Page 23 of Fake It Till You Break It
“Oh, I’ve heard his complaining across the theater. But don’t worry, I won’t say it again even if it’s true.” I pretended to zip my lips, which made him laugh again.
Before we knew it, we reached the first-floor hallway by the cafeteria. Disappointed, I wished I had thought ahead to take the long way down here.
He cocked his head toward the cafeteria. “You’re not going in?”
“Uh, no. I’m supposed to meet Aly and—” I started to say Jake’s name but stopped for some reason. “Just some other friends by the gym. We’re working on a project.”
“Oh, good luck, then. I’ll see you at rehearsal tomorrow.” He gave my arm a tiny squeeze before leaving.
I had to hold my breath to not let my excited squeals escape. But nothing stopped me from practically skipping outside to the gym. Aly and Jake were already there, waiting for me. She was perched on one side with her legs tucked beneath her while Jake sat on the other side munching on a bag of chips.
As soon as I sat down between them, Jake surrendered his half-eaten bag of Cheetos to me. “What took you so long?”
“Uh, I’m barely two minutes late. Give me a break. You know how Mr. Tiller likes to go on and on even when the bell rings.” I popped a chip in my mouth. “So, what are you guys talking about?”
“Jake was just telling me about the dates you had so far. At least his version.” Aly’s eyes twinkled as she smirked at me. “You didn’t tell me about your kiss.”
I snorted. “The nose kiss? Because it wasn’t even worth mentioning.”
“I don’t know. A kiss is still a kiss, you know.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “She’s just mad because I wouldn’t agree with her kisses-in-the-rain idea.”
I hit his arm. “They are the best!”
Aly pursed her lips together and nodded. “I have to agree. They really are the best. So romantic and sweet…”
“See?”
“Oh my God, and what makes you two experts?” Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.
“K-dramas,” Aly and I both responded in unison.
With a loud sigh, he stared up at the sky. “This is going to be a long two weeks.”
“One and a half,” I corrected. “Which, by the way, we still have a lot of work to do before we break up next weekend.”
“What do you mean? I thought all we had to do now was go on a couple more fake dates, and we’ll be done.”
Aly gave me a sympathetic look. “No wonder you told me that you needed my help. He’s pretty much useless.”
“I know, right?” Ignoring his loud “Hey!” I pulled out a piece of paper and pen to jot down notes while I explained everything to him. “We can’t just break up after a couple of dates, because our moms will think this was just a fling. And they might hope that we would get back together in the future.”
“So…?”
Jeez, it would probably be easier talking to a toddler. “So we have to convince them that these two weeks are serious and when we break up, it’s for good. No ifs, maybes, or buts about it. We’re done.”
“It would probably help if you two got hot and heavy while you were at it,” Aly added with a grin.
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes as I held in a gag. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Okay, maybe not exactly hot and heavy, but youaregoing to have to kiss for real. Rain or not.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “No one is going to believe you’re actually dating if you don’t kiss at least once.”
Jake and I gave each other weary looks before I caved and wrote down the wordkissin my notes. “Fine, we’ll kiss in front of Mom and Mrs. Adler… one of these days. Now let’s move onto more enjoyable things, like how we’re going to break up.”
“You mean we can’t just break up, either?” His left eyebrow rose. “Why can’t anything be simple with you?”
“Because simple is forgettable. And we want our breakup to make an impact.” I tapped the top of my pen against my left cheek. “So, any ideas?”
