The Fine Art of Pretending (7 page)

Kara adjusts her rearview mirror to see Gabi better. It’s not like she needs it to see the road or anything. I immediately grab the buckle of my seatbelt, ensuring it’s secure. “So you’re saying you don’t think he’s hot?” she asks.

Gabi crosses her arms and slides further down in her seat. “I refuse to answer the question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.”

“He likes you, Gabi,” I say, closing my visor and turning to face her. “And we know you think he’s cute. His cuteness isn’t actually up for debate—it’s a fact. So when are you gonna give the poor boy a chance?”

“Never!” She slams her hand against the back of my seat. “Look, besides the fact that he’s still in high school, his family goes to our church. Wouldn’t that just make my mother’s freaking day?”

Gabi and her mom are like oil and water. Ms. Avila rides Gabi about her clothes, her hair, and how she thinks a
young lady
should act, and Gabi loves finding creative ways to make Mom grab for the rosary beads.

Kara and I exchange a smirk but drop it for now. We switch to safer topics, such as how far Lauren Hays will push the rule against string bikinis, and all talk of me hooking up with Brandon is safely averted. Ten miles later, the sign for Cypress Lake comes into view.

“Fairwood Academy,” I whisper, my insides starting to shake. “Prepare to meet the new Aly.”

BRANDON
DINING HALL, 5:40 p.m
.

My
stomach rumbles as I eye the long table of food. I shift my gaze to the large clock on the wall, note the twenty minutes remaining until dinner, and curse myself for not packing a few protein bars. Clearly, the trip organizers do not understand the realities of the teenage male stomach.

To distract myself, I scan the crowded hall for Aly and end up spotting her mom. I forgot she was in charge of the kitchen this week. Mrs. Reed smiles and looks around, then points to the tray of cookies in front of her, motioning me over. I tell the guys I’ll be back and stealthily cross the room.

It pays to have friends in high places.

“Don’t tell anyone,” she whispers, sliding me a handful of cookies under the table. “I swear I could hear that stomach of yours growling all the way over here. Now shoo before I get in trouble for playing favorites.” I give her a quick hug and shove a cookie in my mouth. Pocketing the rest, I make my way back across the room.

“Aw, yeah! Using hookup status to snag us some food,” Carlos says, snatching a cookie from my hand. “I knew being friends with you would pay off eventually.”

I glance back at the table, but Mrs. Reed must have returned to the kitchen. She didn’t treat me any differently, so Aly must not have told her about our upgraded
hookup status
yet. The term curls my mouth as I inhale another cookie. Everything about it feels wrong when it comes to Aly. She wants more,
deserves
more, than a casual hookup. I know it; now I just need to get
her
to realize it. Preferably before Homecoming.

As soon as Justin sees the new post-makeover Aly, his view on her being a
Commitment
is gonna go straight through the window. He’ll be more likely to buy us hooking up, but it’ll also put her on his radar. I’d prefer if that never happened.

I look at the cookie I was prepared to devour and hand it over to Drew, narrowing my eyes as I scan the crowd. At least for now, Aly is taken, and as strange as it is that it’s by
me
, I’ll be damned if I let Justin’s hands get anywhere near her.

Shaking off the thought, I growl, “Let’s grab a table.” By now, almost the entire senior class has arrived and the room is filling up. Shouting over the mob, I tell Drew, “We need a table for eight. Kara has a new victim.”

“Make that nine.” Justin’s voice carries across the room, and I turn and watch him saunter over with a tall, curvy blonde. “Guys, you know Lauren.”

The arm wrapped around her thin waist says he’s clearly over whatever bothered him earlier. There’s nothing a little female companionship can’t solve—that’s Justin’s M.O.

But for the first time this summer, I’m glad to see Lauren. Being glued to Justin’s hip puts a major cramp in Aly’s plan, and for that, I could almost kiss her. It’s also good to see Lauren preoccupied. Maybe after Drew told her about Aly and me, she finally took the hint.

Lauren’s mouth curves with a flirty smile. “Hey there, Brandon.”

Guess not
.

“Hey,” I say, turning back to the door, looking for Aly again. Where the hell is she?

Our group takes their seats at an empty table. Carlos grabs the chair next to mine, spins it around and straddles it, and says, “So, now that you’re dating Aly, you gonna lay some groundwork with Gabi for me or what?”

Justin reaches across the table and smacks him upside his head. “What’s your deal with that girl? She blows you off every chance she gets. She’s not interested, and plenty of other girls are. Move on.”

Carlos grins. “But that’s just it. She’s feisty. Listen, I know she acts like a hard ass, but I’ve gotten the girl to crack a smile a couple times, and let me tell ya, it’s worth it.”

Justin shakes his head in disgust. “I don’t get you, man.” He leans back in his seat and shifts his attention to the main entrance. “Whoa.”

I don’t need to turn my head to know who just walked in. Justin’s frozen, and Lauren’s sharp eyes are on mine. I shift around, and as predicted, word of our hookup has spread like wildfire. Pairs of eyes around the room lock on me.

But not Aly’s. She looks at Justin.

Right
.

A small grin twitches her lips as she worries the bottom one between her teeth.

I swallow hard.

She’s beautiful.

When did that happen?

It’s not the new clothes, although seeing she actually has a body is a nice change of pace. It’s more than that. It’s the whole package. Aly’s always been hot, but now it’s like she’s starting to believe it. And her confidence is sexy.

Behind me, I hear a loud smack. “Ow!”

I glance back to see Justin rub his arm. Glaring at Lauren, he asks, “What the hell was that for?”

She shrugs, and my hands tighten into fists. I should be happy for Aly. She’s getting what she wants. But if her plan works, she’ll end up with more than Justin’s attention—she’ll have a broken heart. And I can’t let that happen. Not on my watch.

Unclenching my hands, I look back, and this time Aly meets my gaze. Her entire face lights up in her signature smile—head tilts, eyes crinkle, and the tiniest of dimples pops out in her right cheek. The pressure in my chest goes away.

With the senior class tracking my every move, I get up and stride toward her. I pick her up in our usual hug and then, remembering the hungry eyes behind me, lower my head and give her a quick kiss.

Aly’s mouth is soft and tastes like cherry. A strange urge to kiss her for real grips me, to part her lips and see if she tastes just as sweet inside.

Whoa, where did that come from?

I quickly lift my head and feel more than hear Aly’s giggle. “Thank you,” she whispers.

Clearing my throat, I shut down the crazy thoughts. I watch Gabi, Kara, and Daniel stroll toward us, realizing that pretending is going to be more awkward than I’d thought. But when I whisper back, “No problem,” and see her smile again, I remember why I’m doing this. “You ready?”

Aly nods, and I turn to bump fists with Daniel. “We got seats back here,” I tell them, reaching down for Aly’s hand. As I lead the group back to the table, the curious crowd silent and scrutinizing, I bend close to her ear. “You look really good.”

I mean it, too. She’s wearing a short jean skirt and a dark green tank top that clings to her chest. Her heels show off the lean muscles of her calves, and with the ninja grip she has on my hand, she only stumbles once. Guys lining the aisle don’t even try to hide their roaming eyes. Yep, this pretending thing is gonna suck.

When I return to the group, Carlos’s mouth is open. He quickly scoots over, freeing the chair beside mine, and seats himself next to Gabi. No surprise there.

From across the table, Justin openly stares. “Hey, Aly.”

Aly grins at the table and fidgets with her fingers in her lap. “Hi, Justin.”

Principal Thompson steps onto the raised platform at the front of the room, calling for attention. I meet Justin’s eyes as I slide my arm around the back of Aly’s chair. His mouth quirks. I rest my hand on her bare shoulder, and after jumping at the initial contact, she scoots over and leans against my chest. Justin turns away, and I inhale her familiar sugar-cookie scent.

During the never-ending list of rules, from the corner of my eye I see Drew scratch the side of his jaw repeatedly. I look over, and he widens his eyes, nodding toward Aly. He drops his gaze to her low-cut shirt and lifts his eyebrows, indicating the obvious makeover. I shrug.

Guess I should have mentioned that
.

Finally, Thompson gives the green light for food. Our group hustles to the front of the buffet line, where platters of chicken wings, pasta, brisket, and sandwiches are set out. Knowing it’s from the Sassy Gourmet, I load my plate down with every intention of coming back for more. I make a stop at the dessert section, stuff another one of those delicious cookies in my mouth, and add several more to my plate. Aly grins happily. I know that smile.

Reaching around her, I take the tray from her hands like the good fake hookup that I am. “I’ve got that.”

She tucks her hand under my elbow and grins. “Why, thank you,
baby
.”

Leaning close to her ear, I reply, “Anything for you,
darling.”

Aly laughs, and we turn to walk back to the table…just as Mrs. Reed exits the kitchen. She halts mid-step, head cocked to one side, and Aly falters in those damn shoes.

Her mom soaks in our cuddled state and grins widely. Aly gives her a sheepish wave and tugs on my elbow. As we walk back to the table, I lean close to her ear. “How long until she’s on the phone with my mom, telling her about this?”

Aly laughs, and her shoulders visibly lower. “Oh, I give it thirty seconds, tops.” When we sit down, the table is still empty, so I lean over and ask in a hushed voice, “How’s it going so far? What did you tell Gabi and Kara—fact or fiction?”

Aly scrunches her nose. “The facts are way too embarrassing. I hate lying, but the truth is just so pathetic.” I open my mouth to say that we can still back out, tell everyone tomorrow that we’ve decided just to be friends, but then she adds, “Besides, the end result will be worth it.”

Her eyes zone in on Justin a few yards away.

I shove a sandwich in my mouth.

The table fills, and as we eat, conversation revolves around graduation and plans for college. We all plan to stay in-state, heading to either UT or A&M. I’m too busy stuffing my face to contribute much, so it takes a while to notice Aly picking at her food. She’s not one of those girls who only eats salads either. She enjoys eating as much as I do, so I know something is up.

“You okay?” I whisper.

She looks up and then around the room. Her eyes pause on Lauren sitting in Justin’s lap before swinging back around to me. “I just feel like I’m on display or something. People keep looking over here.”

I scan the crowd, meeting a few people’s eyes. “That’s what you wanted, right?”

Aly fiddles with her napkin and shrugs. “Well, yeah, it is. But I don’t know what to do now.”

“You eat.” To demonstrate, I wrap a thick portion of linguine around my fork. I lift it to her mouth, and, grinning, she opens for me to slide the fork inside. Pink lips close around the plastic, and as I drag it back out, it’s impossible to look away.

“Funny.” She rolls her eyes as she dabs the corner of her mouth, and I shift back in my chair.

“Look, forget about them,” I tell her, ignoring the stares around us. We’re definitely giving them a show. “We got their attention. The plan is working. Now, relax.”

“Easy for you,” she says before releasing a heavy breath. “But I can try.”

Smiling up at me, she takes her own fork and dives into her food like the girl I know. Her plate has a decent-sized dent in it when the sound of a foodgasm rocks the table. I look over to see Gabi elbow Aly in the side. “Girl, holy crap. These cookies are your best yet.”