Jess stood with Massie, Dylan, Alicia and Kristen after school, waiting for the Block's driver to show up. Claire had 'mysteriously' disappeared, saying she had a lot of work to do. Jess looked at her watch. It was 3:15. School let out at 2:45. The other girls didn't seem to mind. They chatted away like little girls at a playground.

"Oh my gosh you guys! Briarwood lets out at 3:20, we should totally manhunt!" Alicia squealed. The other girls quickly agreed.

"What's Briarwood?" Jess asked quietly. All four heads turned to face her.

"What's Briarwood?!" they mimicked, shrieking and squealing. Massie turned alone to talk to her. "It's only where all the guys in the whole town go! The cute ones, the hot ones, the sporty ones, the dramatic ones, the…"

"Thinking about a special someone?" joked Alicia, elbowing Massie in the gut. "Maybe somebody named Derrick?" Massie elbowed her back, but smiled mysteriously and muttered a very quiet 'it hurts…'

Five minutes later, as the five girls crowded behind the stone wall, watching as the doors to Briarwood let out and the guys all trooped out. Dylan pointed out her newest crush, a guy by the name of Chris Downheart. Alicia pointed out her latest crush, Nick McKaplan. And Kristen pointed out her crush, Dewey Mulberry.

"Who would ever crush on somebody named Dewey Mulberry?" shrieked Jess, getting hysterical laughing responses in return.

Finally, Massie pointed out the most very special someone, Derrick Harrington. Jess had to admit he was cute. But he must have been the most stupid guy ever. He was wearing shorts. In the winter. Then again, all guys did that occasionally. Massie's eyes glazed over and she stared open-mouthed at him, but he didn't notice her. He walked away, and just like that, the moment was over. Her eyes went back to normal, and she snapped her mouth shut. All of the other girls were watching her pathetic 'shut down' over seeing Derrick. Alicia quietly explained the relationship between the two.

It wasn't just a little crush that sparked into a little something. It was a Romeo and Juliet type of romance. It was 'soul mates who fell in love, and then escaped away into Paradise' kind of sweet. They had been neighbors and best friends since pretty much forever. And then Massie had broken the friendship by asking him if he liked her. He had said yes. They started going out. They went to parties, went out just hanging a few times, and shared a first kiss. But the relationship had pretty much ruined their friendship, making close friend-ties into awkward couple-ties. And Massie had dumped him, broken his heart, and then wanted it back. She had only dumped him because she didn't want to lose her best friend because of a relationship that most likely wouldn't end up working out. She wanted to keep her best friend. But she had lost him either way.

Jess sighed at the romantic love story. She wished she had something like that to tell. But, despite being a beautiful blond who got anything and every boy she wanted, she had no romantic stories. Sure there had been crushes and couples but nothing that amazing. Something so interesting, lovely, terribly honestly real that it was scary to think existed real. There was no way of knowing. Jess' boyfriends had come and gone. Her crushes ended with a single kiss that had no fireworks. A single date where she found they had nothing in common. She had no stories of which she had fallen in love with a best friend, broken his heart, and wanted it back. Nothing that tragic ever happens to a blond. Nothing ever happens to blonds.

However, it was an incredibly sore subject for Massie. Massie groaned and immediately ordered Alicia to shut up about Derrick. She changed the subject, seeing the Block's car coming into view. 'Forgetting completely' about Derrick, Massie chatted and chatted all the way home happily. She didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that the biggest love of her life had completely ignored her on his way out of school. But Jess knew it was killing her inside. Just like it was probably killing him.

When Jess got home, there was a 'fresh' box of pastries with a fat 'Only 330 calories each!' label on the cover. She gasped and pretended to be overwhelmed by all the calories, just like Massie would have been, but her fakeness failed her. She lifted the lid carefully and dropped it onto the counter. She took the doughy pastry in her hands. The small flakes fell off of the pastry and drifted to the floor. She took a big bite, and the gooey raspberry filling oozed into her mouth. This was Jess Heaven. She took another bite. And then another. And another, and another, and another… Soon the large pastry was all gone.

Next she grabbed a handful of blueberries, sat down on her leather sofa, clicked on the TV, and tuned in to her favorite show, 'Playing With the Guys'. She was so in to it that she didn't notice her mother walk in with a box of jelly-filled doughnuts. She didn't notice her father walk in, his Bluetooth in his ear, muttering about some economic crisis and how the banks are going to have billion dollar bail-outs by the decade. And she didn't even notice Massie walk through the door, her black pug bean in her arms, and her cell-phone to her ear.

"Okay, be here in half an hour," Massie was saying. She shifted her cell-phone to the other ear and tried to get Jess' attention. Jess was still gazing at the TV. Chad Marc's girlfriend Diana Merrell had just made out with his brother and now they were having a very intense break up. Jess' eyes were glued to the screen. Massie came around the sofa and stepped out in front of Jess, blocking her view of the TV.

"Move, move, this is the best part!" Jess exclaimed. Massie's eyes widened, and, as if for the first time, Jess realized that it was Massie standing in front of her. "M-Massie, I'm sorry. It's just, this is my favorite show and it's just getting to the good part." Jess' eyes softened Massie's stony façade, and she came and sat down next to Jess, revealing the TV once again.

"What show is this?" Massie asked, lifting her eyebrows. "I've never seen it before."

"Oh, it's called Playing With the Boys, it hasn't aired with a new episode in awhile. It's such a good show. I used to watch it all the time before I moved here. It doesn't play as much anymore. I don't know why," Jess explained, her eyes never leaving the screen. Massie seemed to hate it, which bugged Jess. She commented all the way through about how stupid Chad was and how his girlfriend was a precious keep-sake who may like other guys but deserves another chance. She commented on how hot Chad's brother was and how drop-dead ugly Chad was. She said the show probably has enough money to at least get a hot British guy to play the character, instead of a cheap, ugly guy with a fake accent from Louisiana. Jess said that he was from Texas. Massie called her a stalker.

"Oh, I have to go," Massie said as soon as the episode was over. "I'm expecting guests. Or, actually, my parents are having guests and I have to be there." Massie smiled sweetly. "This was…fun. We'll have to do this again sometime. But maybe we'll watch something with some better, hotter actors," Massie said, laughing. Jess tried to smile. Massie waved and then headed out the door. Jess sighed, and then went back to watching. She couldn't miss the next episode!