by Amanda Ashby
I’m not girlfriend material. Not even close.
“You can’t possibly think it would work,” she said. “You don’t even know me.”
“Good point. We should rectify that. And what better way than spending three weeks together?” he said in a teasing lilt. “That’s where the T-shirt comes in. I’m volunteering to help with your toilets. It’ll be a win–win situation. What do you say?”
Very good question.
She had no idea.
Except she did.
She couldn’t pretend to date him, no matter how tempting it was. This crush she had was already going starry eyed. What would happen if she spent three weeks in his orbit? Her pulse hammered and she swallowed.
That was all the answer she needed.
“You don’t have to volunteer. I have Piper and Gareth.” And my wishful thinking. “As for dating, I’m really sorry, but—”
“Wait. Just hear me out,” he cut her off. “I know it’s tempting to say no, but I swear I’ll be able to help. You said you needed donations, right? Well, I’ve been told my whole life I talk too much. I have a million detentions to prove it. For once I could use my powers for good.”
Her head stopped spinning and she let out a slow breath.
Donations?
The sorry we can’t help you emails blinked in her brain.
“You really think you could do that?”
“Hell yes. Hey, I’ll show you.” He retrieved his phone and broke into a broad grin. “Tell me some of the people on your list.”
“Y-you mean now?” she stammered, trying not to get dragged into his whirling energy. It was the opposite of how she worked. She liked to plan and consider things carefully before going ahead. Not just do them on the fly.
“Sure. Why not?” He shrugged.
“Um…I was about to target some local contractors.”
“Perfect. My dad knows loads of them.” He shut his eyes, as if thinking. Then he swiped his screen and searched for a number. He lifted his phone to his ear and winked at her.
Her insides fluttered as she caught her breath.
“Oh hey, Bernie. This is Zac Mackenzie,” he said as he began to pace along the front porch. He got to the end and turned around. “Actually, it’s not what you can do for me, it’s what you can do for a village in Cambodia. My friend Norah spent all summer over there building toilets. Would you believe that in some countries less than half the population have their own toilet? Anyway, because she’s a legend she’s decided to run a charity auction at the high school. It’s going to be pretty huge. It’s in—” He frowned and looked at her.
“Three weeks,” she mouthed back to him. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
“It’s in three weeks, and we’re looking for donations. Not only will you be helping a great cause, it will be good publicity for your business.” There was a pause and Zac walked back in the other direction, obviously listening to what Bernie was saying. This time when he turned, he was grinning. “That’s great. Thanks. I’ll follow up with the details closer to the time. Bye.”
“So…what happened?” Despite herself, she hurried over to him, her heart pounding.
“A five-hundred-dollar voucher for landscape gardening,” he said, then frowned. “I probably should have asked if there was a minimum donation. I can call him back if you think that’s not enough.”
Five hundred dollars?
From one single donation.
“Are you joking?”
“No,” he said in a cautious voice. “I take it that’s a good thing? Because I meant what I said. If you help me, I’ll help you. Think of how adorable we’d be together. We have matching T-shirts.”
“You know that’s not a valid reason,” she said, but her lips twitched.
“I promise I’m house-trained. Parents love me. And…” He shot her a sly smile. “I’ve been told I’m a great kisser—”
“What?” she yelped and took a step back. He held up his hands.
“Okay, no kissing,” he quickly said. “See how good I am at taking direction? We can make this work. We’d be dating…but only on paper. And it’s only during school hours. The rest of your life will be your own.”
“Is getting back on the team really that important to you?”
The constant movement stopped, and his body stilled as the charming mask faltered. Dark shadows clouded his eyes. Pain. She didn’t know much about boys, but she knew when someone was hurt. Then he blinked and the shadows were gone.
“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t, Norah.”
Oh, the way he said her name. It was like warm syrup, all golden and sweet.
And he could get donations.
Stop her auction from being a disaster.
All I have to do is pretend to date him.
“Fine. I’ll do it. For three weeks I’ll be your girlfriend.”
The transformation was instant. His face broke into a smile, and he picked her up and spun her around. Clean soap and strong arms sent shockwaves along her body.
“You will? Norah, you’re the best,” he said, his arms tightening around her waist like she wasn’t almost as tall as him. Her heart hammered like a wild animal trying to escape from a cage.
“Zac, put me down.” She frantically wriggled until he lowered her to the ground.
“Too soon?” he said, giving her a sheepish smile, totally unaffected by the fact he’d been hugging her. At least he seemed to mistake her panic for shyness.
“Definitely.” She wrapped her arms around her torso to check her T-shirt hadn’t ridden up. That her scars weren’t visible. It hadn’t, and her breathing returned to normal. “So…what happens now?”
“I guess we make sure Myles sees us together. He usually hangs out at Liquid before school. We could go there.”
“I’ve got a conference call at seven,” she said. “It’s for the auction.”
He rubbed his chin. “Then it will have to be the cafeteria at lunchtime. You up for it?”
No. Not even close.
“Sounds fine,” she lied. “Though we should probably get some ground rules together.”
“Sure.” He gave her an easy smile as his phone beeped. The smile faded. “That’s my dad. I promised I’d help him.”
“What if we meet tomorrow before we go into the cafeteria?” she said.
“Okay. I’ll come to your locker as soon as the bell goes.”
“You don’t know where my locker is.” She touched her waist where his hands had been. So close to her scars.
“I don’t, but as your new fake boyfriend, I’ll make sure I find out. I’m nothing if not resourceful. And Norah, thank you. Seriously. You won’t regret it.”
But it was too late. She already was.
4
“Don’t forget Greg’s working late, I’ve got to meet a client, and the builders will be here in ten minutes. The stroller’s being delivered this afternoon,” Norah’s mom said the next day, stopping at the table long enough to give her a smile. “Morning.”
“Morning.” Norah busied herself making breakfast. She’d purposely gone to bed before they’d arrived home, not trusting that her strange conversation with Zac wouldn’t somehow be showing on her face. “How was last night?”
“Greg found out a little bit too much about the female body, but he handled it well. Didn’t even faint.” Her mom plucked up a bagel from the plate on the table. “Will you have time to clear up here?”
“Of course, but don’t run around too much. Remember what the doctor said.”
“I promise.” Her mom patted her arm and scooped up her purse before disappearing toward the garage. The minute the electric doors went down, Piper’s head poked around the kitchen door that looked out onto the backyard. Her friend’s blonde hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, the pink streaks perfectly matching the T-shirt and sneakers she was wearing.
She was adorably cute. Not that Norah would ever tell her, since Piper’s avatar was a six-foot female gladiator who c
arried numerous pointy objects. Cute wasn’t a word she liked.
Norah glanced at her own outfit. A pair of jeans and a blue linen button-up. A silver necklace hung at her throat and she had a new pair of Converse. She’d almost discarded it for something a bit dressier but had forced herself not to. That was her crush talking.
Today was a regular day, and she was going to dress appropriately. Including an extra-long tank top that hugged her torso, carefully covering her scars in case there was a repeat of last night when he’d hugged her.
“Please tell me I’ve missed the crazy hour.” Piper dropped her backpack and peeled off the khaki army jacket she always wore.
“Yup. It’s pregnant-woman free.”
Her best friend loved Norah’s mom but found the idea of her being pregnant overwhelming. Then again, she found most things that didn’t exist on a screen overwhelming. Sometimes Norah felt like she was the only thing anchoring Piper into the real world.
“I started a new campaign last night.” Piper reached for a bagel. “What about you? Get up to anything exciting?”
Nope. Just got a fake boyfriend.
They hadn’t spoken since yesterday afternoon, and Norah hadn’t wanted to tell her with a message. Not to mention she still wasn’t quite sure what she thought of it all. But she couldn’t put it off any longer.
“Zac came around.”
“In the flesh?” The bagel fell to the table with a thump.
“Yes. Who knew he was so old school?” Norah quipped, managing a smile. Piper retrieved the bagel, though she didn’t attempt to eat it.
“What did he want? Was it about the T-shirt? Don’t tell me he wanted to use it as an excuse to get to know you better? Your crush must have been going crazy.”
Norah swallowed, not sure if it was weird that both she and Piper referred to her crush as a separate entity. Then again, it did seem to have a mind of its own.
“Not exactly. Before you judge me, remember you encouraged me to do whatever it took to make sure this auction was a success.”
“Of course I did. I know how important this is to you—wait.” Piper stopped and narrowed her eyes. “Where are you going with this?”
“I’ve found the perfect way to get donations, and the best part? We won’t have to knock on doors or send out emails. We can focus on what we do best.”
“Gaming?”
“Okay, second best,” she corrected. “We can stick to the behind-the-scenes stuff.”
“Thank goodness.” Piper wiped her brow in mock relief. “So, who is this mighty warrior who can stare down death—wait. You mean it’s Zac Mackenzie? You convinced him to help? What kind of plot magic is this?”
“It’s not magic exactly. All I had to do was promise to be his girlfriend for the next three weeks.” She quickly filled her friend in on how he’d been kicked off the team for kissing Kennedy. Part of her wanted to tell Piper that the kiss hadn’t been his fault, but he’d told her that in confidence. She caught her breath as her friend’s face darkened.
“Please tell me he’s not using you to make Kennedy jealous?”
“No.” She quickly shook her head. Well, she didn’t think so. “He just wants to get back on the team and convince Myles that he isn’t interested in Kennedy.”
Piper didn’t look convinced. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Norah wrinkled up her face and let out a sigh. Piper knew her too well. “He told me some things in confidence. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“I do trust you; it’s him I’m not sure about. Plus, I’m not sure you’ve thought this through. For the next three weeks you have to pretend to be crazy for the one guy you’ve had a crush on for the last hundred years.”
“Don’t exaggerate. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad? Norah, we know nothing about dating. You’ve never had a boyfriend, and I’m currently infatuated with SageKnight194. For all we know, he’s not even a boy. He could be a bot, or an eighty-year-old grandmother. Such is life in the digital realm.”
“I feel we’re drifting off topic. Besides, we might not know much about dating, but we’re not completely clueless when it comes to boys.” Norah lifted her eyebrow to remind Piper that Gareth been their third wheel since sixth grade.
“Please, he’s the worst of us all. He’s been in love with you for six months, but instead of asking you out, he looks at you like you’re a quest chest.”
Since Piper always referred to life in terms of her favorite game, Norah wasn’t put off by the comparison. Or the comments about Gareth. Regardless of what her friend thought, he didn’t have feelings for her.
“I know it’s weird. But it’s a chance to make this auction a success. I have to take the risk.”
“And the fact you have a crush on him?”
“That’s the beautiful thing about having a crush, it’s got nothing to do with reality. It’s not like he’s going to fall for me. This might work like aversion therapy. Three weeks in his company and I could find he’s a really terrible human being.”
“Especially if he is trying to get back at Kennedy.”
“He’s not,” Norah said, though she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure.
Not that it mattered.
Nothing was ever going to happen because he was never going to find out about her crush. Never find out the truth about me.
“If you say so,” Piper replied as the contractor appeared in the doorway, clutching his bag of power tools. Norah let out a breath and returned his greeting.
Saved by the builder.
Once she’d passed on all of her mom’s instructions, they headed to school. The drive was filled with some online drama happening on one of Piper’s favorite message boards. It involved a YouTuber, a game designer, and for some unfathomable reason, a teddy bear. Still, it was better than having to talk about all the many, many reasons why pretending to date Zac was a very bad idea.
xxxx
“Norah, are you even listening to me?” Gareth complained as the lunch bell went and they all spilled out into the corridor. Over the summer he’d grown taller, but not any fatter, and his skinny frame was even more elongated by the stovepipe jeans he was wearing. His thick dark curls half covered his eyes and his oboe case was slung over his shoulder, making him hunch like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.
“She’s got a lot on her mind,” Piper said.
“Sorry, G. What were you saying?” Norah winced, realizing she’d been drifting again. It had been happening all morning as it got closer to the lunch bell. Closer to having to meet Zac.
“I’ve got a draft for the poster. I’ll email it to you before the meeting this afternoon.”
“That’s great,” she said. Her friends kept up a steady stream of chatter until they turned the corner. Gareth came to a halt, and Piper let out a little gasp, her silver eyes as wide as saucers.
To be fair, it probably wasn’t the locker that had freaked them out, it was Zac Mackenzie, who, as promised, was standing there. He was leaning against the door, attracting all kinds of attention from his sheer handsomeness.
“You weren’t joking,” her friend managed to gasp.
“Apparently not.” She plunged her hands into her pockets to hide the fact they were shaking. She had to think big picture. All roads led to toilets.
“You know Zac Mackenzie?” Gareth’s face went from red to white, like the blood was draining away.
“Um—”
“Yes, she does,” Piper said as she gave Norah an ‘I told you so’ look. Then she hooked her arm through Gareth’s. “Come on, big guy. It’s time for us to go. I’ll try and explain how to get more kills on your weekly challenge.”
Once they’d disappeared, Norah sucked in a breath, hoping the power of speech would return to her.
Zac’s gaze swept over her. She regretted not paying more attention to her outfit, but it was too late for that now.
She stepped forward.
It was time to meet her new boyfriend.
xxxx
She was here.
Zac pushed himself away from the locker he’d been leaning against as Norah appeared. She had a really great walk. Her long legs swayed at the hips, though her pace was fast and businesslike. It was pretty hot.
And so not what he should be focusing on.
“Hey. Are you impressed I found your locker?” He hoped so because he sure was. It turned out she was all the way over in D block. Did she even know she could get one closer to A block if she sweet-talked Mrs. Ridgeway in the office? Actually, as her new boyfriend, he could do it for her. A thank you present.
“Actually…I’m still adjusting to the fact you’re even here.”
“Not getting cold feet?”
“No,” she said. A long strand of dark silky hair fell across her shoulder. “In theory it’s a great idea, but it’s a bit…overwhelming.”
He raised an eyebrow. Ah. She wasn’t going to back out, she was just getting pre-match jitters. Sure enough, her nostrils flared and her neck was strained.
“Count your breath,” he said.
“What?” Her eyes were wide. Like he’d startled her. Good. That usually helped when someone was freaking out. Stopped them thinking about the problem itself.
It always worked with Via.
“Your breath. When you focus on it, it helps block some of the other things out. You count each breath until you feel better.”
She let out a shaky breath and then took one in. The panic faded, and she gave him a hint of a smile. “Thanks. I’ll have to remember that.”
“See, I’m already being a great boyfriend.” Zac leaned back against the locker. “So, you wanted to work out some rules.”
“I made some notes last night.” She took another breath, and the redness creeping up her face faded as she pulled out a piece of paper. “We already discussed no kissing.”
“Yup,” he said and held up one finger to keep track. It earned a smile, and white teeth flashed at him. She had a great mouth. Her lower lip was full and soft, and the upper lip had a bow in it. He hadn’t thought much about the kissing, but now it was off the table, it suddenly seemed a pity.
