The Bad Boy ✔

Chapter Twenty Two-Dynamite comes in small packages

~Song to side emphasises emotions felt by Lynn at the end of the chapter~

Chapter Twenty-Two

There was something about hiding in a store’s changing room that made you come into grip with reality.

I mean for starters, the small cubicle was really stuffy. Seriously, who did they expect to change in such a small space? What if someone on the larger side of life-clearly where I’m headed if I don’t take up exercise soon-needed to fit into a ton of clothes but upon entering the cubicle realised that they could no longer try on the glam dress they had taken.

What’s more is that there was this old, red curtain that acted as a door. It was silly. I’m not even going to get started on the numerous of possibilities which could end up in a very embarrassing situation concerning the curtain instead of a door. But I will get into one of the situations and that unfortunately was mine.

It didn’t start off this way. I mean, I don’t just go hiding out in changing rooms at the mall for fun. Trust me, I had better things to do, like confessing my woes to my pet cat or pretending that I was only crying because I was chopping an onion and not because I was some forlorn fool with no hopes and dreams to look up to.

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating, but really-it’s completely understandable.

After the whole party to celebrate Bianca’s success and getting home way past my curfew, Dad ended up grounding me. But it didn’t last long. Two days max and bam, Dad was suddenly telling me how sorry he was but really, I had to understand, he was my father and needed to discipline me sometimes.

Fine, so he didn’t say that exactly. But he caught me crying when there was no nearby onion and asked me what was wrong. I knew I should have had a better willpower, but after five minutes of my father’s concerned gaze, I cracked and spilled almost all the details. ‘Yes I did drink and yes, Jace got me upset’, but, ‘No, I didn’t kiss him and no, we’re not really dating. It’s just for show.’

All in all, I think he handled it well.

Until Dad suddenly lunged into some story about how when he got caught with Mum for the first time by her parents and then I had to cringe and start crying again-only to silence Dad and not because I was sad. It worked better than I had expected-the crying, not Dad’s story about his first time with Mum-cue the shudder.

And after a week of ignoring the existence of Jace Collins, I was on my way to recovery. I mean, things started to look up for me. I wasn’t moping-partial lie, not around Jace-and I wasn’t letting the whole fake-dating thing get me down-okay, complete lie. But there was at least one positive aspect of my experience.

I had learnt to never, ever let yourself get ahead of yourself, or anyone else really.

I did feel like an idiot to be honest. My life was not some fairy tale where my Prince Charming came galloping after me just because we shared ‘true love’s kiss’ or because we were living in a world where media exploited the classic, good girl meets bad boy relationships. Maybe I wasn’t meant for Jace and he wasn’t meant for me. And maybe pigs really could fly.

Before Jace had come into the picture, my life was normal. Heck, it was below normal. I had such a mundane life that not even Brett spoke to me and I was allowed to ogle him from the safety of my locker. Old Man Joe still carried around his tomato sandwiches and Eliza was still a virgin who didn’t confide in me about her traipses with Will.

And then, Jace had entered my perfect bubble of ordinariness.

The whole ‘bad boy’ stigma was stuck onto him by rumours and by the way he looked. It didn’t help that he enjoyed smirking at everyone and flirting with girls that should have been arrested for jaywalking along our school corridors. His reputation was renowned at Chesterville High and it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.