Chasing 17 - AJ Lynch

AJ Lynch.

My brother's best friend. The boy who's always been around, always somehow louder than everyone else in the room.

The one with the easy smile, the quick wit, and the kind of confidence that makes people look twice.

Everyone knows AJ. The rugby player. The lad who never seems to take anything too seriously. The one who's always looking for the next bit of excitement, the next challenge, the next thing to keep him from getting bored.

But I know him differently.

I know the boy behind the smile. The one who cares more than he lets on. The one who acts like nothing bothers him, even when it does.

I've spent years watching him chase after anything that gives him that rush.

The speed.

The competition.

The feeling of being unstoppable.

And maybe that's the hardest part about caring about AJ Lynch.

Not the fact that he's impossible.

Not the fact that he's stubborn.

It's that sometimes I wonder if he'll ever find something worth slowing down for.

---

Laila Ryan.

She's been a constant for as long as I can remember.

Nick's little sister. The girl with the glasses, the freckles, and the sweet smile that tricks people into thinking she's harmless.

She's not.

Laila has a sharp tongue and a stubborn streak a mile wide. She'll call me out faster than anyone else, and somehow she's one of the only people who can get away with it.

She's kind, but she's not soft.

She's sweet, but she's not easy.

And somehow, she's always seen through me.

Everyone else sees the version of AJ Lynch that I let them see.

Laila sees everything else.

She knows when I'm avoiding something. She knows when I'm pretending. She knows exactly how to annoy me and exactly how to calm me down.

She's never been impressed by the reputation, the smile, or the attention.

She's always just seen me.

The only problem is that AJ Lynch has never been good at standing still.

And Laila Ryan might be the only person stubborn enough to make me try.