I sigh. “When I say it out loud I hear how nuts I sound.”
“Let me get this straight.” Lana steps in front of me and starts applying her lipstick to my lips. “You’ve worked for months to save the Starlight for the chance to kiss this boy. And when you got the chance to kiss the boy, you went all Keanu Reeves inside the Matrix to avoid his lips just to hold out for the magic kiss from this same boy?”
“Hey! I love the drive-in theater too . . .” I start to protest, but she holds my chin still, continuing to apply the lipstick to my mouth. I focus on the vintage pink bathroom tiles and try to breathe through my nose.
“I think it’s great that you’re a closet romantic,” Lana says. “All these years you made fun of me for loving rom-coms and meanwhile, here you are, plotting out your first kiss for maximum enchantment.”
She swipes her finger under my bottom lip, turns to the sink, and twists the knob. “Now the faucet won’t go on?” she says. “If this isn’t a prank sink, it should be.”
“That’s it!” I snap my manicured fingers. “I know how we can fix our million-viewer dilemma.”
“Please stop thinking up ideas,” she says.
“No, this one is good,” I say. “We can prank Erik as our livestream.”
Lana thinks a moment. “That could actually work,” she says. “That way he won’t notice you’re acting all weird.”
“Right!” I say. “And I will definitely be acting all weird.” I rub my lips together, trying to get used to the tingly feel of them.
“But Erik is really tough to catch off guard,” she says. “His friends are always trying to get even with him so he’s constantly on high alert. He won’t even eat snacks from unsealed bags since a buddy replaced his barbeque chips with nuclear-grade Takis once. He was practically crying!” Lana grins. “That video has almost four million views so far.”
“How about if we just do something totally unexpected,” I say. “Like tell him you’re breaking up with him? That would explain me acting nervous.”
“A breakup prank could seriously backfire.” Lana cringes. “I have no idea how he’d react. Like, he could just laugh and shrug and that would be mortifying. Especially on the day of Digifest. Remember, this will be live. No do-overs.”
“I thought you guys genuinely liked each other,” I say. “At least, it feels real when he looks at me. I mean, when he looks at me and he thinks I’m you.”
Lana blushes.
“You were actually right before,” she says. “Back when you said our relationship was a publicity stunt. At least, that’s how things started.”
I realize my lips are getting more and more tingly. “Let me guess. Your momager at work?”
“Of course.” Lana explains how her mom researched ways of boosting subscribers and then interviewed several up-and-coming BubeTubers to play the role of Lana’s boyfriend.
“Like a casting call?” I cover my mouth.
“Don’t touch your lips.” Lana yanks my hand down. “Erik and I hit it off right away, so at least my mom let me make the final decision.”
“Gee,” I say. “How progressive of her.”
My lips are tingling so much I can’t help but rub at them with my palm.
“Ricki, stop!” Lana points to my reflection in the warped mirror. “Please look at yourself.”
My reflection now shows Lana’s face with pink lipstick spread wide around my mouth.
“Why’d you give me clown lips?” I ask.
“I didn’t give you clown lips,” she growls. “I applied the lipstick perfectly, and you’ve completely smeared it.”
“It was burning,” I say. “Are you sure Erik didn’t already beat you to a prank and put something peppery in your lipstick? A hot sauce packet, maybe?”
She laughs. “It’s a plumper.” At my confused look she adds, “It makes lips fuller. Look how nice it looks on me.” She smiles and frames her mouth with her hands.
“It causes swelling?” I immediately wipe the lipstick off my mouth with the back of my hand. “This cannot possibly be good for you!” I lunge to swipe the lipstick off of her too, but she ducks.
“Quit that,” she says. “It’s also a lip stain, so thanks a bunch, it’s going to be really hard to get off the rest of your face. And Erik is probably waiting by now.”
I whine pitifully. “Why is it still burning?”
Lana gets to work washing the lipstick off my face while grumbling that I’m worse than a toddler. Finally, she dries my mouth with a paper towel and takes a step back.
“I’ve never seen anyone so scared of a basic beauty product,” she says.
I smile at my fresh-scrubbed face reflected in the mirror. “Now these are the Lana lips I remember.” I blow myself a quick kiss.
My cousin has been watching me in silence. “I think I have a prank idea I can do as Ricki so you won’t even need to fool Erik.”
“That would be great,” I say. “That way I can help Jake deal with the jerk in the suit myself. What’s your idea?”
“It’s still coming together,” she says as she moves toward the door, “but I’m afraid of what will happen if I pull it off.”
“Don’t you mean you’re afraid of not pulling it off?” I say.
“No,” she says seriously. “Because if this prank goes the way I think it might, it will change everything.”
* * *
By the time I follow Lana out of the bathroom, Jake and Wes have shifted over to the playground, where they’re talking intently in front of the big white movie screen. The slick-looking guy in the suit paces back and forth beside his black sedan while angrily shouting into his cellphone.
Meanwhile, Erik is about four hundred feet away, adjusting a camera on a tripod beside the entrance marquee. The giant Starlight sign has a white light-up box at its center that boasts the two new releases we’re showing tonight as a double feature.
The movie titles are written in big block letters that Jake and I had to spell out last week using a super-long pole with a suction cup at one end. We tried to maneuver the pole together, but between all our dropping letters and laughing, it took us nearly two hours to spell out both titles.
I wished it had taken us longer.
“See if you can get Erik to frame our marquee in his shot,” I tell Lana. “The theater can use all the promotion it can get.”
“Got it. Wish me luck.” Lana smiles, and I realize that a fitted dress paired with heels and a lip plumper is perhaps not the worst look on me.
I reach up to give her tall back a pat and she struts toward Erik in a way that makes me hiss after her, “Remember that’s not your boyfriend.” She turns to give me a thumbs-up, causing her to stumble a bit in the heels. She flounders awkwardly a second before reclaiming her confident stride.
Giving me a more realistic glimpse of what I’d look like in that outfit and those heels.
* * *
I make my way over to where the slick-looking guy is just rejoining Jake and Wes by the playground. The guy looks pissed.
“Look, Westley,” he’s saying. “I don’t know what it is you have against money, but you could be living out the rest of your years as a very rich man. Do you really want to count on this drive-in taking care of you?”
Wes sits down hard on one of the swings and begins swinging, acting as if he isn’t listening.
I whisper to Jake, “What’s going on?”
He shakes his head and pulls me aside. “This guy is a real estate agent, and he listed the Starlight on MLA as being in pre-foreclosure without Wes’s permission. It’s a really underhanded way to make a commission,” Jake says. “But apparently, it’s not illegal.”
“It sounds like it should be,” I say. “Why doesn’t Wes just tell him to leave?”
“He’s been trying, but the guy is determined to make Wes change his mind,” Jake says. “There’s a ton of money to be made on the Starlight’s land, and he already has an offer on the table from MegaMart.”
My
heart sinks. “How much are they offering?”
“They love the property’s location and size.” Jake runs a hand through his hair. “Lana, they’re offering Wes three million dollars.” He frowns. “And I’m pretty sure that’s lowballing.”
“Oh no,” I say, and I feel tears spring into my eyes. “The drive-in would take decades to earn that much.” I hug my small waist and feel so powerless. “What does Wes think?”
“It’s a lot of cash, but the drive-in is special to Wes. It isn’t just about money,” Jake says, “it’s about community, and he loves that Ricki and I have worked so hard to keep this screen from going dark for good. Where is Ricki anyway?”
“Oh, she’s over by my boyfriend helping us out with something.”
Jake gives a suspicious glance to where Lana is talking to Erik at the front entrance. Her hand is on his arm, and even from this distance it looks like the two of them have a close connection to each other.
I want to shout at her to tone it down, but instead I move so I’m blocking Jake’s view of them.
“It’s just a small prank for our live video to promote Digifest,” I explain.
“And that’s more important than focusing on the reopening tonight?” Jake says. “She was supposed to make signs and help me get concession set up.”
“Ricki made me promise to pitch in with whatever grand reopening prep I can do in her place,” I say. “What do you need?” It’s so frustrating to not tell him it’s me, but I know in my tiny bird bones this is too much to believe.
Jake cranes his neck in an attempt to see past me. His look is so intense my heart races with adrenaline. He is so dang kissable. Why did I have to go and “Ricki” things up between us?
When I follow his gaze, I’m relieved to see Lana and Erik are talking earnestly from a respectable distance apart. Lana puts a hand to her mouth in surprise and Erik swoops close and puts an arm around her.
“Hey,” I say quickly to Jake, pushing his shoulder and pointing toward the playground to distract him. “Should we go rescue Wes?” The evil real estate guy is now sitting on the swing beside him, trying to talk to him each time Wes swings back and forth past him.
“I don’t know. Wes is acting weird,” Jake says.
“I refuse to believe he’s considering selling,” I say. “He’s worked just as hard as . . . you and Ricki.”
Jake says, “We can just hope that Wes has such a great time tonight he remembers why he loves the drive-in so much.”
“And if this is the end, this night needs to be even more incredible,” I say.
“You speak truth. Let’s do this.”
Jake grins at me and I can feel sparks shoot between us. He holds up a hand for me to high-five and I realize there’s a chance he mistakenly thinks he’s developing a crush on Lana.
I wrinkle my nose and give a repellant snort, breaking off our shared connection.
But Jake just lowers his un-high-fived hand and gives a small chuckle. He shakes his head in a way that says Lana’s face looks adorable when it’s snorting. Figures. And worse, he just might be open to giving up on me and falling for her.
I look over to see that Erik and Lana are still close-talking. I’m curious how the prank is going because their serious looks make me think she told him something important. Like maybe Lana cheated on him or something.
Which would be an especially mean trick to play seeing as everyone thinks I’m Lana now.
“I hope she’s okay,” I say.
“Who, Ricki?” Jake says.
“I’m not sure how much experience she has with playing pranks.”
Jake laughs. “Trust me, Ricki can be quite the trickster.”
I look at him, trying to decide if he’s talking about our near-kiss. Or possibly our other near-kiss.
I say, “I know her really well and there are some things Ricki takes very seriously. Like, maybe almost too seriously.” Like first kisses.
“It’s odd.” Jake tilts his head at me. “When I talk to you I’m reminded so much of Ricki.”
“She and I are awfully close,” I say.
“Yeah, well, I thought Ricki and I were close, and yet she barely mentioned you to me before.”
This has completely backfired. All I’ve done is made it seem as if I haven’t shared stuff with Jake.
“What I mean is, Ricki and I used to be close,” I say. “But we’re not anymore. I mean, not until today.”
“Things did seem pretty brutal between you two yesterday.”
“You don’t even know the half of it.” I laugh.
He grins at me and I feel that flicker of connection again. I realize it’s just the same electricity he and I have always shared. Ever since I first helped him jump his battery. I put a hand on his arm and feel a spark so strong I’m worried for a moment that the two of us are now changing places. But apparently one body swap per massively important event-filled Friday is the limit.
He’s still watching me. I’m Ricki, I think, but say, “Ricki made me promise to help you clean the fryer before she agreed to pull the prank for me. She loves . . . the Starlight.”
Jake looks over to where Lana and Erik are still talking by the entrance and his lip twitches into a smile. It’s obvious that whatever feelings he might have for me as Lana are nothing compared to the feelings he has for “Ricki-me” in any form.
He barely glances my way this time as he says, “Come on then, Lana. The Starlight’s illustrious fryer awaits.”
I resist the urge to give a flirty response about things heating up. Because flirting with my crush when he thinks I’m my cousin will not exactly simplify my life at this point.
chapter 14
Jake hands me a sponge and a bottle that says de-greaser in big blue letters. “Sorry, we’re out of work gloves,” he says.
“No problem.”
Jake eyes my perfect pink manicure. “You sure? What about Digifest tonight?”
“Oh, right.” I waggle my fingers in the air. “I’m supposed to care about these things.”
“Maybe you can just use a rag to shine the counter tiles?” he suggests.
Jake hands me a rag, stops, and exchanges it for a cleaner rag. Then he turns to the true work of scrubbing the fry tub. I’m frustrated to feel so useless as I delicately shine the already glossy red counter tiles.
I’m not afraid of wrecking Lana’s nails so much as making Jake think she’s some sort of super-chick he could fall in love with. Better to just act like a high-maintenance burden right now.
As I pretend to uselessly shine the counter, I say to Jake, “I wish the Property Prince of Doom would just give up and go already.” I gesture out the window to where he’s still on the playground, trying to win Wes over. “Wes keeps walking away to make short phone calls, but the guy refuses to take a hint.”
Jake puts down the fryer scrubber and moves over to the window for a better view. The two of us stand side by side, watching together as the men continue their playground game of chase. It’s strange to be so much shorter than Jake, and I feel like everything is just so big and overwhelming and out of control right now. The heaviness in my chest gives a ping and I wince.
“You okay?” Jake asks.
“The timing just seems so unfair.” And not just with the real estate guy. I rub at my chest and say, “That’s a ridiculous amount of money to turn down, but Wes would hate to see this place turned into a MegaMart.”
“Well, as the Property Prince of Doom kept saying, with three million dollars, Wes could move anyplace he wants and never have to see it change,” Jake says.
We’ve come so far and now it feels like there’s no way for us to win. I start to reach my fingers consolingly toward Jake’s hand, but then remember and shift away. Being with him when I can’t be myself is agony.
Jake and I continue watching as the greedy agent finally corners Wes and waves his business card in his face for the hundredth time. With slumped shoulders, Wes finally accepts the card.
; “No!” I say out loud, and Jake puts his hand on mine.
Looking satisfied, the man strides back to his black sedan. Wes looks at the card and sits down hard on the swing again. I hold my breath.
“Rip it in half,” Jake whispers beside me. “Just throw the card away.”
But Wes continues staring at the card as the swing sways slowly forward and back, forward and back. Finally, he stands, slides the card into his front pocket, and starts walking toward the concession shack.
When he gets closer, Jake and I scurry behind the counter, acting nonchalant as he enters the wide front door. Jake actually starts whistling while wiping the tiled counter with the greasy scrubber he was just using on the fryer. Completely destroying my nice clean shine.
“How’s it going?” Wes asks as he approaches the counter.
“We’re looking good for tonight,” I say with a bright smile. “Ricki is busy pushing social media out front and we’re getting the feed station all geared up.”
There’s an awkward pause, and Jake and I look at each other. I want to ask Wes if he’s thinking about selling the drive in, but realize I’m not ready to hear the answer to that question right now.
Wes turns to me and asks, “Have you spoken to your aunt May this morning, by any chance? I was trying to reach her but can’t seem to get through.”
“Oh, don’t worry. She’s not ignoring you,” I say.
“I didn’t think she was,” Wes says. “That is, until just now when you said that. Is your aunt May ignoring me?”
Jake laughs too hard, and Wes and I both look at him. He gestures out toward the marquee where Lana and Erik are standing way too close, and says, “Girls, huh, Wes? They’ll drive you nuts if you let them.”
“Listen, Wes,” I say. “May doesn’t have Wi-Fi at home and she often turns off her little flip phone, but I think she’s planning on coming tonight.”
“Well, yeah, she said she was coming.” Wes looks back and forth between us and I realize Jake and I are both interrogating Wes with our stares. “I’ll be in the office,” he finally says. “There’s some paperwork I need to look at.”
Freaky in Fresno Page 10
