Page 53 of Fake It Till You Break It
I forced myself to plaster a big smile on my face. Especially when all I wanted to ask her was why she was still dating him and kissing me at the same time. What the hell? “Looks like he really likes you. If you need me to cover for you again, just say the word and Aly and I will be there. It was fun last time.”
Before she could say anything, Aly plopped down on the seat beside Mia. “Hey, Jake! So did your moms rope you guys into going to school together again today?”
Mia’s eyes widened, and I gave Aly a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I was going to drive Mia, but she texted me and told me that she had to go with you because of your moms—”
“Ha HA.” Mia waved her hands between our faces, flapping like a bird. “You—you must have heard me wrong. I didn’t… so, anyway, did you need something, Aly?”
Her face was still scrunched up. “Yeah, do you want to meet me by my locker or yours after class?”
“Why would we—” Mia’s hand smacked her forehead. “Crap, I forgot about today.”
“How could you forget the new K-drama with your future husband! We’ve been counting down for ages.”
“Future husband?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
Aly laughed and wrapped an arm around Mia’s shoulders. “The gorgeous Lee Jong-suk. His new drama just came out, and it’s deemed to be THE epic love story of the year. Like the price of tissues in Korea probably increases every Wednesday and Thursday night when it airs.”
Mia gave me a sheepish smile. “We made plans ages ago to binge watch it once all the subtitles are up. So I guess I can’t go home with you this afternoon. Unless you want to join us?”
A whole night of watching Mia drool over some movie star? I think I’ll pass. “Uh, not at all, but thanks for the invite.”
“Your loss.” Aly grabbed a french fry from Mia’s plate. “What were you guys talking about before I showed up?”
Mia and I exchanged looks. “We were just talking about the music festival this weekend that I’m performing at,” I said.“Both of you could come.Shouldcome. I could use the support.”
Aly’s face brightened. “Cool, we’ll definitely be there. Maybe Ben can come, too. And I’ll spend the night at your house to ‘console’ you after your big breakup.”
Mia’s face dropped. “Oh, right.”
“Aren’t you excited? It’s finally all going to be over.”
Excited wasn’t exactly the word I had in mind. More like dreading it.
And it was starting to feel like I wasn’t the only one. I couldn’t point out exactly what it was, but it felt like Mia was changing around me. Like she felt different about me. Or maybe we both were changing and realizing that we were in each other’s lives for a reason. I know I was.
But the kisses. All the time we spent together. It had to mean something, right?
I tried to catch Mia’s eye, to see if there was any chance, any doubt about the breakup, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze.
Any hope I had deflated like a balloon that had just been untied. Guess that was my answer. I couldn’t even make her look at me, much less pick me. Maybe it was all in my head after all.
JAKE
WITH A SIGH, Ishifted my weight from side to side. “There will be food at the festival, Mom. You don’t have to make me anything.”
“You’re already not letting me go, and now you’re going to deny me the right to feed you, too?” She gave me a mock pained look as she piled a bunch of apples and blueberries into the blender. “Where did I go wrong as a mother?”
“I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but the smoothie and…” I picked up the plastic container and tried to peer inside. “What is this?”
“Just a simple chicken quinoa salad. I packed dressing and croutons on the side for you, too. And unsalted almonds for a snack.”
Pressing a fist against my mouth, I had to struggle to swallow back my laughter at the earnest look on her face. “Quinoa…Mom, the other musicians are going to laugh in my face if I bring these.”
“Then you can just laugh in theirs when they get dehydrated and their voices crack from all the alcohol and fried food. Besides, almonds are a great source of protein and—” She turned the blender on, and thewhirringdrowned out all the other benefits to almonds. Maybe they could have made me grow six inches and fly. I guess I’ll just never know.
Mom poured the weird concoction into a silver thermos. “Break a leg. I know you’re going to be awesome.”
