bowl of cereal today, Gram.  I’m not very hungry.”  Dad gave me a thumbs-up, confirming that I had chosen well.  Judging from the colorful ingredients in Dad’s omelet, he was right.

Just then Mom walked in.  “Hi, Mother,” she said to Grandma.  “How nice of you to make breakfast.”

“Your omelet is coming right up,” Grandma said.  She looked pleased to feed the family.  I’m not sure what all she put in the omelet, but from where I stood it looked like every leftover in the refrigerator, including a chopped up hotdog, some carrots, cheese, and some lettuce.

I ate my cereal, grabbed my backpack and left while Dad was still picking apart his breakfast.

“Bye,” I called from the front door.

Carver actually made it to math before we did for a change.  I sat down next to him and flirted like crazy.  He cautiously flirted back.  Now and then, he glanced back at Logan just to make sure he wasn’t crossing the line.  Logan was busy talking with Sarah who was sitting next to him.  That’s the thing that bugged me most about the stupid code.  Logan could claim me, keeping me off limits for anyone else, yet he’s allowed to keep his options open by flirting with other girls.

Mr. Walsh passed back our tests.

“Yes!” Carver said slightly under his breath.

“How did you do?” I asked.

He held his paper up, and pointed to the B+ on the top corner.  “I owe it all to you.”

“Yes, you do,” I joked.

Carver looked at me like he wanted to say something else but couldn’t.  I knew what it was.  He wanted me, I could tell.  That’s just how I wanted him to feel.

I flirted and joked with him throughout the rest of class.  When the bell rang he followed me out.  He waited for Logan to turn the corner and then he caught up to me.

“Hey, Maddie, wait up.”

I turned and waited for him.

“Maddie, I just wanted to say that . . . well, if things don’t work out with Logan.  I mean if he decides that . . . ”

“What are you saying?” I asked.  “I don’t have a thing with Logan.”

“I’m just saying that if, you know, things change, I’d like to make good on my payment for tutoring.”

I acted like I didn’t care one way or another.  “That bro code still not letting you pay your tutoring debts?  Bummer.  Well, have a great weekend.”  I walked off confidently to my next class.

After school, Morgan, Kennedy and I headed straight to Smoothie Heaven.  We sat at our usual booth in the corner.  They told me all about their dates with Zach and Braden.

“It was awesome watching Zach squirm on the front porch,” Kennedy said.

Morgan agreed.  “Same here.  I even slowly took out my lip gloss and applied it to both lips.  It’s the strawberry flavor I know Braden loves.  Then I just said goodnight.  I gave him a firm handshake and went inside. I watched from the window as he stomped back to his car, slammed the door, and sped off.”

“That’s great for you two.  But what am I going to do?  There is no one at our school who has more clout among the boys than Logan.  How can I possibly get that claiming clause changed?”

“It’s going to be harder than we thought.  I asked Kevin more about the Bro Code,” Morgan said.  “He said it is totally ruled by Logan.  In order to make a change to something like the claiming rule, which was made by Logan himself, someone with more clout than Logan is going to have to suggest it.”

We sat there in silence pondering my sad predicament.

“Maybe we can get someone from another school to get on the blog and help us—

someone cooler than Logan,” Kennedy suggested.

“That would take forever.  Plus no one would know him, so how would they know he’s cooler than Logan.” Morgan said.

We started naming qualities of the perfect guy that could pull this off.

“He needs to be a guy’s guy.  You know.  The kind of guy every boy likes to hang out with,” I said.

Kennedy agreed.  “But girls need to like him, too.  If girls don’t like him then guys aren’t going to trust him to make rules about girls.”  She had a good point.  We named a bunch of characters from movies who would be perfect.

“Wait a minute,” Morgan said.  “That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“An actor.  We get an actor to come to our school to be the cool bro.”  She sounded like she was actually serious.

“Sure,” I said.  “Let’s just call Hollywood.  I’m sure they would send someone right over.”  Kennedy laughed.

“I’m serious,” Morgan said.  “My sister is taking an acting class at college and she always has to do crazy things for class projects.  Once she had to go to an elementary school and teach little kids how to act.  Another time she had to stand on the sidewalk downtown and act like a mime.”

“Oh, I hate mimes,” Kennedy said.  “They totally freak me out.”

Morgan ignored Kennedy’s comment and called her sister on her cell phone.  Kennedy went to the restroom.

I texted carver while we waited.  “I hope you’re doing your math right now,” I wrote.

“Yes, I’m counting the pepperonis on the pizza, then subtracting the ones I eat,” he replied.

“Wow, don’t strain your brain.”

“No problem.  I’ve got a calculator.”

I smiled and slipped my phone back into my pocket.

“Okay, Hailey’s making a couple of calls to the guys in her class,” Morgan said.  “Apparently, they all have to come up with their own final project for the semester.  They can do whatever they want as long as it includes acting and an audience.  She thought it was a great idea.”

I didn’t get my hopes up.  There was no way I could imagine a college guy wanting to come to high school and pretend to be popular.

On our way out the door, Morgan’s sister, Hailey called back.

“Really?” Morgan said. “Is he good?” . . . “I think so, let me check.”

Morgan moved the phone away from her ear for a moment.

“Hey, there’s a guy that would love to do it.  He can meet you tomorrow night if you want.  What do you think?  Could he meet us at your house?”

“I’m not sure.  Maybe we should think about it,” I said

Morgan was smiling, “I say we go for it!”

“Me too,” Kennedy said.

“Okay, let’s do it” I agreed.

Morgan gave her sister my address and hung up.

“Well, get ready to meet our bro spy!”

Chapter twelve

Kennedy dropped me off at my house.  I walked inside to the sound of Dad’s screaming voice. “Everyone in the car!”

Mom was on the couch searching through her purse.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Your father is taking everyone out to dinner tonight.”

“Really?  What’s the occasion?”

“Grandma was offering to make dinner.  After this morning’s omelet, your father isn’t taking any chances.  He said he’d pay anything to have a normal meal.  But he wants to go early.  If we’re at the restaurant before 5:30 Grandma and Grandpa’s meals are half price.”

We had to take two cars.  Dad divided us by putting Grandma and Grandpa in Mom’s car.  Cam and I went with Dad.  Zane was with us, too, but we were dropping him off at his house on the way.

Dad whipped out of the driveway almost hitting Mrs. Lewis who was walking down the sidewalk.

“Sorry, Joyce,” Dad called out the window without stopping.  We sped down the road and screeched to a stop in front of Zane’s house.  Zane jumped out and Dad started to pull away.

“You’d better wait until he gets in,” Cam said.  “Mom always does.

Dad sighed.  “Fine, but can he at least hurry, we’ve got thirteen minutes to get to the restaurant.”  Zane was taking his time zigzagging around.  He stopped and picked up a ball on the lawn and threw into up in the air.  Dad was getting restless.

“Come on, come on.  Just go inside already,” Dad mumbled.

Finally, Zane made it to the front door.  It was locked.  He rang the doorbell and waited.

“I’m sure he’ll be all right.  His parents are probably on their way home,” Dad said.  He began to pull away.  Again, Cam stopped him.

“Mom says you can never leave until he gets inside.”

Dad rolled down his window and held out his phone.  “Zane, do you want to call your parents.”  Zane ran to the car and Dad handed him his phone.

“What’s their number?” he asked.

“What do you mean?  Are you telling me you don’t know your parents’ cell numbers?”

Zane shook his head.  Dad looked at his watch and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Fine.  How would you like to go to dinner with us?”

Zane smiled and climbed back in.  “Yay!” He and Cam shouted.  This was going to be a lovely evening, I could tell already.

Dad peeled out of the gutter and sped to the restaurant.  We arrived at 5:37 just missing the senior citizen discount.  I thought Dad was going to have a heart attack.  He begged and begged but it was no use.

“But we’ve got our neighbor whose parents weren’t home and—”

“I’m so sorry, sir,” the hostess said.

Grandma was feeling guilty.  “We don’t have to eat, Chad,” she said.  “Earl and I can wait in the car.”

“I’m not waiting in the car,” Grandpa shouted.

Mom grabbed both of them by the arm and guided them toward the table. “No one is waiting in the car.  This is a family dinner.”

We stood there for a few moments as they put two tables together.  We didn’t go out very often, but Cam and I knew the rules.  We could only order water and no appetizers or dessert.

“Can I start you off with some drinks?” The waitress asked.

“No, just water,” Dad said.

Zane raised his hand.  “I’ll have chocolate milk.”

Dad’s eyes almost popped out of his head.  “Are you sure you don’t want water, buddy?”

Zane looked at my dad like he was nuts. “Instead of chocolate milk?  No way.”

“Hey, can I have chocolate milk, too?” Cam asked.

“Of course you can,” Zane said.  “You just tell her.”

Mom winked at Dad and then turned to Cam.  “Sure, you can have a chocolate milk today.”

“Yes!” Cam said.

“One more chocolate milk for me, too,” Grandpa added.  Dad rolled his eyes and shook his head.

They brought the drinks out first.  By the time the food came, Zane, Cam and Grandpa had all finished their chocolate milk and had ordered refills.  Zane and Cam then began having a sword fight with their chicken strips.  Grandpa was smashing his food all together.

Mom was doing her best to keep Dad calm.  I had a feeling he would rather have been home eating a hotdog omelet.

My phone vibrated.  It was a text from Logan.  It read, “Can you do something tonight?”

“Sorry,” I sent back.  The he asked me out for three other nights.  I felt bad, but I told him I was busy all week. I was scared that if I did go out with Logan again, I would just be encouraging him and I’d never get off the claimed list.

Immediately after I pressed send, I received another text.  It was from Carver.  “Are you with Logan tonight?”

What is his problem? I thought to myself.  Then I texted him back, “Why would I be with Logan?”

He didn’t answer, but instead asked, “Then what are you doing?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay.  We’re at a restaurant.  My dad is freaking out because of the bill.  My grandpa has smashed his food into one big mound of brownish goo.  My brother and his friend are sword fighting with their chicken strips, and my grandmother is gathering the extra food and putting it into her purse.  It will probably show up in our breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.  You’re right.  I didn’t want to know,” Carver replied.

We sent a few more texts back and forth.  Then I decided to give him one last chance to choose me over the bro code.

“So, I’ll be home in about thirty minutes.  Do you want to hang out?  I promise I won’t tell the bro patrol.”  I added a smiley face.

There was a long pause before he texted back.  “Oh, hey.  I just forgot I’m supposed to help my mom with something.  I’ll see you at school on tomorrow.”

Chapter thirteen

The next day at school, I was so nervous about the actor coming over that night that I couldn’t think straight.  And on top of that, Morgan told me that she wasn’t able to come over.

“But you set it up!  I don’t even know this guy.”

“I don’t know him either,” Morgan said.  “Plus, Kennedy will still be there.  You’ll be fine, my sister says he’s great.”

Fortunately, my mom and dad were taking my grandparents out to dinner and wouldn’t be home.  I gave Cam and Jake four cookies each if they would play outside for an hour.  Kennedy came over and we did some homework while we waited for our actor.

Right on time, the doorbell rang.  Kennedy and I jumped up.  “He’s here,” we both said.  “I can’t believe we are doing this.  What do you think he looks like?”

Kennedy was bouncing round all giddy and pushed me toward the door.  In my mind I was picturing every cool, hot leading man I’d seen from the movies.  I took a deep breath and pulled open the door.

A goofy-looking guy with a cheesy mustache, wearing a flowery Hawaiian shirt and white pants stood there.

“Hello,” he said in a British accent.  “I understand you are looking for an actor.  The name is Lenny.” He held out his hand.

I didn’t know what to say.  I stood there speechless.  There was no way this was going to work.  “Um . . . I don’t think this . . .” I tried to find the words to tell him to go away without being rude.

“Hey, you look just like the guy from my cruise last summer,” Kennedy said.  “Can you make monkeys out of bath towels?”

He ignored Kennedy.  “May I come in?”  He asked.  “Morgan said you would be expecting me.”

Kennedy pulled him by the hand into my living room.  “Of course, come in.”

Lenny whistled a happy tune on his way to the couch.

“You ARE that guy from the cruise,” Kennedy said, clapping her hands.

“I’m afraid not, poppet,” he answered gleefully.  Kennedy looked disappointed.

“Look,” I said.  “I’m not sure how much Hailey told you, but what we’re looking for is more of a—”

“Not a cruise worker,” Kennedy interrupted.

“Say no more!”  Lenny said.  He then grabbed the edge of his mustache, pulled it completely off and grabbed a pair of black-rimmed glasses from his shirt pocket.  His voice transformed complete from British accent to a nerdy whine.  “How about studious, math geek?”

Kennedy thought he was awesome.  “Yay, can you do a cowboy?”  She asked.

“Why, yes, little lady.  I reckon I can.”  He stood up and walked around the coffee table bow-legged.  Kennedy was loving the show.

“Okay, hold on a minute,” I said.  “This is all very fun and entertaining, but I’m not sure this is going to work out.  What we’re looking for is someone to come in and make a huge impression on the guys at our school and make some changes in their ‘Bro Code.’”  I explained how the whole bro code thing and how it was critical that we break it.

He paced back and forth speaking to himself.  Suddenly, he was no longer a cowboy, but was speaking in a formal tone, as if he was reciting lines from Shakespeare.  He waved his hands in the air as he spoke.  “A bro code, a bro code.  What to do with a bro code?” Then he spun around and stared dramatically at us.  “I need to know all about these bros.  What are they like?  What do they do for fun?  What is their motivation behind their need to honor this bro code?”

Kennedy and I looked at each other, then back at the weird guy in my living room.

“Um, sure,” I said.  “Have a seat and we’ll tell you all about them.”

He sat down, but continued his intense staring.  It made me nervous.

Kennedy started.  “Okay, first of all I can’t help it if all of the boys want to kiss me.  So, when I do kiss a boy or two, or maybe more, they put me on this humiliating Lip List.  Like going out with me is an automatic invitation to make out.  And second, I think—”

“Hold on, Kennedy, I don’t think this is helping.”  I looked at Lenny and tried to offer a more clear explanation.  “It’s like this.  A bunch of guys at our school like to eat, play video games, and make out.  And for whatever reason, these are the guys that are making the rules for every guy.  Rules like:  You can’t go to a chick flick; You must keep one weekend night open to hang with the bros; and the worst one of all, A girl is off limits if a bro has claimed her.”  I explained the whole claiming thing.  “It’s like their stupid rules are controlling us!”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Lenny said. “But these rules have been around since the dawn of time.  You can’t just go in and change the make up of the human male.  It’s just not natural.”

“What do you mean?” I argued.  “These guys are followers.  Take Carver for example.  He’s a perfectly nice guy who doesn’t seem to be the all-you-can-eat, gamer, slasher film kind of guy, yet he follows these cavemen without question.   All I’m asking is that you soften the code a bit.  Throw in some amendments that give a guy like Carver the freedom to ask me out without fear of being shunned.”

Jack sat there quietly for a long time.

“Maybe he can’t do it?” Kennedy finally said.  “Maybe he’s just a bro like the rest of them.”

Suddenly, Jack’s eyes widened and he stood up tall.  “My dear lady.” He was back to Shakespeare.  “I am most definitely not like the common bro.  My calling as an artist supersedes any ordinary inner male sociological commonalities.  I can most assuredly perform this role.”

We weren’t sure what he meant by all of that, but he held out his hand and we shook it.

“Now, we haven’t discussed the matter of fees.”

“Fees?” I asked.  “Hailey never said anything about fees. I thought she said you needed to do it for a class project.”

Lenny’s countenance suddenly turned serious. “This is true, however, I’m sure a small honorarium for my services is appropriate.”

“How much were you thinking?” Kennedy asked.

“Well, I’m thinking five hundred dollars per week, plus meals, and maybe—”

“Five hundred dollars?” I said.  “I’m not spending that kind of money just to try to get a date.  I’m sorry, I think this may have been a mistake.”  I picked up his fake mustache and from the table and handed it to him.

“May I ask what you would be willing to pay for my services?” Lenny asked.

We reached into our pockets.  I had eighteen dollars and Kennedy had a five-dollar bill.  “I guess we have twenty-three dollars,” I said.

Lenny mulled it over in his mind for a few seconds, then snatched up the money.  “It’s a deal!”

“Thank you so much,” I said.  “I know someone of your theatrical genius can pull this off.  So I was thinking, maybe we could start by—”

“Stop!” Lenny interrupted, throwing his hand up.  “We do this on my terms or we don’t do it at all.  Got it?”

We both nodded.

“Okay, how’s this?”  Lenny’s voice suddenly changed from Shakespeare to cool surfer guy. “I just moved from Los Angeles.  I surf, play in a band, and ride a motorcycle.  And fortunately, I do ride a motorcycle so I won’t need to invest in any expensive props.”

This was sounding more like it.  There is something about surfing and motorcycles that every boy thinks is cool—and most girls, for that matter.

Lenny continued.  “And no offense to my grandfather Leonard Gloucester, whose name I inherited, but for this role I shall be called Jack . . . Jack Fabrizio.”

“Ooh, Jack Fabrizio, that’s so sexy!” Kennedy exclaimed.

“Yes, it is,” agreed Lenny.

We talked more about all of the changes we wanted to make in the bro code.  He seemed to understand clearly.  We also showed him photos of the main bros at our school.  I told him that our main goals were to destroy the Lip List and to get Carver to ask me out.

“Ladies, I am honored for this opportunity to perform.” He was back in his Shakespeare voice.  “Until tomorrow.”  He then gracefully walked out the front door.

“Wow,” Kennedy said.  “That guy was awesome.”

I wasn’t so sure.  But since I had nothing to lose, I simply crossed my fingers.

Chapter fourteen

I was nervous on Monday morning.  The fear of this backfiring and coming back to haunt me was almost more than I could take.  My stomach hurt and I couldn’t eat anything.  Kennedy honked and Mom handed me a granola bar as I ran out the door.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Kennedy said.  “My curling iron died when I was half way through my hair, so I went back and straightened it instead.  Does is look weird?”

“No, it looks great,” I said.

“But you didn’t even look.”

I glanced at her, “Looks great.  I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous about Lenny, or Jack, or whatever his name is.  This could explode in my face.”

“Don’t worry about Lenny.  He’ll be perfect.  Did you see him doing the cowboy part? It was totally believable.”

Despite her efforts, Kennedy wasn’t helping.  As we pulled into the parking lot a bunch of kids were gathered around blocking the way.  Kennedy laid on the horn,  “Out of the way!” She yelled.

“Oh my gosh!” I said.  “It’s Jack.”  He was on his motorcycle with about eight guys around him, including RJ, Braden and Zach.  They were laughing it up and admiring his motorcycle.

Kennedy parked and jumped out of the car.  “Wow, what did Lenny do to himself?  He’s hot!”

“Remember, it’s not Lenny, it’s Jack.  And don’t act like you know him.  Remember he’s—”

“Hi, Jack!” Kennedy blurted out, running up to him.

“Oh, hi Kennedy,” Jack replied.  A puzzled look came over his face.  I could tell he was trying to formulate in his mind an explanation for knowing her.

“Whoa!  How do you know Kennedy?” RJ asked.

Jack looked perplexed, but only briefly.  A smile crept across his face and he said, “Dude, who doesn’t know Kennedy?  If you know what I mean.”  He laughed and held up his hand.  There was a moment of awkward silence, then they all laughed and slapped his hand.

I pulled Kennedy away by her arm and we headed inside.

We went to math and sat down.  Logan and his friends walked in right behind us.

“Hi, Maddie,” Logan said.  “Come back here with us.”

I smiled and waved, but didn’t follow them to their regular spot in the back corner. R.J. was telling Logan about the new kid, Jack Fabrizio.  I thought about going back to hear what he was saying, but I held out hope that Carver would sit by me.

It was like clockwork.  Just as the bell sounded, Carver rushed in.  He slipped into the desk next to me.

“Hey,” he said.

I smiled.  “Hey.”

Mr. Walsh called three people up to the board.  A minute or two later, Lenny walked through the door.

“Hola, everyone!” he announced.  “It looks like I’m in here.”  I had to laugh.  He actually did look the part.  It was a total transformation.  His hair was messed up and he was wearing some long frayed shorts.  He really did deserve more than twenty-three dollars for this performance.

Mr. Walsh shook his head and carefully read Jack’s note from the office.  “Fine, Mr. . . . Fabrizio.  There is a book on the shelf and please take a seat.”

“How about this seat,” Jack said, pointing to the empty seat in the front row in the center.  No one ever sat there.

“That will do.”

“Right on!  Front and center!”  Jack said in his best laid-back, surfer guy voice.  The class laughed.  “By the way, can I introduce myself?”

Mr. Walsh rolled his eyes and reluctantly agreed.

Jack stood up, looked at the class and simply said, “I’m Jack.” Then he sat down.

Girls were giggling and whispering to each other.  Guys were busting up in an I-like-this-dude kind of way.

“Welcome, Jack.  Now, let’s get back to our math problems.”

Jack sat there quietly during the rest of the class except for one, “Righteous!” when a girl named Jaimee got her problem on the board correct.  After class RJ introduced Logan to Jack and they walked out of the room together.  I couldn’t help but smile.

“So you kinda like the new guy, huh?” Carver asked.

“Why would you say that?”

“Just the way you were staring at him and smiling.”

“I see,” I said.  “So were you staring at me, while I was staring at him?”

Carver nodded and grinned. “Maybe.  It’s just that I have to keep my eye on you.   No offense to the new kid, he may be brighter than he sounds, but I get the impression that Jack might need even more tutoring than I do.  I would hate to lose my math tutor to him.”

We walked out of class together.  I loved when Logan wasn’t around.  It was the only time Carver and I could have fun together.

By lunchtime everyone was talking about Jack Fabrizio.  People were quoting the funny things he said in class.  Girls were flirting with him.  Guys wanted to take a spin on his motorcycle.  It was crazy.  If only they could have seen him yesterday in his Hawaiian shirt and white pants.

Morgan and I met up at Kennedy’s car.  No one said a word until we were inside.  As soon as the last door was closed we all burst out laughing.

“This is so amazing!” Morgan said. “Can you believe how everyone is going nuts over Jack?”

“Well, do you blame them?  He is so much hotter than he was when he was the cruise worker,” Kennedy said.

“I have to admit I was really nervous this morning,” I said.  “He was just so goofy when he came over to my house.  But I think he’s really going to pull this off.”

Instead of Smoothie Heaven, we decided to follow Jack and the crowd over to B&D’s Burgers.  Tatum rode on the back of Jack’s motorcycle and two or three packed cars followed.

Inside, Jack was wowing everyone with stories of his band and his recent surfing accident where he almost died.  He was charming the girls and joking around with the guys.  Jack was making friends left and right.  He let RJ ride his motorcycle around the parking lot.  Braden even offered to buy him a burger.

“That bro code is as good as busted,” I whispered to Kennedy.  We sat in a booth and enjoyed the show.

Chapter fifteen

Things seemed to snowball each day.  Jack-mania had hit Highland High School in a big way.  Aubrey, one of the girls who was flirting with him the most, decided to throw a welcome party in Jack’s honor Friday night after the game.

In his first two days Jack had already been out on two dates, had gotten in trouble for parking his motorcycle in the principal’s parking space, had claimed responsibility for several pranks around the school, and was about to have a party thrown in his behalf.  Everyone wanted to be Jack’s friend.  He, RJ, Braden and Zach had quickly become inseparable.

I tried to catch up with him several times at lunch or in between classes.  However, it was difficult to catch him alone.  I finally texted him requesting an update on his progress.  Everyday I checked the bro blog, but there were no changes.  The only response I got back from Jack was, “Still working, takes time.”

“Maybe we can corner him at the party,” I told Kennedy and Morgan.

At the game, Jack was in the middle of all the action.  He had painted a big red “H” on his chest for Highland High.  I was amazed to see that his abs were totally ripped.  Soon he had the attention of not only all of the girls, but the administration as well.  Students were allowed to paint their faces, but they could not take off their shirts.  Myrna was irate.  She and Ms. Stansfield, the vice principal, came over and made him put on his shirt.  That only made the crowd cheer louder.  RJ, Braden, and Zach were high-fiving him.

Later, at the party, it was more of the same.  A crowd surrounded Jack in the backyard to watch him toss food in the air and catch it in his mouth.  Then he showed everyone a scar on his leg that he claimed to have received from a shark bite.

Logan, on the other hand, didn’t look so happy.  It was obvious that the attention given to Jack had taken the focus away from him and he didn’t like it.

We followed Jack around, but could never get him alone.  Finally, he announced he had to use the bathroom.  People even cheered for that.

“Come on,” Morgan said.  We followed him into the house.  Jack opened the bathroom door and Kennedy, Morgan and I all pushed our way in with him.  Kennedy closed and locked the door behind us.

“Whoa, ladies,” he said in his Jack voice.  “This is a solo activity.”

“Sorry,” I said.  “But look, we just need to know what’s going on.”

“Yeah, I haven’t kissed a boy in over a week and I’m still at the top of the lip list,” Morgan added.

“It’s all cool, chicas,” he said.  “We’re getting very close.”

“Drop the surfer-guy voice, Lenny,” Morgan said.  “I want to be off that Lip List by Monday or it’s goodbye, Jack, hello Lenny.  Comprende?”

“Okay,” he said in his regular Lenny Gloucester voice, which I must say was not very attractive.  “I know it’s been a week.  But the truth is, I’m having a great time.”

“Yeah, we know.  I heard you made out with Tatum on Wednesday, and Aubrey yesterday,” Kennedy said.  “Isn’t that kind of wrong.  I mean you’re like an old guy, aren’t you?”

“I’m not an old guy.  I’m only a few years older than you guys.  Anyway, don’t worry.  I’m already learning tons about these bros.  We actually had a really great experience last night.  I found out what they do on some of those guys-only nights.  Last night we did something very cool and I felt like I was finally accepted into the inner brohood.”

“What did you do?” Kennedy asked.

Jack shook his head.  “I really can’t tell you.  It’s guarded by the code.”

Morgan looked him squarely in the eyes.  “Hold on.  You are only here because we brought you here.  We introduced you to the code.  You work for us.  We can just as easily shut this down and tell everyone you are a fraud.”

Jack fidgeted and then turned on the bathroom fan so no one would hear outside.  “All right.  But this stays between us.  If you reveal or call me out as a fake it’s all over.  I’ll walk away and never come back.  You’ll lose your inside man and will have to deal with the code on your own.”

We agreed.  Jack lowered his voice.  “Okay, I found out that on some Friday nights the guys get together and go to scary movies.”

“What?  They do that with us, too.”  I said.  “What’s so interesting about that?”

“That’s the thing.  It’s all in preparation for their dates on Saturday night.  The guys watch the movie first with just the guys, so if they get scared, scream, or jump, they don’t do it in front of a girl.  Then the next night when they go to the same movie with a date, they know exactly when the scary parts are and they’re prepared.  That way they look manly in front of the ladies.  It’s ingenious!”

There was a long pause while Kennedy, Morgan and I processed what we had just heard.  Then, at the same time, we all busted up.

“That is hilarious!” I said.  “Guys are so stupid.”

“Laugh all you want,” Jack said.  “But I wish I would have had a group of guys to hang out with and learn these kinds of things.  My high school years would have been so different.”

“Come on,” Kennedy argued.  “Girls don’t care if a guy jumps in a movie.”

“Well, just promise you won’t tell.  They’ll kill me.  And the truth is, I was never cool in high school.  Guys like this never gave me the time of day.  Now they think I’m cool.  It’s like I’m getting a do-over.”

He looked so pathetic sitting there pleading.

“Don’t worry,” I said.  “We won’t tell.”

“But you have to start making some progress on the code.”

“Maybe it would be easier to start with something small,” Kennedy added.  “Like that chick flick rule.  The guys idolize you.  Just tell them that it’s okay to show a girl your soft side now and then.  I really want to see Summer’s Promise.  It’s coming out next week.  Just get the guys to forget about the scary movie night and tell them to take us out instead.”

People were now knocking on the bathroom door.

“And talk to Carver,” I pleaded.  “Tell him to ask me out.”

Jack squirmed again.  “This isn’t as simple as you guys make it out to be.  First of all, I’ve heard all about Logan’s claim on you.  He thinks you’re going to give in sooner or later, like the rest of the girls he’s dated.  I can also tell that the guys look up to him.  I’m not sure I can just break down that barrier overnight.”

“Come on.  Don’t you see how these guys will do anything you say?  I mean, it’s just that . . .” I started.   Then I sighed.

I think the sensitive artist side of Jack could see the disappointment in my eyes.  He let out a long, deep breath.  “Look.  I can’t promise a miracle yet, but I’ll talk to Carver on Monday.”

“And the movie?” Kennedy added.

“Fine.  This may prove Jack Fabrizio’s demise, but I’ll suggest a chick flick next Friday.”

“Summer’s Promise,” Kennedy said.  “That’s the movie I want.”

The knocking at the door had turned to pounding.

“Oh, and I just have to know, where did you really get that scar on your leg?” Morgan asked.

“Trick-or-treating accident.  I was fifteen and climbing over a fence in my puppy costume and my tail got stuck.  It cut my leg pretty deep.”

There was now yelling accompanying the pounding at the door.

“Okay, ladies.” He was back in his Jack persona.  “Stay righteous.”  Jack opened the door and we all walked out of the bathroom together.

“All right, Jack!  Three girls?” Cheers erupted.  Now everyone was talking about what Jack, Morgan, Kennedy and I were doing in the bathroom.  This wasn’t helping Kennedy’s or Morgan’s chances of getting off of the Lip List.  And who knows, maybe I’d show up on it as well.

“So do you think he was really a nerd in high school?” I asked the girls.  “Or do you think he was acting when he told us that.”

“Trick-or-treating at fifteen?  In a puppy costume? Of course he was a nerd.” Morgan said.

Kennedy shrugged.  “Who cares, as long as he can get a guy to take me to a normal movie.”

Chapter sixteen

I didn’t do anything else that weekend.  Morgan and Kennedy both had dates on Saturday.  They were excited because, even though they were still technically on the Lip List, since they had stopped kissing boys they were being asked out less and less.  Logan had asked me out, but I avoided him yet again.  I felt a little bad and hoped that he had asked someone else out.  After all, there was never a shortage of girls interested in him.  I also heard that Jack had a date with Aubrey again.

I texted Carver for a couple of hours.  It was as close to a date as I was getting with him.  It worked for me.

Everything seemed to fall into placed the following week.   I got a text on Tuesday from Jack. “Check out the bro blog.”

I pulled it up on my laptop and couldn’t believe it.  There were two new amendments.  Under “A bro never watches a chick flick,” there was an amendment that read, “Now and then a bro shows his sensitive side and goes to a chick flick. Girls dig it.” It was signed by Jack Fabrizio.

The next amendment was under “A bro always spends one of the weekend nights with the bros.” It read, “Unless there are two totally hot girls that require your attention in the same weekend.”  Again, signed Jack Fabrizio.

Rumor had it that Logan was not very pleased with Jack’s amendments, but with Jack’s popularity and his way with the girls, none of the guys questioned him.  That night, Kennedy called me.

“Guess what?” She said.  “I’m going with Zach to Summer’s Promise on Friday.  Can you believe it?”

“Wow.  I have to hand it to Lenny,” I said.

“You mean Jack.”

“Right, Jack.”  I checked my phone just to make sure I didn’t miss a text from Carver.  Maybe Jack got through to him, too.  Nothing.  No text, no missed call, nothing.

The next day at school I caught up with Carver in the hall.

“Hey, Carver.”

“Hey, tutor.  What’s happening?”

“Not much.  Do you have a big weekend planned?”

“Nope.  My grandma’s birthday party on Saturday.  At seventy-eight years old she’s still a party machine.  I’ll be eating fruit cake and drinking punch until the wee hours of the morning.”

“Sounds like a happening lady,” I said.

“Yeah, well, when I say the wee hours of the morning, I really mean about eight-thirty at night.  That’s about two a.m. in my grandma time.  Plus, she lives two hours away, so we’ll leave in the afternoon and, despite being partied out by eight-thirty, I’ll be back home at around eleven.  You’re lucky, you have your grandparents right at home.”

“Oh yeah, lucky me,” I laughed.  “My grandparents kicked me out of my room, my grandmother makes pickle soup and hotdog omelets, and my grandpa scares away my friends.”

“Hey, he didn’t scare me away.  Earl is awesome,” Carver replied.  His voice even sounded sincere.

I reminded Carver that my grandpa was still waiting for him to come over and make him another sandwich.  “He keeps mentioning something about the perfect ration of mustard to mayo.”

“Tell him not to worry.  I promise to be by again, and this time I’m bringing an extra secret ingredient that will give a whole new meaning to the word sandwich.”

“Great!  I’ll let him know,” I said.  “So are you doing anything on Friday?  I heard a bunch of guys are going to a movie.”

Carver nodded.  “Yeah, I heard that too.  I’m hanging with Logan on Friday. He’s all upset because he had his ‘Bro Night’ planned and now everyone’s bailing on him for some chick flick.  No offense.  I guess I should call it something else, like a tender romantic drama.”

“I think chick flick is good,” I said.  “So why doesn’t Logan just reschedule his night with the boys?”

“I don’t know.  He loves the bro night.  It’s a time just to chill with the guys.  Sometimes we play video games, other times we just grab some pizzas and watch a game.  RJ tried to get me to bail too, since no one is going to be there, but I already told Logan I’d come.”

My heart sank a little.  “I guess you’re a man of your word.”

“Hey, I’ve known Logan since we were five years old.  You’ve got to take care of those friendships.”

“Right,” I said softly.  “See you tomorrow.”  We parted ways in the parking lot.

It was a good week for girls at Highland High.  It was the first weekend all year that girls were going out both Friday and Saturday.  And on top of it all, Summer’s Promise was sold out because of all of the guys, in their efforts to be like Jack, were taking his advice and showing the girls their sensitive side—everyone, except Logan.

Logan was determined to live or die by that code.  There had begun to be some tension between he and Jack.  I felt sort of bad about it, but Morgan and Kennedy assured me that he deserved it, that he had gotten his way long enough.

Friday and Saturday came and went again.  I had told Logan I had a family birthday party on Saturday night, so I couldn’t go out.  I just needed to stall long enough for Jack to finish the job on the code.

Carver texted me at about eight-thirty on Saturday.  “What’s up?”

“Just enjoying an eventless evening at home. And you?  How’s the party?”

“Wild and crazy.  Grandma is dancing and Grandpa is breaking out the home movies.  Wish you were here.”

“Me too.”  Then I added.  “Do you think this counts as some sort of date?”

“Well, we’re not even in the same county at the moment, but I’ll say, sure, this is a date.”

“Wow, our first date.”

“Yes, by the way, you look very nice tonight,” Carver said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I don’t. But since we’re on a date, I figured that was what I should say.”

I sent back a smiley face.

“And besides,” he added.  “You always look nice.”

“Thank you.  You look handsome yourself.”  After about a minute I wrote, “How about an official date sometime?”

“Maybe in six weeks.”

My heart sank.  I was sure I had just broken that stupid claiming clause on my own.  I didn’t text him back.  Eight-thirty at night might be two a.m. in grandma time, but six weeks is an eternity in sixteen-year-old time.

Chapter seventeen

On Monday morning Kennedy was five minutes early and honking like crazy.  I rushed outside and, noticing Morgan was in the front seat, I climbed into the back.

“Sorry, are you guys in a hurry?” I asked.

“No, I’m just frustrated.”

Morgan didn’t look any happier.  “Yeah, and I’m just mad.”

They both scowled at me like I was to blame.  “Hey, I’m sorry.  Did I do something to offend you guys?”

Morgan huffed.  “You know, I guess you didn’t do anything on purpose, but life just really sucks lately and it’s all because of Jack.”

Kennedy nodded.  “Jack and his stupid bro code amendments are ruining our lives.  I went out on Friday night with Zach.  At first it was awesome because finally he’s taking me to a real movie, Summer’s Last Promise.  But halfway through the movie I hear Zach whimpering.  It’s not a sweet, choked-up, misty-eyed moment, but an ugly, nose-running, weird moment accompanied by whiny sounds.  It was so disgusting.  I felt like he needed to lay his head on my shoulder instead of the other way around, like I was hoping for.  Before the movie I was actually thinking of breaking my no-kissing vow.  I mean, is it really worth it to get my name off that stupid lip list if it means I can’t ever kiss again? I just can’t take it anymore.  Anyway, after the movie, Zach seemed too wimpy to kiss.  I was totally turned off.  Plus he didn’t even try to kiss me.”

I didn’t know what to say.  Then Morgan jumped in.

“Braden cried, too, like a baby.  However, I was still determined to kiss him.  I mean, how long has it been—like two weeks?  So we get out of the movie and he drives me home.  He leans over and grabs my hand.  I liked that.  Usually his lips are all over me before the car is even turned off.  Then he looks into my eyes.  Another first.  I’m thinking maybe this movie was a great thing after all.”

“Then what happened?” I asked.  Her story sounded much better than Kennedy’s.

“What happened then, you ask?  I’ll tell you.”  Morgan’s eyes grew angry and cold.  “Then we talked.”

“About what?” I asked.

“I don’t know.  About the movie, about his feelings, about, get this, his mother!  All he wanted to do was talk.  It was awful!  Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and told him I had to leave.”

“Hey, I’m really sorry.  I’ll talk to Jack.  I’ll try to straighten this whole thing out.”

“Yeah, you’d better,” Morgan said.

“Hey wait! I’m not the one that wanted to get off the Lip List.  Actually, you’re only on there because you two have kissed every boy at school.  What did you expect?  Plus, it was you, Morgan, who threatened Jack in the bathroom that he’d better get you off the list.”

“Yeah, but if you didn’t have such a freaking cow about being claimed we never would have gotten Jack.”

“Jack was you’re idea, Morgan,” I said.

“Just to help you out,” she shouted back.  “Just tell him to forget about getting us off of the Lip List.  I want to be number one on the list.  I want guys the way they were, kissing and all.”

“Me, too,” Kennedy said.

“Fine!  I’ll talk to Jack after school.”  We got to school and both Kennedy and Morgan walked five feet ahead of me.

In math, Jack walked in happy as could be.  He and RJ were laughing about something they did over the weekend.  He left too quickly for me to catch after class, but in between classes, I received a text from Jack that was sent to Kennedy, Morgan and me.  “Good news,” it said. “You’re officially off the Lip List.”  Another text followed.  “Yes, I am a genius.  You’re welcome.”

Shortly after, down the hall, I heard a familiar scream.  It was Morgan.  She obviously just read the text.  She and Kennedy wouldn’t even talk to me by our lockers.  I got to the parking lot at lunch and they were already gone.  They had left me.  I stood there for a moment all alone wondering what to do.  I had gone to lunch with Kennedy and Morgan every day.

I turned and headed back into the school.  On my way I passed Carver and Logan.  For once I was willing to go out with Logan.  Maybe lunch with those two would be a good transition to just going with Carver.  Maybe Logan would be able to see the chemistry between Carver and me.

“Hi guys,” I said.  “Mind if I tag along for lunch?”

“Not today,” Carver said.  “Logan and I have plans.”

He was cold and serious.  Talk about humiliating.  I understand the bro thing, but come on.  I was sick of being Carver’s secret texting date.  In fact, I was sick of everyone being mad at me for just doing what they all wanted in the first place.  Breaking the bro code was not just my idea.  Those girls flipped out when they saw their names on the Lip List.  I was done.  Done with Kennedy and Morgan.  Done with Carver.  Done.

I went into the school cafeteria, where I had never eaten before.  I got in line to get a salad and a drink. Myrna walked in with Coach Watkins.  They were both giggling, being all cutesy.  I couldn’t believe it.  Even Myrna is getting her man. She looked at me but quickly turned away.

My life is so pathetic, I thought as I sat by myself eating a wilted school salad.  Out of nowhere in the hall two guys started yelling at each other.  It was RJ and Ryan.  RJ pushed Ryan and told him to stay away from Tatum.

Ryan pushed back.  “Make me.”

Kids immediately circled them both excited to see a fight.

“Dude, you don’t scam on another bro’s date,” RJ said.

“I’ll do what I want!”  Suddenly, they were shoving each other into lockers and causing a commotion.

Coach Watkins was between them in an instant breaking it up.  Grabbing each of them by the arm, they headed for what I assume was the office.

“Wow, that was the second fight today,” I heard someone say.

The afternoon was even worse.  Morgan and Kennedy ignored me the rest of the day and left me again in the parking lot after cheer.  I called my mom who came and picked me up.

My face must have said it all.  “I’m so sorry,” Mom said.  She drove me through the drive through at Smoothie Heaven and we sat and talked in the car for almost an hour.  I didn’t want to cry, but I couldn’t help it.

She tried to tell me more stories about similar bad days she had now and then when she was dating Dad.  I told her I didn’t want to hear it.  After all, things worked out in the end for her.  My life was crumbling.

I moped around the house all evening.  Finally, at around eight-thirty, I went to bed.  As I plugged in my phone for the night, a text popped up.  It was Carver.  I didn’t even read it.  I was not going on another secret texting date tonight, only to be ignored in public.  Then I changed my mind.  I was going to read it.  I was also going to answer.  In fact, I was going to tell him exactly how mad I was and that I am nobody’s secret friend.  Then I would tell him goodnight and good riddance.

I picked up the phone.  It was the longest text I had ever received.

“Hi Tutor,” it began.  That made me even more mad.  He thinks he can be rude to me in public then just throw out the “Hi Tutor” crap like everything is all right.  I read on.  “Hi Tutor.  I’m so sorry about lunch.  I needed to have a serious talk with Logan.  We’ve been friends forever.  I think you know how I feel about you, but I also didn’t want to hurt Logan.  I have never pictured you and Logan together and was just waiting for him to figure that out first.  But three months on a claimed list is a long time—longer than I can take.  But I couldn’t do anything without letting Logan know that I was about to break his code.  Not that I needed his approval, but out of respect for his feelings and our friendship, I felt I needed to talk to him.  That’s what I was doing for lunch.  I know this is a long explanation to say sorry for lunch, but I really am sorry.  And I’m happy to say that he and I are still friends and, more importantly, that I am ready to make good on my tutoring debts, plus perhaps make a prepayment on future tutoring sessions!  What do you say?”

My phone seemed to melt my hand and my entire body.  “What do I say?” I repeated out loud.  “I say YES!” I yelled.  I jumped out of bed and ran to my door to tell my mom.   When I opened the door she was already there.

“I heard you scream!  Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m all right!  I’m more than all right!”  I handed her my phone and she read the text.  We both jumped up and down together.  Then my brother came in from his room.  He didn’t even ask what was going on but just started jumping with us.

“It all makes sense now,” I told Mom.  “I knew it wasn’t like him to act that way today.”  Cam kept jumping and jumping.  Finally he jumped back out the door and into his room.

Dad was next to come down. “What’s going on?”  Then he saw Mom and me gathered around my phone.  “Is this a relationship, boy, um, thing?”

We smiled and nodded.

“Great.  Well, if you really need me, I’ll be upstairs.”  He turned and left.

Mom and I chatted for a few more minutes and then she left.  I couldn’t sleep at all.  About an hour later I realized I hadn’t even answered his text.

“Oh my gosh!” I picked up my phone and replied with twenty smiley faces.

Chapter eighteen

Dad drove me to school on his way to work.  Grandma was cooking again, so we stopped and got a bagel on the way.

“Tell me again why your friend can’t drive you anymore?” Dad asked.

“I don’t know.  They’re upset at me.  You don’t want to hear about it.”

“You’re probably right,” Dad joked.  “But you know you can tell me anything, right?”

“I know, Dad.”

“And this has nothing to do with that boy who wants to kiss you, does it?”

“No, Dad.  It doesn’t involve anyone wanting to kiss me.”

He looked relieved.  We pulled up to the front of the school and I got out.  “Thanks, Dad.  I love you.”

“Love you, too, Maddie.  Have a great day.”  He drove off and I walked in.

I couldn’t wait to get to math.  RJ and Jack were walking into the classroom just ahead of me.  Jack turned and winked at me.

“Yo, fellow classmates, I have an announcement I will be making at Lunch.  Everyone be sure to meet me in the courtyard.”  Then he came and sat right next to me where Carver usually sits.  He leaned over and whispered, “Just go with me on this one.  It’s perfect.  I just have to say, I am definitely a genius.”

“What’s perfect?” I asked.  He just winked again.  I wondered if he had heard about Carver and me.  Maybe he was announcing that he was moving or something, after all, he had accomplished all that we asked of him.  Morgan and Kennedy were off the Lip List, even though they were furious about it, and Carver and I are together.

Carver came sliding through the door.  He looked at Jack sitting in Carver’s seat and then at me.  I shrugged my shoulders and mouthed, “Sorry.”  He smiled and found an open seat in the back.

I couldn’t focus on math or anything else. After class, Carver and I walked out together.  Logan passed by.  He gave me a smile and Carver a pat on the back.  Maybe he was more of a gentleman than I gave him credit for.

“So, how about lunch today?  It’s my first down payment on my tutoring debt.”

“Of course!”  Then I remembered Jack’s big announcement.  “But we have to stop in the courtyard first.  Jack has some big announcement.”

“See you then,” Carver said.  I watched him walk all the way down the hall.  I wanted to find Kennedy and tell her everything, but she didn’t even look at me in math.  She was obviously still upset.

Jack must have announced it in every class, because once lunch finally came, no one left campus.  Everyone had gathered into courtyard to hear from Jack.  I felt good, like this was a good way of wrapping everything up.

He jumped up onto the small concrete wall and whistled.  “Attention, attention,” he said.  Everyone quieted down and stared.  “I guess you’re all wondering why I gathered you here today.” Then he paused.  “Sorry, dudes, but I always wanted to say that.”  He laughed and everyone cheered.  I don’t know why, but they did.

Then he started by saying, “Come up here with me Maddie.”

I tried to say what are you doing? with my eyes, but he wasn’t catching on.  I stalled and just stood there.  Suddenly the crowd was chanting, “Maddie, Maddie, Maddie.”  I could tell this wasn’t going to stop until I went up, so I stepped up and stood next to him on the wall.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Trust me.  You’ll thank me later.  Just follow my lead.”  Then he turned back to the crowd.  “Bros and babes, I would simply like to announce that Maddie has agreed to be my girlfriend.”  I almost fell over.  Before I could do anything he continued.  “She is the bread to my butter, the waves to my sand, the . . . lemon lime flavor to my snow cone, the . . .” There was a long pause.  “Well, you know what I mean.”  Then, right there in front of everyone he kissed me.  Not just a quick one either, but a long, take-you-in-my-arms, mushy, slobbery kiss.”  The courtyard echoed in cheers.  It took a few seconds to pry his lips off of mine, but I finally did.

“That’s all folks!” He announced.  “Class dismissed.”

“What was that?” I demanded.  “I can’t believe—”

Morgan ran up to me shouting.  “So that’s how it is.  You get us off the Lip List so you can jump right on it.”

“I’m not jumping on it.  This wasn’t my plan.”  I turned to Jack who was high-fiving the few remaining guys.  The rest of the crowd had disappeared to get something to eat before lunch ended.

“Whatever,” Morgan said.  “Come on Kennedy.

I slugged Jack in the arm.

“Whoa, a little feisty,” he said with a laugh, directing himself to his buddies.

“Congrats, bro!” RJ said before leaving with Braden and Zach.

I tried to slug him again, but he blocked me with his hand.

“Hold on, hold on.  Let me explain.”

“Explain what?”  I shouted.

He looked around smiling until the last person had left.  “Explain how I just initiated a plan to get you and Carver together.  It’s a perfect.  I break the bro code by going out with you, so then you’re not claimed anymore.  A couple of days later we break up, and voila, you are single, unclaimed, and available.  You and Carver can be together in a week!”

“You idiot!  We ARE together!  He called me last night.  He and Logan talked and everything is great!”  Suddenly, it hit me.  “Carver!”  I spun around to find him. The courtyard was empty.  “I’ve got to find Carver.”

“What?  I had no idea!” Jack said.

I didn’t care about his excuse.  “I’ve got to go find him,” I said.

“Let me help!” Jack pleaded.  “I really had no idea.”

“No!  Please don’t do another thing.  Don’t talk to anyone.  Don’t try to fix anything.  Just don’t.”

“But—”

“Look, I know I brought you into this.  I should have never done it.  It’s all my fault.  I know all you were trying to do was help.  Although that kiss seemed to be a little overboard.”

“Sorry about that.  I get a little carried away when I’m in character.”

Despite my pain, I had to smile.  “That’s all right.  But, promise me you will not do anything else.”

He lowered his head and nodded.

I spent the rest of the afternoon texting Carver when I could.  I told him that we really needed to talk.  But he never replied.  He must have turned his phone off because when I called it went straight to his voicemail.

After school I ran to his car hoping to catch him, but he was gone.  Tatum told me she saw him leave early.  Mom sent me a text asking if I needed a ride.  I decided to walk home instead.

Once I got home I went straight to my room. Mom came down.

“What’s wrong, Madds?” She asked.

“Can we talk tonight after the game?  I just want to be alone for a while.”

“Of course,” she said.

I called Carver again but his phone was still off.  I left a message saying, “Please call me.  Can we talk after the game?”

After an hour of feeling sad I came upstairs.

It was a madhouse.  Cam was begging mom to have a party for Zane since he didn’t get to have a birthday party with friends this year.  Mom finally agreed and called Dad to bring home a cake and a pizza.

“Mom do we really have to have a party tonight?”  I asked.  It was the last thing I wanted to do.

“I’m sorry, Madds.  It’s just pizza and some cake for Cam and Zane,” Mom said.  Then, trying to get me to smile, she added, “It’s not like having Zane join us for dinner is that uncommon.”

I forced a grin, “That’s true.  He’s read my diary, worn my skirt, and has seen me in my pajamas more than once.  I guess he’s like family.”

Dad brought home a pizza and the cheapest cake he could fine at the grocery store.

“What’s this, dear?” Mom asked.

“What do you mean?  It’s a cake.”

“This is not a birthday cake.”

“It’s a cake!” Dad insisted.  “You didn’t specify birthday cake.”

“But it’s a spice cake.  No one likes spice cake.  Cam is going to be so disappointed.  Plus, it looks old.  The frosting is all crusty.  How much was this?”

“Fine, you don’t want the spice cake, I’ll go back to the store and pay twenty dollars to get a different cake.”

Dad didn’t go back.  No one ate the cake except for Dad and Grandpa.

Cam and Zane whined until everyone was gathered around the kitchen table to play crazy eights and other card games for their party.  Since I would be leaving soon for the game, I didn’t play.  Grandma and Mom got out of it by telling them they make some cookies since we didn’t have real cake.

Mom made Dad play and Grandpa was more than excited to play.  He vowed that he would finally beat those two boys at something.  He claimed to be the best card player that ever walked the planet.

“Do you want to bet?” Cam said.

“Absolutely!  What do you say? Five bucks to the winner?”

Cam and Zane looked at each other.  “We don’t have any money.  How about the loser has to wear—”

“Hey, you’re not wearing my cheer skirt again!” I interrupted.  “I have a game.”

The two weasels huddled together and whispered.

“I know,” Cam said.  “The loser has to wear a pair of underwear on his head during the next game.”

“Cam!” Mom said.  “That’s disgusting.  Don’t even joke about—”

“You’re on!” Gramps shouted.  The two boys cheered.  Dad didn’t know what to say.  Gramps left the room and returned with a pair of his old underwear.

“Ooh, gross!” Cam and Zane yelled.

Grandma gasped, “Earl!”

But there was no stopping him, Gramps had lost at Space Masters to those two boys one too many times. This was his revenge.

“Are you guys chicken?” Gramps taunted.

Cam and Zane put on their meanest game faces.

“Then let’s go,” Gramps said.  “Deal the cards!”

Around they went, each one laying down a card.  I had about an hour before I had to leave, so I helped Mom and Grandma.  I was getting eggs from the refrigerator when I heard grandpa scream, “Confound it!  You two are cheating!”

“A deals a deal,” Cam said.

I turned to see Grandpa pulling the underpants over his bald head.  “All right!  Deal the cards.”

For the next hour the underwear passed from head to head.  I was embarrassed to be part of this family.

“How can they do that?” I ask Mom.  “It is so repulsive.”

“Boys will be boys,” She replied with half a smile.

Grandma even had to chuckle.  “Earl hasn’t changed a bit since I met him sixty-one years ago.”  Her eyes lit up as she talked about Grandpa.  “Actually,” she added, “I think Earl has had those underpants for almost that long.”  She and mom laughed.

It was strange, but looking at three generations of boys, each taking their turn at wearing a fifty-year-old pair of underpants on their heads, something hit me.  I noticed how they were laughing, playing and having a great time—even Dad and Gramps.

It was something beyond what the female mind could comprehend.  How could they possibly find putting underwear on their heads as anything but disgusting.  I was totally amazed.  Yet, there was something so naturally male about the scene.  It was the essence of bro-ness.  While a moment ago I wanted to rip those underpants off of my dad’s head, now, as strange as it sounds, there was something endearing about it.  Not only that, but I could picture Logan, RJ, Carver and the rest of the guys all sitting around laughing and doing the same thing.

I went downstairs to get ready for the game.  I questioned my efforts to destroy the guys’ bro code.  Maybe it wasn’t meant to be tampered with. Surely girls better than I have tried, without success, over the centuries.  Like Mom said, maybe boys will be boys.  I realized right then that I had gone too far in thinking I could change what guys were all about.  It was clear what I had to do.  I got dressed and asked Mom for a ride.

Chapter nineteen

This was an important game and Myrna decided to hold a pep rally an hour before.  I showed up just in time.  I knew Myrna would be upset, but I didn’t care.  Myrna could do whatever she wanted to me.

When I walked into the gym she gave me a nasty look. “It’s about time,” she said.

“Were you too busy making out to get here on time?” Morgan said.

Aubrey gave me dirty look.  She was mad, too, because she had just gone out with Jack just yesterday.

“Yeah, is he as good an actor when he’s kissing,” Kennedy said.

The rest of the girls looked confused.

Just then Jack walked into the gym.  He delighted the crowd by doing a cartwheel in the middle of the basketball court on the way to the bleachers.  As he passed by the cheerleaders, his friends started chanting, “Kiss her, Kiss her,” over and over referring to our public display of affection during lunch.  I looked for Carver, but he wasn’t anywhere in the stands.  We began the pep rally with the Coach saying a few words.  He got everyone riled up.

Then we passed the microphone around among the cheerleaders.  Each of us would yell something like, “Who’s going to win?” and the crowd would yell back, “We are!”  When it got to me, the crowd went crazy making kissing sounds and whistling.  I wanted to turn and run.  Tears were building up in my eyes.

Jack jumped down out of the stands, ran up and grabbed the microphone.  The students went nuts.

“Yo,” he said.  Then he held up his hands to silence the crowd.

“Hey, I just want to say something serious.” He paused.  His smile faded and I could see in his saddened eyes that his days as Jack Fabrizio were about to end.  “I made a mistake today,” he continued.  “A very big mistake.  I shouldn’t have done what I did at lunch.”

“Go for it again, Jack!” RJ yelled from the bleachers.

“Look, I’m serious.  And the truth is . . . my name is not Jack.” The audience fell silent.  Some were still laughing thinking he was joking, while others were struck with confusion.

I took the microphone away from him.  “This is my fault,” I said to the crowd.  “I haven’t been very honest lately.  A few weeks ago I was so upset with some of you. Mostly about the bro code you all live your lives by.  I was so mad that I actually set out to change it.  Even though I’m not a guy, I wanted to make your code work for me.  I wanted you guys out there to be who I wanted you to be, to be true to girls and not to your fellow bros.  In fact, I figured if someone really cool came in and changed the code, I could go out with a certain boy and everything would be fine.  But it wasn’t.”  I looked up at Ryan who wasn’t sitting next to RJ like he normally would.

“No, everything isn’t fine.  All I did was disrupt the balance of nature here at Highland High.  Guys have stopped spending time with their bros; they’ve been fighting with their friends over girls; our big pizza-loving, soda-guzzling guys are now crying at movies.  All I can say is, I’m sorry.”  I looked over at Morgan and Kennedy.  “And more than anything, I’m sorry that it cost me my two best friends and a very special person.”

The crowd remained silent.  Even Myrna stood there not knowing what to say.

Finally, RJ stood up and pointed to Jack.  “So who are you, man?”

Jack took the microphone again.  “My name is Lenny Gloucester.” His voice was back to the real Lenny.  “I’m a college student studying acting.”  Everyone in the gym gasped at the same time.

“Ewe! So I made out with an old guy named Lenny?” Aubrey shouted.  Suddenly, Aubrey, Tatum, and dozens of other grossed out girls were up in arms.

“Get him!” One of them yelled.  A pack of girls ran out of the stands. Jack dropped the microphone and took off.  That would be the last we ever saw of Jack Fabrizio and Lenny Gloucester.  The crowd was still in awe.  They just sat there.

Morgan and Kennedy rushed over and hugged me.  “We’re sorry,” they both said.  “We were just jealous.”

“No, it was my fault,” I said.  “I’ve ruined everything.”  We hugged again.  Then I had an idea.  “Maybe this will help,” I picked up the microphone and made one last announcement.  “By the way, guys,” I said, pointing to Morgan and Kennedy.  “You are looking at the new number one and number two ladies on your coveted Lip List!  And for your information they are available after the game.”  The boys cheered and Morgan and Kennedy waved.

Coach Watkins walked over and took the mic from me.  He held up his hand until it was silent.  Then he wrinkled his brow as if he were searching for the right words.  “This has been really . . . weird.”  He paused again and then, in his loud Coach Watkins’ voice shouted,  “But get on your feet and let’s hear it for your Highland High Rams!”   The gym went nuts.

Carver never showed up.  I cheered, but my heart wasn’t really in it.  We won the game and everyone seemed to forgive me.  But it was a small consolation.  The one person I really cared about wouldn’t even talk to me.

“Come on, we’ll take you home,” Kennedy said.  “We’re not meeting Braden and Zach for an hour.”

They pulled up in front of my house and I got out.  I hugged them both again through the window.  “I love you guys,” I said.

It was starting to rain.  I ran up the steps and into the house.  By the sounds coming from the kitchen I could tell the boys were still playing games.  I couldn’t believe it.

Then I heard a different voice yelling, “Oh no! I lost!” I listened closer as I made my way to the kitchen.  It can’t be, I thought.  I took a deep breath and turned the corner just in time to see Carver pulling Grandpa’s underpants onto his head.  The rest of the guys laughed.  Grandpa and Dad were both biting into a huge sandwich.

“Carver?”

“Maddie! You’re home.”

I looked around the room.  Everyone, including my dad, was acting like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

“What are you doing here?”  The same chill started down my spine.

“Just hanging out, making sandwiches and playing cards with the guys . . . oh, and wearing your grandfather’s underwear on my head.”

I laughed, “Right, I can see that.”

“Can I take Carver for a few minutes?”  I asked.

Dad smiled.  I think that was our last round.

I took Carver by the hand and into the living room.  He took my other hand too as we stood face to face.

“You know, I came over for a tutor session but you weren’t here.”

“Right, I’m sorry.  I had to cheer tonight. I didn’t see you there.”

“No, you didn’t.  But I heard all about your pep rally.  Our good friend Jack Fabrizio called and told me all about it.  Did you really go to all that expense and trouble just for me?”

I smiled.  “Well, don’t get a big head now.  It only cost me twenty-three dollars.”

Then, he looked into my eyes.  I could smell his cinnamon breath.  Involuntarily, I stood on my tiptoes and leaned in.  This was it.  Just before our lips touched he stopped.

“Hold on,” he said.  He closed his eyes and just stood there.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.  I’m just enjoying the moment.  You know, the moment before the moment.”

I smiled and closed my eyes as well.  It was the moment I had waited for my whole life.  The moment before the moment was just as I had hoped it would be.  It was the best minute of my life.  Then . . . he kissed me.