Page 49 of Faux Real
Kenny: Good job 007 you figured out how to use a key, next week... forks!
Ollie: I see the effects of the cookie haven’t worn off
Kenny: Ruuuuude
Ollie: Factuaaal
Kenny: Are you mocking me?
Ollie: Me? Never.
I roll my eyes.
Kenny: I’m going to bed now. Good night, OLIVER.
Ollie: Good night, KENNEDY
I toss my phone on the nightstand and cozy up to a snoring Maxine.
He’s so stupid.
sixteen
Times Have Changed
KENNEDY
“Dude,Ican’tbelieveI missed that shit,” Max laughs, almost rolling off her bed. How is she not hungover? How amInot hungover? Do you evengeta hangover from weed? Is that a thing? “Next time you do edibles, you’re not leaving my side. Imma have my phone recording thewhole time. I could’ve posted that shit on TikTok, Ken! We could’ve gone viral!”
“I don’twantto go viral, Maxine!” I huff, swinging my legs over her king-sized bed and strutting toward the vanity table. It’s almost noon and I haven’t even brushed my hair. Unacceptable. “I’m glad that Oliver was the only person who saw me in such anembarrassingstate.”
I was kind of hoping I’d wake up this morning with no recollection of last night but nope, I remember it all, every humiliating detail. Ireallyhope no one but Oliver saw me bobbing for damn popcorn. I don’t evenlikepopcorn! Why was I so determined?Nothingmakes sense. I hate weed. Ihateit!
“Speaking ofOllie,” Max sings. “Felicity texted me this morning saying that she saw you guys getting all cozy by the pool. What happened there, Kenny? I thought this was all for show?”
“We weren’t gettingcozy, we were just—you know, talking.” I roll my eyes, straining my hand to pull the brush through all the knots in my hair that have formed overnight. “No big deal or anything.”
Did I have amoderatelygood time hanging out with Oliver? Yes. Is hekind offunny andsort ofcute? Yeah.ButI was high, I can’t trust such impaired judgment.
I could’ve hung out with a pineapple all night and had a good time for all I know.
“You need to learn how to lie better, Ken,” Max scoffs, grabbing another slice of pizza out of the box on her bed and popping it into her mouth. “Just admit it, you have the hots for the new kid.”
My mouth hangs open at her absurd and woefully incorrect observation. “I do not have thehotsfor Oliver,Maxine.” How do I explain this in a way she’d understand? “He and I, we’re like business partners, we need to maintain friendly relations in order to reach a mutual goal. That’s all.”
Max blinks. “And your goal is...?”
“Uh—” I bite my lip, inwardly wincing. Everything’s gotten so muddled in the last few days. “Well, there’s two goals really. The first is to get Hilton Hears to retract their last blast about me and the second goal is to, you know, get Sawyer back?”
Max nods slowly, not buying a word I’m saying. “Okay, that’s nice and all, Ken, but why do you want to get back together with Sawyer so bad? He sucks. He dumped you and then hooked up with Corn like three weeks later. Do youseriouslywant to date a guy like that? Don’t you think you deserve better?”
I like to think of myself as a fairly rational person but my feelings for Sawyer? Not rational. In an ideal world, I’d be able to let him go. Move on. Admit defeat. But I feel like our story’s not over yet, that there are unread chapters, possible spin-offs, the potential for a happily ever after.
He must feel it too; otherwise, why would he text me? Why would he go out of this way to check up on me, especially knowing how Corrine feels about us interacting? It’s like neither of us is ready to cut the cord. Sure, dating someone elseusuallysignifies that a person’s moved on, but in Sawyer’s case, I don’t buy it.
“Kenny?” Max asks. “Are you listening to me?”
“Yeah, I am, Max. I—I don’t know,” I murmur with a labored sigh. Do I deserve better? Sawyer was perfect. We never fought. Barely bickered. He was sweet. Attentive. But he hurt me. A lot. “I guess I do but—” My shoulders slump as an overwhelming sense of gloom washes over me. “He was my first love, I loved him, Max and now, I just—I don’t know.”
