"Woah there, (Y/N). I think you’ve had one too many. Or maybe 5 too many” Jaden says as he grabs ahold of my shoulders. I blink my eyes rapidly noticing the spinning room now that I’m stood still.
“Jaden, Silly! It’s my birthday. Of course I’m going to get drunk!” I laugh, slapping my hand onto his shoulder for both support and drunk comedic effect.
“Do you want to sit down?”
“Not yet! I’m still only in phase 2.”
“What? You’ve definitely had too much.”
“Jaden, hands off. Phase 2 is the hardest phase and you’re not screwing that up!” says an also obviously tipsy Mads.
“Not you too...”
“Look, Jaden. (Y/N) has a secret lover boy who we’re wanting to uncover tonight. She’s been getting all these random notes in her bag or in her jacket pockets and presents for the past 3 weeks.”
“Oh that’ll end well. So what’s Phase 2 then?”
“Phase 1: Show up looking totally hot. Tick!” Mads gestures to (Y/N).
“Phase 2: Gain the attention of all suspects.” (Y/N) slurs.
Jaden looks on in awe as she stumbles while not even moving anywhere.
“Phase 3: Flirt with one of our allies to make them jealous.” Mads continues.
“And finally, Phase 4: move upstairs and have them come to me. Perfect!” (Y/N) interrupts.
“So who are the suspects?” Jaden finally gives in.
“Okay, possible loverboy one; Nick Austin. Just came back from overseas holiday and suddenly two weeks later, (Y/N) starts getting her gifts.” Jaden looks over at the blonde boy on the couch sipping his drink and tapping his foot away to the music.
“Boy two; Taylor Holder. He’s been openly flirty with (Y/N), along with a few other girls for a while now.” Taylor stands next to the fridge talking to a girl while his eyes keep flicking over.
“Boy three; Chase Hudson. His recent change of heart in wanting to be a better person matches the timeline of when (Y/N) started receiving gifts.” Chase was stood by the snack table, visibly uncomfortable with how out of place he was.
“Okay, well how about someone like Nate? Or Ryland? Guys that are close to (Y/N)?” Jaden quizzes.
“You think you can keep your mouth shut long enough for me not to find out if Nate liked me? You tell Mads everything, and she tells me everything!” I laughed. Jaden looked over at Mads who just shrugged. He knew he wouldn’t win this battle.
“And Ryland?”
“Ryland’s not smart enough to write the things (Y/N) has been receiving. I’ve never read something so mysteriously raw.” Jaden looks slightly offended by Mads’ comment.
“Oh, you know I’m not counting you, babe.”
“So they’re all the suspects?” Jaden asks.
“Well, they’re our main ones. There’s always a possibility of it being someone like Blake that we just don’t expect but he doesn’t have the ability to deliver the notes subtly without help and I’ve never seen him display any kind of romantic gesture. The closest I’ve seen is probably when he went on a diet for a few days and ate a burger for the first time in a week.” Mads laughed.
“Okay, you guys are distracting me. I gotta get the guys attention.” I say quickly before looking down at my phone. “Shit, it’s already 11:30?! Everyone will probably start leaving soonish. I gotta move fast.” I pull Mads onto the middle of the floor with me and start dancing. She focuses on looking around and making sure the guys are watching while I try to focus on putting on a show. I run my hands along my body as I move to the beat of the song.
“Got them” Mads whispers in my ear.
“What should I do now?” I ask. Mads has acted as my mentor this entire time. I was dependant on everything she said.
“Phase 3.”
“Whos the ally?” As I’m looking around trying to find who Mads would have picked to aid our plan, my eyes meet with Bryce’s. He gives me a small smile that looks somewhat pure. I stop moving and smile back. He looks like he’s going to come over. What do I say? I’ve only spoken to him a few times and he’s definitely not someone you want to embarrass yourself in front of.
“There he is.” Mads says as she pushes me backwards. I stumble back and fall into Ryland’s arms.
“Woah. You feeling okay, (Y/N)?” He laughs.
“Oh, Ryland. Thank god you caught me I thought I was gonna die for a minute there!” I let out my breath.
“So you’re aware of Mads’ plan?” I giggled.
“As of about 10 minutes ago. She forced Jaden to force me” He joked which made me feel guilty.
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. It’s kind of embarrassing.”
“no, no, no. I phrased that wrong. Look, I’m more than happy to help you out. After everything I’m in need of some girl company again. And not like that, just... Wow I’m bad with words.” He laughs at himself.
“Well, that’s how we know you’re not our loverboy!” I laughed. “But seriously, Ryland. You’re a great guy. Don’t worry about a lack of girl company in your life right now. You don’t want to rush something that isn’t meant to be. You could ruin something great by doing that!” I said realising I was trying to do just that. Tonight was all about rushing something along. What if this whole plan scares off my secret admirer.“God I’m an idiot.” I say out loud. “Sorry, Ryland. I need a second alone.” I say before making my way upstairs. I could see how clearly confused he was and afraid that he had said something wrong. I sat on the bathroom floor with my head in my hands, thinking about my life choices. Why was I like this? Why do I always get so obsessive and crazy about trying to keep control. I couldn’t bare not knowing who had secret feelings for me. And now I might have ruined the chance at ever finding out. Great job, (Y/N).
“Hey, you okay?” I look up to see Bryce standing at the door with a glass of water in his hand.
“Hey, yeah. Just needed a break.”
“Was it Ryland? Did he do something?”
“No, no! Ryland’s been great. I’ve just been an idiot.”
“Great huh? He’s okay I guess.” I laugh at his reply as he sits beside me on the ground. “So what stupid thing did you do this time.” I lightly chuckle at his joke before exhaling deeply.
“It’s hard to explain.”
“I’ve got time.” He smiles.
“You know, for the whole bad guy persona, you’re really not that bad.”
“Me? The one who literally got arrested.”
“Okay, please don’t remind me about that.”
“Sorry. I should think more before speaking.”
“No, it’s okay.” I smile softly, still a bit off put. “Anyway, theres this guy who Mads and I wanted to show off to tonight.” I see Bryce visibly tense and I pause for a second. “I know, not something typical me would do. Anyway. There’s a guy who’s been leaving me random letters in my bag, sending me flowers at work, and all this other romantic stuff, but I have no idea who it is. So Mads came up with a plan that tonight at my party we’d invite all the suspects and try to force them to act on their emotions through making them jealous. But... here I am.”
“With me. Is that so bad?” Bryce laughs slightly, but I could tell he wanted a serious answer.
“Of course not. I just feel like I’ve scared him away for good.”
“So who were the suspects?” Bryce asks.
“Uhhh. Nick, Taylor, Chase. Mads thought Blake possibly... I don’t know. It’s a long list that she worked out.”
“Was I on it?” He asks, more serious now.
“I-uh. I don’t think so?” I ask confused.
“Maybe she should leave the detective work to someone else then.” He snorts.
“What do you mean?” I ask, already knowing the answer. He looks back at me with a stupid smile, feeling half excited to get it off his chest, but half nervous about what my response will be.
“I may not appear to be the most romantic guy, but I’ve been saving a few moves up from movies and conversations I’ve overheard.” He pulls the side of his lip up into a half smile, feeling completely vulnerable now.
“Wow.”
“You’re not... disappointed are you?”
“What? Of course not! I just definitely did not see that coming!” I exclaimed. He looks down at the ground, obviously taking that as a bad thing. Shit. Quick (Y/N), fix this. “So. When are you taking me out?” I nudge him with my shoulder.
“You don’t have to humour me, (Y/N).” Bryce hides his pain with a smile.
“Don’t be stupid. I’d love to see what’s under this whole bad boy persona.” He smirks. “No, I don’t mean what’s under your clothes. Although now that I think about it that wouldn’t be too bad.” I laugh. He leans in to kiss me but before he can, I put my fingers against his lips.
“As perfect as this moment is, I’m not having my first kiss with you next to a toilet that has probably been vomited in 20 times tonight.” I stand up and pull him up by his arms. “Thats a poor excuse to get me into your bedroom.” He jokes.
“Are you complaining?” He shakes his head no before following me eagerly.
