Page 30 of Fake It Till You Break It
A group of overeager freshmen came running down the hall, and I moved out of the way, pulling Rose toward the windows with me. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to go to his room and snoop around. Find traces of new music or anything.” She let out a deep breath. “I would do it myself, but he’s basically banned Greg and me from coming over because we’ve been bugging him so much about the festival. Plus, since you two are ‘dating,’ it should be easy for you to get in.”
“I could, but I don’t know…”
“Please?” Leaning her elbow on the windowsill, she propped her chin on the palm of her hand. “I tried to ask Jake a bunch of times, but he’s just so stupid and stubborn.”
“Seriously, he never gives in to anything.” I coughed and tugged on the end of my ponytail. “Well, sometimes he does when I beg him to. Even if it means driving across town to buy a new pot of orchids that I accidentally let die even after I swore to my mom that I’d take care of it.”
The edges of Rose’s lips quivered, but she attempted to look serious. “Even though you’re insulting him, that basically sounds like a compliment.”
“It’s not. I’m just… stating the truth. That’s all.”
“Uh-huh.” Her lips pursed like she wanted to say something, but she just shook her head. “I have to go find Greg, but call me later if you find anything in his room. And thanks so much for helping.”
“No problem. Wait a minute, I didn’t say I’d help—”
“Too late! No take backs!” She practically ran down the hall, mowing down a couple of kids like she was on the football field. “Lunch is on me! Thanks again.”
Gah, I was already worried about how to apologize to Jake without actually having to apologize, and now I had to sneak into his room and basically invade his privacy. Maybe I should just apologize later after all… for the crime I was about to commit.
IT ACTUALLY WASN’Tthat hard to sneak into his house because I already had a spare key from Mom. We were always running back and forth between each other’s houses. Lots of times Mom and Mrs. Adler sent us back and forth just as an excuse to see each other. Like we needed strawberries at four in the afternoon on a Saturday.
No one was home, so I just let myself in and went straight to Jake’s room. The door was slightly ajar and squeaked when I came in. Even though I knew I was alone, I couldn’t help wincing at the loud sound.
His room was super tidy as usual. There was nothing on theground. His shoes were stacked in the corner beside his bookcase, which had all the books lined up neatly with the spine sticking up in the right direction. Even his bed was made like a display at Bed Bath & Beyond. My room was the complete opposite. My bookcase at home was filled with books, magazines, and a bunch of bobby pins and gum wrappers. Plus, my bed hadn’t been made in a month.
The only thing on his desk was his laptop, lid open. How and where would I even find out if Jake had any new music? I doubted he’d have anything written anywhere. And if he did, he’d probably saved it on his laptop.
Holding my breath, I turned it on, but the password prompt popped up. Crap. What could his password be? I tried his and Mrs. Adler’s birthdays, but neither worked. I tried Finn’s birthday and even “Adler Brothers,” but those still didn’t work. Gah. Only two more tries left.
I half-heartedly snooped around his desk and bookcase for clues, but I was pretty much ready to give up. It could be anything. His favorite movie. His secret crush. A nickname.
Just then a picture slid out from between a biology textbook and the firstLord of the Ringsbook. I caught it before it hit the ground and flipped it over. To my surprise, it was a picture of Jake and me on Halloween when we were six. Mom and Mrs. Adler made us dress up as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They took a hundred pictures that night and kept calling us the Dynamic Duo.
Why would he keep this picture?
Chewing on my lower lip, I glanced over at the laptop. A nickname… there’s no way.
With no other ideas, I sat back in his desk chair and typed the wordsDynamicDuointo his laptop and boom! I was in.
With a whoop, I clicked on his browser, but before I could start snooping, Jake’s mail inbox popped up. I blinked at the long list of unopened emails from Finn. Jeez, how many emails did Finn send him? The page went on forever. Almost one every week for a year. In between the occasional emails from school.
I didn’t even know that they were still in touch. I don’t think anyone did. Well, if this could even be considered being in touch.
One thing was for sure, Finn was dying to be back in Jake’s life. Except now Jake was the one who was keeping him away. But maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do. After all, they were brothers. Family isn’t exactly something you can avoid forever.
Maybe… he just needed someone to help nudge him into doing the right thing. Someone who knew thatthiswas what he needed no matter what he said. In my heart, I knew that he needed to see Finn again. Just ignoring him wouldn’t help anyone. After all, they were brothers.
As I chewed on my thumbnail and debated what to do, itwas like Finn’s emails were glowing, almost pulsating, and I couldn’t look away. I just couldn’t leave and do nothing now.
He’d be pissed at me if I butted in, though. Really pissed. Probably wouldn’t talk to me again for a while. If ever again. Then again, since we were planning to get out of each other’s lives anyway, I guess I was the right person for the job. The only person.
Before I lost my nerve, I snapped a picture of Finn’s email address and shoved my phone into my pocket. But when I started opening his folders, there was the sound of a car coming up the driveway. I peered out the window and saw Mrs. Adler parking the car.
Time was up. I shut off the laptop and came out of Jake’s room just as Mrs. Adler came into the house. She jumped when she saw me, and her hand flew to her chest. “Oh my God, Mia. You scared me.”
“Sorry, I just wanted to drop off…” My mind whirled in overdrive. “Jake’s sweatshirt. He lent it to me the other day, and I washed it for him.”
