The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney

by Lauren Barnholdt

  Lexi shoots me a “Why is she hitting on your boyfriend?” look.

  “Maybe later,” Jared says. “I want to check out the new Modcon game.”

  “Luke?” Kim asks, giving him a smile and a coy look. “You wanna DDR with me?” She leans toward him. I shoot Lexi a look as if to say, “See! She wasn’t hitting on my boyfriend, she’s just a flirt.”

  “Maybe later,” Luke says, taking off after Jared.

  This is going beautifully! Not only is the A-list not making a big deal about me being here, but now the boys are going to be in a completely different section of the arcade, and Katie will be busy playing Skee-Ball! I am so good at this! Seriously, if I had known it would be this easy to pull off a fake relationship, I wouldn’t have been stressing so much earlier.

  For the next hour, Lexi, Kim, and I play DDR while the boys check out Modcon Five. Luckily, the Skee-Ball game is right next to us, so I’m able to keep an eye on Katie. Kim turns out to be surprisingly cool, and the arcade is so loud that it’s almost impossible to talk, so I don’t have to worry about dodging any conversation bullets.

  When it’s time to leave, I have four quarters left over and I put them in the DDR machine on our way out.

  “Sweet,” Jared says, jumping up onto the game next to me. The music starts playing, and I’m so thrown off by the fact that I’m actually DDR’ing with Jared Bentley that I mix up some of the steps.

  “Come on, Devi,” Jared says. “You gotta clear this level.”

  This almost messes me up more, but I force myself to concentrate, and when Jared and I both clear the level, he hugs me, which makes Lexi smirk like she’s in on some kind of secret. And it makes my face feel so hot that I’m afraid Lexi will notice how red I am.

  By the time we walk out of the mall, I’m starting to think that maybe I can pull this off. All I have to do is mooch off of Lexi’s newfound popularity for the next week or two, and then I can stage a breakup and forget this whole thing ever happened.

  “Hey,” Jared says to me, when we’re all standing on the curb, waiting for our respective rides. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” He grabs the sleeve of my sweater, and I almost faint.

  “Um, sure,” I say, praying Katie doesn’t chose this moment to break into another round of K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Thankfully, she’s silent, holding Lexi’s hand and playing with a small blue plastic pony she got by turning in her Skee-Ball tickets.

  “Listen,” Jared says, once we’re a safe distance from the group. I can see Lexi over his shoulder, trying to see what’s going on. “I have to ask you something.”

  “Sure,” I say, trying not to become mesmerized by his blue eyes. Is it possible that Jared is in love with me already? That it took one night of hanging out for him to realize we’re supposed to be together? This means I totally won’t have to even make up any more lies! Because Jared and I will ACTUALLY BE TOGETHER.

  Jared leans in close to me, and for a second, I think he’s going to kiss me. “Do you think Lexi likes me?” he whispers.

  “What?” I ask, taking a step back.

  “Lexi,” he says. “Could you talk to her for me, find out if she likes me?”

  “Why?” This is not happening.

  Imagined Conversation:

  Jared: Lexi, will you go out with me?

  Lexi: Aren’t you going out with Devi?

  Jared: No, why would you think that?

  Lexi: Because that’s what she told me.

  Jared: What a liar. Let’s tell everyone in school and ruin her life.

  “Because she’s totally hot,” Jared says now, smiling. He must mistake my shock and silence for agreement, because he pats me on the shoulder and says, “Thanks, Devi. You rock.”

  He heads back to where everyone else is standing, and it takes all my strength not to collapse onto the pavement. Things just got three hundred times more complicated.

  chapter four

  Okay. This is not that big of a deal. I’m standing by my locker at school the next morning, thinking about how people have figured out problems way worse than this one. Like the Cuban Missile Crisis, for example. The country was on the brink of nuclear disaster, and it all worked out. So there is definitely a solution to the ridiculousness that is now known as my life. I just have to figure out what it is.

  “Ooh-la-la,” Mel says when she sees me. I’m wearing a pair of cute jeans and a tank top with a beaded sweater over it. My hair has been blown straight, and I am wearing pink lip gloss. This is my new look. I have decided that I can take my old, cute summer wardrobe and update it a little to make it warmer. “Dressing up for the boyfriend, are we?”

  “Not funny,” I say. I grab my math book out of my locker, slam it shut, and look around nervously. If I’m going to pull this off, I’m going to have to stay on top of every situation. Which means knowing where Lexi and Jared are at all times. I have no idea where they are right now. I’m obviously off to a very bad start.

  “Here,” Mel says, handing me our BFF notebook. Our BFF notebook is a blank, pink-and-purple-bound book that we use to write notes to each other. We keep passing it back and forth. We’ve done this since the fifth grade, and we’ve gone through at least eight or nine notebooks. Mel must have written in it last night.

  “Thanks,” I say, sliding it into my bag. I feel like a fraud. How can I deserve to be part of our BFF notebook when I told Lexi that Mel likes Jared? I slide my finger along the top of the notebook, wondering how I’m going to tell Mel about her crush on Jared. Maybe I’ll just die from guilt and no one will ever find out what a huge liar I am.

  “So how did it go last night?” Mel asks. “You had your away message up all night, and I tried to call, but no one answered.” A second wave of guilt starts to slide up inside me. Last night when I got home, I ended up on the phone with Lexi until ten o’clock, when my mom finally caught me and made me get off. I noticed Mel beeping in on the caller ID, but I didn’t answer it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to her. It was just that I needed to do damage control. Well, as much as I could, anyway, given that the situation is a total disaster.

  “It went … okay,” I say slowly. “Except for the fact that Jared told me he has a crush on Lexi.”

  Mel gasps. “No!”

  “Yes,” I say.

  “After one day?” She frowns.

  “Yes, after one day,” I say.

  “So, wait.” Mel’s confused. As she should be. I mean, I was there and I don’t even really know how this all happened. “How did you pull off making her think the two of you were a couple?”

  “I have to find him,” I say, ignoring her. Eventually I am going to have to tell Mel that she supposedly has a crush on Jared, but I can’t right now. If she’s going to get mad at me, I need to have a clear head to deal with it. Besides, I read this thing somewhere about how if you want to be an effective person, you have to do the thing that’s the most important first thing in the morning. And right now, the most important thing is finding Jared and Lexi and keeping them away from each other. Far, far away. In another state would be okay, even.

  “Where is he?” she asks. She squints at herself in the mirror that’s stuck to the inside of her locker door and smoothes her hair.

  “I have no idea,” I say. “But I have to find him.” Suddenly I feel sick. Every moment Jared is out of my sight is a moment he could be with Lexi. And every moment he’s with Lexi is a moment he could be screwing things up. Ohmigod. What if Jared decides to take things into his own hands and tell Lexi he likes her? Or what if he starts flirting with her? Or what if Lexi decides she should let Jared know she’s in on the secret?

  “Come on,” I say to Mel. “We have to find him.” I grab her arm and start pulling her down the hall.

  “Devon, calm down,” Mel says. “And don’t pull my arm like that—it’s going to pop out of my socket.” She follows me dutifully down the hall, stepping on my heels at one point, but I don’t even really notice because I’m so focused on the task at hand.
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  And then I see him. He’s putting his stuff in his locker. Of course he’s at his locker. Where else would he be? It’s before first period. Everyone is at their lockers! Why did I not think of that before? I must learn to think logically about this situation and not let myself get out of control with craziness. Otherwise it could cloud my judgment and I could end up missing obvious things, like the fact that Jared would be at his locker before first period.

  “Oh, good, there he is,” Mel says. She points.

  “Shh!” I say, pushing her hand down. “Not so loud!”

  “Why?” she asks. “What’s the big deal?”

  “I dunno,” I say. “I can’t just be pointing at him!”

  “Why not?” Mel frowns. “Go talk to him. Didn’t you guys hang out all last night?”

  “Yes,” I admit. It’s one thing to talk to Jared when we’re out in a group, when Lexi’s around and he thinks I’m hanging out with her. It’s quite another thing to just go up to him and initiate conversation. What if he forgot who I am?

  “So, go on,” Mel says. “At least say hi to him. .We have to go that way to get to homeroom, anyway.”

  “That’s okay,” I say, watching as Luke comes walking down the hall from the other way. He stops at Jared’s locker and they start talking. I’m too far away to hear what they’re saying, but I’m sure it’s something very important. Something that shouldn’t be interrupted. “Really, all I wanted to do was make sure he wasn’t around Lexi. And now that I’ve done that, I’m fine.” I’m lying. Again. I’m not fine. My heart is beating erratically. Jared looks so hot. He’s wearing a blue sweater and khaki pants, and his hair is all shiny, like he just got it cut. Which is impossible, I know, since I just saw him last night, and I’m sure he hasn’t had time to get his hair cut since then.

  “Come on,” I whisper at Mel, pulling her down the hallway. “We gotta go.”

  “Devi!” someone yells from behind me. It sounds like Luke. I ignore it.

  “Uh, someone’s calling you,” Mel says.

  “I know,” I say. “Just keep going.” But then I feel a hand on my back.

  “Devi?” Luke says. “Hey.”

  “Oh, hi,” I say, making it out like I didn’t hear him. “How are you?”

  “I’m good,” he says. “Fine.” He looks from me to Melissa. “Hi, Melissa,” he says.

  “Hi,” Mel says shyly. How cute! He knows who Mel is.

  “Yo,” Jared says, coming up behind Luke in the hall. “What’s goin’ on?”

  “Nothing,” I say. It comes out as kind of a squeak, since suddenly my mouth is very, very dry.

  Must. Not. Freak. Out.

  “Jared and I were just talking about DDR,” Luke says, smiling. “He was saying that he and Lexi could beat you and me, but I was telling him that was impossible since you and I are obviously the best at DDR, and therefore we would make an unstoppable team.”

  What? Why is Jared referring to himself and Lexi as a team? I need to do damage control. Think, Devon, think. Maybe I should make up something really horrible about Lexi. Maybe that she used to be a stalker, and now she’s not allowed to date until her probation is up.

  “Yeah, Lexi actually doesn’t really like DDR,” I say. “After last night she said she never really wants to play it again.” In actuality, Lexi loves DDR. Over the summer, we’d play at least once a day at the arcade near my grandma’s house. We’d take the money Lexi’s mom gave her for lunch and change it into quarters, and if we got on a roll, we could make it last for hours. Lexi’s mom didn’t approve of DDR (she thought it was too boyish), and since the arcade was in the mall, sometimes we’d have to hide behind the pinball machine if we thought we saw one of Mrs. Cortland’s friends. It was kind of fun, almost like being undercover agents or something.

  “She seemed like she was having fun.” Jared frowns.

  “Yeah, well, she’s a really good actress,” I say. This is bad. Horrible, even.

  “She used to be in drama at her old school,” Mel offers helpfully.

  “Yes,” I agree. “The drama club. She did plays and all that.” Mel and I are nodding our butts off, as if that will make it true.

  “Um, okay,” Jared says, looking confused. “Did you have a chance to talk to her?”

  “Talk to who?” I ask, playing dumb. La, la, la.

  “To Lexi,” Jared says, sighing. “About what we talked about last night.”

  Before I can think of something witty and fun that will distract Jared from Lexi, she comes walking down the hall. Talk about horrible timing. Lexi, Mel, Jared, me, and Luke all in the same place. Great.

  “Hey, guys!” Lexi trills. She’s wearing a short jean skirt over black leggings and a black-and-white striped top. Her hair is straight, shiny, and parted in the middle.

  “Hey, there,” Jared says, practically drooling.

  “Well!” I say. “Time to get to homeroom.”

  “But the bell hasn’t even rung yet,” Luke says.

  “Yeah, Devi, don’t be a dork,” Lexi says. She smiles, showing off her braces.

  “Yeah, Devi,” Mel agrees, nodding. “Don’t be a dork.” I make a mental note to kill her later.

  “We were just talking about DDR,” Jared says. “I was saying that you and I could beat Luke and Devi any day of the week.”

  “Oooh, I don’t know,” Lexi says. “Devi was pretty good. We used to play all the time over the summer. I made her do it because I just love to—”

  “Actually,” I say, cutting her off, “I, uh, needed to talk to Jared about the, um, English assignment.” I shoot Lexi a look, to convey to her that she should take Luke and Mel away from me and my boyfriend. Then, in the very next moment, I try to give Jared a look that will say, “I need to talk to you about Lexi, that’s why I’m making everyone leave” and to Lexi will look like I’m saying, “Jared, I love you and I want to be alone with you, so let’s get rid of all these other people.”

  “Ohhh,” Lexi says, getting it. She smiles, and looks at Mel like she’s some kind of child who needs to be babysat. “Melissa, right? Can you show me where my homeroom is? I still don’t know my way around this place that well.” She grabs Mel and leads her away before Mel can answer.

  The bell really does ring then. “See you guys later,” Luke says, and takes off down the hall.

  Oh, thank God. Dodged a huge bullet there. I’m so busy congratulating myself for being so obviously brilliant that I almost forget that I’m supposed to be talking to Jared about a fake conversation I had with Lexi.

  “So,” he says, looking at me expectantly. Crap. Okay. Deep breath. I try to think logically about the situation, and not get caught up in panic and emotions, but it’s hard when he’s looking at me like that. His eyes are so blue. I realize how close he is to me, and I remember the way it felt last night when he hugged me after playing DDR. I feel my face start to get hot, and I will myself to focus on the situation.

  “So,” I say.

  “Did you talk to her?” He has a hopeful look on his face. How is this possible? That he likes Lexi? He doesn’t even know her! He’s hardly talked to her, even. I don’t think they’re in any of the same classes. Which means Lexi came here yesterday, ate lunch with Jared and the A-list, and not only got herself invited out with them, but also got him to like her. This is so unfair. Not only have I known him longer (if you count sitting near him in English as knowing him), but during all of our exchanges, I’ve been extremely witty. In fact, one time in English I brought up this amazing point about theme in Romeo and Juliet. And last year, in sixth grade, our teacher read my essay on Christopher Columbus out loud to the whole class. How is Jared not impressed by this?

  “Yes,” I say slowly. “I did talk to her.” Not sure this is the right answer, but I have to say something.

  “What did she say?” He’s looking at me eagerly. Oh, Jared, why, why, why? Lexi’s cute, but so am I! I’m losing it. I’m making up weird love poems in my head. Roses are red, violets are blue, Lex
i is cute, but I am too!

  “She said, uh, she said …” I look around desperately, but there’s really only one answer. “She said she’s not interested in you like that.” Jared looks shocked. Understandably so. I’m sure he’s never heard that before. That a girl isn’t interested in him like that. Which makes me wonder why he didn’t just ask Lexi out himself. Not that I’m complaining. That would have been completely disastrous.

  “She doesn’t like me?”

  “No,” I say forcefully, making sure I can drive the point home. The sound of my voice surprises me. Not only am I using my Devi voice, I’m using it to boss Jared around.

  “But—” Jared starts. The warning bell rings, signaling that we only have one minute to get to homeroom. Crap. I’m on the other side of the building. The logistics of all these interventions and stalkings is going to be a nightmare.

  “Well,” I say. “I should get to homeroom.”

  “Yeah,” he says, still looking confused. “See ya.”

  Once I’m out of his sight, I kick up my pace a notch so that I’m just short of running. I slide into my seat right before the bell rings. No sweat.

  “It’s more about what you think it means,” I say, looking at Mel over the table. We’ve in the library during study hall, working on our English assignment.

  “But that’s the problem,” Mel says, squinting down at the poem in front of her. “I don’t know what it means.”

  “You don’t have to,” I say. “There’s no right or wrong answer.” Mel frowns. “That’s the point of the exercise. To see how many different interpretations everyone comes up with, and then kind of show that poetry is really what you get out of it, regardless of what the writer intended.”

  “Oh,” she says. “So all I have to do is write what I think it means, and it doesn’t matter if it’s right or not?”

  “Yup.”

  “Thanks, Devon.” She starts writing happily in her English notebook for a second, and then stops. Her eyebrows knit together in concentration. “So, wait, what does it mean?”