It Could Be More | ✔

11. Book Boyfriends

Our school's library was the nicest thing on campus. It was on the second floor, almost every wall a window. We had the perfect view of the bridge that connected the main buildings. School was out for the day, so no one was out there except a few teachers and security guards on bikes. Liah loved the library because it was the only real quiet time she ever got. I liked it for the books.

After Corey agreed to set me up last night, he asked me a question I was completely unprepared for: What do you want? In all the time I spent daydreaming about having a boyfriend, I never really gave any thought to what I wanted in a man aside from the basics--kind, funny, nice to look at. Corey rolled his eyes when I told him this.

So, while Liah worked on her Spanish homework, I had non-school related homework of my own. I grabbed three of my favorite young adult romances and took notes. I had many book boyfriends, but the three books I pulled from the shelves were my absolute favorites.

There was Dexter, a musician who didn't back down from a challenge and wasn't afraid to bare his soul to the girl he liked. Orion, who fell hard for the female love interest and wasn't afraid to cry. And Derek, who only had eyes for the main character and was understanding and patient with her.

I summarized what I liked most about them into bullet points, but as I stared down at the list on my phone, I realized it might not be all that helpful. How would Corey know whether someone had an ounce of romance in them? I didn't know what guys talked about, but I doubted they were as transparent as the boys in my books.

"What's that?" I jumped at Liah's voice behind me. She leaned over my shoulder, reading out loud, "A boyfriend checklist?"

My face warmed as she read off the embarrassing title. I'd been so distracted by Corey's question that it slipped my mind to tell my best friend about everything. Now that I had the opportunity, I didn't know if I wanted to. Begging my brother's best friend to find me a boyfriend wasn't something I wanted to broadcast.

At my silence, she pulled out the chair next to me. "What's with that face?"

"What face?"

Hers scrunched up like it always did when she was thinking. "It's like you smelled something bad. And Mrs. Lennon took her cabbage soup outside, so that can't be the reason."

I turned my body to her. Lying wasn't an option with Liah. Not only would she immediately call me out on it, but I'd feel sick keeping things from her. "Last night, after you dropped Corey and me off, I--"

"Kissed him?"

"What?" I jumped back like she hit me. "No, I didn't kiss him! Why would you think that?"

"Well, you're acting all nervous and writing lists. I thought you kissed him and was confused about your feelings or something," she said, hands up in defense as my glare settled on her. "And you did hit your head pretty hard last night."

"Not that hard." Besides, kissing Corey would've been like kissing Myisha. I would've been covered in her body glitter. "I asked him to set me up with someone."

She blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"He has a better insight about the boys in this school," I told her. "It made sense in my head."

"You sure it wasn't your unicorn horn talking?"

I touched the knot on my forehead. The swelling had gone down a bit. Still, I styled my curly bangs to cover it. "Shut up. He said he'd help me. I just have to tell him what I'm looking for."

"Anything with a pulse," she mumbled loud enough for me to hear. I shoved her to the side, making her laugh. "So that's what the list is?"

"Yes, but so far, it's just a bunch of adjectives." Even as a hopeless romantic, I knew that wasn't enough to go off of.