Page 16 of Fake It Till You Break It
“We did.” Mia shot me a side-glance. “But something happened at the wedding last night when we danced. It was different. Something clicked. So we actually snuck out last night to meet up and just started talking. And… I don’t know. It just happened.”
“Today was supposed to be our official first date,” I continued with our rehearsed story. “But we didn’t want to tell you guys in case this relationship ended up not working out. I mean, everything still feels too new. So I lied about having to work, and Mia pretended to be sick.”
“We just wanted some time to ourselves to see whatthiswas. Whether it was just the one time or if it’s something real.” Mia motioned between the two of us. Blinking innocently, sheturned to face her mom. “But how did you know we were at the park anyway?”
“Oh, I just—” Looking guilty, Mrs. Le swept her hair over her shoulder and laughed. “We just happened to be passing by while we ran errands, and we saw Jake’s car. Totally coincidental. I swear.”
“Totally,” Mom echoed. “Wait, so you’re together now? Like you two are actually dating?” Her hands clasped together in front of her face. “For real?”
With a bright smile, I let go of Mia’s hand to wrap my arm around her shoulders. “For real. You were right about her, Mom. She’s wonderful.”
Mom beamed, but Mrs. Le slowly shook her head. “Something just doesn’t make sense.”
I let out a frustrated sigh that I turned into a cough. “Could we just go inside before Mia gets sick for real?”
“Oh, right.”
Our moms turned and trooped inside. We followed a few steps behind.
“What now?” I hissed at Mia under my breath as I kicked off my wet shoes to put in the corner.
“Just play it cool.” Mia pulled away and ruffled her fingers through my wet hair. “I’m going to grab a couple of towels from Mom’s room so we can dry off,” she said loudly before rushing off.
“Wait—”
Great. She ditched me. Now I was stuck with both moms.
With no other choice, I followed them into the kitchen and sat down on a counter stool. They both sat down in the chairs facing me, and I couldn’t help feeling like I was about to be punished.
Luckily, Mia appeared at the doorway and handed me a towel before dabbing the top of her head with the other one. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Instead of using it, though, I took a corner and wiped at the droplets clinging on Mia’s nose and cheeks. She froze for a second or two and lifted her face until I was done. I gave her a tiny wink before rubbing my hair with the towel.
The expression on her face softened a bit, and Mrs. Le leaned back into her chair. “Okay, now I think we should start from the beginning.…”
It took a while longer for her to believe that we were actually dating. A lot longer than I expected. And our moms wanted more details. Thank God we worked out our story last night and in the car. They made us go over it several times as though trying to catch us in a lie.
Mia and I squeezed closer and closer together as though it would help convince them. I was getting pretty tired of the interrogation.
When the news finally sank in, it was like lightning struck.Their expressions totally changed, and they actually started squealing.
For a split second, I felt guilty at the happy expression on Mom’s face, but Mia jabbed her elbow in my side like she knew what I was thinking. I couldn’t help it, though. I had never lied to Mom before. Well, occasionally a white lie here and there, but that was it.
When the cheering finally stopped, Mia wrapped both arms around my waist and leaned against my side. “Well, now that everything is out in the open, you guys should go eat. We’re going to continue our date. Probably hang out in my room for a bit until the rain stops before we catch a movie and grab a bite to eat.”
Maybe it was the lightning flash, but I swear Mrs. Le’s smile faltered a little bit. “Just you two? Alone? Why don’t you come eat with us?”
“I don’t really—”
With a small smirk, Mom patted Mrs. Le’s arm. “Sydney, you know the kids don’t want to hang out with their moms. Especiallynow.”
Her face cleared. “Oh, that’s right. Well, you kids have fun.”
I reached behind my back and laced my fingers through Mia’s. Her fingers were tiny and smooth. “We’ll see you guys later.”
Knowing that our moms were probably still watching us, we stayed plastered together up the stairs like we were in athree-legged race. It wasn’t until we were safely in her room that she let out a deep breath and dropped my hand. “That’s weird. Did you see that?”
“See what?”
