Page 26 of Fake It Till You Break It
“Huh?” I looked up at my mom staring expectantly at me. The fluttery feelings melted away into panic. For a second, I had forgotten she was here.
Crap. I couldn’t tell her that these were from Ben. Especially since I was still in the honeymoon phase with Jake.
“I… uh…” Apparently my stupid brain decided thatnowwould be the perfect time to take a break. Like during my Spanish final last year.Mi estupido cerebro.I knew that now because I had to retake the Spanish class this past summer. “Oh,theseflowers. They’re from… Jake!”
“Yeah?”
I swung around just as Jake and his mom came up our driveway. God, what were the chances that they would show upnow?
“Jake!” I rushed over to his side and gave him a quick hug. “I just got your note and flowers. You’re so sweet. You know you could have just given them to me during our date.”
“I—flowers?” His eyes narrowed in confusion as he looked back and forth between the car, my mom, and me.
Thinking quickly, I pulled his head down to give him a kiss. Just a soft one on the lips before murmuring, “Just go with it.”
Jake stayed frozen like that for another second or two, our lips just barely touching, before pulling away from me. He looped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed me. “I just wanted to surprise you before our date.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, I glanced over at our moms watching us like we were a Lifetime movie. Their hands were clasped together in front of their chests, and they were practically leaning against each other.
“I didn’t know you had such a romantic son, Lily,” Mom said with a nudge in Mrs. Adler’s side. “Although you really should have remembered about Mia’s allergy to daisies.”
Mrs. Adler gasped. “How could you forget?”
“I…” Jake scratched at the side of his neck and laughed. “I remembered something about Mia and daisies so I thought that was her favorite flower. The allergy part must have slipped my mind.”
I patted his arm. “It’s okay. You still get points for trying.”
Mom nodded and waved us along. “No harm done. It’s the thought that matters. We’ll get rid of the flowers for you. Go have fun on your date.”
“Maybe we could drop them off with Jess down the street,” Mrs. Adler said as she grabbed the flowers from my car. “She’s been feeling so down since her dog died.”
“That’s a good idea. I just baked some lemon cookies, too…”
As soon as our moms went into the house, I pulled away from Jake and let out a deep sigh. “Thanks for helping me out.”
“No problem.” He shoved his hands in his pocket. “Who are the flowers really from?”
I glanced down at the note and slid it into my bag. “Oh, just someone in the theater group. It’s nothing.”
He let out a low whistle. “I don’t know. Dropping off flowers at your house. That’s a lot of trouble for just nothing. I guess this means you’ll be going to prom after all.”
My cheeks felt flushed. “We’ll see. It’s still early.”
“Uh-huh. Well, remember to tell Theater Boy about your allergies before he gets you a daisy corsage or something.” His voice had a mocking tone to it as he crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of my car.
Instead of responding, I shrugged and started walking down the driveway. Jake had to spin on his heels to follow me.
I don’t know why, but it felt weird to talk to Jake about Ben. Maybe it was because I still didn’t really know what Ben and I were now, much less what we would be when prom came around. Plus, it might not even go anywhere, so it was pretty hard to explain. Especially to someone who was supposed to be my boyfriend. And someone I kissed from time to time. Even if it was all fake.
We didn’t say anything else as we crossed the street to his car. Jake suddenly quickened his footsteps to pass me up and got to the driver side before I even reached the sidewalk. Instead of getting in, though, he just stood there watching me with a funny look on his face.
Once I got to the passenger side, Jake opened his door. But he still didn’t get in. “Mia?”
“Yeah?”
He cleared his throat. “I remembered that you were allergic to daisies. That time in fourth grade when we had the field trip to the nature center. Remember? You started sneezing so badly in the greenhouse that I had to sit with you in the courtyard while Mrs. Conrad called your mom to come get you.”
I stared at him. “I forgot all about that. You even went home with us that day.”
