Chapter 1

Sammy twisted in front of the full-length mirror, inspecting her appearance. Snatching her phone off the bathroom sink, she pulled up the Green Eyes app. She and Collin had created the name for the app from two phrases, 'green with envy' and 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'. The irony was Sammy had green eyes.

When she found Kyle Hutchinson's profile, she scanned his given information and studied the picture of his ex-friend. She glanced back at her reflection. Slipping out of her Converses shoes, she traded them for a pair of canvas Keds. There, that was what the outfit needed. Still sporty but falling towards girlish.

As Sammy started to run a brush through her blonde hair, Collin appeared in the bathroom doorway. He looked pale and his eyes still held a listless quality to them. Sammy gripped the handle of the brush, wishing it was Stephanie Miller's neck. The only thing Sammy liked about the girl was the fact that she was no longer in Collin's life.

"Have you eaten anything at all today?" Sammy asked, tying her hair into a high ponytail.

"Yes."

Sammy raised her eyebrows, skeptical. "Besides a pop tart?"

"I'm pretty sure mom's spidey senses would have picked up on the fact that sugar existed in the house and sniffed it out."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes, I've eaten."

Sammy didn't believe him but decided to leave it at that. She'd pick them up something to eat on her way home. If she sat right in front of him then there was no way he could avoid eating.

"What number is this?" Collin asked.

"Eight in the last two weeks," Sammy said, beaming.

Sweeping up her discarded Converses, Sammy almost skipped across the hall and tossed her shoes towards her closet.

"I'm not going to lie," Sammy said, swinging her bag's strap over her head. "I feel like I can hear the admission administrators at UCLA murmuring to each other, wondering why there is a shift in the wind, why they feel like the greatest psychology student to grace their campus is only a few months away from turning in the most astounding application they've ever seen."

Collin smiled. "You sure it isn't just you blowing hot air up their-"

"Collin! This is our baby, our destiny. This one project will guarantee your future with MIT and mine with UCLA, have a little respect, please."

Collin didn't look so sure, but Sammy knew his hesitancy to believe in their scheme stemmed from insecurity. Having to spend one year of his early school life correcting his vision problems had put him in the same class as his younger sister. Though this was a simple explanation, other students had thought it was because he was held back and always made Collin doubt his brilliance. Sammy for one had never doubted it.

"I have to go," Sammy said. "Try to get out of the house and away from the computer screens for a little bit. Maybe go sit by the pool."

Collin nodded but Sammy knew he wouldn't do it. Again she imagined strangling Stephanie, even if the girl was the reason the Green Eyes app had been created.

Sending off a message to Kyle letting him know she was on her way, Sammy climbed into her pre-owned Toyota and drove out of the luxury condo complex. The sun was a couple of hours from setting when Sammy parked alongside a curb, two blocks away from Davenport Lake. A few cars down, she spotted Kyle nervously playing with his phone and searching the passing cars. He was an average teenage boy, medium build, hair a bit too long, decent enough looks, and an outfit that definitely came straight off a clothes mannequin.

Sammy stepped out and locked her car. She smiled as she approached Kyle. He hesitated.

"Hi, Kyle," Sammy said.

"Sammy?"

She watched as he eyed her modest outfit of baseball T, jean shorts, and Keds. It was funny how each guy she met up with had the same reaction to her appearance. Before Kyle could comment, Sammy jumped right in.

"Do you remember the Three Rules?" she asked.

Kyle spun his phone around and around. "Uh, yeah. One, don't ever look towards my ex. Two, no touching or kissing unless directed by you. Three..." Sammy saw it the second Kyle couldn't keep his thoughts to himself any longer. "Okay, you're supposed to be helping me make my ex jealous, shouldn't that mean that we make out and you wear something more... I don't know, sexy?"

Seven times. Seven times she'd done this and each guy had given some variation on this statement. She knew what they wanted, a girl so hot that every guy was jealous, on top of their ex being jealous. But that wasn't how it worked.

"What's rule number three," Sammy said.

Kyle fidgeted. "Trust you."

"Exactly. You need to trust me. I know what I'm doing. Your ex would see through the guise of us showing up and making out. What we're working towards is making her jealous, so much so that she wants you back. She won't do that if she thinks you are just like any other guy who just makes out with the first girl you can."

Kyle scratched the back of his neck as if he still thought making out was the right play. So Sammy continued. "Your ex will be jealous when she sees you simply talking with a girl and completely ignoring everyone else. To her, it will feel like she never existed in your eyes because you will never once look at her. Make sense?"

It was more complex than that. To an ex, seeing Kyle find a girl attractive not because of how hot she looked or how much she let him kiss her, but because she was interesting would make the ex wonder if she'd been wrong to dump him. What girl wanted to think that they weren't interesting? But that was more than Kyle needed to know.

Finally, Kyle nodded.

"Good, let's go then."

As Sammy headed towards Davenport Lake, Kyle walked alongside her. She could tell he was nervous by the way he kept fiddling with his phone.

"What's your favorite TV show?" she asked.

"Uh...Bones. It's kind of a gross crime show that has a lot of rotting skeletons and stuff."

"No way!"

At the interested tone, Kyle perked up. "Yeah, it's about this team of forensic scientists who solve crimes by studying the bones, it's crazy."

"They solve crimes through bones?" Sammy asked.

Kyle dove into the topic with an energy Sammy hadn't thought he had in him. With encouraging comments inserted here and there, the topic took them to the lake and the party going on there.

Sammy kept Kyle talking so he barely even registered that they were among his friends. People called out but he didn't respond, too trapped by Sammy's eagerness to know more about his favorite show. She steered them to a spot where they could be seen but weren't in the thick of things.

"I can't believe I've never watched this show," Sammy said, sitting down on the grass.

Kyle sank down beside her, grinning. "You would love it?"

"Did Angela like it?" Sammy asked.

At the mention of his ex, Kyle's enthusiasm died a bit.

"She did, it was one of the things that we bonded over."

Sammy hugged her knees, still keeping her eyes locked with Kyle's. It was important that he not look around him, he needed to appear completely oblivious to the world, to the other girls and boys splashing around the lake, and, most importantly, to Angela, who stood with a group of friends. It was one of the reasons Sammy chose their spot, it fell right in Angela's line of sight.

"Tell me how you two meet?" Sammy asked. "What did you like most about her?"

Kyle fell into this topic as easily as he had about Bones. From the answers Kyle'd had given on the question form on the app, Sammy knew that in almost every aspect that she differed from Angela. Angela was put together, stylish, beautiful, and confident.

It's why Sammy had chosen the outfit she did. It was comfortable but cute, and Sammy wore it with so much ease that there would be no way to deny how confident she felt in her skin. She knew one thing most teenage girl's struggled with, feeling truly free to be themselves. So being exactly that would make Angela question herself. One more layer to the scheme.

"She sounds pretty perfect," Sammy said when Kyle finally stopped for air.

"Yeah, she is."

"She makes any other girl look like a menace."

Kyle shook his head, smiling. "No, she has her faults too."

Sammy cocked her head, doubtful. "Really, cause I didn't hear any."

"I'm serious," Kyle said. "For instance, she'd do this really annoying thing where she would be sitting down next to you and ask you to get her something to drink, even though he was closer to the kitchen."

Sammy laughed and nudged her shoulder with Kyle's. "Please, that's barely a flaw. I bet she did that once to you."

"No, she would do it all the time and I would get so irritated. It was like I was only there to get her something to drink."

"Okay, but that was probably the only thing wrong with her."

"Oh no, there were other things she did that pissed me off."

Sammy listened, following her script. It was one that she'd first created with Collin, though she hadn't known it at the time. Right after Stephanie had shattered his heart, she's sat down with Collin wanting to know why they'd even dated in the first place.

Once the good things were laid out, the negative came. And as negative qualities usually build on each other, Collin saw more and more the ways Stephanie had mistreated him. Eventually, he'd realized that dating her had been a mistake. Though he still cared for her since she'd been his girlfriend for a year, he no longer wanted her back.

Now Sammy used that same line of conversation with Kyle and mentally took notes. Already she had a file crammed with her research, added to with each guy she helped out.

By the time they'd been at the lake for over an hour, Kyle no longer talked about Angela with the same burning spark of love he'd had at first.

"Can I ask you a funny question?" Sammy asked.

"Yeah."

"After hearing everything she made you go through and the cruel way she treated you, why do you want her back?"

Kyle frowned and shook his head slowly. When he met Sammy's eyes there was a light in his eye. It was a look Sammy had seen seven other times and the reason she kept going. It was peace and acceptance. She mentally smiled, UCLA you definitely want me.

"I don't know," Kyle said.

"I have an idea," Sammy said. "Why don't we take some of the money you paid me for this whole thing, ditch this place and get burgers?"

Kyle jumped up, grinning, and held his hand out to Sammy.

"Let's do it."

Sammy took his hand, letting him pull her up. They headed towards the road and away from the party that was still in progress. Halfway there, Angela blocked their path and Kyle blinked as if he hadn't remembered she'd even be there.

"Hey, Kyle," she said, her voice low and playful. Though the look she threw Sammy was anything but nice.

"Hey," Kyle said.

"Look, I know it's been a couple of weeks since we've talked, I was wondering if we could, just for a moment."

Sammy waited. Whenever it came to this moment she wondered if the guy would cave or stick to the truth they'd discovered, that the relationship wasn't worth it. Only one guy out of the previous seven had accepted the invitation to talk. Sammy knew she could say something, bring Kyle's focus to her, but she knew this had to be his decision.

"No," Kyle said. "I'm actually leaving with Sammy."

Angela looked at Sammy, scowling. Sammy gave her a genuine smile, knowing that it would annoy Angela more that Sammy didn't have the decency to look smug about the small victory.

"Hi!" Sammy said.

It was the type of greeting with the right amount of cheeriness to show Angela that Sammy didn't even find her threatening in the least. One more push for Angela to break.

"Whatever," Angela said, trying to salvage her pride. "You're not even worth it."

At those vengeful words, Angela stormed off and Sammy took Kyle's hand. She gave him a reassuring squeeze. It was the type of sign of affection that reminded him he was worth more.

"Thanks," Kyle said.

"Of course. Now come on, I'm hungry."

At Five Guys, the best burger place for the East Coast, Sammy ate while Kyle recounted the interaction with Angela like Sammy hadn't been there. She let him talk, knowing he needed to savor this moment so that he wouldn't fall prey to again. Besides, it gave her the best feeling, she was watching as someone found closure. She only wished she knew the feeling.

When the door to the restaurant opened, Sammy glanced over and froze. Her boyfriend walked inside. Knowing he'd see her with another guy wasn't what made her pause It was the laughing, pretty girl that was holding his hand.

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Hey hey!

What did you think? Seem interesting to you?

Where is this story going? Honestly, I don't know. I got this first chapter and decided to write it. I think something happened with Sammy's mom and her dad, so Sammy is constantly trying to find ways to helps others that have been hurt. I don't know, but I like the idea of Sammy using psychology to help guys come to terms with a break up.

Let me know if you'd want to continue on with this story!

Vote, comment, follow!