To All The Boys I've Fought Before

Chapter 1: The Battle of the Bean

Chapter 1: The Battle of the Beans

Cara Bean always loves to sleep.

A little time, every day, just dedicated to not think of anything. She always loves to dream too, until a random guy starts popping up everywhere in her unproblematic dreamland. 

The worst thing is, she knows the guy. It is Walsh, the totally hot guy from next door, who is also totally unavailable. 

Her brother, Ian, just recently came out to her parents and it was the most amazing day of his life (his words). Not only, does Cara Bean now have to be careful that her brother will not steal her boyfriends. Of course, we're talking about a hypothetical situation here, since Cara Bean never has had a boyfriend.

But still! He is goodlooking and all. Her friends never fail to tell her that. Fortunately now, their chanting has died down. 

Ian started dating their neighbour not long after he told everyone of his sexual orientation. Walsh is easily the most populair guy in school, so when he was seen making out with a guy instead of a girl, gay became really cool at our school.

So here Cara Bean is, boringly straight, and crushing on the boyfriend of her brother. 

It is a hopeless crush, one she always surpresses, but sometimes she catches herself trying to fight Walsh in any way she can when he is at their house. 

Oh yeah, Cara Bean always seems to want to fight her crushes. Not figuratively. She really knocked out her third grade crush. She blamed it on his underdevelopped muscles.

Her urge to fight instead of cherish is weird, but universally accepted in her group of friends. Everytime Cara Bean randomly starts fighting a guy in front of their entire school, her friends just roll their eyes and giggle at their immature, lovestruck girlfriend.

Silly Cara Bean.

It works too (usually); the fighting. A good fight always makes the crush evaporate when the guy lays knocked out and bloody-nosed under her. 

It is like taking a mint. Very refreshing and a little agressive towards the nose.

The guys never beat her, which was strange when you look at their size. Most of them are football players, sometimes your average nice guy, but the jocks never fail to win Cara Bean's heart. She loves the mystery that comes with the jocks; you never know which ones are the drug addicts and which ones the straight-A-students. They all look the freaking same in their blue team jackets! 

Evan is the only one Cara Bean ever injured fairly badly. He still has a scar on his neck from where she cut his skin with her nail. It honestly makes him look cooler and more like a badboy. Every girl seems to think so too since they have been flocked around him since the incident occured. The pity is that he thinks he's cool now too. 

But let's not waste any more time on the self-absorbed ones...

On a rather beautiful morning, Cara Bean decides to go to school without her backpack. Ian has already driven the car onto the road as Cara Bean realises her backpack was not on her back.

"Silly me," Cara Bean giggles and returnes to her door.

Ironically enough, Walsh appears at the other side of the fence, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Cara Bean inhales deeply.

Don't fight him, don't fight him, don't fight him.

"What's up, sis?" he yells. Cara Bean cringes at his choice of words as she walks back to the car.

"Not your sis, Ash," Ian yells back at his boyfriend from behind the steering wheel. Ian calls Walsh 'Ash' and Cara Bean has told him several time it sounds more like 'ass' the way he says it. Walsh has even agreed with her on that, but Ian ignores it.

He claims that he can call his boyfriend whatever he wants since Walsh is his first real boyfriend. That doesn't mean it was his first relationship; he has had a lot of girlfriends, that he now claims he never really loved or even liked. It was pretty sad when his last girlfriend heard he was gay. She cried a lot. 

Ian makes Cara Bean feel even worse about her lovelife. Cara Bean never knew if she felt impressed or sad about her brother's datinglife. He had multiple relationship with women he never even loved. 

Walsh walks along the white fence that divides their gardens and hops into the car before Cara Bean can sit down in the front seat.

"Get off, bro," Cara Bean tells Walsh, leaning against the window of the car door.

"Only if you fight me for it," Walsh says jokingly. Cara Bean's hands start to ache. 

Nobody except for her friends knows the real reason behind her reaccuring fighting sessions. Many boys try to provoke her into fighting them. They don't realise what an honor it actually is. Walsh isn't original by asking her this. Cara Bean often finds herself wondering why she likes the loser.

"There will be no fighting today, my loves," Ian warns, lowering his shades and staring at both of them cautionary. 

"Why the fuck not," Cara Bean says. Yes, she swears, her mom doesn't like it, but she can't help it. The F-bomb demands to be dropped now and then.

"I trained this morning. And I'm pretty sure I excel at sports, sooo.... Do you want to hit me first or shall I?" Walsh lookes so pleased with himself.

It only aggrivates Cara Bean more. She just wants to:

Punch. Punch. Punch.

Double-punch.

Cara Bean breathes in deeply, you know, to the stomach, and tries to let her anger go.

It is a hard task when the object of her aggression is still right in front of her.

Grinning.

PUNCH. PUNCH.

PUNCH.

PUNCH!!!

It really took her a lot of anger surpression techniques she learned from several cliniques her school and parents made her attend, to push down the roaring desire to fight Walsh.

"Yes, punch yourself, that would make my day a lot better actually." Cara Bean finally says and opens the car door behind Walsh, neglecting her efforts to get the front seat, and smiles when she notices Walsh's annoyed expression.

Ian sighs. "Just behave yourself today, Cara Bean."

Cara Bean smiled, because it is a lovely day today, and because she knows will not, indeed, behave today.