Fake Boyfriend - Kate Brian (11 page)

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"All right, fine. I'll do it," he said finally.

"Y es!" Lane and Vivi cheered and Vivi sat back down.

"But right now, I do have to get my brother home." He whipped out a notebook from his backpack and scribbled something down, then tore out the page and handed it to Lane. "Here's my information. Call me and we'll figure out a time to meet."

"Thanks. We really appreciate this," Lane said, grinning widely.

"No problem. Y at least, seem like a nice girl," he said pointedly to Lane. Then he looked at Vivi and narrowed his eyes. "Jury's still out on you," he

ou, joked.

"Ha-ha," Vivi said, giving him a little smirk.

Jonathan started past the table to get his brother, but paused. "And, by the way, my hair is not parted on the wrong side."

The second he was gone, Lane and Vivi cracked up. "We did it! We found our Brandon!" Lane cheered, giving Vivi a high five.

"Isabelle is going to love him!" Vivi said proudly, grabbing one of Lane's fries. "Shawn Sluttig is history. Thanks to my brilliant maneuver."

"Oh my God. I can't believe he fell for that! Reverse psychology is the oldest trick in the book!" Lane said. She got up and moved to the other side of the booth, dragging her plate of food with her. Considering how wary she'd been about this plan from the start, she was surprised to find that her heart was pounding with excitement. But why not? Jonathan was gorgeous and funny and, with a little work, could

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definitely be Isabelle's perfect guy. Maybe Vivi had been right all along. Maybe this plan was really going to work. The very idea of Isabelle being happy and Shawn Littig-free made Lane's skin tingle.

"Well he does have a C in psych," Vivi joked, munching on the fries.

"So, ladies. Is Operation Skewer Sluttig a go?" Curtis asked, standing at the end of the table and rubbing his hands together. The girls cracked up.

"It's a go!" Lane cheered.

"Sweet!" Curtis slapped both their hands, then groaned when his cell phone beeped. He yanked it out of his pocket. "Third message from my dad. We'd better go."

Vivi started to get up, but Lane grabbed her hand. She was too high on life to let this moment pass just yet. "Wait! Don't you guys think we should, like, soak in the moment? We just found our Brandon!"

"Totally! A toast!" Vivi said, picking up her chocolate shake. "Here's to helping Isabelle be Sluttig-free. To Brandon!"

Lane lifted her soda glass, and Curtis grabbed one of the untouched ice waters. "To Brandon!"

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* * * * ten * * * *

"What if he's never read any of the books that Brandon's supposed to like?" Lane asked as they walked back into Vivi's house later that night. "Or seen the movies? Oh my God. What if he doesn't watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition like we said? Isabelle has every episode practically memorized! If he's never seen one, she's gonna know."

Vivi bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to snap. Lane was so putting a damper on Vivi's victory buzz.

"Okay, what happened to you between the diner and here?" Vivi asked. She whipped her suede jacket off and threw it toward the hooks next to the door. It missed by a mile and hit the floor, where she left it. "Y were loving Jonathan half an hour ago."

ou

"I know. And I still am. It's just. . . how are we going to turn a preppy boy with manners into a bad boy who plays

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the drums?" Lane paused on her way up the stairs. "Oh God! He's supposed to play the drums!"

"It doesn't matter!" Vivi said, frustrated. She charged ahead up the stairs and down the hallway. "They're just going to the prom! Do you think Isabelle's going to bring a drum set with her and demand that he play?"

Vivi pushed open the door to her bedroom and, as always seemed to be the case these days, there was Marshall, sitting at her computer. Over a plain burgundy T-shirt and those new jeans of his, he was wearing a trendy army green military-style jacket. It was the first time in her life Vivi had ever seen her brother sporting a totally unboring and semibadass outfit.

"Nice jacket," Vivi said, tossing her bag on her bed. "Maybe you should, like, wear it outside the house where there are people. Instead of, you know, sitting in here where no one will ever see you."

"She's right, Marshall. Y ou've been spending an unhealthy amount of time in front of the computer lately." Lane dropped onto the beanbag chair and forced all the air to wheeze out.

"I was bored and I happened to notice that Isabelle was online, so I just figured I'd chat," Marshall replied. He glanced at Vivi and tugged at his cuffs. "Y really like it?"

ou

"Y eah. It actually rocks," Vivi said offhandedly. She was too busy jumping three moves ahead in her mind. She leaned toward the computer, and Marshall quickly minimized the window he had been typing in. "Y ou're on with Izzy right now?

"Y eah. We were just talking about what we're doing this

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summer and--was He paused, looking up at Vivi with sudden concern in his eyes. "Why do you look so happy?"

He glanced at Lane, who, Vivi noticed, looked rather green. What was wrong with her? They'd found a Brandon. And yet Lane looked more uncertain than ever.

"Why is she so happy?" Marshall repeated to Lane.

"We kind of found a guy," Lane explained, sounding like she was announcing an execution.

"Y eah, and she was all giddy about it half an hour ago before she started overthinking it, as always," Vivi groused.

Marshall's face was blank. "Y found a guy."

ou

"For Isabelle! To be Brandon," Vivi announced, refusing to let their negative vibe get to her. "IM her and tell her you want to take her to the prom."

"Wait a minute," Marshall said, standing up. He pushed the desk chair in with his butt, preventing Vivi from getting anywhere near her own computer. "Y found a guy? Who is he?"

ou

"His name is Jonathan Hess, and he is amazingly hot," Vivi explained, clasping her hands together as her heart fluttered at the very thought of him. "Isabelle is going to die when she sees him."

"How hot?" Marshall asked, gripping the top of the chair behind him.

"Why? Do you want to date him?" Vivi shot back.

"Y know, after seventeen years, the gay jokes are getting tired, Viv," Marshall replied.

ou

Vivi rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm just saying. What do you care how hot he is? Just IM the girl." She reached past him,

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grabbed the mouse, and opened the window again. Marshall, just as quickly, reached over and closed it.

"No, Vivi. Hang on a sec," Marshall said, pushing his newly floppy bangs away from his head, where they flopped right back down. "I mean, where's this guy from? Are you sure he's not some deviant or something? Did you get references?"

"From who? His ex-girlfriends? God, Marshall, have a little faith," Vivi said. "Lane and I are not going to pick some guy out of a police lineup to take our best friend to the prom. He's a good guy. Now would you please just do your job?"

She reached for the chair and yanked it out, nearly knocking her brother over in the process. Marshall's shoulders slumped, but he sat down and pulled the keyboard tray toward him. His fingers were just about to touch the keys when Lane shoved herself up.

"Wait," Lane said, wringing her hands. "What now?" Vivi asked, ready to burst from excitement and frustration. "This is no time to be squeamish. For all we know, she could be on the phone with Shawn right now telling him what color corsage will go with her dress. Which, by the way, he will totally ignore."

"I just want to be sure we're doing the right thing," Lane said, her forehead wrinkled with worry. "Are we totally positive we can change Mr. Prep into Brandon the Bad Boy? We only have two weeks, and he has to be totally believable."

Vivi wanted to scream. What did Lane think they were doing, brain surgery? All Jonathan needed was a little

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stubble, a leather jacket, and a fake tattoo, and they were in business. "Y We're totally sure," she said firmly. "Marshall, let's do this."

es.

***

"I left him a message last night, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet," Lane told Vivi. She paused outside her art classroom and sighed. "I hope he's not backing out."

Even though she did sort of hope that Jonathan was backing out. If he backed out now, it would definitely be too late to find someone else, and they could go ahead and bag the whole plan.

Lane took a deep breath and sighed. She had to remember why they were doing this. Isabelle was her best friend. All she was doing here was protecting her from Shawn.

"I knew I should have been the one to call him," Vivi grumbled.

"Why? What would you have said that would have been so different from what I said?" Lane asked, irritated.

"Nothing! I don't know," Vivi replied. She unzipped her yellow Nike hoodie and slipped it off to tie it around her waist. "It's j... I'm more forceful than you are, you know?" she said, yanking on the sleeves.

"Y eah. I'm aware." Lane looked around to make sure the coast was clear and lowered her voice. "That's why we decided I should call him. Since you're the one who almost scared him off."

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"Whatever," Vivi said with a scoff.

Lane's fingers curled into fists, and she held her breath to keep from screaming. If Vivi wanted to do everything by herself so badly, why had she sucked Lane into this mess in the first place? It wasn't like she enjoyed scheming and lying and sneaking around.

"Hey, guys," Curtis said, coming up behind Lane.

Her heart stopped at the sound of his voice. But when she turned around to greet him, he looked morose. "What's wrong?"

"I'm out," Curtis said, shoving his hand into the pocket of his baggy jeans. "My dad found out I got a C on that Calc test, and he grounded me. No unapproved outings for the rest of the year. So I can't help you train Jonathan or whatever."

"Y ou're kidding!" Vivi said, wilting visibly.

Lane's eyes stung unexpectedly, and she looked at the floor. She was already way too emotional to hear that Curtis was going to be MIA for this whole thing. Spending time with him was one of the arguments Vivi had used to talk her into the plan in the first place. And now she'd be spending less time with him.

"I'm really sorry," Curtis said, nudging Lane's elbow with his own.

Lane sucked it up and raised her eyes. "It's okay."

Then, behind Curtis, Lane saw Isabelle practically skipping toward them, a huge smile on her face. Lane's heart skipped an excited beat, even as her stomach turned. She had a feeling she knew what Isabelle was so happy about.

"Shhh. She's coming," Lane said.

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Vivi's green eyes widened. "Hey, Iz!"

"Y guys are never going to believe what happened!" Isabelle announced, jumping up and down in front of them. "Brandon talked to his parents, and

ou they said he could come down for the prom! I'm going to prom with Brandon!"

"Oh my God, Izzy! That's awesome!" Vivi said, hugging Isabelle. "Congratulations."

She's good. I'd never know that she knew what was going on, Lane thought. Her heart pounded wildly, wondering if she could be half so convincing.

"Brandon? Who's Brandon?" Curtis asked, just as smoothly.

"He's this incredible guy Isabelle met on MySpace," Vivi said with a self-satisfied grin.

"Oh. Sweet, Iz," Curtis said.

"Y eah. That is so cool," Lane said calmly. She glanced at Vivi warily. "But do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, making a date with someone you met on the Internet?"

Vivi's eyes turned into tiny black dots. Lane knew that if the girl could have eviscerated her on the spot, she would have.

"What? I'm just worried about her," Lane said innocently. "What kind of friend just lets another friend go out with some random guy she met online? He might not even be a guy. He could be an old man. Or a woman! Or--was

"Okay, Lane, we get your point," Vivi said through her teeth.

Lane bit her tongue. She was only trying to say what she would have said if she had no clue that Brandon was actually Marshall.

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"I knew you were going to say that!" Isabelle said, swatting Lane's arm. "And you're totally right. I already decided I'm going to e-mail him tonight and ask him to meet up somewhere this weekend so we can make sure we're both, you know, normal."

"This weekend? Really?" Vivi said, her voice tight. "That's so soon."

Lane gulped, knowing exactly what Vivi was thinking. If this pre-date went down the way Isabelle wanted it to, then they had only four days to get Jonathan up to believable Brandon standards. Four. Measly. Days.

At that moment, Lane's cell phone beeped. She whipped it out of her pocket and turned toward the wall. Technically students were not supposed to have their cell phones turned on during school hours, so she, her friends, and everyone else in school had become quite adept at hiding them from clear sight. She had one new text message, which she quickly opened and read.

Can meet 2day. My house. 4pm Call �8R and get detes. C u then. --J

"Who is it?" Isabelle asked.

"Oh ... uh ... no one," Lane replied, quickly shielding the screen from her friends. "Just my mom saying she won't be home for dinner. Guess Dad and I are on our own again."

"Oh. Sorry, Lane. That sucks," Isabelle said, shuffling her books from one arm to the other.

Lane felt like she was going to burst into flames. Here Isabelle was commiserating for poor Lane and her subpar

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home life. Meanwhile Lane was lying to Izzy's face and plotting behind her back all at the same time.

"Y eah, well." Lane shrugged and quickly texted back.

OK. Thnx. Btw no shave 2day. Will xplain �8R comL She pocketed the phone and touched the sleeve of her sweater to her forehead, which was itchy with sweat.

"Everything okay?" Curtis asked pointedly.

"Fine. Dad and I are gonna go out. Around four?" she said, looking directly at Vivi. "Maybe someplace in Cranston?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Vivi said happily, winking at Lane for good measure.