We Can Work it Out

Chapter 1

It was amazing how quickly things could change.

It was only six months ago that I thought I was in love with one of my closest friends since birth.

Five months since I had my heart trounced on by the lying, cheating dirtbag.

Four months since I started The Lonely Hearts Club as its sole member.

Which means four months since everything changed.

I went from someone with a small handful of close friends to a person with nearly thirty girls who would have my back if I ever needed them (which I often did). There were some people who looked up to me because I stood up for my friends and myself. And, of course, that also meant I was openly ridiculed by other people for going against the grain.

It was all worth it.

And now it had been one month since I’d started dating Ryan. Well, technically, twenty-two days since our first date — not like I was counting or anything. (Okay, I kind of was.)

While I knew that no two relationships were ever the same, I hadn’t realized, at first, how different Ryan was from every other guy I’d dated. Although in hindsight, what I had with those guys (more like immature little boys) couldn’t really be called relationships. There were trips to the movies and pizzas eaten, but that was about it. It was more about having some- one to walk down the hallways with, someone to eat lunch with, someone to kill time with after school. Insecurity blankets. None of it ever felt real.

Being with Ryan was different. I wanted to be with Ryan because of who he was, not because he was a boyfriend. And Ryan wanted to be with me for me, not because there was a vacancy for the role of Ryan Bauer’s Girlfriend. We liked spending time with each other. It was mutual.

Well, maybe not everything was entirely mutual . . .

“Come on, Penny, it’s not a big deal.” Ryan reached out his hand impatiently. “All couples do it.”

While I didn’t have as much experience being in a relationship as Ryan, I knew I wasn’t overreacting.

Ryan was wrong.

This was a big step.

One that I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

Maybe other couples did it all the time, but I wasn’t pre- pared to make such a commitment so soon. We’d only been going out for a few weeks. I didn’t want to rush into anything.

There were certain things you couldn’t take back.

A smile slowly crept over his face, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Okay, I know how to convince you.”

He stepped a few inches away from me as if he needed lots of space for whatever he was preparing to do. He cleared his throat, gave me one more crooked grin before he started clap- ping rhythmically. Clap, clap. Clap. Clap, clap. Clap.

Then in front of the entire food court at the mall, Ryan began singing at the top of his lungs, “Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something, I think you’ll understand . . .” People began to look over to where we were standing, but Ryan was undeterred. He continued to sing even though he had proven on more than one occasion that he couldn’t carry a tune. Sure he was everything a girl could want in a guy — but he was also apparently incapable of being embarrassed.

I, on the other hand, wanted to hide behind the mall directory so no one could see my f laming-red face. I knew there was only one way to get him to stop.

“Fine!” I relented. I grabbed his hand and entwined our fingers. “Happy?”

He was grinning ear to ear. “Yes, very happy. Oh, how I love the Beatles.”