Junior Year Box Set

I was sure I could take Kylie upstairs and have my way with her. Was it fair to her, because this would probably just be a onetime thing? The teenage boy in me wanted to have sex with her, and consequences be damned. That was the problem, though: there would be consequences. Even though Brook, Halle, and Zoe weren’t my girlfriends, I liked them enough not to do someone else in front of them. I almost laughed when I realized how classy I’d become. Maybe I was a douche.

“Kylie, you know I like you,” I said, and felt her stiffen in my arms.

She knew what that meant, so I kissed her forehead. She looked sad.

“Hey, remember when I said you had to bring your potential boyfriends to me for approval before you dated them?” I asked, and she nodded. “I want you to meet someone I believe would be perfect for you. He’s a good guy, but he would need you to shape him into a good boyfriend. Will you let me set you up?”

A smile crept onto her face. I took her hand, and we began searching for my victim. I found Yuri, Phil, Ed, and Roc off in a corner, talking. The four of them instantly stopped when they saw I had a girl with me. I reached out, grabbed Ed’s arm, and pulled him and Kylie aside.

“Ed, this is Kylie. Kylie, Ed. Kylie, take him somewhere private and kiss him until he realizes you’re his girlfriend.”

Kylie seemed to check him out for the first time, and I could tell she liked what she saw. I figured she could take it from there. Kylie grabbed his hand, and Ed followed her like a happy puppy.

I guess what I’d done hadn’t gone unnoticed, because I soon had Yuri, Roc, Phil, Zoe, and Emma wanting to know what was going on. Emma was the head JV cheerleader and seemed to look out for all of them. The boys wanted me to hook them up as well. I thought about it for a moment and decided Dr. Love was in the house, and I would play Cupid.

I motioned over Carmela and Gabriella Hernandez. They were cousins and almost looked like twin Hispanic beauties. They had dated Wayne and Ray, but that hadn’t lasted when school let out for the summer. I introduced them to Brock and Bryan Callahan. My next victim was Ann Conway. She was the quietest of the JV cheerleaders and was shy because she wore braces. I introduced her to Jake. Faith Mackey was my next victim. She’d always been a serious young woman who needed someone to bring her out of her shell, so I hooked her up with Wolf.

The last JV cheerleader who wasn’t dating anyone was Piper. Her sister, Emma, dated Neil. Piper had dated Jim until he brought home an STI from our trip to Notre Dame. I reached a long arm out, snagged Roc, and pulled him and Piper aside.

“Roc, this is Piper. She’s an adorable girl who’s had some bad luck with guys. She needs someone who’ll honor her feelings. Piper, Roc is a great guy, but he’s shy and needs to be brought out of his shell. You can do that in your own time, but it’ll be good for both of you if it happens.”

I gave her a look, and she blushed when she figured out what I meant. Piper then turned to Roc, considered, and slowly held her hand out to him. Roc looked like he’d been hit squarely on the forehead with a two-by-four. He slowly took her hand, and she led him outside.

I smiled at my handiwork as the couples wandered off to get to know each other. But I now had two unhappy guys in my face. I pointed at Yuri.

“Give me a minute. I need to talk to you,” I said and then turned to Phil and pulled him away so we could have some privacy. “I can’t recommend you to any of the girls I know.”

Phil started to get pissed, but I held up my hand.

“Settle down. We both know that your comment to Jan was uncalled for. Until you show me that you can treat a girl like she’s a person, instead of a plaything, I can never recommend you.”

I guess I wasn’t surprised that he walked out of the party. He lived about eight blocks away, so I wasn’t worried about him getting home. I then found Yuri.

“I need you to do something for me, and I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it,” I said.

“Whatever you need,” he said.

I grinned because, in some ways, he would be okay with what I proposed, but in others, he might not be happy with me in the end.

“You know Jan Duke?” I asked, and he nodded. “I need you to take her on and get her straightened out. She needs to stop sleeping around and taking drugs.”

Yuri was a serious young man at times. He was also fearless. I remembered when Yuri had tried to fight me when he considered himself a tough guy. That was until I introduced him to Cassidy, who’d shown him that he wasn’t as tough as he thought. Yuri also had my back. The latest example was how he stood up for me with Pam. I could tell he would take his responsibility with Jan seriously.

“How am I supposed to get her to agree to all this?” Yuri asked.