When I was eight years old, I absolutely adored Barbie. Her life always seemed so perfect. She had a big house, a wonderful younger sister, an amazing boyfriend who loved her. Ever since I’d first set eyes on Barbie, I’d wanted her life and everything that was in it, including her amazing boyfriend. For years, I’d been looking for exactly that. I spent my middle school life pining away for guys I’d thought could be my Ken, until I soon realized that they were nothing like the perfect boy I had imagined so many times before. They were all so imperfect, while Ken was so flawless and perfect for Barbie. Due to my pickiness, I’d stayed single and miserable for my middle school life.

I met Jack Baker the third week of high-school. He was the exact opposite of the Ken-vision I’d projected in my mind for years. His black hair was spiked about an inch or so off his head. His eyes were a striking shade of green, and every time you looked into them, it felt as though he was peering straight into your soul. He dressed in mostly black band tees with bands on the front that I’d never even heard of. He was rude, incompetent, annoying, and perverted.

But one day, three weeks after high-school began, Mr. Emits assigned his seat next to mine in home ec.

“Jack Baker, you will be paired with…Julie McLoughlin…” Mr. Emits called without even a glance over his papers. I let out a small groan as I watched Jack walk to my table with a boyish grin on his face.

“Hey there, cutie,” he said as he approached his seat, “you come here often?” A small gag escaped my mouth, which only made his grin widen. He straddled the stool and sat his single notebook in front of him. The cover read: ‘Songz’.

“You write songs?” I stated indifferently, while opening my own notebook to begin writing down notes.

He glanced briefly at his notebook. “Yeah, what’s it to you?”

“Nothing,” I replied, “I write songs too…”

“Oh yeah? Are they about guys? Or maybe, doing stuff with guys?” he asked, thus causing me to gag again, “I’d listen to you describe those songs in full detail any day.” He winked at me, still grinning.

”No, as a matter of fact, they aren’t. You see, I’m not a perverted pig like yourself”, I retorted. He seemed taken aback by my comment and ability to resist his so-called “charm”.

He quickly regained his composure. “Baby, that’s the way they like me. Trust me, I can almost guarantee you’re going to fall madly in love with me by the end of next week”, he said, gazing intently at me.

“Oh yeah? What makes you think you’re so desirable in my eyes?”

He chuckled. “You mean besides the fact that you’re putting on this defense thing against me, and can’t seem to look me in the eye? Nothing at all…” He looked back at me just in time to see a look of annoyance wash across my face.

I looked him directly in his piercing, green eyes and said, “In. Your. Dreams.”

He stared into my own eyes and said, “Want to bet on it?”

You have got to be kidding me, I thought to myself, he wants to bet on whether or not I’m going to fall for him by next week? Stupid, stupid boy…

“You’ve got a deal.”

That boyish grin spread across his face again, “Alright. Ten bucks says you fall for me in a week.”

Oh god, I thought, that grin…

As I agreed, his smile got wider causing me to think, Oh dear God; this is going to be harder than I thought…