Be Mine (6 page)

The scent of hot pizza brought Sheba running into the kitchen. Immediately, she began rubbing herself up against Will's leg and purring.

“Would you excuse us for a second?” Jennifer asked Will, grabbing Violet by the arm and dragging her into the next room. “I can't seem to find my wallet and I need help finding it.”

“Isn't that it in your hand?” Will pointed out.

Jennifer stared at the red leather wallet she was holding and laughed. “It is! But there's no money in it. I need to go find my other wallet. We'll be right back.”

As soon as they were alone, Jennifer whispered, “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“You want Will Sinclair to be your boyfriend.”

“He's perfect!”

“Perfectly awful!” Behind her glasses, Violet's blue eyes widened with concern. “Jen, you've heard the stories about him.”

Jennifer knew what Violet was talking about. Will was a notorious serial dater. He never went out with the same girl more than twice and his dates weren't just limited to girls from North Ridge High. He was known to have gone out with girls from St. Bernadette's and St. Edmund's, two all-girls Catholic high schools, as well as two other public high schools. It was even rumored that he'd gone out with girls in college sororities!

Girls at North Ridge High were always following him down the halls. Waiting by his locker before and after school. Sitting at his table in the school cafeteria. They offered to buy his lunch. Do his homework. Take him to concerts and movies. Tempt him with expensive gifts.

But Will never said yes to them.

He dated only the girls that he wanted to date and then moved on. It didn't matter if a girl was still interested in going out with him. Saying yes to a date with Will Sinclair meant maybe having your heart broken. Because there was always the chance that he might not call back. That was why he was called the Heartbreaker.

But girls kept saying yes to him because each and every one of them thought that
she
was going to be the one to get Will to change his ways. He was a bad boy, and there was nothing more irresistible to a good girl than trying to tame a bad boy.

Jennifer felt that Will would be
perfect
as her fake boyfriend. If everyone thought she had tamed the Heartbreaker, she'd be the talk of North Ridge High.

“Those stories are nothing but gossip,” Jennifer said dismissively. “You shouldn't be so quick to judge him!”

“I'm not judging him. All I know is what I've heard.”

“Well, you've heard wrong!”

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Violet worriedly asked. “Are people really going to buy you and Will as a couple?”

“I think you just insulted me!” Jennifer gasped in mock outrage.

“He's never had a girlfriend,” Violet reminded her. “Don't take it personally. People are going to talk. Why all of a sudden does he decide to have a girlfriend?”

“What can I say? He was waiting for the right girl. Me!”

“I don't know, Jennifer. Something could go wrong.”

“Nothing is going to go wrong. How can it? And think of the best part! When I walk into Claudia's party on Saturday night, her eyes are going to pop right out of her head. I need her to be shocked when she sees Will on my arm. Can you think of a better secret boyfriend than him?”

Before Violet could answer, Will called out from the kitchen. “Hey! Your pizza is getting cold!”

“I'm going to ask him!” Jennifer announced, hurrying back into the kitchen.

Will had put the pizza box on top of the table. Sheba had already jumped onto a chair and was pressing her nose to the box, whiskers twitching. Jennifer shooed her away and she jumped back down on the floor, meowing.

“That's fifteen dollars,” Will said.

“Fifteen dollars,” Jennifer repeated, opening up her wallet.

“I thought you said you didn't have any money in that wallet,” Will pointed out.

Jennifer laughed as she scrambled to say something that made sense. “My wallets are identical. I liked this one so much, I had to have two of them. It's a girl thing.”

“Whatever.”

Jennifer handed Will the money for the pizza, along with a generous tip. Will counted the bills and then folded them, putting them in his back pocket. He gave Jennifer a smile for the tip. “Thanks! Enjoy the pizza.”

Violet nudged Jennifer. “He's leaving! If you're going to ask him, ask him!”

“So listen!” Jennifer called out. “I know you're going to think this sounds crazy, but I need you to be my boyfriend.”

Will turned around and stared at Jennifer, his blue eyes wide with disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“I've gotten myself into this . . . situation,” Jennifer explained, trying not to squirm. “I told someone that I have a boyfriend. Which obviously I don't otherwise I wouldn't be standing here asking you to be my boyfriend.”

“And why are you asking me? Why not some other guy?”

“Because you'd be perfect,” Jennifer admitted. “Every girl at North Ridge High would love to go out with you.”

Will folded his arms across his chest and Jennifer couldn't help but notice how muscular they were, even underneath all that flannel. “Have you ever wanted to go out with me?” he asked.

“I never really thought about it.”

“So why now?”

Jennifer sighed. “Because I have to find someone by Friday.”

“Why Friday?”

“That's the deadline for essays for the Most Romantic couple contest,” Violet piped in.

Will held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Slow down. Not only do you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend, but you want us to compete as Most Romantic?”

“Yes,” Jennifer admitted.

“It sounds like you've gotten yourself into a mess,” Will said. “You should be careful about what you say.”

“She speaks without thinking,” Violet told Will. “It's a bad habit.”

Will turned to Jennifer. “You should work on that.”

“I will. In the future. I promise. But right now I need your help.” She bit down on her lower lip, praying that Will would take pity on her. “Will you help me?”

“I don't even know you!” Will exclaimed.

“We can get to know each other,” Jennifer suggested. “It's only for a week. Until Valentine's Day. After that, you're free!”

Will sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The smooth black strands fell back into place. “Look, you seem nice, but I don't like lying to people. It's not my style.”

“Is that the only reason?” Jennifer asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe there's another reason. Maybe you don't want people thinking you're off the market.”

Will shrugged. “Well, there is that, too. I like keeping myself in circulation. Sorry, I wish I could help you out, but I don't do girlfriends, real or fake.”

Will turned around and headed for the back door.

Violet sighed. “Looks like Claudia wins again.”

At the mention of Claudia's name, Will stopped in his tracks. “Claudia?” he asked, turning to face Jennifer and Violet. “Are you talking about Claudia Monroe?”

Jennifer nodded. “Yes. Why? Do you know her?”

Will made a face. “Do I ever! Not only has she stiffed me on tips in the past, but last month she had a huge party and ordered a bunch of pizzas. When I delivered them, she wound up not paying. The cost of the pizzas had to come out of my pocket. Why didn't you mention her name sooner? This changes everything.”

“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked.

“If you're planning to pull a fast one on Claudia, then count me in.”

Jennifer couldn't believe what she was hearing. “Does that mean you'll help me? You'll do it? You'll pretend to be my boyfriend?”

“Absolutely.”

Before she could stop herself, Jennifer threw her arms around Will and gave him a hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me!”

As Jennifer hugged Will, she couldn't help but notice how nice he smelled. It was a combination of pizza, soap, and some sort of guy scent that was kind of woodsy.

Jennifer awkwardly broke the hug and stepped back. “Sorry about that. Sometimes I get a little overexcited.”

Will rubbed his hands together and gave an evil Bart Simpson chuckle. “So, tell me what I have to do.”

“One of our first tests is going to be a party that Claudia is throwing on Saturday night,” Jennifer said. “Practically everyone at school is going to be there, waiting to see us, because Claudia thinks I'm not going to show with a boyfriend. I think we should spend as much time together as we can this week so we can get to know each other. Trust me, if we want to fool Claudia, then this is going to have to seem real.”

Will nodded in agreement. “I hear you. Why don't you swing by the pizzeria tomorrow after school? We can hang out and work on our stories.”

“It's a date!” Jennifer exclaimed.

“You mean a fake date,” Will reminded her as he walked out the back door.

“Right!” Jennifer hurriedly agreed. “A fake date!”

Thursday morning Eden was waiting in front of Keith's locker.

She was determined to talk to him. If he thought he could just send her a text message and that would be the end of things between them, he was wrong. All last night she had thought of what Claudia had told her and she was right. Keith owed her an explanation. She might not like what he told her, but she wanted to know why he was breaking up with her. And even though she hated to admit this, a teeny tiny part of her was hoping if they did talk, they might still have a chance to work things out. At the very least, Keith would get to hear what she had to say.

To make sure she didn't miss him, Eden had come to school an hour earlier than usual. She knew Keith was going to have to get his books for his morning classes, so he wouldn't be able to avoid her.

Eden stared down the mostly deserted hallway. It was weird not hearing a bunch of different conversations going on at the same time or the nonstop clanking of locker doors. It was so quiet! She had never come to school this early. Most of the students already here were the ones who were taking accelerated classes. They were already in the school library or computer center. Everyone she hung out with was still at home.

Thinking of the smart kids reminded Eden that she wasn't one of them. She did okay in her classes, but she wouldn't be taking any Advanced Placement classes next year the way her two older sisters had when they attended North Ridge High. Unlike Shannon and Alyssa, she wasn't a brainiac, and she wouldn't be winning a full college scholarship the way they both had. Shannon was a sophomore at NYU in the pre-med program, while Alyssa was a senior at Columbia and applying to law school.

Thinking of her sisters reminded Eden that she had a tutoring session that morning. Her parents, who were both lawyers, hadn't been thrilled with her PSAT scores last spring. With the SATs coming up in May, they had gotten her a tutor last month. Eden hadn't thought her scores were that bad — after all, it was a standardized test and you couldn't really study for it — but her parents disagreed. They felt that she wasn't applying herself enough, but that wasn't true! She just wasn't as smart as Shannon and Alyssa, and even though her parents didn't mean to do it, they were always comparing her to them. She knew they didn't do it on purpose, but they still did it when they said things like, “Shannon never had any trouble in Chemistry. Why don't you give her a call and see if she can help you out?” Or, “Alyssa already had enough credits from her Advanced Placement classes to enter Columbia as a sophomore. Why don't you think about taking a class or two this summer to finish your high school requirements and get a jump start?”

In a family of overachievers, Eden felt like she was an underachiever, even though she always tried to do her best. Her father was constantly telling her she needed to think about her future. Well, she did think about her future. She knew what she wanted to do when she was finished with college. She wanted to be a model. She wanted to wear beautiful clothes, pose for photographers, and travel the world! She wanted to be the next Tyra Banks. Her favorite TV show was
America's Next Top Model
and she watched it religiously every week. Often, she would practice different facial expressions in her bedroom mirror and work on her runway walk. She also subscribed to all the fashion magazines like
Vogue, Elle, W,
and
Harper's Bazaar.
When it came to designers, stylists, models, and photographers, she knew everything, but she didn't share that information with her family. If they knew she wanted to be a model, she was sure they'd be horrified.

So she didn't tell them.

But someday she would.

Last night she had spent hours in front of her closet, going through her clothes, trying to find the perfect outfit for today. If Keith was going to break up with her, then she wanted him to see what he was losing.