The Fine Art of Pretending (6 page)

I
open the passenger door and look out at Cypress Lake. The slope of the parking lot gives a clear shot of the water behind the campground, mocking me as I stand on the steaming gravel road. Inhaling a humid breath, I glance at the four large cabins overlooking the lake.

They better as hell be air-conditioned.

Drew meets me at the back of the truck and pulls down the tailgate. He tosses me a Dr. Pepper from the cooler and then takes one for himself.

“Saying goodbye to Sarah was rough.” He takes a long pull off his drink and nods as Adam parks next to us. “Her apartment’s nice, though. And it only took me two hours to get to your house, so there’s that.” He laughs sarcastically and turns back to people-watch.

This is why I don’t do relationships
. Then I remind myself of what I agreed to last night.

A quick survey of the lot doesn’t show Kara’s car. Putting off telling him about the pseudo-hookup a little longer, I say, “It’s only a year, man. You’ll be with her at UT in no time.”

“I know. It just sucks. But it’s not like I didn’t know this was coming or anything.” Drew drags a hand across his face and groans. “Get my mind off it,” he says. “Any chance I missed something crazy in the last forty-eight hours?”

And there’s my opening.
Dammit
.

I glance at Adam leaned back in his parked car. “Actually, yeah. You could say that.” Drew’s body shifts forward as I take a stalling sip of soda. “Aly and I…” I snap the pop-top from my can and pitch it. “We’re sorta dating now.”

“Wait.” His eyes bug out, and he shakes his head as if it’s defective. “Did you just say
Aly
?”

I nod, and the audible gasp from his direction is pretty much the reaction I expected. Guilt hits me like a punch to the gut. Honesty is important to me. Girls always know the score, and friends know where they stand. I don’t have time for lies or liars. But loyalty matters more. If anyone finds out this hookup with Aly isn’t real, she’ll be embarrassed.

And I refuse to let Aly get hurt.

“We went out last night,” I explain. I start drumming a beat on my legs to give my hands something to do. “We got to talking…and decided to try going out.” I realize the drumming is making me look nervous so I stop. “Just see where it goes and have fun, y’know? No
commitment
or anything.”

My skills in lying suck ass. It’s a good thing I never do it. There’s not a chance in hell Drew, one of my best friends who knows me better than anyone except for Aly, bought any of that. I glance over and wince at the look of pure stupefaction on his face.

“You’re serious?” he asks.

“Yep,” I say, popping my lips around the word. An eternity seems to pass. It’s probably more like thirty seconds. Dust from the gravel road flies in the air from arriving cars, and I count the sounds of slamming doors. I watch Aly’s ex sitting in his car and wonder if he’s been listening. I steal another look at Drew and brace myself for the call-out.

What he says is, “It’s about damn time.”

My body goes still, then I jerk my head around, sure I heard him wrong. “Huh?”

Drew pushes to his feet, suddenly all smiles. “Dude, Aly’s perfect for you. Call it casual all you want, but the two of you have been in denial for like three years now. Sarah and I had a bet on how long it would take you to wake up, and it looks like I just won.” He shoves my shoulder. “I still feel like shit, but I’m happy for you, man. It’s about time you got your head out of your ass.”

“Gentlemen, I have an announcement.”

The second Carlos and Justin enter the room, Drew hops off the top bunk. At this rate, the whole campground will know by dinner. He already told people in the parking lot, including Adam, which was awkward, to be honest, and Lauren, which made it all worth it. And now, without giving the guys a chance to ask what the news is, he announces, “Brandon and Aly are going out.”

“Hooking up,” I clarify from my mildew-infested bed. Based on their reactions, it falls on deaf ears.

Carlos stops in the center of the cabin. “Say what?” he asks, setting his guitar on the floor.

Justin tosses his bag on an empty bunk and sits next to me. “You’re joking, right?”

I look him in the eye, then look to Carlos, and feel the blood begin to boil. I’m not really with her, but two of my closest friends acting as if the idea is impossible pisses me off. “And what the hell’s wrong with Aly?”

“Nothing, man,” Justin says, throwing his palms in the air. “Aly’s incredible. Hot, too.” He smirks like the cocky son of a bitch he is, and it takes everything in me not to remove it from his face. “But what happened to her being a
Commitment
? You say you don’t want a relationship, but then go and ask out their damn spokesperson?” Justin glances over at Carlos, who nods in agreement. “What gives?”

Behind him, Drew subtly shakes his head.

We’ve been friends long enough for him to know me. To sense the anger I keep bottled up raging just beneath the surface. I draw in a slow, controlled breath and let it out.

I get what my friends are saying. After my dad died and I saw what that did to my mom, I vowed I’d never fall in love or lose myself in a girl. And other than Justin’s one failed relationship freshman year, he’s always lived by the same creed. Together, we pretty much wrote the book on dating fast and furious, and Carlos is far from a serial monogamist. It’s not that they have anything against
Aly
, just what me being with her represents. I get it. Their reaction makes sense. And it’s the truth because Aly and I aren’t
really
together.

But I still don’t like it.

“You’re right,” I say. “We did decide Aly is a
Commitment
, but this summer she changed.” Getting through that with a straight face takes a fucking miracle. “She says she just wants to enjoy her senior year and keep things casual. We have fun hanging out, so we decided to go with it and see what happens.”

Drew beams like he’s a proud father at a championship game. He’s still not buying the “casual” part. Carlos nods rhythmically, an impressed smile crossing his face, and Justin tugs on his ear, his expression a weird mix of confusion and anger. But it’s clear they all buy the story. I lean my back against the wall and exhale.

Carlos leans over and punches my shoulder. “Never would’ve guessed Aly was a closet
Casual
, but hey, what do I know?”

“Yeah, if you know what you’re getting yourself into, that’s great.” Justin gives me a thin-lipped smile. “Aly’s awesome.”

“I know.” It’s the first truthful thing I’ve said all day.

Justin stands and heads for the door. “I’m gonna go check this place out. I’ll catch y’all later, all right?” He pushes open the door without looking back, and Drew raises his eyebrows. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Justin was jealous.

Fine, let him be. But he’s not going anywhere near Aly when this experiment is over.

I check my watch, wondering if she’s here yet. If my friends are any indication, this week is going to be interesting.

ALY
KARA’S DEATH MOBILE, 2:15 p.m
.

Riding
in Kara’s car is a little like playing Russian roulette. You know it’s a matter of when—not if—an accident will occur, but you’re betting on it not being today. Or on your side of the vehicle.

My head rattles against the passenger-side window as Kara screeches across three lanes of traffic. From the backseat, Gabi screams over the music, “Spill it, girl!”

By the time Kara picked me up, after taking forever to pack her five color-coordinated pieces of luggage, we were already running late. But my friends didn’t care. They demanded details. The only way to get Kara driving was by promising to tell all once we got on the road.

“Don’t even tell us he didn’t notice the makeover,” Kara says, accelerating through a yellow light. “He’s a guy with two functioning eyeballs. He noticed.”

“No, you’re right,” I say, gnawing on my lip. “He did.”

Brandon noticed the second he walked through my bedroom door, but not in the way Kara thinks. The big-brother vibe radiated off him all night, and I’m sure his protective Superman persona was the only reason he agreed to our fake hookup.

But hey, at least he went for it.

Gabi presses her face between our headrests and grins. “So did his tongue hang out? Did he go all googley-eyed? Spill it, girl, because if you don’t, you know I’ll just call Brandon.”

The scary thing is I don’t doubt that for a second. I twist in my seat, unable to look at either of them as I tell the lie. I went back and forth all night on if I should tell them the truth. Brandon said it was my call. But I just can’t. Gabi and Kara were cool about my makeover, but pretending a hookup to get guys to notice me sounds like a teen movie gone bad.

“Actually,” I say, focusing intently on the road ahead, “he asked me out.”

Kara stomps on her brake twenty feet before the stop sign. “I freaking knew it! Didn’t I tell you? Guys and girls can’t be friends. The sex part
always
gets in the way.”

When Harry Met Sally
logic aside, a shiver rolls down my spine at the image those words put in my mind. I’m a proud, card-carrying virgin, but I’d be lying (and I’ve already had enough of
that
today) if I said I never thought about what it would be like to make out with Brandon. According to the rumor mill, he’s quite talented in that department.

I shake my head.

Eye on the prize, Aly. Justin, Justin, Justin
.

“Didn’t I tell you Brandon would notice?” Gabi folds her arms on the back of the seat and smirks. “I bet he figured if he didn’t scoop you up now, someone like Justin would.”

I nearly choke on my tongue. Nodding, I dig through my empty purse, trying to hide my discomfort. I
hate
lying to my friends. But the alternative is the truth, and that’s way too embarrassing. I probably should’ve driven with Mom. Her catering company, the Sassy Gourmet, is in charge of the kitchen this week. But getting a ride with Mommy definitely didn’t feel very
Casual
-like. Plus, I’d have had to tell the girls eventually.

Now that I had, it’s time for a subject change.

“You know, Gabi, with me and Brandon hooking up, we’re gonna be spending even more time together. And, since Brandon’s good friends with Carlos, he’ll probably be hanging around a lot more, too.”

Gabi leans back in her seat with a growl, and I glance over at Kara, who immediately jumps on the new topic. Gotta love that girl and her never-ending matchmaker ways. “Hey, that’s right! Now, Gabi, do we need to go over the fine art of flirting again? Let’s see, step one—when a boy smiles at you, it’s okay to smile back.”

I pull down my visor and see Gabi flip us off in the mirror. We’ve been trying for the last six months to get her to admit she likes Carlos. It’s obvious they’re into each other, and they flirt constantly. Unfortunately for Carlos, there’s the pesky detail of Gabi refusing to date high-school boys. She says it’s too expected. But she doesn’t date that many college guys either. Gabi’s comfortable being on her own—a concept that boggles my mind.

“Maybe I’m just not into him,” she stubbornly says from the back seat. “You ever think about that?”