Page 35 of Matched Up

‘Oh good idea!’

Ugh.Zoe followed me as I walked.

‘So things are shaping up really well for V-Ball.You know the way it’s an enchanted garden theme?’Zoe was head of the school council, and she treated the job like it had been prophesied.

I didn’t.‘Yeah.’

‘Well, there are going to be flowers everywhere, and fairy lights, and it will be so romantic.And Amina’s mum is hiring a photographer to go to her house, so we’re all going to go there first, so youhaveto come.Yeah?Will you come?’

‘I don’t know.’I left it at that, unable to think of an excuse quickly enough.I was too busy thinking about Shane and how good he’d look in a tux.

She looked at me, horrified.‘You have to.Seriously, Lexie, you can’t not go to V-Ball.’

‘I’ll see.’

‘I wonder if you can bring someone from another school,’ she said, and shook her Tic Tacs like it would help her think.

My chest tightened and my breath got quicker.I knew who she was talking about …

‘Shane.I might ask Shane.Don’t you think we’d look really cute together?’

What was I supposed to say?

‘Yeah, really cute,’ I said, the words feeling like poison on my tongue.

‘I have to tell Amina.I’ll see you later, Lexie.’

Zoe ran off, back to school, and then the bell rang.

At the end of school, I drove home without Niall.He could get the bus.I wasn’t waiting around for someone who hatedme, and anyway, I needed all the time I could get.I was going to look hot for practice tonight.Hotter than Zoe.

As soon as I got home, I jumped into the shower and used all the expensive stuff Mum had bought me.I shaved, exfoliated and put on fake tan.I even straightened my hair before tying it up in a high ponytail and putting on more make-up than I’d ever worn before.

‘Lexie!You need to eat something,’ Mum called from downstairs when I hadn’t even finished getting ready.

I wasn’t hungry but the last time I went to training on an empty stomach I could barely run.

‘You have to eat before training,’ Mum said, then I heard her say something to Dad.

‘OK, fine!’

‘Take a banana at least,’ she said.

‘OK, I will, I promise.’

I studied myself in the mirror.My cat eyeliner was perfect.Even my eyebrows looked good.I smiled at my reflection, then toned it down, finding the perfect smile.

When I got downstairs the three of them were eating dinner.Dad in silence, Mum talking about some crime show she’d just seen, and Niall sitting there with a face like thunder.

I grabbed a banana from the bowl.‘I’m leaving now if you need a lift,’ I said in Niall’s direction before going outside to sit in the car.I would have left him to drive himself, but I still had it in me to want to impress Dad.

He joined me five minutes later and I noticed him do a double take when he got in.

‘What is that smell?’He forced himself to cough.

‘Youknowit’s perfume.’

‘Did you drown in it or something?’

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