Page 37 of Fake It Till You Break It
“Are you?” Before I could respond, Jake leaned forward, resting his jaw on his palm right in front of my face. “I still think you can be onstage. I wasn’t lying about that. Seriously, you can do whatever you want. Don’t underestimate yourself. You’re amazing.”
My eyes narrowed as I scrutinized his face, but he wasn’t joking. If he were, then his left eyebrow would be arched a bit higher than the right. But the only thing I could see on his face was honesty. Pure honesty with no strings attached. And it hit me like a jab in the gut. Jake really did believe I could.
Mom said I was crazy with the whole theater thing, and to be honest, I’m pretty sure that’s what Aly thought, too. But she was too sweet and loyal to say it to my face. Even I had a hard time convincing myself. Ben was super sweet and supportive, but I could see the doubt in his face whenever we practiced.
This was the first time that anyone told me that I could do this. And really meant it. Plus, it was amazing that this encouragement was coming from Jake. He knew firsthand exactly how bad I was.
“I know I’m amazing.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder with a sigh. “But thank you.”
Jake scoffed, but I could see a smile playing on his lips. “No problem.”
“But you’re not bad, either. Not as awesome as me, but still not bad,” I admitted. “You should give the festival a chance.”
His mouth opened and closed like he wanted to say something, but then he shook his head instead. “Tell you what. I’ll promise not to waste my talent if you promise not to give up.”
“Deal.” I held out my hand. “Regular handshake or pinkie swear?”
He rolled his eyes. “What are we, ten?”
I gave him a bright smile and wiggled my pinkie at him. “Sometimes it feels like we still are.”
“Things sure were simpler then.”
When he hooked his pinkie against mine, I couldn’t help remembering all the times we had done this when we were kids. All the promises and secrets. Then it all went away.
We haven’t been friends for nearly ten years, but today it felt like we never stopped. And I was glad some things never changed.
JAKE
WITH A DISGUSTED SCOFF,Greg tossed his controller on the bed. “Okay, that’s the third time I kicked your ass today. What’s wrong with you?”
I dropped the controller at my feet and rubbed at my forehead. “Nothing. I’m just off my game. That’s all.”
“No kidding. It’s so easy to beat you today that there’s no point in playing anymore.” Greg downed the last of his soda and crushed the can in his hands. “Seriously, your scores haven’t been this bad since we switched from playing the Xbox to the PS4. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just not feeling it today.” I leaned my back against my chair and kicked at the controller on the floor.
Just then, Rose snorted from her spot on the bed. I eyed her. “What?”
“Nothing. I’m just surprised that you guys are able to function for so long when you’re so oblivious to everything.”
Greg groaned. “Jeez, sis, you’re grumpy these days. Did you date someone secretly and get dumped or something? It’s not our fault if you did.”
Her eyes didn’t even lift from her phone. “Everything is your fault. You’re my brother. But fine, if Jake wants to continue being in denial about being in love, then so be it.”
I choked on the Coke that I had been drinking. It went straight up my nose and burned as I struggled to clear my airway. “What do you—I’m not—”
“Please, like that isn’t a love song on your desk.”
Greg and I both turned to look at the desk and lunged at the same time, but he was quicker. The sheets literally slipped through my fingers and even gave me a paper cut. Damn.
His eyes scanned the paper, getting wider and wider by the second until he resembled an anime character. “Whoa, I thought you didn’t do the music thing anymore? What’s all this?”
I jammed my cut finger into my mouth and shrugged, trying to look nonchalant as I edged a bit closer to him. “Nothing. I was just bored so I was fooling around. That’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.” Just another foot. “And it definitely doesn’t mean that I’m in love.”
“I don’t know, man. It sounds pretty lovey-dovey to me.”
My face got red.
