The next day at school, I took the plunge and talked to Bryson. What's the worst that could happen? I saw him standing at his locker and took a deep breath. All I had to do was walk up to him and say hi. It was no big deal.

I ambled towards him. My heart was beating so fast, and my palms were sweaty. I reached him. "Hi, Bryson."

He looked up. "Do I know you?"

"My name is Maggie or the girl at the diner who ordered a Coke and turkey sandwich," I said, trying to jog his memory.

"Oh, yeah! You ordered a coffee then switched it to a Coke. I remember now. How you've been?"

"I'm good." I smiled. Well, so far, so good.

"So, I was thinking Homecoming was coming up and...." 

A girl walked up to Bryson. "Hey, babe." She kissed him.

"Hey, baby." He turned and looked at me. "What were you saying about homecoming?"

"Um, that homecoming is coming up, and if you were going. But you are, with her." I pointed to the girl.

"Well, she is my girlfriend. You ready?"

"Yep." 

They walked away. 

I heard her ask, "Who was that?"

"Beats me," he said. 

My heart sank. Can you say crash and burn? I had pined for this guy for four years, and he didn't even know who I was except for my order. Great, now I had to figure out what to do about Homecoming. I couldn't tell the brothers that Bryson had a girlfriend, and I didn't even have time to ask him. I would never hear the end of it.

It's time to plan. It would take some finesse. The last thing I needed was the brothers finding out.

Later that evening, I was up in my room, working on my homework.

"So, how did it go?" 

I looked up from my homework to see Nash leaning against the doorframe. "It went great! He said, yes!" I faked a smile.

"That's great. I hope you have a good time with him."

"Yeah, I need to finish my homework." 

Nash got the hint and left. Now to keep up the ruse. It would take a lot of work.

Over the next few weeks, I played it off about Bryson. I always made an excuse about having to meet him. At school, I acted like the guys had missed him. I couldn't let them know. They would never let me live it down. There was no way I would let them know I had crashed and burned.

While I thought I had things figured out, the brothers had other ideas.

"I say we have a little chat with the tool," Nixon said.

"Yeah, but if Maggie finds out, it'll piss her off," Noah said.

"Who cares? We're looking out for her, right?" Nathan asked them.

"Right," they all said.

"Um, guys."

"Not now, Nolan," Nixon snapped.

"But guys, I think you should see this." He pointed at someone. They all turned to see Bryson with a girl.

"What the hell?" Noah asked.

"Oh, hell, no." Nixon marched over to Bryson with the others behind him. "Yo, ass-munch! What do you think you're doing?"

Bryson turned to them. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Why are you messing around on Maggie?"

"Who's Maggie?" 

"The girl that you're talking to and taking to homecoming," Nathan said.

"What are you talking about? The only girl I'm talking to is my girlfriend." He gestured to the girl with him.

"What?" They asked.

"Yeah, my girlfriend, who I'm also taking to Homecoming. I don't know any, Maggie." He looked at them like they had lost their minds.

"You know, our bad. Forget what we said," Noah said.

"Gladly." He rolled his eyes and turned back to his girlfriend. 

They walked away.

"Why would she lie to us?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know, but none of this makes sense," Nixon said.

"Perhaps, she felt embarrassed? He was her crush," Noah said.

"Whatever. He's a tool," Nixon huffed.

"So, does this mean we don't have to wear a dress?" Nolan asked.

"That's what it means, little brother," Nixon said. "Now I got something in mind for our precious Maggie." He smirked and rubbed his hands together.

"This ought to be good," Nathan said.

"This is what we will do." 

Nixon whispered what he had planned to his brothers.

I was at my locker when I heard someone yell, "Attention, everyone! Maggie Holloway has been deceiving all of us!" 

I turned to see the boys standing in the middle of the hallway. What did those idiots have planned?

"Maggie has a crush on Bryson Tilson," Nathan roared. Oh, no. My eyes widened as I saw Bryson walk up with his girlfriend. "So, we thought everyone should know how much she likes him!" I watched as he pulled out my journal. Oh, God. "Oh, Bryson is so dreamy! I think he's so special! Hopefully, he asks me to Homecoming!"

I saw everyone staring at me, including Bryson, who looked uncomfortable. I glared at them. At that moment, I hated them. I shut my locker and walked away, humiliated.

"Don't go away mad!" Nixon said.

I was so done. Not only did the Gray brothers humiliate me, but they read my thoughts to everyone, including Bryson. I walked to their house. As soon as I hit the door, I ran past Nash, up to my room, and slammed the door shut. I wasn't staying here any longer. They were nothing but a bunch of jerks. They were demon spawns, and I refused to stay there any longer.

As I packed, the boys came in laughing. 

Nash met them at the door. "What happened?"

"Oh, it's a little payback for Maggie lying to us and trying to get us to wear a dress." Nathan snickered.

"What did you guys do?"

Nathan pulled out my journal and tossed it to Nash. "It was brilliant. Nixon came up with the idea."

He caught it and looked at them. "You took Maggie's journal?"

"Nash, you should have seen her face. It was priceless," Nolan said.

Then they stopped and heard me come down the stairs. Their smiles faded. 

"Mags, where are you going?"

I stopped and shot them a look. "Ask you're ever-loving brothers. They were the ones that read my journal in front of everyone at school, including Bryson," I snapped. "I'm glad you all find this funny. Was it great? Did you enjoy humiliating me in front of everyone? I might have lied, but I would have never done what you did. I hate all of you!" With that, I left.

Nash tapped his hand with the journal. "So, you thought humiliating her was the best choice?"

"Come on, Nash," Nixon whined.

"Grow up. It's one thing to mess with someone, but what you did was ridiculous." He held up the journal and tossed it at them as he walked past them and out the door.

"Maggie!" He caught up to me.

I turned around. "What?"

"They're idiots. Please don't leave." 

"Nash, I can't go back to school. Not after what they did." Tears fell down my cheeks.

"I can help you with that." He gave me a look. 

I looked at him. 

"Come back inside, and I'll fill you in." He reached out his hand. 

I handed him my bag, and he threw an arm around my shoulder as we walked back inside.

A few minutes later, Nash and I were up in my room.

Nash took a seat on my bed next to me. "So, why did you lie?" 

"I guess I was afraid of what you guys would do."

"Well, no offense, but if a guy can't remember a girl likes you, then he's a tool."

"That's what your brothers call him."

He chuckled. "Sounds about right."

"It was humiliating. I was about to ask about Homecoming and had to figure out how to get myself out of it." I blew air past my lips.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about Bryson Tilson. He doesn't know what he's missing."

"I guess," I shrugged.

"One day, you'll meet that one guy and realize why it never worked out with anyone else. Give it time." 

"I suppose."

"Now, let me fill you in on what I have planned for the four yahoos." 

That's when he told me what he would do. I had to admit it was the genius, and they so deserve it. I couldn't wait.