She sighs into the phone. “He’snice, nice. Like, not a jerk like a typical guy you date.”
“Um, thanks?” I say sarcastically.
“You know what I mean. I just don’t think you should use him for this bet because that seems cruel. He’s just too nice.”
I sigh and bite the inside of my lip. “He is nice,” I say, and I realize I can’t find anything else to say to make me sound better. The truth is, Jaxon is sweet and attractive and fun to be around.
And I feel kind of bad knowing I’m only going to keep him around for the next twenty nine days.
Chapter 5
Jacie’s warnings stick with me all throughout the night. It hadn’t really occurred to me until now, that choosing a guy to date just to win a guitar is kind of a horrible thing to do. If he really likes me and I’m just using him, then that’s not okay at all. But still, I can’t help but check my phone, waiting on Jaxon to text me. We had fun at Taco Bell and I want to hang out with him again.
I decide that there has to be a way to date him for thirty days, get my guitar, and not hurt his feelings. And then the solution comes to me while I’m waiting for my Pop-Tart to finish toasting.
My parents are in the kitchen, arguing over who drank the last cup of coffee and who has to brew another pot. My mom calls my dad annoying, and I get the perfect idea.
When my thirty days with Jaxon are nearing an end, I’ll just start being annoying. I’ll get clingy, or I’ll listen to music he hates, or I’ll find some way to make him so annoyed that he decides to break up with me. Then I get my guitar, and he doesn’t get his feelings hurt. No harm, no foul.
Perfect!
I’m expecting some kind of text in the morning, but Jaxon doesn’t send me anything. Teachers don’t exactly love when we play on our phones in class, but most of them don’t care, so he has no reasonnotto text me. Yet, three classes go by and my phone hasn’t had a single message from him. At lunch, I scan the crowd, looking for him since I know we have the same lunch period. I can’t totally ditch Jacie for a second time in a row, so my plan is to ask him to sit with us…only I can’t find him.
Eventually, five minutes after lunch has started, I get my food and plop down next to Jacie at our able.
“What’s wrong with you?” she says.
“I gave Jaxon my number yesterday and he still hasn’t texted me.”
“Good.”
I look over at her. “Why is that good? I can’t get started on my thirty days if he never actually texts me.”
She focuses on stirring the granola into her yogurt. “I think you should pick another guy. Jaxon is just too nice.”
“But I’ve got it all figured out,” I say. I tell her about my plan to get progressively annoying as time goes on so that Jaxon breaks up with me.
She laughs, and not in a sarcastic way. “You seriously think that will work?”
I shrug. “Yeah? I won’t be crazy about it, I’ll just get slightly annoying and then a little more annoying. I’ll use the first twenty five days to figure out what he likes and doesn’t like and then I’ll use that to my advantage.”
“You are putting in so much effort for this,” Jacie says, shaking her head.
“Yeah well do you know how many hours I’d have to work at a fast food restaurant earning minimum wage to be able to buy myself a three thousand dollar guitar?”
“Fair point,” she says, taking a bite of her food.
Lunch goes by without a word from my mysterious new guy. And so does the rest of the day. By the time I’ve gotten home and finished my physics homework, I’m starting to think that maybe he lost my number. I did write it on his arm, after all. Maybe it smudged off or he got sweaty and half the numbers looked like different numbers. Maybe he’s been texting the wrong person all day.
That’s probably it.
But I don’t want my Day One to start tomorrow – I need it to start today. I remember him telling me he worked at an animal clinic, so I decide to get a little sleuthy.
Northpoint Animal Clinic is located in a shopping center with many stores that would all make a good excuse for me to be there. I place my hand on my songwriting notebook and say, “I promise I’ll get you that guitar.” Then I get in my car and head to Northpoint Boulevard.
I don’t really have a plan. I’d already told Jaxon that I don’t have any pets, so it’s not like I can waltz into an animal clinic with any real reason to be there. So instead, I go to the beauty supply store next door and buy some nail polishes. Then I leave, walking down the sidewalk, casually glancing into the windows of the animal clinic.
