A/N

So did Sam break up with David? Don't look at me! Read on!

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is Meg Cabot's…the character Bryan and the plot of the story is mine.

XOXO

"Your answer was… It was…" I stammered. I was nervously looking to my left and right as if some object in my room would give me quick advice about what to do with my love life. Then my eyes involuntarily landed on the White-out helmet David had given me, resting by my bedside lamp. I was once again reminded of David's love for me.

"Sam? Are you still there?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, bad connection. My phone isn't receiving your signal very well," I lied. "Your answer was correct," I quickly added, through gritted teeth.

"A point goes to David for that correct answer!" He said cheerfully. He couldn't see me at the other side of the conversation hitting myself over the head with a contorted expression.

"Um David, I have to go now. My parents are calling me to dinner." Another lie… well, it's not like I haven't lied to David a hundred times already, telling him I love him and such.

"Oh okay. I'll call you later and we can meet up to make the trivia cards."

"Sure, can't wait." That was like, what, the third lie I told in this conversation? "Bye, David."

"Bye Sam, I love you."

"I... love you too," I stammered.

As he hung up with a click, my ability of self-control shut off with a click as well. I collapsed onto my bed and started pounding my sheets in frustration.

"Why can't I just break up with him and get it over with?" I hollered at myself. Then, I banged my head into the pillow repeatedly, muttering with each muffled thump, "Why… thump… can't… thump… I… thump… just… thump… let… thump… him… thump… go?"

"Let who go?" a voice interrupted my moment of self-thumping chaos. It was Rebecca. She was standing at my desk, staring at me with raised eyebrows.

My fleeting rush of frustration vanished as it was replaced by fatigue and a throbbing headache. I looked up from my pillow dejectedly and sighed, "Nobody. Who told you to come in my room anyway?"

"I need some glue for my Cytochrome c protein model. I am trying to convince mom and dad that the similarity of this protein between humans and rhesus monkeys clearly shows that we evolved from the same ancestor," Rebecca said matter-of-factly.

"I don't have any glue. Now go be Einstein elsewhere, you little maniac." I weakly waved my hand towards the door as to shoo her away.

She didn't seem to particularly mind that I was being rude, but as she was walking out, she stopped at the doorway and said sarcastically, "Funny how as 'maniac' of the family, I'm not the one thumping my head on a pillow whilebabbling incoherently." Then she left to ask Lucy for glue.

"Very funny," I mumbled.

Then after lying on my bed like a log for ten minutes, I weakly stood up and stumbled towards the kitchen cabinet. I needed an aspirin.

XOXO

"Hello, Sam." Susan greeted me warmly. "You're a bit early today. Go ahead and start setting up."

As Susan went off to fetch some other still-life object we would draw today, I ambled towards my stool and easel… to find that Bryan was already there.

"Hi Sam," he said with a warm smile. Once again, I was impressed with his pearly whites. His messy brown hair seemed a tiny bit neater than last time.

"Hi, Bryan. Did you get a haircut?"

His hand automatically went up to touch his hair. "Oh yeah, I got it trimmed over the weekend. Only a little though. I'm surprised you even noticed. I guess good artists notice stuff like that."

I unexpectedly blushed at his compliment.

"So how was your week?" Bryan asked politely.

Terrible. I spent the whole week with a headache trying to think of what to do with David, who loves me so much, but I don't love him back anymore. And that is really strange, because I used to be infatuated with him and there was a whole lot of whatchamacallit… oh yeah, frisson. But now, the frisson is gone, and I don't know why, and I want to set David free from a girl who doesn't deserve him, but I don't want to hurt his feelings and… Of course I couldn't tell that to Bryan.

"Fine, thanks for asking," was my short, simple, and false answer.

Just then, David entered the studio and smiled brightly when he saw me… but not before shooting a look at Bryan, who slightly cringed.

I pretended not to have noticed David's brief show of hostility towards Bryan, and said "Hey David, how are those trivia questions coming along?"

"Pretty well, I'm planning to ask everybody this same question: True or false, David and Sam love each other very much."

I must have looked mortified, because David laughed and said, "Just kidding, you know I would never embarrass you like that."

I smiled and turned to my left to get my sketchbook. I suddenly noticed that Bryan was staring at David with a dark look on his face. When he saw me looking at him, he gave a quick smile and turned to his easel. I blinked and frowned. Though it was very brief, I was certain Bryan had been staring at David with a look of hatred, not fondness.

The idea was dismissed as quickly as it had entered my mind as more people began to come in. Soon, I was preoccupied with David telling me about his trivia questions and the possibility of making the party a costume party. However, the memory of Bryan's dark stare at David was hadn't completely vanished. Though it had been dismissed, the memory was nevertheless still lurking in the corner of my brain… and who knew when it would pop up to bother me again?