The Fake Boyfriend Experiment

by Stephanie Rowe

  Private lessons with Rafe meant nothing. Nothing!

  CHAPTER NINE

  My mom dropped me off at Keith’s house for the pool party at a quarter past two the next day, fifteen minutes into the fashionably late zone (translation: I figured my friends would be there by then and I wouldn’t risk being stranded without them).

  As soon as I got out of the car and far enough away from my mom, I took off my sweatshirt to showcase the outfit I wasn’t ready to let her inspect too closely. I was wearing my new bikini under a pair of low-ride denim shorts and a camisole that was cropped just enough to show off my belly button ring.

  My heart was thudding as I stood outside the front door of Keith’s house. I tried to snag a ride from Erin so I wouldn’t have to arrive by myself, but my mom had insisted on driving me so she could see the house and make sure there were no kegs of beer sitting on the front lawn.

  I glanced back at her. She waved at me from the car, waiting for a glimpse of a parental unit. Gah. How embarrassing.

  I took a deep breath and then rang the doorbell.

  A woman I assumed was Keith’s mom opened the door. She was wearing a bikini with a towel wrapped around her waist and sunglasses on her head. She looked pretty good in the bikini for a mom, actually. She smiled at me. “You must be here for Keith’s party.”

  “Um, yeah. I’m Lily.” My mom tooted her car horn, and I felt my cheeks heat up. Could she be more embarrassing? “Can you, like, wave at my mom or something?”

  Keith’s mom looked past me toward the street. “I’ll just run out there and say hello.” She pulled the door open wider. “Just head straight down the hall to the back of the house and go out the sliding glass doors to the back yard.”

  “Okay.” I hugged my towel to my chest and headed back. If my friends weren’t there yet, I was going to go hide in the bathroom until they arrived. No way was I going to go out there by myself.

  I walked to the back of the house toward the sound of splashing, my heart racing. What was I doing here? I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t belong. I... I needed a date for the semi.

  The semi. Gah. I needed a date because my boyfriend Rafe couldn’t make it. Ugh.

  I stopped in the doorway and stared out at the pool. There were four guys and three girls in the water, playing Marco Polo. It was my friends, and the guys from Inverness, including Les.

  They were all laughing and shouting, and having a great time. Water was splashing everywhere. Val and Erin were getting shoulder rides from two of the guys as they raced around the pool trying to avoid Delilah, who was screaming “Marco” as she floundered around in the water with her hands outstretched. As I watched, Val tumbled off some guy’s shoulders, shrieking as they disappeared beneath the surface.

  They looked like they were having so much fun. I wanted to be out there with them. I wanted to be part of the group. I wanted that to be me so badly I could feel it burning through my stomach. But how could I march out there? I didn’t know those guys. I couldn’t even remember which guy was which, or even what their names were. I felt like I didn’t even know my friends. They were having fun that didn’t include me. I couldn’t do this. I didn’t know how to be that kind of person.

  I turned to go—

  “Lily!”

  My heart stuttered, and I spun around. Erin was waving at me from her perch. “Lily! Come on in! The water’s great!” She was wearing her new bikini, and she looked awesome. Tan and everything.

  The guys were all in bathing suits too. Everyone was in bathing suits. Well, duh. It was a pool party, right? Cautiously, I stepped onto the patio, still hugging my towel to my chest. “Hey, guys.” Yikes. How shaky was my voice?

  Erin shrieked suddenly and went flying straight up in the air before landing with a splash three feet away. The guy whose shoulders she’d been on grinned. “Got you!”

  She spluttered to the surface. “Keith! You’re such a jerk!” But she was smiling as she checked the coverage of her top.

  “Great!” Val exclaimed. “Now that Lily’s here, we have enough to do chicken fights.”

  “I get Val as a partner.” A guy I assumed was Hugh disappeared under the water and then came up again with Val on his shoulders. He was the same guy who’d been carrying her before, and Val patted his head affectionately.

  She laughed and hooked her feet behind his back. “I guess I’m partners with Hugh,” she announced, looking completely pleased with the fact she’d been forced into teaming up with him.

  Oh, God. Was I going to have to sit on Les’s shoulders? I couldn’t do it.

  “Coming, Lily?”

  I looked down to see Les standing in the pool, looking up at me. He was muscular and his hair was sticking up from where he’d flipped the water out of it. He was actually pretty cute. Not as cute as Rafe, but decent. And he was looking at me as though he might actually like me. I peered at him. “Do you have a girlfriend?” I asked. Time to get certain things established before going any further.

  His eyes widened. “No.”

  Point for him. He was available. But I hugged my towel even tighter.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, cocking his head curiously, as if he were trying to figure out why I’d asked the question.

  “Uh...” I quickly surveyed the pool and noticed that Val was eavesdropping, waiting to hear my answer. Well, gee, this wasn’t an awkward moment, was it? I could save my reputation with my friends and say yes, which would then result in the asinine move of announcing I was taken to the guy I wanted to go to the dance with. I could say no, and show him I was available, and expose my full loser status to my friends. Um…

  “You’re not answering me?” His eyes got even wider. “That means you do have a boyfriend?”

  Crud. This wasn’t going to help me get a date to the semi, was it?

  A sudden grin lit up his face, and interest flashed in his eyes. “Lily of many surprises. I like that.”

  I blinked. He liked the fact I had a boyfriend?

  Then I felt like smacking my head. Of course he would. If some other guy liked me, then there must be something good about me, right? Guys were such pains in the butt.

  “Coming in?” he asked, splashing water over my toes.

  I kicked off my hot pink flip-flops. “I just have to find a place to stash my stuff.” I held up my towel. “I don’t want it to get wet.”

  “Just toss it on a chair.” His eyes were glittering now with anticipation. What? To see me in a bikini? Hah. As if he’d get the chance.

  “No, I’ll just...”

  Les pulled himself up on the edge of the pool. Water streamed down his shoulders, and I noticed the muscles in his arms flexing as he easily hoisted himself out of the water. His arms were almost as strong as Rafe’s, but he didn’t have a tattoo. “Come here. I have to ask you something.”

  I got even more nervous. Was he going to ask me right now? To the semi? I bit my lip and leaned toward him. “What?”

  “This!” He grabbed my wrist and yanked me off balance.

  I shrieked, but I had no chance as I flew over his head and crashed into the water. Oh, I was mad now. What a jerk! I stood up and wiped the water out of my eyes. “Les!”

  But I couldn’t see him anywhere. Where was he? I turned around quickly, but again, he was nowhere. Val and Erin were cheering him, and Delilah was climbing onto another guy’s shoulders, preparing for the chicken fight. “Where he’d go?” I asked my friends.

  Erin giggled and pointed behind me.

  I whirled around, but he wasn’t behind me. “Where—” I felt something brush against my legs. I yelped and jumped backwards, shrieking as Les swam between my calves. I tried to back up, but he grabbed my legs and stood up under me, lifting me out of the water on his shoulders.

  I grabbed his head for balance, and he grinned as he flipped the water out of his face. “We’re ready,” he announced.

  “No, no, no, I’m not doing chicken fights.” I could feel his bare shoulders agains
t my legs. His skin was wet and warm and I was completely freaking out! I didn’t want to be on his shoulders! I didn’t want his hands on my legs! “Put me down!”

  “No way. We’re going to win.” He sloshed through the water toward Val. “I’ll try to take out Hugh and you go for Val’s top.”

  “You want me to rip off her bikini? Are you kidding?” I was so glad I still had my shirt on! Was this what my friends had been doing all summer? I had no experience with this kind of thing. I was in way over my head right now.

  “She’ll let go of Hugh to keep it on, and then they’ll go down.” Les’s fingers tightened around my shins, and I wanted to kick him.

  “My boyfriend would be completely ticked if he saw you grabbing me like this,” I hissed as he advanced on Val and Hugh. Erin and Delilah and the two other guys were already going at it with their own chicken fight, laughing so hard my head hurt.

  “Well, then, it’s a good thing your boyfriend isn’t here, right?” Les said cheerfully as we reached Val and began circling them.

  I shot Val a pleading look. “Let’s do something else. I don’t want to--” She grabbed my arm and yanked me sideways. “Hey!”

  Les cursed and jumped to the left to stay under me. “Come on, Lily! Don’t take that! Fight back.”

  I glared at Val. “Cut it out!”

  “No!” She laughed and lunged for me again. I ducked and grabbed her wrist. Les hooked his foot around one of Hugh’s legs, I pulled on Val, and suddenly they were going over. Les held up his arms in victory as Val and Hugh disappeared under the water in a splash, and I clung to Les’s head to keep from falling off.

  “We rule!” he crowed. He held up his hand for a high five, and I reluctantly smacked his palm.

  Okay, so that had been sort of fun to see Val and Hugh go down, I had to admit. But I still wished Rafe was here. I wished it was Rafe whose shoulders I was on.

  Too bad for me, right?

  * * *

  An hour and a half later, I was lying on a lounge chair next to Erin, catching some rays for the first time all summer. The guys were cooking burgers and hotdogs on the grill and not paying us any attention, which was a relief.

  Since they were at the other end of the pool, I’d finally given in to Erin’s pressure to take off my shirt. I’d kept my clothes on the whole time I was in the pool—getting thrown in while dressed had been the perfect excuse. But there was no way to justify tanning in my shirt, so off it had come.

  I was keeping my shorts on, though. I’d noticed that Erin had put hers back on too, so I didn’t feel so self-conscious about wearing them.

  Val and Delilah were helping the boys with the grill, wearing their bikinis and nothing else. Didn’t they feel naked? No way could I do that. Well, maybe if Rafe was here... Argh! I had to stop thinking about Rafe!

  “So, has Les asked you yet?” Erin asked.

  “No.” At least I hadn’t had to make conversation with him. Getting tossed in the water repeatedly had taken care of any awkward silences. I had to admit, it had been kinda fun though. Definitely way better than sitting at home practicing the piano. Was this what my friends had been doing all summer? No wonder they were tight. “Did Keith ask you?”

  “Yes!” Erin beamed at me as she smoothed some sunscreen over her arms. “Isn’t that awesome?”

  “Great.” I stared across the pool at Les. He was laughing with Val and looked like he was having a great time. They all looked like they were having so much fun, but now that we were out of the pool, I felt awkward again.

  What was I supposed to say to him? I wasn’t feeling so keen on going to the dance with Les. I didn’t really want to go with him, but I couldn’t stand the thought of staying home by myself. I wanted to feel comfortable and included, not hide at the other end of the pool because I didn’t know how to flirt while the guys were grilling.

  “So, Rafe’s way hot,” Erin said, her eyes gleaming with interest.

  I grinned at Erin and flopped back against the plastic straps of the chair. Rafe. Just the thought of him made my whole body relax. “I know.”

  “Are you sure you can’t get him to come to the semi?” She propped herself up on her elbow and shielded her eyes against the sun. “I mean, Les is cute, but why would you go with him if you could go with Rafe?”

  “Rafe can’t go.” I avoided her gaze by pulling off my sunglasses and polishing them on my towel. “I’ll go with Les because I want to hang with you guys at the dance. Quadruple date.”

  “Really?” She eyed me, looking way too skeptical. “Why would you want to hang with us when you can be with Rafe? I mean, he’s completely sexy.”

  “I spend a lot of time with him already.” I pretended to inspect my toenails, which I’d painted fluorescent orange last night. No more hiding them in my shoes. Flip flops and orange toenails today, and it felt good, I had to admit. I grinned at my fingernails. They were fluorescent orange and pink stripes. Yay me! “Especially now that I’m in his band.” I shot her a sly look. “He’s giving me private lessons to help me learn the music.”

  Her eyes widened. “So, is he a great kisser or what?”

  “Ah...” Oh, way to go, Lily. Can’t you think before you open your mouth sometimes?

  “Want a hot dog?”

  I looked up to see Les blocking my sun, holding a couple hot dogs. “Definitely.” There was nothing like food for avoiding having to answer a question you didn’t like.

  Erin harrumphed then leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Les sat down on my lawn chair, and I had to jerk my feet away from him to keep him from sitting on them. He handed me the hotdog. “So, is who a good kisser? Your boyfriend?”

  I took a bite of the hot dog instead of answering. This was so wrong!

  “How come he’s not taking you to the semi?” Les persisted.

  I swallowed. “Because he’s...um...” What would sound good? “He’s got an audition.”

  Les got that glazed look in his eyes, like he thought I was going to talk about piano again. “For what?” But he was already looking across the pool toward his friends, as if trying to figure out how quickly he could escape me.

  Screw him! I wasn’t that boring, and neither was my life. “He has an audition for MTV,”I snapped. “He plays the drums.”

  “What? MTV?” Erin sat up and yanked her sunglasses off to stare at me. “You didn’t tell us that! Since when?”

  “They’re doing a new reality show, and they need a drummer who’s really hot and amazingly talented. Mueller-Fordham always sends a couple kids to those auditions.” Well, they always sent kids to auditions for all the top classical programs in the country, as Erin knew. It wasn’t that much of a stretch that Mueller-Fordham would also be asked to contribute to a reality show for MTV. Top music schools got noticed, end of story. I knew Erin would buy it. “Rafe got the nod this time. He’s flying down to New York for the weekend.”

  Les’s mouth dropped open. “He’s going to be on MTV?”

  “Yeah, but he might not make the actual show.” I took another bite of the hotdog, feeling sort of pleased with how they were both gawking at me. The fact that my fake boyfriend had an MTV audition had just catapulted my social standing. Yes, I knew it was all a lie, but it still felt good.

  Erin sighed dreamily. “Of course he’ll get picked. He’s completely gorgeous. Can you imagine? Your boyfriend will be world famous!”

  Les leaned over and rested his arm across my knees, which I’d propped up in front of me. “Guess you won’t see him much if he makes the show, huh?” He seemed even more interested in me now, which was a little annoying. I mean, I was taken, right? If he was a nice guy, he wouldn’t be trying to make the moves on someone else’s girlfriend, would he?

  I glared at him. “My boyfriend wouldn’t appreciate that.” I wiggled my legs to get him off, but he didn’t move. I really didn’t want him touching me. I mean, he wasn’t doing anything, not really, but all I could think of was Rafe.

  Rafe with the
girlfriend, remember? Argh!

  I decided not to make Les move after all.

  “What’s the big deal about an MTV audition?” Les grinned at me. “It doesn’t matter how famous he is if he’s not around to protect his territory. If you were my girlfriend, I’d be hanging out with you all the time. No guy would get a chance to talk to you.”

  Erin gave me a thumbs up from behind Les, then she hopped to her feet and headed off toward the grill, leaving me alone with Les.

  Uh, oh. I was going to have to talk again, wasn’t I? I really wasn’t good at that.

  “So, Lily,” he drawled, giving me some weird side-of-the eyeball look, as if he were trying to be all sexy.

  “So, Les.” I took another bite of my hot dog and decided to chew for a long time. A really, really long time. Hey, it would be rude to talk with my mouth full, right?

  He tapped his fingers against my shin. “You want to go to the semi with me?”

  I froze mid-chew, then swallowed the whole lump in one go. My heart was pounding and I felt lightheaded. “You don’t care that I have a boyfriend?”

  He grinned and flicked my bangs off my forehead with his free hand. It was the same thing Rafe had done, but with Les, it made me sort of want to swat his hand away, like he was an annoying gnat circling me.

  “It’s just a dance, right?” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. It’s not like I’m trying to steal his girlfriend.” But there was a gleam in his eye that suggested that was exactly what he planned to do. His expression made my toes curl, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good curl or a bad one.

  “So? Want to go?” he asked again.

  I took another bite of my hotdog, pretending to play hard to get while I frantically tried to get my thoughts together. Should I go with him? I should, right? I mean, it wasn’t like Rafe was going to suddenly free up and be able to go with me. And even if he was single, he wasn’t the semi-formal type of guy. But what if he was? What if he’d go if I asked? But could I ask him? I couldn’t. Could I? No, he had a girlfriend. But what if I invited him as friends? But then what? I’d be trapped in my original lie. Les was my chance to get another guy so I could “dump” Rafe and get out of the circle of untruths that I’d woven.