Eight.

I was pretty sure that Elle would not get into any sort of trouble from the little 'disagreement' we've had earlier with who I now called internally 'Thomas the douchebag'. As I had told Elle before, Pritchett probably just wanted to confirm everyone's stories. I didn't see neither Elle nor Lee until lunch so the confirmation that she had indeed gotten off lightly needed to wait until I saw either of them. Come lunch break I was surrounded by a few cheerleaders who had heard of my heroic rescue ( they called it heroic, I didn't! ) and who naturally wanted to know how much of it was true, so they chatted me up. I didn't mind their chit chat and I answered truthfully.

Yes, Adam had indeed asked Elle for a repeat performance of her drunken stripping attempt.

Yes, I did think that was totally inappropriate.

No, I didn't think Thomas should have said something, too.

No, I didn't have a girlfriend.

Yes, I was sure of it.

No, I didn't want one. (Hm. Hmmmmm.)

Yes, I was sure of it.

No, I didn't have someone to bring to the carnival.

No, I genuinely didn't mind going alone.

Yes, I would be attending.

Yes, I had heard of the different ideas for the booths.

No, I had no intention to join any of them.

Yes, I was sure of that, too.

I was pretty sure I wasn't actually the best source for gossip and judging by the fact that the girls left one by one, that was the case. They must have decided to embark in a journey towards greener pastures aka. better sources of gossip. I inwardly hoped they would spare Elle but I knew damn well they would want all the hot info from the source, the leading eye-witness. I peeked into the mess hall and saw how a few girls, juniors and seniors alike, simultaneously sat down next to Elle who looked shell-shocked. I knew she wasn't unpopular, quite the contrary, but she tried to stay out of trouble as best as she could and that didn't mean any stories worth being shared by others or worse ... the entire school. I really could not do anything to help her out here, though. It would raise suspicion and I genuinely needed a little time to myself after this morning. After all, I had to tell my parents I had gotten into another fight. They would not be pleased with me, this much was crystal clear.

As I was quietly retreating from the mess hall entrance I saw my brother Lee emerging from the bathroom.

'Hey Lee,' I said and he turned back around, facing me.

'Hey,' he hummed, clearly not in the mood for many words.

'Pritchett left her be?' I asked, genuinely concerned.

'Yeah,' Lee responded, 't'was nothing. Just wanted to know what her side of the story was, that's all.'

I sighed in relief. No need to get the ever so kingly and righteous Elle into any sort of trouble ... despite the fact that she had been the one who'd decided to land the first punch ... after all, I had to worry about football practice later. It had happened before that the coach had sidelined me for getting into a fight but we had a big game coming up that I really didn't want to miss. Watching your team mates from the sideline, sitting on that goddamn bench made things way worse for me, actually.

'Well, that's good to hear.'

'Yeah...' Lee trailed off, watching me intently.

'What?' I snapped.

'Nothing, I am just really curious ... what brought your sudden heroism up,' Lee chuckled and punched me on the arm, lightly.

'What can I say, I just love to be a hero,' I diverted but smiled, 'what are you up to anyway, no lunch?'

'Ah, no, I just peeked in there and it looks like Elle is surrounded by a gaggle of females that is very interested in her non-existent love-life and whatever the hell happened on that parking lot earlier tis morning and I really didn't need to sit next to THAT...' Lee explained and I chuckled. I had interpreted the scene in the messhall correctly then.

'Whats on the agenda instead?' I asked, still curious.

'Woodwork. We have to get going on the booth ...' Lee said.

'Ahhhhhh, the Kissing Booth-thingy-majiggy!' I grinned and he returned my smile.

'No ducks...'

'No ducks!'

'Are you sure you don't at least want to come by the booth eventually?' Lee asked and I was sure he already knew what the answer was going to be.

'I can't imagine something more abhorrent and cringeworthy.'

'So that's a no?'

'Lee!'

'Sorry!'

Things started to irritate me the next day. The talking had not yet stopped though it had slowed down significantly but that was not what jangled my nerves. I seemed to have lost my effect on a lot of the males in this school in terms of being douchebags and sleazebags around Elle and it drove me insane. It was true that I had been very protective of Elle in the past few years and this had only intensified when she ... well when she got more adorable. Ever since her slightly more ... outgoing presentation at the party recently, it seemed like those guys did not know and boundaries. They became more straight-forward and bolder and even though there were no wolf-whistles or inappropriate remarks made whenever I was around, I knew they were emboldened by recent events and a trusty Elle who would never assume anything else than decency from basically anyone would be utterly screwed if I didn't continue to intervene. At least this is what I kept telling myself.

I knew their sudden empowerment would inevitably lead to more situations like yesterday's and I didn't know how I felt about that. Quite frankly, I didn't know how I would feel if indeed any of the guys asked Elle out or even worse they asked her out and she would actually say yes.

It was not that I wanted her to have a disadvantage or her not to have joy in her life, I wasn't sabotaging her out of spite or anything. I just didn't want her to get hurt, that's all.

Really, who was I kidding with that?

Somehow she had turned from my brother's bestie into someone I cared for more than I should. I had always been her big brother, too, it felt like it when we were growing up and it still did but lately she was just driving me insane. She was witty, she wasn't scared of me, she was who she was whenever I was around and that was normal and comforting. Plus, she was really really cute. That she had always been but since she was my brother's best friend and basically my sister, it had never really occurred to me to see her as a girl.

That's so shallow, isn't it?

There was also the weirdness of it, me dating my brother's best friend. Things could get awkward so quickly in that constellation in case we broke up or had a fight or Lee and Elle got into a fight ... I tried to tell myself that the logical thing to do was to not even consider Elle to be ... what exactly, my girlfriend? I didn't have girlfriends, I had flings, I had makeout companions, I had stolen kisses under the bleachers, I didn't have girlfriends. I didn't even know how to have one. Not that there weren't any applicants...

Wait, girlfriend?

Elle was not my girlfriend. But it sure felt like I wanted her to be. I was lost. When did she made me think of her that way and how did she do it? What felt even more overwhelming was what my brother Lee would say if he knew. I kind of suspected him to have an idea by now, at least assuming that I liked her a little more than a little sister or a friend. Recently he had started shooting me little glances over dinner and I pretended like I hadn't seen them. I had, though. Every weekend we had lunch with Elle, her litlle brother and her father and those two hours were the hardest of my weekends. I kept pretending that nothing had changed whatsoever while it had and it was a lot of work keeping it together for the sake of it. It didn't help much to have Lee shooting me little looks and Elle being confused by it. In case her father caught up to what was going on, I was probably going to end up trapped in a very uncomfortable conversation that included his absolute and inevitable dissent and disapproval. Mr. Evans had the potential to scare basically anyone, even myself. In some sense we were equally protective of his daughter and would not risk her to get hurt; I just doubted he would believe my intentions given what my reputation was.

I still didn't fathom to think of Elle as my girlfriend. Would she even consider the idea of was that just too far-fetched? I could not help but wonder if she'd seen how longingly I had looked into her eyes ... clearly, she must have realized I was thinking about kissing her right there and then. Right? Right?

My mood got way worse just as I was about to head off home after school that Tuesday when I overheard two guys in the hallway who were ... who would have guessed ... talk about Elle. Only it wasn't so much her drunk escapades that they were discussing but the fact that she had indeed agreed to go on a date with Cody.

'Yeah, pretty sure all that's left of Cody is gonna be a pile of dust once Noah is done with him,' one of the guys said, emptying out his locker. The other one laughed in confirmation.

'He's got a lot of guts to ask her, though, she is very pretty,' the second one said. I clenched my fists but I had to agree. She was pretty, she was one of a kind and she should not ...

'Yeah, I would have asked her way sooner but I am damn scared of Flynn,' the first one said and I clenched my fists but grinned. They knew me so well, they knew I wasn't someone to displease. At all. I tucked myself further down into the corner and waited for more information. I knew recent events would make them bolder, I had waited for it happen but I genuinely hadn't anticipated for it to happen that soon.

'Ha, me too,' the second one laughed.

'I am surprised she said yes, though,' the first one pondered.

'Yeah, me too, I thought she had a thing for Flynn, too. And now that he's all openly protective and shit, I thought he'd finally realized he's into her,' the second one said and I winced at the remark. I had, thank you very much.

'Well, he should have asked her out, then,' the first one said matter-of-factly and I winced again. If only it were this easy.

I came home to an empty house a little while later and found a note from my mom that read: 'Told Lee to get groceries after school. Can I get you to find all your dirty socks and put them into the laundry basked?'

Yeah, as if I didn't have enough dirty laundry washed in public recently ... this totally fit the past weeks. A weak smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I vowed to comply with the request my mother had made on a pink post-it note. I found a second post-it note for Lee that said 'please also get milk.' I poured myself a glass of water and placed it on the counter.

Soon after I heard the door open and called: 'Mom said you need to get some more milk, we're all out!'

I heard a voice respond that I didn't anticipate and I winced and then my heart did a sommersault. Elle.

'He's already gone,' Elle called back, 'It's me.'

I grabbed the glass of water and went toward the hallway and ... THUD. When they say think of the glass half empty of half full ... pretty sure it had nothing to do with splashing it onto someone, especially not the girl you like. Shit.

She gaped and jumped back a mile. Well, of course she would, it was ice cold water. Shit. Shit. Shit!

'Noah!' she yelled and plucked at her top. It was plastered to her skin, outlining her curves like a second skin. She was wearing a pink bra today, I noticed, and I fought down a grin and .. something else. I am pretty sure she'd be able to tell what I was thinking, it was hard to hide my attraction. I gulped down my emotions, trying to steady my breathing before I had to speak again and my jaw clenched. My brows furrowed in concentration as I carefully evaluated my next steps. Keep it together, Noah!

'What? What's that look for?' she asked and I could tell that she was not happy with me whatsoever. She barged past me into the kitchen.

'Hey, what's that on your arm?' I asked her. No answer. She was starting to make my blood boil for different reasons now. 'Is it true you got a date with some kid?'

She gulped down the entire glass of water and slammed the glass onto the kitchen counter.

'Jeez, Noah! What does it matter? I already heard from Lee I'm too nice - you don't need to be on my case, too!'

'You didn't answer my question,' I stated, because ... well ... she hadn't.

'You didn't answer mine, either!'

'I asked first, Rochelle!' She was ... so goddamn annoying. So goddamn cute. So goddamn going on a date with someone else. She turned around to face me. 'Yeah, I have a date with Cody. He's a nice guy.'

I scowled, 'A nice guy? Elle, are you serious? Do you even know the guy? I mean, really know him?'