Page 9 of Anyone But Me
I watched as Jax wrote exactly what she had said next to the number six.
She covered up her words and continued to write, then held the planner up so I could see what she added.
The words were the complete opposite of what I just told her.
Right there, written beside the “do nothing” item were the words Must be completed AFTER starting job.
I shook my head. “I told you I couldn’t do that once I started working.”
Jax sneered as she handed the planner back to me. “I know. And that’s exactly why you need to do it then. This is all about branching out and doing things that make you a little uncomfortable. You need to trust me when I tell you that taking a break will not kill you.”
I threw a hand over my forehead. “It might,” I said, adding as much dramatic flair as possible to really get my point across.
“You just gave me an idea for another adventure. I’m going to assume you’ve never bought something on a whim, right?”
“If you mean grabbing a candy bar or a bag of chips while I’m waiting to check out, I’ve totally done that.”
Jax chuckled and shook her head. “Not exactly. I’m thinking something bigger than a candy bar that costs a few bucks and only lasts a few minutes.”
“Then, no.” Before I made a big purchase, I always had to write out a pros and cons list, plus look over my budget to see if it even makes sense.
“Another one for the list,” Jax said proudly.
I knew there was no point in fighting her, so I added buy something on a whim to the list. “What if I buy something then realize I didn’t actually have the money for it?”
Jax shrugged. “All part of the fun.”
I shook my head. “This list is giving my anxiety, anxiety.” But I had to admit, there was also a feeling other than anxiety bubbling in my stomach. I think I was actually feeling excited about this.
“What do you want to put on the list? I shouldn’t be the only one to decide when it’s your list. What’s something you always wanted to do?”
Write a book. It popped into my head immediately.
Since the time I was little, I dreamed of writing my own book.
One of my most vivid memories from when I was younger was at our eighth birthday party when Ronan told me I should write a book someday and have my mom illustrate it.
I got just as excited thinking about that now as I had back then.
Writing a book didn’t really fit in with the rest of this list though.
“Maybe run a 5k.” The words were out before I could stop them, and I had no idea why I said that. It just seemed like a logical thing to put on a bucket list. “That might be a bad idea though. I don’t have an athletic bone in my body.”
Jax didn’t even try to hide the way she ran her eyes up and down my body. She subtly licked her lips when her eyes met mine. “I find that hard to believe.”
I looked down at the couch because I couldn’t handle staring into Jax’s eyes when she flirted with me like that.
“It’s true. The most athletic thing I’ve ever done is play a season of soccer in middle school.
I only joined the team because Olivia convinced me to, and then she quit like a week later. ”
“And you stuck it out?” Jax asked with a laugh.
She laughed even harder when I nodded in response.
“That doesn’t surprise me about either one of you.
I think a 5k is a cool idea though. We could find a fun one to do like a color run where you spend the next week getting the colors out of your hair. ”
“Do we have to train for it?” I cringed at the thought of waking up before work and going on jogs through New York City to prepare for something I was inevitably going to suck at anyway.
Jax scoffed. “Part of the fun is going into it completely unprepared.”
Thank god. This was one time I was happy to jump into something without any practice. “Okay. That works.”
“New woman already,” Jax teased as I added Run a 5k to the list.
“Or I’m just very serious about not running more than I need to,” I shot back at her.
Jax stared down at the list. “Two more. Anything else that you want to add?”
Write a book. Write a book. I couldn’t shake the idea from my head, so I decided to just say it. “I’m not really sure if this one counts, because most people probably wouldn’t consider it exciting.”
Jax lifted an eyebrow. “Try me.”
“I want to write a book. I know it’s kind of nerdy and probably not the coolest thing in the world, but…”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jax interrupted loudly before I could finish. “How is writing a book not exciting? I think that’s the coolest thing ever. I wish I could do it, but god knows I could never get myself to sit long enough to do that. We are definitely adding it to the list.”
Her words made me melt inside. I never really knew how someone would react if I brought up writing a book now that I was an adult.
I figured they would act like it was just a pipe dream, but Jax made me feel the opposite of that.
She made me feel like I could really do it.
My hand shook as I wrote the words, but not because I was nervous.
I was really excited. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this excited over something.
“Just one more and the list is complete,” Jax said with that signature grin of hers. “And I know just the thing if you’re going to someday be a best-selling writer.”
I held my hand in the air. “No one said anything about a best seller. For now, I’ll just be happy to get words written down.”
Jax waved her hand. “Whatever. Details. Anyway, I think the last thing on your list should be performing in public.”
“Performing in public?” Just saying the words out loud had me blushing in embarrassment. “What kind of performance are you talking about?”
Jax shrugged. “Anything. Karaoke, dancing, an open mic.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe a book reading.”
“I would need to write words before I could read them, but fine. If you get enough drinks in me, maybe you’ll get me to do karaoke at some point.”
Jax bounced up and down where she was sitting on the couch. “Just the thought of that has me excited.”
Jax’s excitement and bubbly energy was contagious, and I found myself feeling uncharacteristically excited as well.
Not necessarily about singing karaoke in front of a bunch of people, but about completing this list. Something about knowing that Jax was willing to be by my side for this made it even more exciting, which was weird since it wasn’t like we were super close.
Thinking about Jax’s involvement in this made a question pop into my head. “Why are you doing this for me? You don’t even know me that well.”
Jax shrugged. I expected her answer to be something about doing this because of her relationship with my sister, but what she said surprised me. “Maybe I want to get to know you better, and this list seems like the perfect way to do that.”
“Is there anything I can do for you in return? Any big changes you want to make in your life?” I asked with a laugh.
Jax’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open slightly. “You know what? There actually is. You know a lot about dating, right?”
I laughed again. “I wouldn’t exactly say a lot . I’ve dated one person my entire life.”
“That’s still one more person than I’ve seriously dated, plus you two were together forever, right?”
There was a stab of pain to my heart from that reminder. “Most of high school and all of college.”
“That’s definitely forever when you’re that young. Plus , you read romance books, so you probably have a ton of extra insight just from that.”
“And what does my knowledge of dating have to do with you?” I honestly had no idea where she was going with this.
Jax sighed, and for the first time, she actually looked defeated. “I’m twenty-eight, and I’ve never had a serious girlfriend. Olivia was my one ally in the non-dating world, but even she’s betrothed now.”
Betrothed technically meant engaged, but I had enough social grace to realize not to point that out when Jax was opening up to me. “So, is that what you want? A serious girlfriend?”
Jax nodded a bunch of times and with each nod, her face lit up even more. “What if I have a list of ten things to accomplish to prepare myself for the serious dating world that I can do while you accomplish your ten?”
“Okay.” There was no way I was going to say no with how excited Jax looked at that moment. “How can I help?”
“What are some important things to do when dating someone to show them you're serious and keep them around long term?”
She really shouldn’t be asking me how to keep someone around when the girl I planned to spend my whole life with dumped me for being too boring and pretty much told me she regretted the years she spent with me.
I wasn’t going to tell her that though. Jax wanted my help, and I was going to give it to her.
At least, to the best of my ability. “I mean, before any of that, you need to figure out who it is you want to date. You’ll make fun of me for saying this, but I think you should make a list of qualities that are important to you in a significant other. ”
Jax jumped off of the couch and ran across the room, opening a drawer in the kitchen area that was filled with junk.
She pulled out a piece of paper that appeared to have a grocery list on it, grabbed a plate from the cupboard, then sat down on the couch, turned the paper over onto the blank side, and sat it on the plate. She then wrote: 1. List of qualities.
Once she was done writing, she looked up at me with wide eyes. “That was a good one. What else?”
I thought it through before speaking again. “You need to meet someone in a way that tells them you’re not just looking for a hookup, like hanging out somewhere that’s not a bar or making a dating profile that specifically states you want something long term.”
Jax nodded and quickly added Hang out places where you can meet someone ( NOT A BAR) and Make a dating profile for ACTUAL dating to her list.