Brett Wells

Quick Facts

• Role: Male protagonist; one of two point-of-view characters
• First appearance: Early at Eastwood High, already the football captain with a spotless reputation
• Status: Popular, wealthy, and seemingly perfect; captain of the Eastwood High football team
• Defining symbol: Navy-blue varsity jacket that broadcasts his “perfect jock” identity
• Key relationships: Fake-turned-real girlfriend Becca Hart; parents Thomas Wells and Willa Wells

Who They Are

At first glance, Brett Wells is the archetypal golden boy—good looking, athletic, confident, and unfailingly polite. But that curated image masks a life shaped by expectation rather than choice. When he proposes a fake relationship with Becca to pacify his father’s relentless nudging, the performance cracks. What begins as a charade exposes the fault lines in his family and forces Brett to ask whose life he’s actually living. His story is less about losing perfection and more about learning to live without it.

Personality & Traits

Brett starts as the “perfect jock,” but the novel steadily reveals a thoughtful, vulnerable teen trying to reconcile love for his family with the truth about them.

• Charming and popular: He moves “like the sun pours in through a window”—the effortless smile, the easy greetings, the varsity jacket that announces his status before he speaks.
• Thoughtful and kind: He shields Becca from unwanted attention, chooses dates that matter to her (like the bookstore), and helps the owner of the local arcade—signs that his popularity never hardens into arrogance.
• Family-oriented: He idolizes his father and measures success by his parents’ pride, playing football as much for their dreams as for his own.
• Pressured perfectionist: The fake-dating scheme isn’t mischief; it’s a coping mechanism to satisfy a checklist of expectations without confronting their cost.
• Playful: He leans into the bit—banter, “girlfriend” jokes, mock “rules”—to make the arrangement feel light even when his feelings are getting heavier.
• Emotional and impulsive: When he learns of his father’s affair, grief curdles into anger; at the hotel opening, the pressure detonates into a public punch.

Character Journey

Brett’s arc is a steady dismantling of an identity built for applause. Football, dating, and the perpetual smile are originally part of a script written by his father’s dreams and the town’s expectations. The affair detonates that script. The boy who once worshiped his dad must confront betrayal, secrecy, and the realization that perfection was performance. He lashes out, retreats, and even breaks things off with Becca because the relationship began as a way to please his father. But clarity arrives when he recognizes that Becca is the one part of his life not defined by someone else’s demands. Choosing her—openly, deliberately—marks his first adult decision. By the end, he’s no longer a son trying to earn approval; he’s a young man choosing how to love his mother, set boundaries with his father, and claim what he wants for himself.

Key Relationships

Becca Hart Brett’s fake-turned-real relationship with Becca becomes the crucible for his honesty. She sees through the polished surface and offers him a space to be uncertain and imperfect. In choosing to pursue her for real—on her terms and his—Brett proves he can act from desire, not obligation.

Thomas Wells Brett’s father begins as hero and compass; his approval is the metric by which Brett evaluates himself. The affair fractures that dynamic, forcing Brett to dismantle the pedestal he built. Anger gives way to painful clarity: he can love his father and still refuse to live by his father’s script.

Willa Wells Brett’s bond with his mother deepens from affectionate to protective after the affair comes to light. He’s hurt she kept the secret, but he comes to see her silence as its own form of care. Supporting her wish to try counseling—without confusing that support with forgiveness for his father—signals Brett’s growing emotional nuance.

Defining Moments

Brett’s turning points chart a move from performance to authenticity.

• The First Kiss with Becca to convince Jenny McHenry: An impulsive hallway kiss shifts their arrangement from a neat lie to a messy truth. Why it matters: It transforms a strategy into a feeling he can’t box back up.
• The Arcade Date: He shares a personal, nostalgic space instead of a flashy outing. Why it matters: It reveals the person beneath the jersey and builds intimacy on his terms, not his father’s.
• Seeing His Father at the Diner: The first undeniable glimpse of the affair. Why it matters: It punctures the “perfect family” myth and sets Brett on a collision course with reality.
• The Hotel Grand Opening Confrontation: He punches his father in public as the secret explodes. Why it matters: It’s the breaking point where bottled pressure becomes action—and the moment Brett can no longer pretend.
• The Rooftop Breakup: He ends the fake relationship, saying he needs space to find himself apart from his father’s influence. Why it matters: Painful but crucial, this separation lets him distinguish genuine feelings from inherited obligations.
• The Bookstore Reconciliation: He picks a place that reflects Becca, then admits his feelings are real. Why it matters: It’s his first clear, autonomous choice of love over performance.

Themes & Symbolism

Brett’s pristine exterior and varsity-jacket image embody Appearance vs. Reality: the adored athlete masking a family fractured by secrets. His arc tracks Coming of Age and Self-Discovery, as he strips away roles designed to please others and begins building a self chosen by him. Even his jacket shifts meaning—initially a badge of approval, later a reminder that identity can’t be outsourced to a uniform.

Essential Quotes

I’m saying, you’ll have the time to settle down when you’re older. You should be dating now, playing ball. You’ve never brought a girl home. . . . This parental script defines Brett’s starting point: achievement and romance as benchmarks of success rather than organic choices. It clarifies why a fake relationship feels like a solution—he’s performing a role he believes he owes.

I’ve been thinking about that night a lot... And what I realized... is that nothing I felt toward you was tainted or confusing, Becca. In fact, you’re the only clear part of my life right now. Clarity arrives not from rage or rebellion but from love. Becca becomes the compass that helps Brett separate genuine desire from inherited expectations.

I think I’m in love with you. The simplicity of the line contrasts with the chaos around him. Saying it aloud is Brett’s first decisive step toward a life built on his own feelings rather than external pressure.

I know that... Why are you saying this again? Because I need you to know that this is real. The repetition underscores his need to redefine their relationship as authentic, not performative. He’s correcting the origin story—from a lie told for his father to a truth claimed for himself.