Fake Boyfriend - Kate Brian (10 page)

"Thank you, Rocco!" Vivi's mother called out from a few rows ahead, where she was sitting with Jeannie, the director.

"He's done. Y guys can open your eyes," Curtis told them.

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Vivi did as she was told, but ten minutes later, she wished she hadn't. Rocco was followed by Paul of the three chins.

"He looks like he swallowed an accordion," Lane said, which sent Vivi into laughter convulsions and earned her an admonishing look from her mother.

Paul was followed by a guy named Rajeesh who cartwheeled his way on and off stage.

"We need to make a pact right now: no circus performers," Vivi said, putting her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her.

"Unless it's a bearded lady. 'Cuz that would just be fun," Curtis put in.

And Rajeesh was followed by Danny, who looked to be about twelve. He had blond hair, a pair of candy apples for cheeks, and a neck like a pencil. Vivi tipped her head back and groaned at the cracked ceiling above. "This is not working.

"Name, please?" Vivi's mother asked.

"Uh ... Danny Hess?" the kid said, his voice cracking.

"He's kind of cute," Lane said hopefully, scooting closer to Vivi and crossing her arms over her chest.

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"Y eah, for a kindergartner," Vivi put in.

"They're too young . . . they're too old. . . . There's no pleasing you people!" Curtis joked.

"I'm auditioning for the part of Randolph?" Danny said shakily.

"The little brother," Lane explained.

"Go ahead with your song, Danny," Vivi's mother said.

Danny cleared his throat and started to sing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. He started out shaky, but was actually really good. Still, the whole time he was singing, Vivi's foot was bouncing up and down.

"Okay, okay. Get the kid offstage so we can get on with this!" she hissed.

Finally, Danny finished his verse and someone in the theater started to hoot and applaud. "Y eah, Danny! Whoooo!"

Startled, Vivi turned around, along with every other person in the auditorium. Standing in the very back, clapping his hands loudly, was a guy who must have been Danny's brother. He had to be, because he was basically an older, taller, broader version of Danny himself. Instantly, Vivi sat up. This guy was hot. Blond hair. Perfectly chiseled face. He was a bit preppy to be Brandon, in his rugby shirt and clean jeans, but that could be rectified. All Vivi cared about was the fact that looking at this guy was making her heart pound, and it was the first time that had happened all day.

"Well. What do we have here?" she said under her breath.

"Sorry." The guy stopped clapping and raised an apologetic hand toward Vivi's mom and her colleague. "Just . . .

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trying to be supportive." He grinned in a totally endearing way. "I'll just go backstage now and wait." Then he grabbed a blue-and-yellow varsity jacket off the chair in front of him and fled.

"Sorry," Danny said from the stage, purple from neck to temple. "My brother's kind of... um ... loud."

"That's all right, Danny," Vivi's mother said, smiling warmly at the boy. "We'll let you know about callbacks."

"Come on!" Vivi said, jumping out of her seat, which smacked back loudly. Her adrenaline was rushing through her veins so fast, she actually felt a bit faint.

"Where are we going?" Lane asked. She started grabbing their stuff up from the floor. "There's still an hour left."

"Not for us," Vivi hissed. "We just found our Brandon!"

,,,

Vivi speed-walked along a hallway full of guys warming up their voices and going over their lines. Old guys, fat guys, skinny guys, seriously pale guys. None of them even compared to Danny Hess's brother. At least she knew that she wasn't going to be missing anything in the upcoming auditions.

"Vivi! This guy's not even an actor," Lane whispered, sidestepping a ballet dude who was stretching in a way no guy should ever stretch. "What if he can't pull it off?"

"Shut up, Lane. He's perfect," Vivi shot back.

"Wow. That was real nice," Curtis said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, all right?" Vivi replied, glancing at them over

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her shoulder. "I just don't want to miss him!"

She was just about to turn the corner toward the wings when the man himself shoved open the door to the men's bathroom and nearly took her out.

"Whoa! Watch where you're going, there!" Vivi joked.

"Sorry," the guy blurted. He started past her, but looked up as he went and paused. "Sorry," he said again.

Vivi blushed. Was that a double take he'd just done there?

Older Brother Hess was way hotter up close. His eyes were the gray blue of the Atlantic Ocean on a cloudy day, and his smile took all the air right out of her. He had a tiny white scar on the middle of his chin, and he already had a bit of a tan--not a fake one--and it was only May, which meant he was an outdoors-loving guy.

"Vivi?" Lane said as she and Curtis caught up to them.

Vivi blinked, snapping out of her trance. "Y ou're Danny's brother, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Jonathan," he said, pulling his varsity jacket on. She wished he would turn around so she could see what school he was from and what sport he played. "Is there a problem?"

"What? Oh. No. He was great," Vivi improvised.

He smiled, and it sent shivers right through Vivi. Isabelle was going to freak for this guy.

"Great. Do you guys work here?" he asked. "Because if you do, I just want you to know if he gets the part, he'll work really hard and he'll always be on time. My parents work, but I'll drive him wherever. He really wants to be an actor for some unknown reason," he said with a laugh.

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Even his laugh was sexy.

"Oh, no. We don't work here. My mother does. She's the casting director. I'm Vivi Swayne. This is Lane Morris and Curtis Miles. We're just here for ... uh ... fun," she said, raising her shoulders.

"Oh. Well, tell your mother I'm sorry about the outburst," Jonathan said. "I'm just proud of him, you know?" He looked around at the busy hallway, shouldering his backpack. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Oh, Curtis will go find him ... right, Curtis?" Vivi said, turning around to beg him with her eyes.

Curtis sighed. "Y eah, yeah. I'm going." He turned and walked into the wings in search of Danny.

"So, where do you go to school?" Vivi asked Jonathan.

"Cranston Prep," Jonathan replied, turning slightly so that Vivi could see the back of his jacket. Which was, it turned out, a lacrosse jacket. She should have known. "Y guys from around here?"

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"We go to Westmont," Vivi replied. "Amazing, huh? We probably live fifteen minutes away from each other and have never met before. There are just way too many people in this state. Right, Lane?"

What am I saying? Vivi thought.

"Uh ... right." Lane gave Vivi a confused look.

"So, Jonathan," Vivi said, getting ready to make her pitch. "We just--was

"Here he is!" Curtis announced, returning with Danny at his heels, all ready to go. Vivi could have strangled them both.

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"Hey, thanks," Jonathan said. "Hey, great job out there!" Jonathan clasped his hand on Danny's bony little shoulder.

Danny shrugged modestly. "I did okay. They said they'd call in a couple days."

"Y totally get it." Jonathan ruffled Danny's hair. "Well, it's been nice talking to you guys, but we should be getting back. I have an exam to study for,

ou'll so ..."

Vivi's heart pounded as he shoved open the exit door. There was absolutely no way she was letting this guy out of her sight.

"Wait! Y can't go," Vivi said, running over to the exit.

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Jonathan and Danny paused. "Ooookay. Why not?" Jonathan asked.

"Because ... uh ... we have a proposition for you," Lane said.

Jonathan looked at them, intrigued. Vivi was nearly drunk with relief. "What kind of proposition?"

"Come on. There's a diner across the street," Vivi said, pushing through the door ahead of them. "We'll buy you guys some fries and explain."

*** Jonathan rested his wrists against the table--no elbows anywhere near the surface--and stared at Lane and Vivi. A few booths away, Curtis and Danny were wrapped up in a very serious Xbox versus PlayStation conversation that Lane knew could very well take hours. She had suggested they take their

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own table so that Vivi and Lane could really lay out the plan without Danny asking tons of questions--and being totally corrupted by their deviousness.

"So you want me to pretend to be some guy you made up on the Internet and take your best friend to prom so that she won't go with her boyfriend," Jonathan said flatly.

He is so out of here, Lane thought, glancing quickly at Vivi.

"Her ex-boyfriend." Vivi took a sip of her chocolate shake and placed it down on the table. "So you in?"

Jonathan sighed and leaned back into the creaky booth. "I knew I should have kept my brother away from this acting thing. Everyone in the theater business is out of their mind."

"First of all, we're not in the theater business," Vivi pointed out, playing with her empty straw wrapper. "And secondly, we're not crazy. If you knew what this guy was like--was

"Let me ask you this, does she want to go with him?" Jonathan said.

Vivi fell silent and huffed as she looked out the window.

"Y eah. Kind of," Lane admitted, earning a look of death from her friend.

"So why not just let her?" Jonathan asked. He grabbed a cherry tomato from his salad and popped it in his mouth. "Y ou've gotta let people make their own mistakes, you know? Y can't control your friends. If you try, it's just gonna put a strain on all your relationships."

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Lane hid a laugh by shoving a French fry into her mouth. Jonathan had decoded Vivi in less time than it took for them to finish their food.

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"What's with the analyzing?" Vivi said, letting her arm drop down on the table with a smack. "Are you a junior shrink?"

"Nah. Just taking a psych elective at school," Jonathan said with a grin. "I kind of wish my teacher were here right now, 'cuz she might bump my C to a B if she heard that little speech," he joked.

"Y ou're getting a C and you're trying to lecture us?" Vivi shot back. "Nice try."

"Insults! Good tactic! Do you want me to help you out with this thing or not?" Jonathan asked.

Vivi glowered at him, and Lane tried not to smile. She liked this guy. It was the rare person who could actually render Vivi speechless. Still, the silence dragged on, and Lane suddenly sensed that if she didn't step in soon, Jonathan was going to bail and they'd be back to square one. And with prom less than two weeks away, square one was not an option.

"The thing is, Isabelle has made this mistake before. A bunch of times," Lane said calmly. "I totally understand where you're coming from. I wasn't all that psyched about this plan in the beginning either--was

Vivi mumbled something under her breath and took another long drink of her shake. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glared at Lane.

"But now I think it really might be the best thing for Isabelle," Lane added. "Shawn is not a good guy, and if he keeps this up? I honestly think he might ruin her life."

Vivi glanced over at Jonathan to gauge his reaction. He seemed to be mulling it over for the first time since they'd sat

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down. Lane felt a little thrill inside her chest. Had she actually convinced him?

"I don't know," he said finally, playing around with the remnants of the salad with his fork. "It just seems so dishonest."

"We'll pay you," Vivi blurted.

Jonathan's eyebrows shot up, and he dropped his fork. "Y ou're kidding."

"I've got three hundred dollars that says I'm not," Vivi told him. "Plus all expenses will be paid for. Tux, corsage, limo. Everything."

"Everything?" Lane gulped.

"Everything," Vivi replied, never taking her eyes off Jonathan. "Y ou're gonna be driving your brother to the theater every other day for rehearsal if he gets the part, right? Three hundred dollars is a lot of gas money."

Lane smirked. Ever since Vivi had gotten her own car, she'd been complaining that all her allowance went right into the tank, and half the kids at school had part-time jobs just to pay for gas. Girl knew how to make a convincing argument.

"Y eah, but I don't know," Jonathan said. "I mean, have you guys really thought this through? What if Isabelle figures it out? Or what if someone from your school brings someone from my school to the prom and we get caught? This could be really messy."

Vivi sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Y know what, Lane? I think we should bag this. This guy has no guts. There's no way this guy

ou could be a badass like Brandon anyway." Vivi made as if to slide out of the booth.

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Lane's heart skipped a surprised beat. "Vivi! What are you--his

"Forget it, Lane. I'm done," Vivi said pointedly. She grabbed her suede jacket from the coat hook on the outside of the booth.

"Wait! I can be a badass!" Jonathan protested. "That is so not the issue. If you wanted me to be badass, I could be badass."

He pushed up the sleeves on his jacket and cracked his neck back and forth, all tough. Lane grinned. Suddenly she understood what Vivi was doing.

"See? That's not bad," Lane said.

"Oh, please. All prepped out with your lacrosse and your high moral standards and your salad. This is a diner, for God's sake. Who gets the garden salad?" Vivi said, zipping up her jacket like she was still going to bail. "I bet the most dangerous thing you've ever done is part your hair on the wrong side."

"Hey! I've done dangerous stuff," Jonathan replied.

"Like what?" Vivi countered. She stood next to the table with her hands on her hips.

"I snowboard," he said. "And I'm saving up for a motorcycle."

"No way," Vivi said.

"So you do need money," Lane added.

Jonathan glanced away, his foot bouncing up and down under the table. He looked Lane and Vivi over, as if considering whether or not they were pathological, then sighed in a resigned way. Vivi winked at Lane from the end of the table.