The Good Girl, the Good Friend, and the Guy With Secrets: Relatable Characters in a New Teen Romance

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In my new teen romance “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?”, the love story centers around a high school love triangle involving the main character, her crush, and her good friend.

The main character is Chloe, a high school sophomore who has a big crush on a junior at her school named Mordecai. Meanwhile, her good friend Simon has a crush on her.

One of the things that makes these characters relatable is that, while they all try to be good people, they do have their flaws and they make mistakes from time to time. This is something I address briefly here. But now, let’s take a look at some of the qualities that help make these characters more authentic.

Chloe: The Good Girl

Chloe really does her best to be good. She’s studious and works hard to earn good grades. She tries her best to follow the rules at school. And she tries to follow her parents’ “no dating until senior year” rule. But since she is a teenager, you can understand when she slips sometimes.

And not only that, but Chloe has a really intense crush on Mordecai, a guy who doesn’t always treat her well. Although he can be funny and has a way of making Chloe feel special, he can also be moody and unpredictable. Plus, he’s almost always dating someone. But Chloe loves him anyway, even though she has to do so from a distance most of the time—at least at the start of the story when most of their friendship is sustained by phone calls and IM (instant messaging) chats.

Sometimes Chloe’s feelings for Mordecai cloud her judgment, making her do things—or consider doing things—she might never otherwise consider doing. And because of her intense feelings for him, she sometimes ends up hurting Simon. It can be hard for her to give them equal attention when chatting with them on IM, for instance. In this post, you can read an excerpt to see what I’m talking about.

Simon: The Good Friend

Simon is a new sophomore at Chloe and Mordecai’s high school. But Simon and Chloe become friends soon after he starts going there. And unlike the friendship that she and Mordecai share, Chloe and Simon’s friendship is public. But it doesn’t take long for him to learn about Chloe’s crush, with all its intensity and complexity. Rather than share how he feels about her, though, Simon chooses to stay in the friend zone.

The result? Simon has a front row seat to all the pain Mordecai causes Chloe. And whenever Mordecai does or says something to leave her in tears, Simon is often the one to comfort her. He’s always there for Chloe when she needs him. He’s constant and reliable, the definition of a good friend. And even though Simon might not want to hear this, some may call him “nice.”

But because Simon cares so much about Chloe, he gets frustrated when he sees her continue to love Mordecai and pine for him even when he doesn’t treat her well. This leads Simon to do things that some may consider beyond reasonable for what a good friend should do. But it’s all in the name of protecting Chloe. She doesn’t always see it that way, though.

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 6 to give you an idea of what Chloe and Simon’s relationship is like. This conversation takes place after winter break of their sophomore year. They’re both in Simon’s car, and he’s driving to their mutual friend Krista’s house to pick her up for school. But Chloe isn’t in the best mood. (Chloe is narrating.)

“So, how was your break?” he [Simon] finally asks.

“Fine,” I say. “Productive.”

“That’s good. I wish I could say the same.” I say nothing. “Are you ok? You seem a little glum,” he says.

I laugh quietly at his word choice. “I’m fine,” I say.

“I know. You’re not ready to go back either. I always wish they’d give us like one more week off school after New Year’s, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess.” A tear falls from my left eye. If it had been my right eye, I could have just let it fall and dry on its own. But because it’s the left, I try to wipe it away subtly so Simon won’t see. It’s a vain effort.

“Ok, Chloe, seriously. What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“It’s nothing.” Another tear. I just leave that one.

“Really, Chloe, what is it?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“If it’s bothering you, I do.”

“It’s really stupid.”

“Try me.”

“Mordecai and I had a fight the day before New Year’s Eve, and we haven’t spoken since then.”

“So, you miss him?”

“I told you it was stupid. I miss him like we were dating when we’re not even really friends.” I sigh. “I just have to get over it—over him.”

“If it were that easy, I’m sure you would have done it by now.”

I turn to him then and smile. “Thank you,” I say. “You make me feel less crazy.”

“You’re not crazy,” he says. “You’re just passionate. If only you could be passionate about someone who shared your passion.”

“I know. If only…”

We’re in front of Krista’s house now. Usually Simon honks to let her know we’ve arrived. But today he doesn’t honk, and he’s quiet for a while. Then he says, “You know, Chloe—”

Suddenly, Krista knocks on Simon’s window. Neither of us saw her approaching, so we both jump. She waves, and he unlocks the backdoor.

“What, did you guys forget me or something?” she asks as she gets in and shuts the door.

“No, we were just lost in conversation is all,” I say. Simon pulls out of her driveway and starts heading to school.

This sample also shows how Simon can find it challenging to say anything about his feelings for Chloe.

Mordecai: The Guy With Secrets

Of all the characters in this story, I would say Mordecai is the most complex. This is especially because he’s dealing with secrets. He only feels comfortable sharing these secrets with Chloe, though. And when she learns about them, they help her understand him better.

But Chloe loves Mordecai even before she learns about any of his secrets. And that means she loves him even when he’s displaying moody behavior, when he disappears and reappears in her life, and when he hurts her with his seeming indifference to her feelings.

Something else that makes Chloe and Mordecai’s friendship complicated is that, at the start of the story, Mordecai already knows how Chloe feels about him. But he hasn’t shared how he feels about her. And although he claims they’re just friends, he displays hints of jealousy when he finds out about Chloe’s new male friend.

You can check out this post to read an excerpt that will give you a taste of the mixed signals Mordecai gives Chloe.

Final Thoughts

In this young adult romance, you’ll find lots of real emotion and all the messiness that comes with flawed characters who struggle to know what to do with their feelings. But, at the end of the day, these characters really just want to be happy. They have different ideas about what that looks like, though, and different ways of getting there.

All of this helps to make “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?” an authentic and relatable story. So, if you’re looking for a new high school romance that you can dive into, don’t wait another second to check this one out!

You can click here to learn more about the story or here to start reading Chapter 1 on Medium. (The first three chapters are free and you don’t need an account to read them. But you’ll need a Medium account to read the rest. And you may also need to become a Medium member.)

~ Ashley C.

P.S. If you would like to sample more of my story-writing style, feel free to click here to read some stories that are currently available.

Last updated: June 11, 2025