by Emily Lowry
I smiled back, not sure what she could want. We knew each other pretty well through her friendship with my sister, but it’s not like we hung out much alone. “Your trumpet should be fixed in a few days. They’ll buff that dent right out. Or whatever they do.”
“Great!” She didn’t make any move to leave.
I looked at her for a moment, and then realized what she must want. “Do you need a ride to our place?”
“No, actually. Zoe’s busy with Mason this afternoon.” She paused.
I waited. She shuffled from foot to foot.
“Nina, is there something I can help you with?”
“You were with Amber?”
That was a weird question, but I didn’t point it out. “Yeah, she’s a friend.”
“Great,” Nina said, nodding.
Why was she acting so strange? She was usually funny, goofing around. The only other times I had seen her act like this was when something was bothering her… but usually in those situations, she would go straight to Zoe to rant. It never involved me.
I peered at her cautiously. “Are you okay?”
“We need to talk.”
I groaned. I’d already done a lot of talking today. “What about?”
“Us,” Nina said. Her big, dark eyes were wide and slightly frantic.
What was going on?
“You can’t break up with me, too.” I joked.
“No,” Nina said quickly. “Not yet, anyway.”
“Not yet?”
“Maybe we should get in your car.”
Mystified, I unlocked the doors and slid into the driver’s seat. It was warm from the afternoon sun. I looked at Nina, who was shaking as though she had too much caffeine.
“Alright, better tell me what’s on your mind before you explode,” I said.
Nina glanced around nervously, as if she was worried about being caught. Which was also strange — I’d driven her home several times before. Usually Zoe was with us, but it’s not like people would think we were together or anything, if that’s what she was worried about.
Oh. Unless Parker actually thought we were together.
No. Impossible. But, on the off-chance that she was serious earlier, even something as simple as talking to me would put Nina in jeopardy. I opened my mouth to tell Nina I would set Parker straight, but she started talking before I could say a word.
“I have this idea,” Nina said. “But it’s going to sound crazy, so I need you not to judge me.”
I grinned. “Okay — but if it’s really, really crazy, I might judge you a bit.”
“You’re not allowed.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I could tell you I wouldn’t judge you, but I can’t if I don’t know what the idea is yet. I don’t want to lie to you.”
“Fine, you can judge me, but you have to keep it yourself.”
I laughed. “Seems fair.”
Nina vibrated in the passenger seat. Then, she let everything out in a blur of words. “I think that you and I should date because I think that it solves all of our problems with Parker and me with my mom and I think that it’s a good idea if we just think about it a bit but I think we should do it.”
She flopped her head back against the headrest, breathless.
“I’m gonna be honest — I didn’t hear half of that,” I said. I had picked out a couple words though — date, problem, Parker. I added, “tell me again. But this time, a little slower so that a human can understand you.”
Nina let out a deep breath. “I think we should pretend to date each other.”
Was this some kind of prank?
“You really know how to win a boy’s heart,” I said.
“I’m serious,” she said. She fiddled with the air conditioning control. “If my mom thinks I have a boyfriend, I won’t have to kiss Edward Stewart for Mayhem Under the Mistletoe.”
“Because you’d kiss... me instead?” I was struggling to understand what she was saying.
“Conveniently, you wouldn’t be able to make it for the night of the party.”
“I see,” I said. “So, basically, you want to use me as a pretend boyfriend, because you really don’t want to kiss Edward Stewart.”
“Really, really don’t want to.” Nina ran her finger along the dash, leaving a trail in the dust. “You don’t clean the inside of your car a lot, do you?”
“Generally speaking, when you’re trying to date someone, you don’t pick at their cleaning skills.” I smiled. She was nervous. And when Nina was nervous, she picked out little things. It was simultaneously one of her most endearing and annoying traits.
“Sorry,” Nina said.
“It’s all good,” I said. “And I’m down — you can tell your mom that we’re dating.”
“If I just tell her, she won’t believe it. We might have to actually… do a bit of acting.”
“Like in public?”
Nina nodded.
That would be a problem. I had no issue with Nina pretending that I was her boyfriend to get out of kissing some guy. Quite frankly, it was ridiculous that her mom was pushing her to do this. In my view, no one should ever be forced into anything. However, if she needed us to be seen in public, that would be something I just couldn’t do.
I shook my head sadly. “Sorry, Nina.”
“Am I that embarrassing to be seen with?” Her face clouded.
“It’s not that at all. You know that Parker’s after me,” I said. “If you pretend to date me, she’ll come after you. And there’s no way I’m going to put you in her line of fire. I’d never do that to a friend.”
“But that’s the whole point — we can do each other a favor. You get me out of my kiss, and I take the blow from Parker so you can move on to an actual healthy relationship. Like with Amber or whatever.”
That… that actually made sense. Parker wouldn’t spend the rest of her life destroying my relationships — she would only want to destroy the next one. So, if I had a fake girlfriend, she would just destroy the fake relationship and think that she had won. Then I could move on to having real relationships again.
But Nina would be at Parker’s mercy.
“Are you sure you’ve thought about this?” I asked. “Parker will come for you — and if it’s you in particular, she’ll come hard. I could even just be your date for the Christmas Eve party. We don’t have to kiss or anything. And you don’t have to do this. We’re friends — I’m totally cool with just doing you a favor.”
“Exactly my point — we’re friends,” Nina said. “That’s why I want to do this. What are friends for if not to help each other out?”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Because if everyone thinks you’re dating me, it’s going to be pretty hard for you to find a real boyfriend.”
Nina waved my concern away. “I don’t have time for a real boyfriend. Don’t really want one right now, anyway.”
I took a deep breath. This plan was crazy, but it might just work. “Alright. If you’re sure you want to do this, I’m in.”
Nina extended her hand.
We shook.
“But, just so you know, we will need to tell Zoe,” I said.
“Obviously. Want me to tell her?” Nina offered.
“I should probably be the one to do it.”
9
Nina
It was a chilly November evening, and Callie, Kenzie, and I were hanging out at Hideaway Beach. Zoe was busy on yet another date with Mason. Wisps of gray clouds were painted across the pale blue sky, and a cool breeze came to shore with the tide. It wasn’t cold enough to make my teeth chatter; just cold enough for a knitted sweater and a hot chocolate.
And a fire — which Callie was currently in charge of. Kenzie and I offered to help her build the fire, but she insisted we’d just get in her way.
So, instead, we sat on a log and watched while our friend worked.
For the better part of the night, I’d been trying to summon
the courage to tell them about my fake relationship with Tyler. But it was hard to act with conviction when I could barely believe what was happening myself. A fake relationship? Like, seriously? And with my best friend’s brother? My best friend’s brother, who was ridiculously hot and dated girls like Parker in real life?
“You look like something’s on your mind,” Kenzie said. She swept her dark hair to the side and adjusted her glasses. She was wearing her debate team jacket — not because she wanted to show-off, she insisted, but because it was warm. Callie, who was still dressed in cut-off shorts and a t-shirt, was quick to point out that no one would ever wear a debate team jacket if they were trying to show off.
“Care to share?” Kenzie asked.
“It’s probably about trumpets, or music, or Beethoven’s tenth symphony, or something like that,” Callie said. She crumpled a piece of newspaper into a ball and stuffed it under a stack of logs. Then, she drew a lighter from her pocket — which neither of us questioned her on, because it was Callie, so of course she had a lighter in her pocket — and held the flame under the paper. It caught, and quickly there was a blazing fire.
“I’m not always thinking about music,” I said. “And for your information, Beethoven only wrote nine symphonies.”
“So what were you thinking about then, smartypants?” Callie blew into the fire.
“Dating.”
Callie gave me a sideways glance. “Dating in a general sort of way, or is there a name we need to hear?”
I took a deep breath. “It’s Tyler.”
For a moment, everything was quiet except for the crackling of the fire. Callie and Kenzie exchanged glances before turning their attention to me.
It was Kenzie who spoke first. “You don’t mean Tyler, like, Zoe’s brother Tyler?”
I grinned mischievously.
About a thousand questions burst from Kenzie’s mouth at once: When did this happen? How did this happen? Why did this happen? Does Zoe know? Are you going to tell her? Have you already kissed? Are you going to kiss? Is he a good kisser?
Callie didn’t ask questions. She just stared at me like she was looking at some bizarre creature locked away in a zoo.
“Easy,” I said to Kenzie. “It’s a little more complicated than that. Tyler is telling Zoe, so yes she knows. And technically, we’re not really dating. It’s a fake relationship.”
Callie raised her eyebrows so high they left her head. “A fake relationship? Why?”
“We both have things we want and we figured this was the best way to get them,” I said. I explained the situation. They both listened patiently, though I caught them exchanging several skeptical glances.
In the end, it was Callie who voiced her opinion. “So... You pretend to date Tyler. You invite him to your Christmas Eve party. And then, during that stupid picture your mom does, he’s just not going to kiss you?”
“He won’t be there,” I said. “I’ll just say that he has somewhere else to be that night. And if I have a boyfriend — or at least my mom thinks I have a boyfriend — she won’t make me kiss anyone. So, problem solved.”
Callie poked at the fire with a stick, sending a shower of sparks in the air. “And in exchange for this, you’re putting yourself in Parker’s warpath. Don’t know if I’d take that deal.”
“I’m also not sure about this,” Kenzie said.
I gritted my teeth. Couldn’t they just be supportive — even if my idea was questionable? I stared into the fire, letting my vision blur over the glowing embers. “And what are you not sure about?”
Kenzie shrugged. “I just don’t see why Tyler would enter a relationship — even a fake one — with someone he’s not actually interested in. Are you sure he’s not interested in you? Because if he is, seems to me that this will just end in disaster.”
I shook my head. “He is definitely not interested. I saw him with Amber Bateman today, and I’m pretty sure they were flirting. Which makes sense. They both love sports — gives them a lot in common.”
“Sounds like a leap.” Callie rolled her eyes and jabbed at the fire again. An ember shot out towards me.
I yelped and jumped back. “It’s not a leap. It’s perfect. We just do this until the new year, and that way, we would both get what we want.”
“Well, what about the other potential outcome? What if you develop feelings for him?” Kenzie asked. “He is fantastic looking. And popular.”
And I wasn’t. The unspoken words were louder than anything else that had been said.
“I’ve known him since I was a little kid. I could never see Tyler like that.”
“If you say so,” Kenzie said, her voice dripping with skepticism.
The breeze turned, and smoke from the fire blew in Callie’s face. She coughed and shifted to a different spot on the beach. “All right. Let’s play this out. You said your mom refuses to listen if you just tell her you have a boyfriend. So how are you going to show her you have a boyfriend without being so, I don’t know, obvious that you’re faking it?”
I’d thought about that a lot. How was I supposed to prove that I had a boyfriend? Fortunately, I came from a very tight-knit family. And the thing that brought my family together more than anything else? Gossip.
“Beachbreak will be announcing their Candy Cane events soon,” I said. The Candy Cane events were a series of Christmas-themed events that the entire town took part in. “And you both know how much my family loves Christmas. So, there’s a good chance that I’ll see different family members at each event. All I need is for Tyler to come with me to each event, act all coupley, and sure enough, the gossip will get back to my mom.”
Callie tossed a stick in the fire. “It’s not a bad plan.”
I raised my eyebrows. “But you don’t think it’s a good plan either?”
She glanced at me and tugged on one of her blond braids. “It’s fine — as long as you’re sure he’s not interested in you. And you’re double sure you’re not interested in him.”
I hesitated for breath, then I said, “I’m sure.”
“And how does Zoe feel about this?”
10
Tyler
High Street was almost empty when I met Zoe after her dance rehearsal.
She marched out of her studio wearing yoga pants, and she was sweating. She drew her long hair up in a ponytail and looked at me suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”
I smiled. “I’ve come to walk you home.”
“It’s only a ten-minute walk.” Zoe narrowed her eyes. “It’s not like I need an escort.”
“You sure about that? I thought you’d be lonely without Mason to keep you company today.”
Zoe blushed and smiled. “He’s sweet.”
“He is,” I agreed. “Just don’t tell that to anyone on the football team.”
We walked down the street, headed towards home. Our pace was more leisurely than usual.
“Is it true that the team calls him Twinkle Toes?”
I laughed. It was true, all right. As soon as everyone found out about Mason’s new interest in dance, he earned the nickname Twinkle Toes almost overnight. But he owned it. And, somewhat surprisingly, the better he got at dance, the better he got on the football field. Even the coaches were complimenting him on his footwork in the pocket. There were rumors that they wanted the rest of the team to take dance classes too.
“That’s his name, isn’t it?” I asked.
“If you say so,” Zoe replied, grinning. Her stomach grumbled.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
We made our way to one of the food trucks parked along the road by Highline Beach. Midnight Burrito was one of our favorites — we were both suckers for Mexican food — and their carnitas were the best in town.
After we placed our orders, we sat on a picnic bench while we waited for our meal.
It was quiet tonight. Lazy waves rolled against the shore, and the setting sun turned the few clouds from silver to gold. The only sounds we
re that of our food sizzling on the grill, and the occasional squawk from a swooping seagull.
While it was peaceful enough outside, I was not feeling the same peace inside. I was worried about how Zoe would respond when she found out that I was in a “relationship” with Nina. As much as I liked to annoy my sister, I never wanted to make her angry. And this? This was something that could make her furious. I didn’t want her to think that I was using Nina to escape Parker.
“I’ve got something to tell you,” I said. “And I wanted you to hear it from me first.”
Zoe eyed me suspiciously. “Ominous.”
I took a deep breath. “Nina and I…”
Zoe’s eyebrows shot up. “Nina and you…”
There was no simple way to say it, was there? I had to just spit it out. I looked my sister in the eye. “Nina and I have started a fake relationship.”
Zoe blinked. Emotions I didn’t recognize swirled across her face until she settled on a confused frown. “I understand all the words you said, like individually, but I don’t understand how you put them all together. Nina and you have started a fake relationship? What does that even mean?”
“It means that for the next bit, it’s going to look like we’re dating. Even though we’re not. And only a handful of people are going to know the truth — including you. So, we’d appreciate it if you kept it quiet.”
“The fake part or the relationship part?”
“The fake part.”
A bell rang on the food truck. I started to stand, but Zoe stopped me.
“I’ll get it,” she said, standing. “I need a breath to process exactly what’s happening here.”
I nodded. Now that I had said our plan out loud, it sounded a little crazy. Okay, a lot crazy. How were Nina and I going to make it look like we were in a convincing relationship? Sure, we had some chemistry, but not enough that we were an obvious pairing. I was a football player; she was a band geek. We ran in different social circles; we had different interests. Really, the only thing we had in common was Zoe.
