Fake Boyfriend - Kate Brian (6 page)

"Y eah. Have fun," Lane said.

"Thanks! I'll call ya later, okay?"

"Y ep."

Curtis turned and jogged toward the court, where the girls in the stands greeted him with hoots and hollers. Lane crouched down and lifted Curtis's bike out of the dirt. As she stood up, the handlebar dragged across the front of her blouse, leaving a big brown smear.

"Perfect," Lane said under her breath as cheers erupted behind her. "Just perfect."

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53 * * * * five * * * *

Vivi walked into her room after track practice to find her brother already sitting at her computer.

"God! Y scared the crap outta me," she said, throwing her bags down on the floor.

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"Sorry. History paper," Marshall replied without looking up. Of course. That was her brother. He hadn't even changed after school--he was still wearing the ridiculously preppy polo shirt and khakis he'd worn that day. He'd probably come through the door, had a healthy snack of apples and water, and come right upstairs to work. How they were from the same gene pool, Vivi had no idea.

"I can't wait until I get my new computer." Vivi threw her duffel bag onto her unmade bed and sat down to peel off her sneakers. "Then you can have this one and leave me alone."

Marshall tipped his head back in frustration, and his blond bangs fell back from his forehead.

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"Hey! Y hair isn't gelled into a helmet today," Vivi noticed. "What gives?"

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Marshall's face grew blotchy, and it was clearly taking an effort for him to keep from looking at her. "Just . . . trying something new."

Vivi stood up and leaned back against her desk next to him to check it out. "It looks nice."

His blotchiness deepened. "Thanks."

"So, is Isabelle online?" Vivi asked, gesturing at the screen.

"How would I know?" Marshall replied.

"Uhh ... because you've got the MySpace window minimized right there," Vivi replied. "Why don't you check?"

Marshall blinked. "Oh, yeah. I forgot that was there."

He clicked on the bar, and the MySpace screen popped up. Brandon's MySpace screen, to be exact.

"What were you doing on Brandon's MySpace page?" she asked. "And how did you get the password?"

"First of all, your password has been 'double-v' since the beginning of time," Marshall said. "And second, I wasn't doing anything. I was just checking it out. Seeing what you and Lane think a guy's page should be like. I didn't really get much of a chance over the weekend with you ordering me around and breathing down my neck."

"Oh," Vivi said. She pulled her second chair over, turned it around, and straddled. "So? How'd we do?" she asked, resting her arms on the back of the chair.

"Actually, he seems pretty cool," Marshall conceded, clicking on view: my profile.

"Good," Vivi replied. She noticed that the online now

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icon was flashing next to Isabelle's name on Brandon's top friends. A rush of excitement shot through her. "Look! She's on. Let's IM her."

"Right now?" Marshall said, looking at Lane with wide eyes.

"No. Next Wednesday," Vivi said, rolling her eyes. "Just ask her what she's up to."

Marshall took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Fine. But only for a few minutes. I have to get back to my paper."

"I promise I will get you back to your precious homework before you know it."

He ignored her and opened the IM window.

Brandon: Hey. What's up? IzzyBelly: Hi! Not much. How are you? Brandon: Fine. What're you doing? IzzyBelly: Stressing actually.

Vivi and Marshall exchanged a glance. "About what?" Vivi asked.

Marshall typed.

Brandon: About what?

IzzyBelly: Prom. Everyone's talking about it and I don't have a date. Too bad you live so far. . . LOL I don't know. It just feels like there's no one to go with.

"This is perfect!" Vivi said, getting up and turning the chair around so she could lean toward the screen. "Tell her you're sure she's going to find a date. Tell her she's so amazing there are probably hundreds of guys who want to go with her."

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Brandon: Please. I bet a lot of guys would kill to go with you.

"Nice edit," Vivi said, impressed, leaning her elbow on the desk.

Marshall blushed and shrugged.

IzzyBelly: I wish. There's no one good in my class. At least no one that doesn't have a date already.

Vivi opened her mouth to make a suggestion, but Marshall was already typing.

Brandon: What about other classes? Juniors, maybe?

He hit send before Vivi could stop him, so instead, she whacked him across the back of his blond head.

"Hey! Ow!" Marshall protested, rubbing the spot Vivi hit.

"Don't send her stuff without my approval!" Vivi said.

"Why not? Y liked the last thing I wrote!" Marshall pointed out.

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Vivi pressed her lips together. "All right, fine. But at least let me read it first."

Marshall huffed a sigh. "Whatever."

They both stared at the screen. It was taking Isabelle a while to type back.

"Where'd she go?" Vivi demanded. "Dammit, Marshall. Y scared her away! Why the hell did you have to mention the juniors? Y class is like a

ou our walking horror movie. She probably thinks you're an idiot now."

"I'm sorry, I just--was

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Suddenly another message popped up. Vivi and Marshall fell silent.

IzzyBelly: Maybe. I don't know. It's j... my ex has been texting me all day today. Just got another one from him. I think he might want to get back together. And I always imagined we'd go to the prom. . . .

"Oh, no! No, no, no!" Vivi jumped up and dug through her cluttered bag for her cell phone. When she finally unearthed it, she hit speed-dial three for Isabelle and clutched the phone to her ear. She was going to save this girl from herself if it killed her.

"What're you doing?" Marshall gasped, now standing as well.

"I'm calling her," Vivi replied, pacing in front of her bed. "She can't be talking to Sluttig. There's no way."

"But you're not supposed to know that!" Marshall pointed out.

Vivi's heart dropped just as Isabelle picked up the phone. She stared at Marshall, eyes wide, like she'd just been called on in class and had no idea what the question was. What was she going to say? What the hell was she thinking?

"Hey, Vivi," Isabelle said. "What's up?"

"Uh, nothing," Vivi replied, heart pounding. "What's up with you?" There was a pause. "Nothing ... Y called me."

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"Oh, right. I did, didn't I?" Vivi improvised. Marshall tipped his head back and covered his face with his hands. "Uh ... whatcha doing?"

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"Not much," Isabelle replied. In the background, Vivi could hear Isabelle typing. Two seconds later, another IM popped up on her computer screen. She and Marshall both stared at it like it was about to explode.

IzzyBelly: Still there?

Vivi waved at Marshall to sit down and type back. Marshall looked like he was in the midst of an extremely premature heart attack, but he did as he was told. He typed something quickly, and the keyboard sounded like a jackhammer. Cursing to herself, Vivi got on her bed and curled into the far corner of the room.

"Not much, huh?" she said loudly, trying to cover the sound of typing. "Sounds like you're on the computer. Are you IM-ING someone?"

Instantly Marshall stopped typing and shot her an exasperated look. On the other end of the line, Isabelle was silent. Vivi closed her eyes and held her breath. What was she thinking?

"Actually . . . yeah," Isabelle said finally. "And I kind of have to go. Unless . . . was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"No. Not really," Vivi replied. "I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye!"

She turned off the phone without waiting for a reply and collapsed back on her bed, where a pillow promptly hit her in the face.

"Hey!" she shouted, sitting up and throwing the pillow back at Marshall.

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"So much for you being a genius!" Marshall blurted, catching the pillow easily. "Y almost gave us away! She could have been e-mailing someone or

ou working on a paper. What're you supposed to be, psychic now?"

"God. Chill out, Marshall. She doesn't suspect anything," Vivi said grouchily, lying down on her side, facing Marshall. "Besides, this was my idea. I can give it away if I want to."

"Well? What did she say about Shawn?" Marshall asked. He put the pillow down and crossed his arms over his chest. His biceps bulged slightly. Apparently he had been working out behind her back. Weird. "Are they getting back together?"

"She didn't say anything. Brandon probably has a better chance of finding out the truth than I do," she said, glaring at the computer. "She knows I hate the guy."

"That's great, Viv. It's nice to know you've alienated your friends so much, they won't even talk to you about life- altering decisions," Marshall said, swiveling from left to right in the desk chair.

"What do you know about having friends?" Vivi shot back.

Marshall's jaw dropped slightly. "I have friends!"

"The people you work with at Barnes and Noble don't count," Vivi replied.

"Y suck, Viv, you know that?" Marshall said. He got up, grabbed his books, and closed the MySpace screen. "I'll finish my paper later."

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"See ya!" Vivi said, following him to the door so she could slam it.

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Alone in her room, she realized that on some level, Marshall was right. She couldn't help if Izzy refused to talk to her about Shawn or Brandon. Tomorrow she was going to have to get the girl to open up, and she was going to have to talk her out of getting back together with Shawn, once and for all.

***

"I think I might ask Shawn to the prom," Isabelle announced, standing in the center of her pink-and-white Laura Ashley bedroom.

"What? No!" Vivi cried, sitting up straight on the floral window seat.

"I thought he was going with Tricia," Lane offered. She put the basketball trophy she was toying with back on the jam-packed award shelf on the wall.

"I think she lied. He said they've talked about it, but he hasn't actually asked her," Isabelle said, making a face.

"So you guys are talking again," Vivi said flatly. She turned sideways, bringing her feet up on the pristine cushion. "Great."

"Just e-mailing and texting . . . mostly," Isabelle replied, walking over to knock Vivi's feet down again, which Vivi had been fully expecting. "We're working our way up to actual talking."

"I'm working my way up to not vomiting," Vivi said, glaring up at her friend.

"That's nice. Very supportive," Isabelle shot back.

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Frustrated, Vivi put her head in her hands and looked over at Lane, who sat on the canopied bed with her tongue tied, as usual. If Isabelle went to the prom with Shawn, she would be completely sucked back in, and they would spend the entire summer breaking up and getting back together. For all Vivi knew, Shawn could convince Isabelle not to go away to school next year because it would destroy their star- crossed love. He had that kind of power over her.

Isabelle paced over to her big wooden desk and leaned back against it, twisting her silver ring around and around her finger.

"I know you guys don't like Shawn. Obviously," she began. "But I can't help how I feel. Besides, you don't know him like I do."

Vivi had to grip the cushion under her butt to keep from rolling her eyes. How many times had she heard this exact speech?

"His parents are, like, evil. Like Oliver Twist evil. They're so mean to him, you have no idea. I'm all he's got, you know? I'm the only person in the world who really cares about him," Isabelle rambled, still twisting her ring around her finger. "I don't know ... maybe this thing with Tricia is just, like, separation anxiety because I'm going away next year."

"Y ou're gonna use your psych class to make excuses for him?" Vivi blurted.

Isabelle leveled her with a stare. "I'm not making excuses. I'm just trying to understand. He apologized. And I know I shouldn't take him back." Isabelle stopped pacing and

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dropped her hands. "Y guys, I really think he might have changed this time."

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Vivi scoffed and looked away. How could the smartest person in the entire school be so ridiculously stupid when it came to guys?

"It's just that I've always imagined going to the prom with him," Isabelle said, slumping down next to Vivi on the window seat. "Getting all dressed up and dancing with him--was

"Just because you imagined it that way, that doesn't mean it's how it's supposed to be," Vivi said firmly, turning to face Isabelle. "Y ou're supposed to be with a guy who loves you. A guy who respects you."

Isabelle's face fell. "I know he loves me."

"But he doesn't respect you," Lane piped in quietly from the bed.

Vivi and Isabelle looked over at her. She'd been so silent for the past few minutes, Vivi had practically forgotten she was there.

"I'm sorry, Iz, but a guy who really respects you and cares about you isn't going to hook up with some girl behind your back," Lane said calmly. "And he wasn't even discreet about it. But even if he was, it wouldn't make it okay."

"Y guys--was

ou "She's right, Iz," Vivi said, buoyed by Lane's backup. "There are other guys out there. Great guys. Guys who won't cheat on you and just expect you to take them back. Guys like--was

Lane's eyes widened, and Vivi snapped her mouth shut. She couldn't believe the word that was on the tip of her

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tongue. Had she really been about to mention Brandon?

"Guys like who?" Isabelle asked.

"I don't know! Like--was

Something in the room beeped. Isabelle got up and walked closer to her computer. There was an IM screen dead in the center. Vivi, Lane, and Isabelle all leaned toward it to see. Vivi's heart caught in her throat when she read the message.

Brandon: Hey, Izzy. What's up?

Vivi looked at Lane, livid. What the hell was Marshall doing? What if he flipped into his default dork setting and started going on about how Batman is the only true superhero or something?