The Bad Boy and The Good Girl
Olivia Xiao (ISB 9)
Olivia Xiao (9) is a writer who, she claims, hates writing. She loves creating characters, mood boards, and playlists, but never finishes any story. In a surprising turn of events, however, Olivia examines the tropes that are all-too-common in young adult fanfiction and takes a stab at writing one herself.
(Courtesy of Wattpad)
When you type “bad boy good girl” into Wattpad’s search bar, 81.6 thousand stories appear. The top story has 84.7 million reads. Obviously, this is a common teen fiction trope. Though not all tropes are necessarily clichés, the “bad boy good girl“ certainly has its fair share. They will be shared in the following excerpt from a satirical story written by yours truly. It’s bad, but it gets the point across. But first, what exactly is the ”bad boy good girl“ cliché trope? It’s pretty self-explanatory. The good girl, usually a “nerd,” gets good grades, has never had detention, innocent, etc. She falls in love with the bad boy, who has either a motorcycle or some fancy sports car, has been suspended at least thrice, fights everyone, looks like a “Greek God,” and maybe smokes. Maybe the first story of the bunch was interesting, but the rest are just repetitive and boring. However, as harmless as this may seem, these books do have deeper meanings. For some people, characters in stories can be projections of what the author wishes they were (what they looked like, etc.). These books can reflect many self-esteem issues teenagers have today. But before we go too deep into the sad stuff, we need to familiarize ourselves with this trope. And what better way to do that than with a good old (and greatly exaggerated) “bad boy good girl” rom-com book? Enjoy! Or not.
(The text that’s bolded and in parentheses are my critiques. Yes, I’m critiquing my own story. It’s probably the only criticism I can handle.)
Falling for the Bad Boy (Pretty much your average title.)
BRINGGG!! BRINGGG!!! (This is the most basic and boring way to start any story ever.)
I awoke suddenly to the shrill scream of my alarm. With a groan, I slowly reached out and slammed my hand on the clock, successfully silencing it. Five more minutes, I told myself.
“Maria! Wake up, or you’ll miss the bus!” my mom shrieked like a banshee from downstairs. I groaned yet again, then finally decided to peel my face off the soft pillow and start the day. Start the first day. Start the first day of senior year! Upon finally realizing that, I jumped out the bed and rushed to pick an outfit. (They’re always seniors! Or juniors! Do underclassmen not exist?)
Now, I was no fashion model. My closet consisted of mostly oversized sweaters or hoodies, paired with jeans and leggings. But because it was the first day of my last year of high school, I decided to try for once with my outfit.
(A/N: Photo below is her outfit.)
(Don’t attach a picture! Describe the outfit!)
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I sighed and bit my lip. (Lip bite #1. Keep count, there will be more to come.) I hated how I looked. I had clear skin, except for a single freckle on the bridge of my nose, which pretty much no one could see. My hair fell down my back in silky, brown waves even though I had literally just gotten out of bed. And my eyes, which were bright green and too big with too long eyelashes, were framed with a pair of thick-rimmed, black glasses. And I hated them. (Where is she ugly? Can I use her glasses to see?)
“I hated how I looked. I had clear skin, except for a single freckle on the bridge of my nose, which pretty much no one could see.”
Quickly, I ran down the stairs and grabbed an apple, ignoring the stacks of pancakes and waffles on the dining room table. (Hope she doesn’t starve. People do this all the time in movies too! I don’t understand.)
“That’s all you’re eating?” my mom called after me worriedly.
“Yup! I’m not hungry; I’ll eat more for lunch,” I called back as I slung my backpack over a shoulder.
I laced up my pair of leather boots with the apple in my mouth, then grabbed it and took a bite.
(A/N: Photo below are her shoes.)
(You already mentioned them, good job, no need for the picture.)
“Have a good first day!” she yelled.
“I will!” I replied, mouth muffled with the apple.
Senior year, here I come.
The moment I stepped on the bus, I was greeted with the most unpleasant sight. In front of me stood Tiffany Brittany in all her blonde, rich, and popular glory. (Popular mean girl name generator! Simply mix and match any two names in the list provided: Brittany, Heather, Tiffany, Regina, Courtney, Brooke, etc. Now you have a totally original popular mean girl name!) She had a Ferrari, which she drove to school almost every day last year, so it must have broken down. I hoped it would be fixed soon.
I don’t think I could deal with her on the bus for a whole year, I thought as I bit my lip. (Lip bite #2.) She sat at the very back, with her bright pink designer backpack taking up two seats beside her. There was a space between her and the bag. She hated being close to “peasants,” as she called the rest of her peers. Directly in front of her sat Lily and Lucy, her two minions. (Classic blonde, popular mean girl with exactly two minions. Heathers basically invented it and Mean Girls did it justice, the rest are just boring.)
“Hey, nerd! Welcome back to school! Bet you’ve been looking forward to it all summer, considering you have no life outside it,” Tiffany cackled, with Lily, Lucy, and the rest of the bus quickly joining in. I sighed and bit my lip, taking an empty seat in the front row. (Lip bite #3.) I didn’t need to put my bag beside me; nobody wanted to sit next to me anyway.
Fortunately, the bus ride was only around ten minutes. We soon arrived at school, Lakeside High. Quickly exiting the bus so I could get away from Tiffany, I bit my lip and searched for the only person who made school tolerable — Anna Sun. (Lip bite #4, the last lip bite for now. Girl really bit her lip AT LEAST for times in the span of, what, half an hour? She might as well have them for breakfast, since she’ll starve on just that single apple.) She had been my best friend since first grade when we were both placed in the highest level reading group. Everybody else laughed at us, but as long as we had each other, they didn’t really matter.
Weaving through the rowdy crowds and groups of people, I glimpsed Anna a few feet ahead of me. I raised my hand to wave and called her name. Suddenly, I crashed into a brick wall. (Spoiler alert—it’s actually the “bad boy.” This is an overused and blatantly incorrect cliché. Teenage boys do not feel like brick walls! Unless they’re taking heavy steroids. Brick walls should also not pop up in the middle of a school hallway!)
I held my hands out, readying myself for the impact of the linoleum floor. However, I felt a pair of strong arms around me.
“You okay?” a husky voice asked from above. (Why is it always husky? I don’t even really know what a husky voice sounds like. Like he has a sore throat? Is that a good sound?)
Looking up, my bright emerald eyes met a pair of crystal blue orbs. (Orbs! Iconic. Never describe eyes as orbs.) I gasped. I had just crashed into the bad boy of the school, Hunter Ryder. (Bad boy name generator! Simply mix and match any two names in the list provided: Hunter, Xavier, Ryder, Flynn, Alec, Dylan, etc. Now you have a totally original bad boy name!)
So there we go! Your average cliché first chapter of a “bad boy good girl” story. Sit tight, there is a point to this besides just making fun of people who are getting more Wattpad reads than me. We’re going to drill deeper. But first, let’s make a list of all the clichés in my short excerpt of 996 words.
Starts off with a ringing alarm
Senior protagonist
Says she’s ugly. Isn’t.
Insert photos of outfit
Lip bites
Eating pretty much nothing for breakfast
Basic blonde, rich mean girl with two “minions”
Protagonist has one friend
Bad boy is a “brick wall”
Husky voice
Orbs
Perhaps some people are not too familiar with Wattpad clichés, but if you are, you know these are everywhere. But beneath those cringe clichés are real reflections of these teenagers’ self-esteem. I believe some teen writers may write stories following the same plot line of “good girl meets bad boy and falls in love” because it is somewhat reflective of their own lives. Maybe they’re the good girl, writing about their dream guy Hunter Ryder. Our quirky, not-like-other-girls protagonist Maria has low self-esteem. That can be seen with her describing herself as “ugly,” even though the way the author writes her is absolutely gorgeous. She has a single friend, and nobody to sit next to on the bus. As reported by DoSomething.org, “7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or don’t measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members.” But don’t be too discouraged; there still is a bright side. DoSomething.org itself is a group of young people from all over the world who are making positive change. The main character in all these stories all have only one best friend, but she’s a really good one. She's pretty much always kind, sunshiny, and supportive, and helps the protagonist through a lot of her problems. Look for one of those people in your life (you probably already have one. Or more!) And also, as the “bad boy good girl” cliché goes, it always ends with the bad boy and good girl resolving their differences and falling in love, then living happily ever after. The mean girl is also “defeated.” Maybe your happily ever after won't be with Hunter Ryder, but you'll still get one all the same. Just you wait.
