The Model Project

Chapter 5

L.J was sitting on Cam's couch, munching on popcorn, chomping down so hard it felt like her jaw was going to snap and fall off. There was a deep frown on her face as she dug her hand into the big bowl, grabbing a fist full of fluffy white clouds, shoving it into her mouth, staring off into oblivion. There were a few pieces that went flying, landing on the couch next to her, or on her shirt, but she didn't even notice as all L.J could think of is how pathetic she is. She didn't know how to talk, flirt or date boys, and now she wants to start, but she doesn't know how. Shane looked at her and raised an eyebrow, waving a hand in front of her face, but she didn't pay attention to that.

"L.J?" He asked a little concerned at how quiet she was this entire time since they got home from school. He stood in front of her, kneeling down to eye level, and tried waving both hands in front of her face this time. She tried to swat his hands away like a fly, and he grabs her hands out of the popcorn bowl and placed it on the coffee table. He looked into her eyes as she slowly met his gaze, her vision still blurry trying to regain focus, as she stared at him.

"L.J, I feel like you need to tell the guys. It will make you feel better, and I'll make sure they won't bother you about it, ok?" As her eyesight returned to normal, she sighed but slowly nodded, knowing that Shane was right. She stood up and called the guys over. They all sat down on the couch in front of her as she sat down on the coffee table facing them, taking a deep breath.

"What's up L.J?" Aaron asked, and she closed her eyes exhaling her last breath and spit the words out like they were going to choke her if she didn't.

"I have a crush on someone" She whispers, and Cam and Aaron lean in closer not hearing what she said.

"What did you say?" Cam asked his brows furrowed.

"I have a crush on someone alright!" She yells and they both jump back eyes widening.

"Who?" Aaron smiles at her and she shrugs looking down at her feet.

"On the new student at school. I met him at that party we went to the night before school and saw him today" Cam gives a low whistle, and she kicks him in his knee.

"Ow!"

"Stop teasing me about it ok? I need your guys' help, that's why I'm telling you about this, so don't make me regret it" She threatens them, and they slowly nod. They look to Shane confused as to why he isn't shocked like them.

"Dude, why aren't you saying anything about this?" Cam asks and Shane smiles.

"I already know" Cam snaps his head to L.J looking slightly pissed off with her.

"You told him first and not me?" She sighed at that and wanted to laugh at how immature he is acting right now.

"He was there when I ran into Roy today, I didn't tell him by choice" She saw Shane give a slight flinch at that, but she ignored it, not reading anything into it.

"Roy, huh?" Aaron made googly eyes at her as he said his name and Cam soon joined in making kissy faces.

"Enough you guys! This is the whole reason why I didn't want to tell you about this" L.J snaps at them, not really in the mood for their childish remarks and games. This was something very serious to L.J since she never liked a boy before in that way and she knows she doesn't have any experience with dating or flirting. She wanted help from the boys, but she didn't want them to break down her love life self esteem by making jokes about her and her feelings for Roy. She wanted this to go well and hopefully they could help her get better in at least talking to boys.

"Sorry L.J" They both say, and they shrink down in the couch feeling bad at their behavior.

"Thank you. Now, I want to ask you guys to help me become better at flirting or at least just talking to guys" She says and they all nod, and Cam sits on the edge of his seat, looking like a very serious business man about to sign a contract.

"Give me your best pick up line" He says, and she nods, shaking her hands out and thinking, getting ready to use her best pick up line. She turns serious and there was about ten seconds of silence before she said the line, no one making a move.

"Did you just fart? Cause you blow me away!" She says, and the boys sat in silence for a milli-second before bursting out with laughter, tears rolling down their cheeks as they clutched their stomachs. L.J's cheeks redden at their laughter and she felt tears brimming her eyes. She stood up and walked out the house, grabbing Shane's car keys and jumped in his Jeep, driving off to the beach. She felt like an i***t for even wanting to be like a normal girl. She didn't have the skill, or style, or looks to get a boyfriend, and she felt like a moron for thinking that she could be all those things. When she got to the beach it was empty not a single soul taking walks or a late afternoon dip in the salty water. She felt glad that she could have some alone time here, and she sat down on the sand, grabbing a rock next to her, throwing it at the ocean as hard as she could while letting out a scream. Tears started rolling down her face as she kept hearing their laughs making her feel even worse.

"You never stood a chance L.J" She told herself and wiped some of the tears from her cheeks. She sat on the beach for about an hour before she heard people behind her and turned to see the guys coming closer. She hid her face in her knees wrapping her arms around them. She was mad at them for making her feel this way and didn't want to talk to them. They sat down next to her, Aaron on her left, Shane in front of her, and Cameron on her right, but she didn't lift her head.

"L.J, we're sorry" Cam said, and she sniffles quietly.

"We've been looking for almost everywhere, please talk to us" Shane says his voice soft and sincere. She lifted her head slightly, only so that her eyes could stick out so that she could look at them. They all gave small smiles to her, and she sighed lifting her head fully.

"You guys are assholes do you know that?" She wipes her eyes from the few remaining tears there were, and they all nod.

"We know and we're sorry for being mean" Aaron says and Cam nods.

"I just wanted help, and you guys laughed in my face about it" She scolds them, and they all lower their heads feeling guilty.

"We really are sorry, L.J" Came says and she places her hand on his shoulder.

"I know, but don't do that ever again, ok?" They nod promising her that they never would.

"So how can we help you?" Aaron asks and she sighs.

"I don't know, I guess we can start with something easy like just talking to guys first"

"That sounds good yeah" Aaron said, seeming to make a plan in his head.

"What else do you want to work on?" Shane asks, and she looks down at her attire and scrunches her nose.

"My clothes, I think?" She asks slightly pulling at her shirt, looking at the guys for confirmation.

"Yeah we can help you with that, we each have different tastes, but we can still help" Cam says and she nods.

"Thanks guys" She says, and they nod, and they all latched onto her, making her laugh.

"So, what do you want to work on today?" Cam asks wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"I don't know, maybe I could practice talking to you guys" She says rolling her eyes at Cam's flirty self.

"Alright, we're all going to give a pick-up line to give you a few examples and then you try one" Shane says and she nods.

"Ok, Cam should go first since he is the playboy" Cam tries to protest against that, but Shane and Aaron won't let him get a word in.

"Shut up and give her a pick-up line Cameron!" Shane lightly hits him, and he groans.

"Fine" He looks to L.J and smirks at her, biting his lip as he gave her a once over.

"Are you a piece of art? Because I'd like to nail up on my wall" He says and L.J's eyes widen.

"Does that actually work on girls?" She asks in disbelieve at that straightforward line he just gave her.

"All the time" He says.

"Wow, ok" She shakes her head and then looks to Aaron.

"You go next" She tells him, and he nods, getting ready to throw his best pick up line out there.

"Did you just smile at me, or did the sun come out?" She smiles at that and Aaron fist pumps the air, looking happy.

"That was good one, Aaron" She compliments him, and Cam scoffed.

"Better than mine?" She looks to him with a raised eyebrow and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it was way better than yours" She said, and he gasped.

"I don't care what you say, mine is the best" He says crossing his arms in front of his chest, shoving his nose in the air, like a stuck-up person. She chuckles at him and then looks to Shane waiting for him to give her his line. There was a couple of seconds where he just looked at her with a soft smile on his lips, and then he spoke, his words soft and gentle.

"I can't even think of any words to say to someone as beautiful as you" He says and her heart jumped at his words, as he looked right into her eyes, his gaze so sincere she didn't know if he truly meant it or if he was just messing with her. She stayed silent for a few more seconds, not being able to break his gaze, and she tried to breath.

"Wow" She said, and he looked away shrugging.

"Yeah, not really I just thought of it" He says, and Cam and Aaron sat there with their mouths wide open in shock.

"Damn dude, where did you learn that one?" Cam asks him and chuckles.

"I told you I just made it up, that's how good I am" He says, acting normal again, but L.J couldn't help but sit still in shock at the feeling those words gave her. It made her feel like time slowed down, and they were the only ones there in that moment, like you always hear in the movies, which made her sick. She shook her head as the guys laughed, and she pushed that feeling and thoughts to the back of her mind where she wouldn't think of them anymore.

"So now you have to give us all one" Aaron says and she groans.

"No, not again. You guys are going to laugh at me again, because I'm horrible at this" They disagree with her until they've convinced her to say one line. She takes a deep breath and thinks for a moment, and then slaps her hand to her forehead.

"I can't do this"

"You can, just think of something sweet to say and then put it into a single line" Cam says, and she nods thinking deeper.

"There must be something wrong with my eyes, because I can't seem to take them off of you" She says, and they all smile at that.

"Wow, who knew you had it in you, Lara-Jean?" Aaron teased as he lightly shoved her with his shoulder.

"That was good" Shane says, and she nods.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but that was enough practice for today, so I'm going to go eat now" She says and gets up and they get in the truck driving off to a close restaurant. She didn't know if they were going to be able to help be the best at this, but at least she had a little hope now.