Page 36 of Wallflower

Mom scoffed. "If you think that," she said to my dad, "you're nuts."

Dad just shook his head. "Viola knows better. She'd never get involved with one of my guys. She'd never even lay a finger on them."

Yeah, it was probably a good thing he hadn't seen the kiss, I thought. My hands had been all over Dare. The memory sent a shiver up my spine.

"And my team definitely knows better," Dad said with certainty, like it was law, indisputable. "I'm the coach, and she's my daughter. It's like an unwritten rule. If one of them looked sideways at her let alone touched her, there would be hell to pay."

Definitely lucky he hadn't seen the kiss, I thought again.

Dad sounded so sure, so confident. He'd also said that last bit like a warning. What would he have done if he'd seen Dare and I kissing like that in the stands? It would've left him shook. And the fact that it was his prize player, the guy he'd had me drive to school every day? Gah, it would make him feel so, so…guilty.

My eyes widened.

The idea was perfect.

It had been staring me in the face the whole time. The notes I'd jotted down at the field pointed directly to this conclusion. But it was this conversation that made me see the light.

I needed Dare to play my fake boyfriend again.

But this time, I'd let my dad catch us.

No, that left too much up to chance. I'dmake surehe did, orchestrate it so he'd walk in on us in a compromising position, make him think I'd developed feelings for Dare. Then once the appropriate amount of time had passed, once he was well and truly sorry for hiring Dare to be my freaking friend in the first place, only then would I tell him the truth.

The plan was uncomplicated. But a lot of times the most brilliant ideas were just that: simple and effective.

I might've never thought of it without Dare, helping me save face in front of Whitney and the others. I'd have to thank him the next time I saw him—and of course, I'd need to convince him to play along. But how hard could that be? He'd already taken it upon himself once to play the part of my imaginary boyfriend. I just had to persuade him to do it again.

My inner Slytherin smirked.

"Okay, I have to know," Mom said, bringing me back to the here and now where both of my parents were looking at me a little funny. "What's that face about?"

"What face?" I said.

Dad tilted his head. "It looked like you were plotting something."

I had to bite down on my lip to keep the evil laughter at bay.

"I just figured out the solution to a problem I've been working on," I said.

"If you're having trouble in Calculus," Dad said, "your mom is excellent."

Mom laughed, nudging him with her elbow. "I am, but if I remember correctly, you got the higher grade in that class."

"Only because you did my homework," he countered.

"Which you then checked and corrected," she said, shaking her head as both of them gazed at each other with nothing but love.

Dad turned to me again. "If you need help, we're here."

"Oh no," I said. "I think I've got this."

Operation Slytherin Strikes Back was a go.

Now, I just needed to get Dare on board.

#

The following day, I found Dare laid back on the hood of Buttercup, totally relaxed with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. It looked like he might be taking a nap.

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