by Ana Huang
James left just as Carlo came back from the bathroom.
“You took a long time in there. What were you doing?” I teased.
“Let’s just say someone wasn’t feeling too well in there and I decided to play the Good Samaritan,” Carlo said with a bit of a grimace, just as the waiter came back out with our food.
I wrinkled my nose. Eew.
“So homecoming’s next week,” Carlo commented casually, placing a slice of pizza on his plate. “Who’re you going with?”
I stared at him, chewing my bread slowly. I swallowed before answering, “Um, Parker?”
“Oh.” He frowned a bit. “Are you guys still pretending to date then?”
“I…guess so,” I replied slowly. I mean, Parker hadn’t said anything, so I’d just assumed. “Why? Did he say anything?”
“No, but I thought he was finally going to—well, anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Carlo said quickly. “It’s too bad though.”
“What is?” I swear, it’s like he was speaking in riddles today or something.
“If you weren’t going with him, I would’ve asked you to homecoming,” Carlo said nonchalantly, taking a bite of his pizza.
I immediately started choking on my food. My breath came out in wheezing gasps as I struggled not to suffocate myself with carbs.
“Are you ok?” Carlo asked with a concerned frown.
“Uh huh,” I gasped, grabbing my water and taking frantic gulps.
Once I’d calmed down, I wiped my mouth and gaped at him. “Why would you ask me to homecoming?” I blurted. He couldn’t—he didn’t like me, did he?
“I actually enjoy talking to you.” Carlo was still acting infuriatingly calm. “I usually go with random girls whom I can’t stand, so it’d be a nice change.”
“Well, why don’t you go alone?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m a Scion. Bad for the image and all that.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip, feeling a bit disappointed with his explanation. Suddenly, I thought of something. “Does that mean Roman and Zack are going with dates too?”
“Yep. I think they already found dates.”
My face fell, the disappointment heightening. I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t care if Rom—if the others had dates. It wasn’t like I wanted to go with hi—with any of them anyway.
I grabbed another breadstick and tore it apart semi-angrily, ignoring Carlo’s questioning stare.
Nope, I didn’t care. Not at all.
* * *
It turns out James wasn’t the only surprise of the day, because when I got back to Roman’s house, I got a double whammy.
The first occurred right as I set foot in the foyer. Hava Nagila started playing on my phone, indicating a call from my mom. I’m not sure why it’s my ringtone, since neither of us were Jewish, but I liked the way it sounded.
“Hello?” I shut the door behind me and pressed the button for the elevator. “Mom?”
“Hi, sweetie!” my mom said cheerfully. “How are you doing?”
I smiled at the sound of her voice. “I’m good, how are you? How’s Napa Valley?” And my jerk of a dad?
“It’s amazing! The wine tasting your friend set up for us was out of this world,” she gushed. “So, you’re enjoying your time at Adriana’s house?”
My eyes narrowed as my defenses came up. I knew that tone of voice. It never boded well. “Yeeesss…” I answered slowly, even though I wasn’t staying at Adriana’s house. But she didn’t need to know that.
“That’s wonderful, dear. Really.”
I pulled open the doors to my suite and kicked off my shoes.
“Mom, what is it? I know something’s wrong.”
“Well.” My mom hesitated. “It’s not that something’s wrong, per se. I’m just not sure—“
“Mom, just spit it out. I’m a big girl, I can handle it,” I said patiently.
“Ok, fine. Your father and I entered a contest here at the inn and we ended up getting an extra two weeks’ stay here for free!”
“What?” I exclaimed, then quickly lowered my voice. “What?” I repeated.
I could practically see my mom fretting over the phone. “I know, dear, it’s a bit…unexpected, but it’s a wonderful opportunity. Of course, if you don’t want to stay there for an extra two weeks, that’s fine, we’ll come back—“
“No, no.” I shook my head, trying to process the information. “I mean, it’s great, it really is. But what about work?”
“We both have enough vacation days accumulated to fit an extra two weeks into our schedule.”
“Oh.” I was a bit disappointed I wouldn’t be able to see my mom for longer than I’d thought, but I was happy she was having fun, I really was. Besides, I didn’t really want to face my dad anytime soon anyway. “You should stay, mom. Don’t worry about me. I’m having a lot of fun at, uh, Adriana’s house.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, mom,” I replied. “Really. Enjoy your time there.”
“Ok.” She sounded both worried and happy. “If you need anything, you have all the emergency numbers, right?”
“Yep.” A knock sounded on my door, and I frowned, wondering who it was. “I have to go right now, but I’ll talk to you later, ok? Love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie. And your father says hi.”
Right. “Bye.” I didn’t acknowledge her last statement.
I hung up and called out, “Come in!”
When I saw Parker stride in, I couldn’t help but smirk at the pink polo he was wearing.
“You look like such a prep,” I said dryly, eyeing the signature Lacoste alligator on the front of his shirt.
“What? Not even a hello kiss from my girlfriend? You really do have a thing with Carlo,” Parker joked, dropping down on the bed next to me and draping an arm over my shoulder.
“Yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you, but I decided things just aren’t going to work out between us,” I teased. “So what’s up? Are you here to visit Roman?”
“Not really.” He dropped his arm from my shoulder as a more serious expression came over his face. “I’m here to see you actually.”
I tilted my head curiously. “Ok…”
“Well, you know how we started dating because you basically forced me into it to get your grandmother off your back?”
I rolled my eyes. “Gee, thanks for making it sound like I tortured you or something.”
Parker smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, but you know what I mean. Anyway, now that she’s gone, we technically don’t have to pretend anymore…”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going. “Uh-huh…” I dragged out the last syllable, prompting him to continue.
He cleared his throat. “Well, I wasjustwonderingifperhapswe couldstoppretending?” He asked in a rush. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you or anything. I really do. You’re so hot, I would totally do you, especially if you wore that lingerie—“
“Parker!” I held up a hand. “Stay on track.”
“Right. Sorry. Anyway, like I said, I really do like you, and it’s kind of an assholish thing for me to do, what with homecoming next week and all, but…er, I think it’s best if we told everyone the truth, you know?”
“Ok.”
“I’m sorry! I really—wait, ok?” He blinked at me.
I smiled in amusement at his face, resisting the urge to pinch his cheeks. He looked so cute with that dumbfounded expression replacing his usual smirk. “Yes, ok. What, did you think I was going to slap you or something? You did me a favor, for which I’m incredibly thankful, but you’re right. We should tell them the truth soon.”
Relief washed across Parker’s handsome features. “Oh, thank god.” He groaned, flopping down on my bed. “You have no idea how nervous I was all afternoon!”
“You, nervous?” I playfully poked him in the stomach. “Darn it, I should’ve made you squirm.”
“But you didn’t, because you’re such a nice person,” he said happily. “Yo
u’re the best, Maya.”
“I know,” I joked. “So who is she?”
Parker shot up so fast I was surprised he didn’t sprain anything. “What do you mean?” His cheeks turned red.
I snickered. “Who’s the girl you want to ask to homecoming? That’s the reason why you don’t want to fake date me anymore, right?”
He turned even redder. “No one! I mean, no one,” he repeated in a lower voice. “I just…it didn’t feel right, lying to my friends like that.”
“Sure.” I didn’t really believe him. “Oh, hey, what’s the big gift you guys are planning for Adri anyway? Carlo won’t tell me, which sucks, because I’m supposed to be part of it.”
“You’ll see. And don’t worry about it.”
I groaned. “Why does everyone tell me that?”
Suddenly, I realized something. The flush on Parker’s face seemed to have deepened a bit at the mention of a certain someone’s name, and my eyes widened in realization. No way. He did not have a crush on—
“So, we have to figure out how we’re going to tell everyone else we’re not really dating,” Parker said, breaking through my thoughts. “I don’t think they’ll be too happy to find out we’ve been lying to them.”
“Well, Carlo already knows,” I mused. “That’s one less angry person we’ll have on our heels.”
Parker shook his head. “He’s too smart for his own good. I’m not too worried about Zack. Adri…well, I have no idea how she’ll take it. I’m most worried about Roman though. I feel like he’s going to flip a shit when he finds out we’ve been lying to him about our relationship.”
I nodded in agreement, shuddering a bit as I imagined Roman’s reaction.
Turns out, I didn’t need to imagine it, because a second later, a very familiar voice roared, “What do you mean you’ve been lying about your relationship?!”
Parker and I froze, staring at each other with wide eyes before turning slowly around.
I gulped when I saw Roman standing there, sparks flying from his stormy violet eyes as he glared at us. He looked very, very angry.
I whipped my head around. “Parker! Did you forget to close the door?” I hissed.
Parker ran a hand nervously through his hair. “Haha, um…oops?”
Oops. That’s what he had to say. Oops.
I turned back to Roman with my sweetest, brightest smile, hoping that’ll calm him down. It didn’t work.
We are so dead.
CHAPTER 18
“Stop! You’ll kill him!”
I frantically grabbed a fistful of Roman’s shirt and gave it a hearty yank. He didn’t budge, but my hands slipped on the smooth cotton so I ended up falling backwards, right on my butt.
“Oof!” I groaned, glad the floor was carpeted. However, the pain dissipated in the wake of my fear as I stared, wide-eyed, at the scene before me.
Roman had slammed Parker up against the wall and was huffing and puffing like an angry dragon. I was surprised I didn’t see steam pouring out of his ears. Meanwhile, Parker looked a bit scared—though not scared enough, in my opinion.
“It’s alright, Maya,” he said rather calmly, not seeming at all fazed by the fact that Roman looked like he was about to punch him in the face. “He won’t kill me. He’s supposed to stay in my family’s house in Oahu next summer.”
Roman let out a low growl, and I groaned. “Parker! Now’s not the time to be making jokes!”
I scrambled to my feet and attempted to pull Roman off once again. It didn’t work; he shrugged me off as easily as if I were a
feather.
However, after a moment, he finally let go and took a step back to glare at us, sparks practically flying from his violet eyes.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” he roared, his voice loud enough to shatter glass. If all the glass in the room hadn’t been shatterproof, that is.
I instinctively whimpered and stepped behind Parker.
“Er…well, we did plan on telling you, sooner or later.” Parker cleared his throat as he straightened his shirt.
“I can’t believe it,” Roman muttered furiously. “All this time, I thought you two were dating. I even tried to get along with her!”
He jabbed a finger in my direction. “I even went to her house! With lollipops!”
Parker’s eyes widened, swiveling his head between Roman and myself. “You went to her house? With lollipops?”
“That’s not the point!” Roman bit out, but his face had turned pink. Inanely, I wondered what ever did happen to those lollipops. “The point is, I would never have had to—to be so nice if you two hadn’t lied to me!
Parker sighed. “Oh, calm down.”
I couldn’t help but stifle a giggle as Roman’s eyes almost popped out of his head. A vein pulsed dangerously in his forehead. “YOU’RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN?!”
Oh boy. I immediately covered my ears with my hands to protect my eardrums, but I could still hear him loud and clear.
“How can I calm down when I just found out one of my best friends has been lying to be for weeks?!”
“It’s not necessarily lying,” my big mouth piped up of its own accord. “It’s more like—like acting.”
Roman shot me a don’t-you-start-with-me look and I immediately shrunk back, wondering when I’d started fearing Roman Fiori.
“And why exactly were you two ‘acting’?”
That, I can answer. Eagerly, frantically, I launched into an explanation about my grandmother’s matchmaking schemes and how Parker just so happened to show up at the right time. “I mean, you’ve met my grandmother, you know how scary she is,” I babbled almost incoherently.
Parker’s loud guffaw interrupted me. “You met her grandmother?” he chuckled. “How did that go?”
I winced. Oh. Maybe now hadn’t been the best time to bring that little incident up…
Roman’s face turned purple. “I. Don’t. Want. To. Talk. About. It,” he hissed, glaring at me like it’d been my fault. The venom in his voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Nevertheless, I huffed indignantly. Well, I never told him to wear the darn Mickey Mouse shirt, and I certainly never told him to come to my house in the first place. He had only himself to blame.
“You know, I don’t know why you’re so mad, Rome,” Parker commented conversationally, draping an arm over my shoulders. He really liked doing that, didn’t he?
Roman’s eyes turned to slits, and I bit my lower lip nervously. Couldn’t Parker be serious for just one second?
“If anything, you should be glad,” Parker continued. “Happy, really.”
“And why is that?”
For some reason, the gaze Roman leveled at his friend seemed to be almost a warning.
Parker smirked. “You tell me.”
Roman tensed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said stiffly, but I noticed with relief that his anger seemed to have abated a bit.
“Sure.” There was a highly amused look on Parker’s face, although personally, I don’t see what’s so funny about the situation. “You know, this means Maya doesn’t have a date to homecoming…”
I scowled. Oh yeah. “Thanks for leaving me high and dry like that,” I mumbled. Guess I was just going to have to go alone.
I sighed. A senior going to her last homecoming alone. Am I cool or what?
“I’m sure you’ll find a date soon.” Parker’s jade-green eyes twinkled mischievously. “Right, Rome?”
I darted a quick glance in his direction. Roman seemed to have perked up a bit, but when he saw us looking, he scowled again. “I don’t know, I’m not psychic,” he finally snapped, a weird expression on his face. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. I’m leaving.”
With that, he stormed out of the room.
I rubbed my temple. His mood swings were giving me a headache.
Parker chuckled. “You two are a riot.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I
said tiredly.
“Of course you don’t, honeybee. You’re quite dense.”
My mouth flopped open and closed like a fish’s. “I’m dense?” I sputtered. “I don’t see how—“
“Come on, walk me out.” Parker cut me off and guided me to the door by my elbow.
If anything, he was the one walking me out. When we passed by Roman’s room, I couldn’t resist peeking through the half-open door. What I saw nearly made me laugh out loud.
