Fake Boyfriend - Kate Brian (17 page)

"Great. Now she's totally in love with him," Lane said, putting her hands on her hips. "What's she going to do when she finds out that Brandon is not really Brandon?"

"Okay, do you even know what a bright side is?" Vivi snapped as Lane headed past her for the door.

"Not in this scenario!" Lane turned around again, her arms crossed over her chest. "She's going to get her heart broken all over again!"

Vivi looked around the now semi-deserted, post-lunch- rush shop, grasping for an answer that would actually appease Letdown Lane. "Well, then ... we just won't let her find out."

"Uh-huh. And how's that going to work?" Lane asked, leaning one hand on the back of an empty booth.

Vivi drew a blank and raised her palms. "I guess I'll just have to figure something out."

172

"Y eah, well, good luck with that," Lane told her. "Because either they date forever with Jonathan calling himself Brandon, or he's going to have to break up with her without breaking her heart. Try pulling that off."

Lane turned and stalked toward the door again, all in a huff. Vivi jogged over to get in front of her, blocking the exit.

"What's the matter with you?" Vivi demanded. "Y don't get to take the high road all of a sudden and act like this is my fault. Y

ou ou're just as much a part of this as I am."

Lane sighed, staring at the floor. "Y eah. Maybe you're right. But I really wish that I wasn't," she said, looking sad. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Wait! Where're you going?" Vivi stepped in front of her again. "We're supposed to meet up with Jonathan."

"Y go. Y don't need me there, anyway," Lane replied morosely.

ou ou

This time, Vivi just let her go, and Lane shoved the door open with the heel of her hand, so hard it seemed like the thing would snap off its hinges. Then she was gone. And the second she was gone, everything she'd said sank right in.

Vivi felt the sourness of guilt seeping in around her heart. All she had wanted to do was show Izzy that there were cool guys out there who were not Shawn Littig, but instead, Isabelle was clearly crushing hard on one guy-- on "Brandon." Vivi was going to have to figure out a way out of this that wouldn't involve Isabelle's heart breaking.

173

***

After dropping Isabelle off at her house, Vivi drove straight to the Suburban Diner, where she, Lane, and Jonathan had had their first meeting. Her heart was pounding as she turned into the parking lot, but she told herself she was just excited to go over the next phase of the plan. It had nothing to do with seeing Jonathan alone. Her palms were not, in fact, sweating.

She expected to meet him inside at a booth, but as she tooled through the lot looking for a space, she saw him leaning back against the rear of his beat-up SUV. He'd smoothed his hair down again, but was still wearing the Brandon gear. Vivi grinned and waved, then pulled in alongside him and got out of the car.

"Y were amazing!" she shouted, rushing around the car. Jonathan stood up straight as she approached. "Really. Unbelievable. I had no idea what a

ou good actor you were. Isabelle bought it like you were giving it away on sale."

"Y eah. She seems like a cool girl," Jonathan said.

"I am so excited you are going to the prom with her," Vivi rambled. "Shawn Littig is finally, finally history!"

"Vivi . . . about the prom," Jonathan said, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I don't think I can go."

Vivi felt like she'd just stepped in a tremendous pothole. "What?" she blurted. "Y have to go. She's so excited! And you just told her you'd be there!

ou Y can't back out now!"

ou

174

"Vivi." Jonathan took a step toward her, his blue eyes searching hers. "I don't want to go unless it's with you."

Vivi's heart spasmed. "What?"

"There's something here. Between you and me," he said. "Not between me and Isabelle. Y ou're the one I want, Vivi."

Then he placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her to him. Before she could suck in a breath, his lips touched hers. Vivi felt an explosion of attraction unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She sank into Jonathan, and his tongue parted her lips, sending shivers all down her back. Then her arms were around his neck. His thighs were pressed against hers. His hands were in her hair. There were no thoughts in Vivi's mind. Nothing at all other than how incredibly perfect this felt.

And then, a horn honked.

Startled, Vivi pulled away. "What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, half out of it.

A car full of teenage boys rolled by them, laughing and taunting them. Vivi wiped the back of her hand across her mouth as if she was disgusted, even though she was anything but. He had to believe that she was, though. He had to. Because she could not go there. Jonathan was Isabelle's date. He was meant for Isabelle.

"Y ou're supposed to be dating my best friend!" Vivi said firmly, taking another step back to put more space in between them.

"No, Brandon is supposed to be dating your best friend!" he shot back, his face red. "I want to date you!"

175

Vivi's breath was short and shallow. This was not happening. It simply was not happening.

"Vivi. Come on," Jonathan said quietly, stepping toward her again. "Go out with me. We both know we want this," he said with an adorable smirk.

One look at Jonathan's hopeful face, and she knew. She'd screwed up. Big-time. It wasn't just Isabelle who was going to get her heart broken around here. All thanks to her and her stupid plan.

"No. I don't," she said flatly.

Jonathan took a step back and laughed in an awkward way. "What?"

"I don't want to date you, Jonathan. Y are so not my type, you may as well be another species," Vivi said, the words coming as if of their own accord.

ou

"Y don't mean that," Jonathan said, his face turning bright red.

ou

"Y I do. Look at you. Y

es. ou're like a nineteen-fifties movie. The uptight, preppy, fresh-faced jock with the little brother he just loves and the dorky clothes and the ... the whole 'I'm so polite' thing. That's not me. None of that is me," Vivi said. "I'm messy. I'm loud. I don't do polite. Y and me? We don't mesh."

ou

"What about opposites attract?" Jonathan asked beseechingly as he reached for her hand.

Vivi groaned and snatched her arm away. Jonathan flinched. "God! Can you not take a hint!?" she shouted, exasperated. "We are not going to be together! I don't like you that way!"

176

Jonathan's jaw clenched and he stared at her, betrayed. He looked like Vivi had just run over his dog.

"I'm sorry," Vivi said automatically, her heart twisting. "That was ... blunt."

"Y eah, but you don't do polite, right?" Jonathan snapped, backing away from her. "No, it's just. I wanted to be clear," Vivi said, grasping at straws. "If you're going to the prom with Isabelle--was

"No. I'm not. I'm not going to the prom with Isabelle. This ends right here," Jonathan said, turning toward his truck.

"Jonathan, no," Vivi said desperately. "Stop."

Jonathan got in behind the wheel and slammed the door so hard that Vivi lost her breath. She couldn't let him go. She couldn't let him drive away and risk never seeing him again.

"I'm sorry, all right!" she shouted over the revving engine. "Come on! Let me explain!"

But he ignored her. He simply pulled out of the space and drove away, not even giving her one last glance.

177

177

* * * * seventeen * * * *

"Come on, come on, pick up!" Vivi said through her teeth. She was clutching the steering wheel with one hand and her phone with the other. Normally she was all about cell phone safety, but this was an emergency situation, and her headset had gone MIA. Probably crushed under one of the empty fast food bags or piles of gym clothes that polluted her car. "Pick up!"

"Hi. Y ou've reached Jonathan. Leave a message."

"Dammit!"

Vivi threw her phone on the passenger seat, where it bounced and came dangerously close to flying out the window. She ran a yellow light, made a sharp left, and careened down Washington Street.

This was a nightmare. How could Jonathan do this to her? If he liked her so much, shouldn't he be trying to help? Shouldn't he not be backing out on her at such a crucial

178

moment? Didn't he get it by now? This was not about her. It was not about the two of them. It was about Isabelle.

Her cell phone rang and her heart leapt. She nearly drove into a fire hydrant groping for it. When she finally grasped it in her sweaty fingers, it was almost on the fourth ring and she didn't even have time to check the caller ID. This call could not go to voice mail.

"Hello?" she said shrilly.

"Vivi? Are you okay?" Isabelle asked.

"Oh. Hey, Iz. I'm fine," Vivi said, stopping at a red light and cursing to herself for not making it.

"Y sure? Y sound a little weird," Isabelle said.

ou ou

"No. I'm good. What's up?"

"I just can't stop thinking about Brandon," Isabelle gushed. "Did you notice that little scar on his chin? Where his stubble wasn't growing in? How insanely sexy was that?"

"Insanely," Vivi agreed morosely.

"What do you think it's from? Do you think he got it recently, like, skiing or something? Or do you think it's one of those old scars, like from a block battle in kindergarten or something?" Isabelle theorized.

Vivi took a deep breath. She was not going to lose it. She was not. But why did Isabelle have to be so darn romantic and dramatic and mushy? It was going to kill her when she found out Jonathan--Brandon--whoever--had backed out.

Maybe I should just tell her now. Get it over with, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

"I wonder if he'll tell me," Isabelle continued rapturously.

179

"Or maybe it's, like, some deep, dark secret thing from his past and I'll have to wheedle it out of him."

Vivi hit the gas when the light turned green and zoomed toward Lane's house. Okay, we have to fix this. We cannot give up now, she told herself. Jonathan will go to the prom with Isabelle if it kills me.

"Vivi? Are you there?" Isabelle asked.

"Iz, I'm sorry, but I kind of have to go. I'm driving," Vivi said, appealing to Isabelle's goody-goody nature.

"Oh! Sorry! Call me later, okay?" Isabelle asked.

"I definitely will. Bye!" Vivi dropped the phone again, slammed on the brakes in front of Lane's house, and ran up the front walk. She pounded on the door to let out some of her psychotic adrenaline. After what seemed like forever, Lane yanked open the door, her face creased with concern.

"Vivi! What's the matter with you?" she asked.

"Jonathan bailed," Vivi said, sweeping past her friend into her large foyer.

"What?" Lane gasped. Her face went white and she let the front door slam shut.

"He bailed!" Vivi grabbed the banister on the wide stairs and squeezed. She was so pent up, she felt like she could break the solid oak in half. "He said he's not going to the prom."

"What? Why?" Lane asked.

All right. This one was going to hurt. "Because he ..." Vivi took a deep breath. "He likes me. He wants to go with me."

Lane looked suddenly faint. She leaned back against the wall next to the door and stared. "I knew it."

"Y eah, yeah, you were right. Congratu-freakin-lations,"

180

Vivi said, pacing in front of her friend. "He likes me and I like him. But that should not change the fact that we had a deal!"

"Forget the deal!" Lane blurted, covering her face with her hands. "We have to call it off. It is beyond time to call it off."

"No! We can't! Not now!" Vivi said, her fingers splayed before her like a condemned man begging for his life. "Not now that she's met him! Not a week before the damn prom! It's too late. If she doesn't go with Brandon, she doesn't go with anyone. And this is Isabelle! She's Suzy High School! If she doesn't go to her prom and win prom queen and all that she'll... she'll kill herself!"

Dramatic, Vivi knew, but even Lane couldn't deny it. Isabelle had been looking forward to their senior prom ever since ninth grade. She had made a collage for a health class assignment--a work that was supposed to represent the person she wanted to be--and every picture had been cut out of a prom magazine. She still had the damn thing stuck inside the inside flap of that stupid Prom Planner of hers.

"So call him," Lane said tiredly. "Call him and make him change his mind."

"Y don't think I tried that? He won't pick up the phone," Vivi said. She collapsed onto the bottom step of the staircase. "Y know, sometimes I think

ou ou caller ID was the worst invention ever."

"Y eah, only when you're on the calling end," Lane replied.

Vivi sighed. It was go time. Time to tug on the last straw. "Lane, you're gonna have to go over there and talk to him."

"Me?" Lane looked like a cornered street dog.

181

"Y you! I know I screwed up, and I'd fix it if I could, but I can't. Y

es, ou're the only one that can fix it," Vivi begged. "Please. He won't listen to me, but maybe he'll listen to you." She glanced at her watch. "It's still early. Y can catch him before dinner."

ou

"Y want me to do this now?" Lane asked.

ou

"Y now," Vivi said. "We're already losing precious time. Besides, if we don't fix this, I'm going to be up all night worrying about it."

es,

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I can't," Lane said resolutely, shaking her head. "I can't go over there. I have plans."

For the first time, Vivi noticed that Lane's hair was pulled prettily back from her face and her eyes were all made up. And not only that, she was wearing a cute cotton dress Vivi had never seen before. She looked nice. But what could she possibly be doing that would be more important than saving Isabelle from a dateless prom?

"Please, Lane? We can't let this fall apart now. We've come too far," Vivi said. "Y ou're the one who was all worried about Isabelle's broken heart. What do you think's gonna happen if we have to write her an e-mail from Brandon saying he can't come after all? She'll think he met her and didn't like her. She'll think he thought she was hideous or something. Talk about a broken heart--she'll be shattered."