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Aiden:Sorry for taking so long to pick a second.

Aiden:Most of my “friends” don’t get the tropes thing and gave me shit for reading romance.

Charles:I was the only one whose ass Aiden didn’t kick.

Charles:I’ve watched enough rom-coms to get what’s going on. Nice to meet you both.

Jeannette:You guys are SO going down! We’re gonna wipe the floor with you!!!!

Jeannette:Oh and nice to meet you too!!!

“I’m sending over our trope list now,” Jeannette says, her fingers flying over her phone screen in fierce determination. “I’ve added the verbiage regarding the one ‘freebie’ trope that you each can fill in at a later date, depending on circumstances. Before I hit send, you still good with this list?”

We made the list partially based on which tropes would be the easiest to find matches for but added a few more difficult ones that might have a better payoff in the satisfaction/success score. I was least certain about the grumpy/sunshine. But when Jeannette explained that I’m the grumpy in this scenario, I realized it might be the one we check off the quickest.

My roommate-bestie is a genius.

“It all looks good to me. Send away.”

Jeannette jams her pointer finger at her screen and pumps her fist in the air. “Yes. We’re so gonna win this thing.”

“Jeannette?”

“Yeah?”

I try to hold back the wetness that seems to be fighting its way up and out my tear ducts. I’ve never had anyone be this invested in and supportive of my life. Other than my parents. But with Jeannette, I can be myself and it seems I can stilltrust that she’ll like me. That she’ll accept me. That she’ll support my choices. She’s proven this to be true already.

I don’t have to try to impress her or worry about disappointing her.

“Oh, honey, don’t cry,” she says as her own eyes start leaking.

I walk over to her bed, sit down next to her, and lay my head on her shoulder. “I’m so lucky. You’re the best friend in the world.”

“Irene, this is seriously the most fun I’ve had in my whole life. My brothers never ask me for help with anything.”

I squeeze her hand. “Well, I promise when this is all said and done, it’s your turn. We’ll do whatever harebrained bananas plan you want for yourself, okay? I’ll be your second any day.”

“Deal. Now, I know how much you hate feelings and intimacy, so let’s just do a quick awkward hug and then go and nourish ourselves for the battle ahead.” Jeannette loves feelings and intimacy, so this is just for me. And I love her for it.

We embrace each other as we usually do, meaning she wraps her arms around me and I stiffly pat her back three times. And then we head over to the cafeteria. Today’s lunch is sloppy joes, and I am not missing that.

The Trope Challenge shifts into high speed over the course of the next few weeks. With the cooler October weather and the promise of the holidays ahead, it seems everyone isinterested in hooking up these days. The options are limitless.

Aiden is still keen to create content around our competition by announcing our dating challenge to our followers online and keeping them posted as we go along.

“A joint live Q&A. It’ll be gold. Everyone will eat this up,” he says, trying to convince me.

“I’m just not that interested in sharing this personal stuff with complete strangers.” What I don’t say is that I don’t want to make a fool of myself.

“I don’t know, I’m with Aiden on this one,” Jeannette admits. “I’d love to see this online. And you two are a riot when you’re together. Your numbers will skyrocket.”

I let out a deep breath of defeat. “Let me think about it. We’ll see how it goes,” I cave. Everyone knows I’ll end up saying yes. I always do.

The next day, I see Aiden walking across campus with a pretty brunette who seems dazzled by being in his presence. Girls make it so easy for guys, I swear.

My phone buzzes a few hours later with a new message.

Aiden:Mistaken identity—check. She thought I was her lab partner from behind. Decent lunch date. Charles says six points and Jeannette concurs. Oh and the Thai place over on Jefferson Street is really good. We gotta all go back there sometime.