The Fake Boyfriend Experiment (3 page)

All of them were staring at me as I fell over the windowsill and did a face plant onto the floor. I immediately hopped up and faced the room. Total silence. Lily the social klutz strikes again.

Rafe’s cymbal was on the floor, smashed under my backpack. Oops. “Sorry.” I kicked my backpack aside, righted the cymbal and turned toward the group. “So, I’ll play keyboard for you.”

“Who
are
you?” the singer asked.

“Lily Gardner, child prodigy on my good days, hopeless piece of dirt on my bad ones.” Donning the confident attitude that I usually saved for recitals, I strode over to the keyboard and peered at it. “So, um, where’s the on-switch?” I’d played around with keyboards plenty of times when I’d stumbled across an unattended one at recitals or in the music school. I could play it no problem, as long as I didn’t mess with the synthesizer part.

Rafe hadn’t said a word. He was simply staring at me like I’d sprouted a second head or something. I ignored him. A hot guy is one thing. Depriving me of JamieX trumped everything else.

“I know you. You were just taking the lesson with Rafe’s aunt,” Angel said. “You play classical and you aren’t even very good.”

Rafe’s aunt? I shot a surprised look at Rafe. “You’re related to Crusty?” No way was this hot guy related to my piano teacher. It was impossible they shared the same genes.

The corner of Rafe’s mouth twitched. “You call her Crusty?”

“Old Crusty is her full name. Crusty for short.” I hesitated, belatedly recalling that I was badmouthing my piano teacher to her nephew. “Um, do you like her? Because if you do, then I was talking about someone else.”

The singer interrupted, thankfully sparing me further embarrassment. “Can you play?”

“If someone would turn this thing on for me.” Gah. Did I sound like a dork or what? What loser couldn’t find a power switch?

“I’m Chris. The band is called Mass Attack.” He walked over and flicked the switch on the far left.

Duh. It had been right in front of me. “I’m Lily,” I said.

“Welcome, Lily. I hope you can play.” Chris shot me a friendly grin that immediately relaxed me. He had blond hair that was slightly longer than Rafe’s. It curled over his collar, and looked like he never bothered to brush it. A little finger combing, and he was good. I liked that. I liked the whole vibe of the band, even Angel’s too-short shirt. Every one of them oozed attitude that I didn’t have. Being around them made me feel energized and jazzed.

“I can play JamieX no problem.” I pressed a few keys, ran through a few scales, then nodded. “I’m good. Let’s go.” I looked and realized the entire room was still staring at me. “What?”

“Let her play,” Rafe said, his voice all condescending like he was the one in charge of my fate.

Oh, lucky me. The leader of the pack gave me the thumbs up. Suddenly, he didn’t seem so much like a hot guy. More like the nephew of a nightmare.

I rolled my eyes and started to play from the sheet music in front of me. What did I expect from him? He was related to Miss Jespersen. Of course he’d be an overbearing, annoying jerk who needed to boss everyone around... Wow, this song was awesome!

I was halfway through the first page, dancing and doing a butt wiggle when I realized no one else was playing. My fingers stuttered over the keys. “Am I doing it wrong?” I couldn’t take failing twice in the same day. I stepped back from the keyboard, my cheeks suddenly heating up. What had I been thinking, barging in here? I was such an idiot. A little JamieX and I’d lost my mind? “Nevermind. Sorry I bothered you. I’ll just get my stuff and go—”

“No.” Chris held up his hand, a broad grin on his face. “You’re awesome.”

Hot warmth flooded through me. “Really?” I could tell he meant it. Wow. When was the last time someone had listened to my piano playing and then looked at me as if I was worth something? This rocked!

“Oh, yeah. Really good.” Chris turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s go.”

Rafe grunted, hit his sticks together in the air for a few counts, then started a strong beat with his drums. The other guitarist joined in, followed by Angel. Chris pointed at me.

I grinned and started playing.

As soon as Chris started singing, I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me. It pulsed through me as if it were alive, jumping from my heart to my fingers. The music seemed to bounce off the walls and ceiling, filling the room with fire. I’d never felt music like this before! I let my shoulders sway and abandoned the sheet music, letting my fingers fly across the keys.

Chris’s voice was pretty good, sort of melodic and deep, and the rest of the band was decent too. Except Rafe. Rafe was positively brilliant on the drums, and I let my music follow his. I felt his rhythm shift immediately, as if he’d noticed I’d targeted him, and he wanted to test me. I matched his challenge, and then he shifted again. I went with him, my music chasing his and keeping up easily.

Rafe and I never looked at each other, but the connection between us kept building and building, becoming more and more intense. It filled the room with such energy that I felt like the walls were going to explode. It was the most amazing feeling I’d ever experienced.

The song ended, and I added an extra little flourish at the end, complete with a full spin, just like the keyboard player did in the video. I grinned at the band, who were all high fiving each other. “That was great,” Chris said.

“The best we’ve ever played it,” Angel agreed.

The other guitar player nodded at me. “Nice job, Lily.”

I grinned at him. “Sorry I didn’t stay on the music, but—”

“No,” Angel said. “You did way better than the music we had.”

My smile got wider, and I felt like skipping around the room. “Thanks.” I turned to Rafe. “What did you think?”

He met my gaze, his deep green eyes latching onto my face so intensely that I forgot to breathe. The air seemed to go utterly still, frozen by the connection between us. After a moment, he nodded. “You did great.”

Goosebumps shot down my arms at the intensity on his face. I could tell that Rafe didn’t say anything nice unless he meant it, and suddenly I felt better than I had in months. Of all the people in the room, Rafe was the one with the true gift of music. I knew that if he said I was good, he meant it in a way the others didn’t. They couldn’t, because they didn’t connect to the music the way Rafe did. A compliment from Rafe about my music meant something. It was real.

“Lily!”

The smile dropped from my face and I spun around.

Miss Jespersen was standing in the doorway, her hand on her hips and her face all scrunched up like she’d been sucking on lemons for the last fifty years.

The room fell silent, and I knew I was in deep trouble. “Um...”

Rafe started drumming again, a steady beat that seemed to fill me up, chasing away my fear. His drumming made me feel like he was standing right next to me, covering my back. “I asked Lily to help us out since Paige is late,” he said. “Sorry if I screwed up, Aunt Joyce.”

I jerked my gaze toward him, stunned by his willingness to face down his aunt in my defense, but he was watching his aunt, not me.

Miss Jespersen’s face tightened. “Your mother’s looking for you, Lily. If you can drag yourself away, I suggest you let her know that you haven’t been abducted.”

“Yeah, okay.” I stepped away from the keyboard, letting my fingers trail over the keys one last time. I wanted to stay and play more. I wanted to jam with the band until my fingers were so cramped they couldn’t move any more. I wanted to squeeze every last note out of that keyboard and let the music dance with Rafe’s drumming.

But I knew it would never happen. Crusty would cut off my fingers before she’d let me waste my time and talent on an electric keyboard. With a sigh, I picked up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. “So, um, see you guys.”

Chris touched my arm. “Can you practice with us again? Like tomorrow?”

“No, she can’t.” Miss Jespersen flicked his hand off me. “Lily is a gifted musician and doesn’t have time for
this
kind of music.”

The welcoming expression vanished from Chris’s face. Angel looked surprised and a little offended, and the other guitarist shot me a look of pity. I felt my cheeks heat up as I tried to explain. “That’s not true, I—”

“
Now
, Lily.” Crusty propelled me toward the door

I glanced over my shoulder at Rafe. “Thanks for trying,” I mouthed to him, trying to connect with this amazing world one last time before it was snatched away from me forever.

He nodded at me just before the door shut behind us.

She screamed and hugged me back, and I knew then that everything was going to be okay.

“Oh my God, you totally missed out this summer.” Erin grabbed my arm and tugged me over to where Valerie Collins and Delilah Somers were huddled up in the corner, in a private conversation intended to keep the rest of the world out. Everyone except me and Erin, of course, because my friends were my space, the place where I owned the world.

Val and Delilah were the other half of our foursome, though they weren’t as tight as Erin and I were. Erin and I had known each other since day care, whereas Val and Delilah had joined our inner circle when we all started attending St. Mary’s School for Girls in the sixth grade. But they were awesome, and I was
so
happy to see them.

Val’s hair was brown and curly, but it fell around her shoulders like it had its own personality. She was super outgoing, so her hair totally matched her personality. Delilah’s hair was fiery red, super thick and she always had the coolest hairstyles. Today it was in a half-updo with little French braids down the front of her hairline, folded into a mass of tumbling waves in the back. They were both wearing the requisite navy pants for our school, but Delilah was wearing a new black leather cord with a turquoise pendant around her neck, and Val had a pair of giant silver hoops that made her look like some exotic gypsy.

Huh. I fingered my tiny gold hoops and decided maybe I needed to do a little shopping. Since when did we dress up for school? We always had a pact that school was the place to be casual, since there were no boys to impress.

“Lily’s back,” Erin announced.

Val and Delilah whirled around, and their eyes went wide when they saw me. “Lily!” They screamed and jumped up, and I screamed back and hugged them.

Yay! It was so good to be back! “I’m so psyched to see you guys!” Excitement rushing through me, I flopped down at an empty desk, beaming at them. Hanging with Rafe’s band had been amazing, but this was so much better, because these were my peeps, my girls, people who I didn’t have to prove myself to. “So, did you guys have a great summer, or what?”

“The best,” Erin said. Her blond hair was so much blonder than it used to be, and I think she’d gotten even taller. She looked gorgeous, even wearing the navy pants and white shirt of our school dress code. She kind of reminded me of Angel actually, and I glanced at her feet to make sure she wasn’t wearing high wedge sandals. I relaxed when I saw her school-issue loafers. Okay, yeah, she was still Erin.