"IT'S A CRUSH! It's just a crush. Thank God. It doesn't mean anything, and it goes away."
Jade likes emotions and can't tolerate boredom. Alex, the handsome quarterback on the football team, is an adrenaline junky. So two edgy characters have an edgy start to a relationship. (Alex: "She's more like the irritating kid sister you can't get rid of.") But they initiate a project to stop bullying, she has to be the mascot for the football, she goes with Alex on his various adventures, and . . . their relationship slowly grows and changes.
This unclassical romance is intertwined with an action story. Jade slowly develops the skills -- physical and emotional -- she and Alex will need to defend her school and then the House of Representatives. Includes humor. Y/A style but for all ages.
Some quotes:
So I'm living in this strange world of judo and karate and martial arts, and all of a sudden it includes dance. Which is bizarre. But I like bizarre. How am I supposed to get over whatever it is I feel for Alex?
Thank you, Alex, I owe you a lot. When you break my heart, I promise I'll still appreciate what you did for me.
If I was by myself, I would be on the plane heading home. No, I wouldn't even be here. Alex is my magic portal.
"Dr. Bell, every alarm bell in my head was going off. But if there's a guy in your high school with a rifle and shooting people, there is no Safe."