Free Solving for Ex by LeighAnn Kopans

paper. Stuffed my clothes in the toilet during gym. Harassed me online. Made a website. Hijacked a billboard.”
    “Are you kidding me?” Vincent stood up again. I could barely see him through all the tears pooling in front of my eyes. The lump in my throat blocked any words from coming out, so I just looked him in the eyes and nodded. I think that was the first time he realized I was crying. It must have been, because he stepped forward and wrapped me in his arms.
    Even though they were warm, and he smelled so, so good, I stiffened. “It’s…it’s okay,” I said, standing up and hastily wiping my eyes with my shirt sleeve. “It’s just that…I don’t know. I already don’t have a lot of friends here, you know? And I have a lot going for me here, academically. Mathletes, and a few friends at least. And really nowhere else to go if I screw this up. So…I appreciate you saving me in there. Really. I do.”
    “What,” he said, “you didn’t mean to get me that geeky math shirt?”
    The smile on his face betrayed him. He knew that I’d really wanted to ask Brendan.
    “Look,” he continued. “I know it wasn’t meant for me. But I think you’re great. Okay? And I don’t want you to miss out on the fun. And I really don’t want to miss out on a night with you.” He reached down and picked up my hand.
    I smiled, and sniffled. I should have felt completely embarrassed, but for some reason, I didn’t. Why was I spilling everything to this total stranger? Was it those eyes? That dimple? The way he smiled at me?
    Whatever it was, I was in trouble.
    “So I promise you,” he said, “that for the next two weeks, until Sadie Hawkins, I won’t so much as look at another girl, if that’s what worries you. No sitting next to them at lunch, no driving them home, and absolutely no carrying their books.” He looked at my bag, still slung over his shoulder. “Do you think that’ll avert the vitriol?”
    I sniffed again. Vincent reached out one finger and touched my chin, lifting it up so that I looked at him, then dropping his hand. I nodded gratefully. “Yeah.” I said. “Yes. That’s…you don’t have to. But thank you. I mean…it’s just a few weeks, and then you can…”
    “Hey. Hey. If there’s one thing you should know about me, Ashley Price, it’s that I don’t believe in playing by the rules. Besides, do you think I’d offer if I didn’t care about you? Or if I really wanted to date anyone else?”
    Oh, God. Did this mean we were dating now? “You mean, go on a date,” I said, immediately biting my tongue.
    He shrugged, and smiled again. “Sure. Whatever. Go on a date. Or another one after it. Or a lot of them.” Then he turned and walked to his car.
    I didn’t know what to say. “Thank you,” felt weird, and “see ya” felt too casual. So all I managed to choke out before he disappeared behind the flashing windows was, “Uh…”
    And he just smiled back at me, not seeming to mind at all.

‘never’ is a black word
    Somehow, I arrived home without ever remembering driving along the roads or stopping at the lights.
    There were two things my brain was having serious amounts of trouble computing. First, that the drop-dead gorgeous new girl was literally all over Brendan. There were two options; either someone else had finally realized how amazing Brendan was and gone for it, or there was something else going on.
    Second, that her equally drop-dead gorgeous brother was trying so hard just to go out with me, once, two weeks from now.
    The whole drive home, the conversation with Vincent repeated itself in my mind. He had saved my ass in there. And he looked at me, in my eyes and not down my shirt, like no other guy besides Brendan had ever done. He was decent. He was very cute. And it was only a little weird that he wanted to go out with me. Maybe he didn’t even like sitting at the popular kids’ lunch table. Maybe he liked someone a little quieter. Someone like me.
    The only