Chapter 2: A Little Too Perfect

Marco del Rossi always considered himself a pretty stand-up guy. When he was 9, he saved up all his lunch money for a month for his mother's birthday. When he was 13, he volunteered every weekend at one of the city's soup kitchens. When he was 17, he gave up his summer holiday to do relief work in Africa.

And now, at 18, he was going to do the ultimate – he was going to help two people he cared for find love.

It was two days after they first arranged the bet, and always the optimist, he put his bet down for the earliest day. Everyone was surprised at his choice, but they were foolish to doubt him – he's Marco del Rossi; he can do anything.

He talked to Alex the day before, but pushed her too far to the point that she was officially not speaking to him. That was fine though, because he knew he'd soon be forgiven – as soon as she'd see how stupid she was being.

Not far from the Michalchuk house, he began to formulate his plan to convince Paige to make the first move. Admittedly, his success rate for setting people up was pretty bad (Craig and Ellie was his first attempt and a failure), but he had high hopes for them. He skipped up the steps to their house and rang the doorbell. He was greeted with Paige's surprised face.

"How's my favourite soon-to-be Kingstoner doing?" he greeted brightly.

Paige crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, her mood opposite to Marco's. "Très bored. Please say your life is more interesting."

"Always," he teased, giving her a quick hug.

"If you're here to see Dylan, he's in the shower," Paige said, letting him in. She lazily collapsed onto the couch. "Or are you actually here to visit me for the first time in like a billion years?"

"A little bit of both," he answered, taking a seat beside her. "What are you up to today?"

"Nothing. I was thinking of calling Alex, maybe going to a movie. You and Dylan wanna come?"

"As in a double date?"

She rolled her eyes. "As in hang out?"

"Tempting, but I'd rather not sit through two hours of awkward blushing and accidental flirtation."

"Excuse me?" Her genuinely offended look only encouraged Marco.

"Oh, don't even dare to pretend to be oblivious. It's nauseating how you two get."

"Shut up, we do not flirt…and I never blush," she said, proving herself wrong as she turned red.

"Ah ha!"

"We don't! We just t-talk…and sometimes our conversations are…p-p-playful," she stuttered. "But that's not flirtation."

"Mmmhmm."

"And I don't blush. It's just hot; it's summer!"

"Oh!" he mocked, nodding like he believed her. He knew it wasn't smart to annoy her, but he couldn't help it – it was too much fun.

"Can you stop responding with non-words?" She angrily threw a pillow at him, only making him laugh more.

"I just find it amazing how well you've got this act going."

She pouted, crossing her arms. "Please tell me you're not going to start your stupid song and dance about how Alex is my 'destiny' or whatever."

"I'll only stop once you realize it for yourself," he said, setting her off.

"So what, I have a tiny little crush on Alex!" she started, with an unnatural edge in her voice. "It's just residual feelings – we ended so quickly, so there are a lot of unresolved issues, but it's nothing. We're just friends. That's all she wants, and I've accepted that. I'm so over it. You and Hazel are blowing this completely out of proportion."

Marco stared at Paige for a moment, slightly shocked at first. She fidgeted under his scrutiny. "Wow, I nearly believed you."

"Marco," she said warningly.

"Paige, what's the problem? Just tell her already. It's not hard, and I know she feels the same way."

"Has she told you anything?" she asked, her voice suddenly filled with hope.

Marco shook his head and her face fell. She sighed and avoided his eyes. Suddenly, he felt bad.

"I'm serious, Marco. Please, just stop. I know you want me to be happy, but it's hard enough for me to be around her without acting the way I want to," she said seriously. She resolutely turned away from him and faced the TV, making a lot of effort to ignore him.

"I'm sorry, Paige," he offered. She stiffened, still determined to make it seem like she wasn't paying attention. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad. You know I love you both."

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"And you know I'd never lie to you or lead you on, right?" He slowly put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, dejectedly. He felt like a mother, patting her head soothingly.

She sniffled and nodded. "I know," she murmured.

"So you know that you two should give it another shot. At least talk to her about it?" Marco asked, hopefully.

Fortunately for Paige, before she could answer Dylan trotted down the stairs. "Could you stop hitting on my boyfriend?" he asked playfully, interrupting the moment.

Paige stood up quickly and made a feeble excuse to leave the room without acknowledging the question.

"Hey Marco!" Dylan greeted, laughing at Paige's quick departure. Marco slapped him lightly. "Ow! What I do?" he cried, rubbing his cheek.

Marco pushed him. "I was talking to Paige, jerk."

Dylan grinned. "I know – the money's mine, sweetie," he said, giving Marco a kiss on the forehead before taking his hand and leading him out. "To the movies?"

Marco just followed; his mouth agape and speechless.

The funny thing about Marco del Rossi was that he was a stand-up guy – but he often forgot that other people weren't.