Page 44 of Fake It Till You Break It
ROSE:She really is a good influence on you whether you admit it or not.
I couldn’t fight with that. She had a point. Mia had a way of making me do things I didn’t want to do. Or at least I didn’t evenknowI wanted to do it. If it wasn’t for her, then I never would have even considered the festival. But now I was actually feeling excited.
Two weeks ago, I thought Mia was completely annoying, but actually we were just different. Very different. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Tons of opposite things go perfectly together. Cold ice cream and hot fudge. Violins and rock music.
Different could be nice sometimes.
“HI, COULD I GETa turkey sandwich with extra meat, extra cheese, and all the toppings?”
At the familiar voice, I looked up from my cleaning and saw Mia grinning at me on the other side of the counter. I immediately smiled back at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Aly dropped me off on the way to the mall.” She pulled herself upright to perch on the counter. “So, are you going to get me that sandwich or what?”
“How about you help me clean up so we can leave early?”
“Pass.”
“What if I toss in a couple of free cookies?”
Her eyes lit up. “Chocolate chip or oatmeal?”
“Both.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Mia grabbed the damp cloth from my hand and jumped off the counter.
Thankfully, there were a couple of cookies left over to bribe her with. Usually Rose worked with me and would take themhome for Greg, but she had to switch her shift to take her dad on some errands. Some dinner they were planning to cook for their mom tonight. I didn’t mind working alone. It was peaceful. Especially since there was a Texans game tonight, so we barely had any customers.
She wiped the glass cabinet beside the counter. I couldn’t really tell because her face was downturned, but I could have sworn that she was blushing a bit. “So… Jake… I wanted to—” She broke off her sentence and chewed on her lower lip.
“Just spit it out.”
Mia let out another deep breath. “I have a problem. I know this weekend we were supposed to have our big breakup, but I… have a date.”
“Wait, what?”
“A date. You know, when two people go out to eat. Maybe catch a movie. Walk along the shore if we had one.”
“A date,” I repeated again, focusing on the most important word through all her rambling. “With… a guy?”
“No, with Dusty, the neighbor’s dog.” Mia let out an exasperated sigh. “Of course with a guy, you dummy.”
I let the dummy comment slide. To be honest, it was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that Mia wasdating. “No, I meantwhatguy?”
“Oh, just Ben—”
“Ben from the theater?”
Okay, now she was definitely blushing. Her cheeks were so red that she actually had to fan them with both hands. “Just forget about it. I’ll figure something out myself.”
We were both quiet for the next fifteen minutes, but I couldn’t help sneaking glances over at Mia. She was busy refilling the straws and napkin dispensers, but I could tell that her mind was somewhere else. Especially with a faraway look on her face. She kept knocking over the box of straws and had to chase after them spilling across the tile floor. Probably daydreaming about her date with Ben already.
Finally, I came around the counter and squatted down next to her. I took the box from her hands. “If you want, we could delay our breakup. We could even double date with Aly so your mom won’t suspect anything.”
Her head lifted, and she stared at me. “You’d do that? For me?”
“You don’t have to look so shocked. I can be nice sometimes.” We were friends after all. Sort of. There was nothing wrong with helping each other out. To be honest, I wasn’tthrilledabout her dating, but I was actually okay with putting the breakup off a little bit longer. For Mia, of course. “I could use a free meal. I assume that he’ll be paying for me, too, right?”
She tugged on a strand of dark hair, twisting it around her fingertips over and over. “I don’t—if not then I guess I could—”
