Page 22 of Fake It Till You Break It
Shit.
“Hold on a second. You have dust in your hair.” Mia reached out and ruffled the top of my hair with both hands.
At first I froze, but after a little while, I bent my head a bit so it would be easier for her. Every movement she made, every brush of her fingertips, sent shivers down my neck.
When she finally stopped, I tilted my head and peered over at her. Our faces were only a few inches apart now, and I could see the dark pupils in her brown eyes. The tiny mole on the left side of her chin.
My breath suddenly got caught in my throat as if I had been running around the block, but I hadn’t moved in the past fiveminutes. Was this what a heart attack felt like? That didn’t explain why my hands were suddenly all clammy. And it especially didn’t explain why I couldn’t stop staring at Mia’s face. Or her parted lips that looked really soft and inviting all of a sudden.
Okay, I’ve alwaysknownthat Mia was pretty. I wasn’t blind. Greg even had a small crush on Mia that he tried to hide, but it was obvious from the way he flexed whenever she was around. Yet this was the first timeIever thought that she waspretty. If that made any sense.
I don’t know.
She pulled back, away from me. “That’s better. I didn’t want you to freak out because you got a little dirty.”
“Thanks.” Looking down, my gaze fell on a tiny smiley face drawn on her hand with a blue pen. “What’s this?”
“Huh?” She glanced down and rubbed the mark. “I was a little tired at rehearsal today, and this guy drew on my hand to cheer me up.”
“That’s weird. Didn’t you say you just got out of the shower?”
“I guess I didn’t scrub hard enough.” She tilted her head down, but I could have sworn she was blushing or something. But why the heck would she be blushing over a smiley face?
“Let’s go back inside.” With pink cheeks, Mia hopped off the counter. She fumbled with the doorknob a bit, and I had to reach around her to open the door. “Uh, thanks,” she said. “I have homework to do. It is still a school night.”
Man, she wasn’t very subtle in wanting to get rid of me. “Sure, see you later. I’ll just go home through the side gate.” I walked her back to the house before turning to the side. “Hey, Mia?”
She turned around. “Yeah?”
“Only a week and a half left.”
“Left…?”
“Until our breakup. And then we’ll never have to put up with each other again.”
A brief smile crossed her face. “Can’t wait. Bye, Jake.”
As I walked back to my house, those words kept running through my head. A week and a half. Eleven more days. Then it would finally be over and we would have our freedom back.
MIA
THE LUNCH BELL RANGjust as I grabbed my history book from my locker to stuff into my book bag. I was supposed to meet up with Jake and Aly by the bench outside the gym to discuss the rest of our dating plan. So far, it looked like Mom and Mrs. Adler believed us, but we had to keep the momentum going before we broke up next weekend.
Just as I was zipping up my bag, there was a knock on my locker door. I glanced up at Ben’s beaming smile, and I automatically grinned in response. “Ben! Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I was about to get some pizza with my friends and just wanted to see if you’d like me to bring you back any,” he said, leaning his shoulder against the locker beside mine. A lock of dark blond hair fell forward over his forehead. “Pepperoni? Supreme? Four cheeses?”
With a soft laugh, I shook my head. “I’m okay, but thanks.”
“Maybe next time, then.”
I expected him to leave, but he fell into step beside me as we headed toward the stairwell. Our arms swung back and forth between us. My stomach twisted in knots at how close he was. Our hands were inches from touching. “So, uh, are you excited about opening night in a few weeks?”
Ben chuckled. “Yeah, but it’s not like I’ll even be onstage. I’m just an understudy. Not unless Leon comes down with the flu or something.”
“Hey, it can happen.” I twisted the strap of my bag around my index finger. “You would be better at the role than Leon anyway. In fact, you’d probably be doing the audience a favor if you took over.”
“Thanks. But don’t let Leon hear you say that,” he whispered as he leaned in closer to me. My heart went into overdrive. “Sometimes he can be a bigger diva than Lyndon.”
