The Way to Game the Walk of Shame (10 page)

“So you’re trying to be a lawyer, too?”

“No. I will be one.”

Evan let out a low whistle. “Wow,
will be.
Good thing I like confidence in my women.”

It wasn’t just confidence. There were just no ifs about it. I had to be a lawyer. I had wanted to be one ever since my stepdad married my mom. I didn’t even know what I would do if I didn’t get in. There was no plan B. There couldn’t be.

Suddenly feeling fidgety again, I leaned forward to fiddle with the radio’s plastic buttons, unable to find a good station. Or any station at all, actually. The only thing I heard was static. “So are you seriously not going to college at all? I mean, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?”

“Are you trying to test my criteria as a suitor?” He said the last word in a phony British accent. “I’m not going to be a lowly stable boy, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I laughed at the hopeful expression on his face and sat back, angling my body to the left so I would face him. “Believe me, you’ve got a long way to go if you want to fulfill
my
requirements.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not applying, then.” He made a sad face and wiggled his brows until I laughed again.

I didn’t know what to say. Everybody I knew was prepared for the future. Brian was still debating between being a doctor like his parents wanted or being a journalist, but he had already applied to a bunch of schools and was accepted to all of them. And even though Carly was going to take a break after graduation—something she was still hiding from her parents—she had already contacted several theaters for work in the meantime.

The thought of not knowing what to do in life, especially now, felt crazy to me.

He shifted back and forth in his seat, but I could have sworn he was avoiding my gaze. Finally, I had to smack his shoulder to make him look at me. “Maybe I could help you figure something out. Something for you to major in.”

Evan laughed. “I forgot, because that’s part of the deal, right? I pretend to be your boyfriend, and you straighten up my life and keep the horny girls away?”

“I just said I’ll help you with college applications. I’m not making any promises after that.” I smiled when his laughing got even louder. “Seriously, is there anything you’re interested in?”

“Well, I like the sea,” he said after a while.

“Right, ’cause you’re a surfer.” I tried to sound supportive but knew I failed miserably when he snorted.

“I mean, the real sea. The animals. The plants. You know, stuff like that. Did you know that most of the life on earth is underwater? Or that the sea is so large that we’ve barely discovered less than 10% of it? The rest is unseen and untouched.”

I couldn’t stop staring at Evan. Not because he was gorgeous (although he was), but when he spoke about the sea, his face filled with so much excitement that it practically lit up. He glanced over at me and I flushed, forcing myself to look away. “That’s really cool.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what I like. Maybe I thought about being a marine biologist or something.”

“Wow. A marine biologist?” I didn’t mean to sound so shocked, but the truth was that I was. I didn’t know what answer I was expecting from Evan, but a marine biologist was definitely not on the list at all. Catalog model would have been higher. “I didn’t think that you would be—I mean, not that you’re—”

“Why? Do I look like I’ll be an accountant or something?” Evan flicked down the visor and pretended to fix his hair in the mirror. “It’s stupid, though. I doubt it’ll work out. I guess I’ll have to settle for just being handsome.”

“What I
meant
to say was that I don’t know anyone who wants to do that. Everyone else wants to go into business. Or be a doctor or dentist or a—”

“Lawyer?” He laughed when I punched his arm, not flinching at all. “Like I said, it’s just something I thought about. I haven’t really decided on anything. For all you know, I might just become a typical doctor, dentist, or businessman myself. Not a lawyer, though. God, I can’t stand them. Bunch of vultures.”

Smack!
I hit him again. Harder this time. “Anyway, I thought you said you never even thought about college or the future. That it wasn’t for you.” I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face.

Evan grinned and shook his head in defeat. “Okay, you win. I have
thought
about it, but it doesn’t mean I’ll actually do anything about it.”

“I don’t know why. I think being a marine biologist would be awesome. I don’t know what colleges have that major, but I think the counselor would know.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care either way and slowed the car. “Well, like I said, there’s still time to worry about that later. The only thing we have to worry about now is school, because we’re here.”

He was right. We were in front of the school yard. And early, too. None of the buses were even here yet. There were only a few students lounging around on the steps as they waited for their friends.

Evan concentrated extra hard on parking, as though he would win a prize if the car was perfectly straight. Finally, he killed the engine and turned toward me, touching my arm when I opened the door to get out. “Wait.”

“For what?”

He leaned over my lap to pull the door shut. For a few seconds, his broad chest and arms were in full contact with my body. Even though we had at least four layers of clothes between us, I couldn’t help sucking in my breath. My heart pounded so hard in my chest that I was sure that he would feel it. I pressed as far back into the cushions as I could.

Evan didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong. “I think we should go together. We could walk hand in hand to homeroom. You could carry my books, buy me lunch, you know, all the things a good girlfriend should do.”

“Ha-ha.” Despite the books-carrying and the lunch, that was a good idea. He was really getting into this.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied as though I had said the thought out loud. “Here, you should wear this.”

It was a necklace. An old silver coin about the size of my thumbnail hung on the end. It had been twisted with pliers or something into a strange shape, vaguely resembling a number eight. He handed it to me to examine. “My dad gave me this.”

I touched the smooth surface of the coin.

“I don’t even wear it to the beach in case I lose it, so you better take good care of it. Even your life won’t be able to replace this. You can give it back to me when this is over.” Without waiting for my answer, his index finger made a circular motion in my direction. “Turn around.”

I handed the necklace back to him, but I didn’t move.

Evan let out a loud sigh when I hesitated. “If I wanted to do anything to you, I would have done it when you were in my bed.” He jerked his head away when my hands shot out to cover his mouth. “Sorry! I forgot I wasn’t supposed to mention the
incident.
”

The chair squeaked as he leaned forward and draped the chain around my neck. He was so close that his breath grazed the back of my neck. It was … nice, even though my nerves practically crackled with electricity. Then his fingers were on my neck, gentle as he clasped the latch tightly. His fingertips traced the chain and my skin for a brief moment. It was warm and it tickled. I involuntarily shivered, and just like that, his touch was gone before the electricity could get out of control.

Embarrassed, I waited until he was settled back in his seat before I turned around. I occupied myself with putting on my coat and hat. “So … how many girls have seen this necklace?”

He peered out the window. “A lot. But the important number is that only one other person has ever worn this. And that’s you.”

My heart fluttered a bit at this revelation. I was surprised that he would go to such lengths just to prove to people that we were dating.

Evan brought me back to the present when he tightened the scarf around my neck for me. “Ready?”

I snapped out of my stupor, and his door was half open. Already people were circling his car, trying to peer inside. I knew the windows were tinted, but I didn’t know if they could see me. Not that it mattered, since that was the point of this whole scheme.

It was now or never. I fingered the long chain, tracing the tiny links with my fingertips. It was cool and oddly comforting around my neck. “Let’s do this.”

8

{Taylor}

To say that we caused a bit of a commotion was putting it lightly. People actually stopped in their tracks as we walked down the hall together, hand in sweaty hand.

I am embarrassed to admit that the sweaty hand was mine. I’d been in front of crowds before, but it was usually at award ceremonies, where people barely paid attention to me. They were just glad to get out of class for an hour.

Everyone was definitely on full alert now. Although part of the staring might be because they’d never seen Evan early for school before.

It’s like the dream where you arrive at school naked, except I wasn’t. I even looked down to make sure my jeans were zipped. Yep, up and secure. I ducked my head down and self-consciously reached up to sweep my bangs out of my eyes, only to realize that my hand was still gripping Evan’s. Cheeks blazing, I dropped our hands like a hot potato.

Evan, however, didn’t even bat an eye at my awkwardness. In fact, he milked it for all that it was worth. He let go of my damp palm to brush my bangs out of my eyes for me. He even tucked a stray strand behind my ears before leaning in to kiss my cheek. You would have thought that pretending to be someone’s boyfriend was just a daily routine for him.

There was a loud gasp behind us.

His lips curved into a smile against my face before he grabbed my hand again. His eyes twinkled down at me with amusement. I would have laughed with him if I weren’t so nervous.

And just like that, I suddenly wasn’t anymore. Especially when his hand—which was formerly on my waist—drifted lower. Way lower.

I shot him a glare. “What are you doing?” I hissed.

“Just making sure we know where the boundaries are.” His hand zipped back up to my shoulders and hugged me to his side as he smothered his laughter. “Note taken.”

The crowd moved forward with us until we were in front of the lockers. Evan let go of me and knelt down to open his. I took the opportunity to wipe my hands on the side of my jeans. Everything I needed was already in my bag, so I just tried to look casual as I waited. Like there weren’t a bunch of students staring at us from every angle as if we were carnies at a circus.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Come see the nerd and the sex god!

The only person who was more natural than Evan was Carly. Her acting skills came into great use. “Hey, Reformed Rake,” she called out with a wink in my direction before giving him a high five.

Without missing a beat, he gave her a one-armed hug in greeting, like they were old friends. I noticed that she leaned into his muscled shoulder a few seconds longer than needed, though.

“Reformed Rake?” A confused expression crossed his face. “What does that mean?”

My face flushed, and I waved both hands at him. “Don’t worry about it. She’s crazy.”

Just then Mr. Peters walked passed us with a stack of folders in his arms. “Hello, Taylor. Carly.” He barely gave us a glance before he stopped short. He backed up a step and squinted at Evan like he didn’t understand what was going on. I don’t think anyone did. “Mr. McKinley. You’re … here. Before the bell.”

“I know, right? You’re not the only one who’s surprised.” Evan laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “But I couldn’t say no to Taylor. I mean, when she has her mind set on something, there’s nothing this girl can’t do.”

“Hmm.” Mr. Peters looked back and forth between the two of us a few times before shaking his head and walking away. “Well, it’s good to see you. All of you.”

I gave Evan a grateful smile. He didn’t know about my problems with Mr. Peters or how much anxiety I’d been going through prepping for the fair, yet somehow he made everything better. I guess he really wasn’t so bad after all.

He gave me a tiny wink like he knew what I was thinking. “I should head to homeroom. You’ll probably want to hang out with Carly a bit, right, babe?”

“Uh, right … honey,” I choked out the endearment as an afterthought, since it felt like he was waiting for something. “Meet you later for lunch?”

“Sure.”

I expected him to hug me or even kiss my cheek again before he left, but instead he patted my head like I was a pet who deserved a treat for being good. My embarrassment went supernova, and I glowered up at him. Looking very pleased with himself, Evan chuckled and tweaked the tip of my nose before leaving.

Carly waited until he was down the hall before clucking her tongue at me. “So he drove you to school? You didn’t tell me about this part of the plan last night.”

“Because it wasn’t part of the plan. It just … happened.”

“Like a happy bonus?” she asked, still not taking her eyes off his retreating broad back. Neither of us did. “You can thank me for the idea later.”

I rubbed my nose. It still tingled where he touched me. “Let’s go to class.”

*   *   *

Carly was right, though. The Reformed Rake plan worked like a charm. It was amazing. Within hours, the girls stopped acting like I was the Whore of Babylon. In fact, they were a bit awed that I had bagged a steaming hottie like Evan. (Carly’s words, not mine.) One girl even held the bathroom door open for me.

And the guys just stopped talking to me altogether. Not that I minded, since they didn’t talk to me much before, either.

The students weren’t the only ones who noticed. Mrs. Hines, the school’s secretary, actually patted my shoulder when I came in to do the morning announcements. Not only was my reputation restored, but now I was on an even higher pedestal than before.

I didn’t blame everyone for believing that we were a real couple, though. Evan’s acting was so good that even I was fooled.

It was strangely natural when he sat beside me in the cafeteria. I did, however, smack his hand when he stole one of my sweet-potato fries. I made sure to smile lovingly at him when I did it, though.