Page 40 of My Fake Relationship With the Popular Boy
“Really?” she asked in surprise.
“Yeah, why?” I suddenly felt self-conscious about my choice. “Don’t you like it?”
“I do,” Madison said. “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you get something other than a French manicure.”
I loved French manicures because I knew they would never clash with my hair. Being a ginger was rough when it came towearing colours. But I knew this shade of blue looked good on me already, so I wasn’t too worried.
“Well, Jaxon likes this colour on me and I trust his taste,” I said.
Madison rolled her eyes but she had a big smile on her face. “You guys are too cute.”
I blushed and looked down at the nail polish bottle.
“It’s not a big deal,” I murmured.
Honestly, I was a little embarrassed that Jaxon liking the colour made such a difference to me. I shouldn’t have cared what he thought. It wasn’t like he was really my boyfriend or anything.
“Sure, it’s not,” Madison said breezily. She picked up a lilac nail polish bottle. “Come on.”
We were seated at tables next to each other while we got our manicures, which was perfect as far as Madison was concerned, because she really wanted to talk to me.
“Okay, so,” Madison said, once we were settled in. “You need to tell me everything.”
“About what?”
“About Jaxon!” she exclaimed. “We’ve barely been alone since you guys stared dating so I haven’t had the chance to ask. How did this start? What’s it like dating him? Is he nice to you? He’s been acting weirdly nice when we’re together in a group but I want to make sure he’s like that all the time because if he’s not, I’ll kick his ass.”
She stared at me expectantly but all I did was stare back with wide eyes. I was extremely overwhelmed by the number of questions she had just asked and had no idea how to answer.
“Um…” I managed to get out.
“Okay, okay, too many questions,” she said. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Got it. So just answer this: how the heck did this start?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. I giggled a little, more out of awkwardness than anything else. “It just sort of happened out of nowhere.”
“I need you to give me a little more than that, Vi.”
“I don’t know what there is to say.” I shrugged helplessly with one shoulder. “He waited for me in the janitor’s closet one day and?—”
Madison’s nose wrinkled. “The janitor’s closet? Why?”
“It’s the spot at the end of the passageway by my locker,” I said. The moment played out in my mind as I explained it to her. Had that really been less than two weeks ago? It felt like it had been forever. “It was nice. Like the one private place in the whole school. And then he just… asked me out.”
“I guess that is sweet,” Madison admitted. She tilted her head. “Though, I’m a little surprised you said yes.”
“You’re the one who said it was about time I started dating him!”
“Well, yeah, everyone could see what a great couple you two would make,” Madison said.
I wasn’t even going to touch that can of worms. I didn’t know how I could ask about that without making it obvious that I wasn’t really dating him.
“So, why are you surprised then?” I asked.
“Because everyone could see it but you, Violet!” she said. “I thought you hated him.”
“I didn’thatehim,” I said. “I just wouldn’t have considered us friends, necessarily.”
“Even if you didn’t hate him, you didn’t like him much,” Madison said. “I thought it was going to take a couple more years for you to finally realize that you wanted to be with him.”
