Page 16 of Faking it For Summer

Shit, this is already murky.

“So, Lukey, I want to ask you something private,” Mia says in a singsong voice. “I’ll be right back.”

She hurries quickly through her grandmother’s kitchen toward the backyard. She opens the door and then runs around to the side of the house. Her hair is wispy and loose, and she’s breathing heavily as she leans back against the white exterior of her grandparents’ home.

“Oh my God, Luke. I think we fucked up,” she says, staring into the phone. “They had so many questions, and I didn’t know how to answer them. And then, of course, Rafe wouldn’t believe me because he sucks, but he’s right. How do we explain all of these things? Ugh, this was a mistake.”

“Take a deep breath, Mia. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in?—”

“Jeez, shut up!” She huffs. “I do not have time for meditation techniques. I don’t even like meditation when I am not feeling anxious, let alone when I’m feeling anxious. Who thought breathing was a good way to calm down? It’s not. It’s absolutely not.”

“Mia, you’re losing it,” I say patiently. “And actually, breathing techniques are known to be?—”

“Shush.” She glares into the phone, but she stops speaking and breathes calmly for a minute. “What are we going to do, Luke?”

“What do you mean, what are we going to do? We’ve already decided what we’re going to do.”

“But it was a mistake. Should we come clean? I can just go in there and be like,April Fools.”

“It’s not April.”

“I can be likeJune Fools.”

“Really? And then what do you want Rex to think?Oh, I was right. You two are losers who couldn’t get dates.”

“He really sucks—you know that, right?” She stares at me, her light-brown eyes as open and endearing as they’ve been since the very first time I met her.

“I know, trust me. He’s my brother, and he’s sucked for a long time. I’ve told you that.”

“I suppose you’re right. I mean, it’s not my fault that he was charming to me once.” She nods slowly.

“And about that … Mia, I think there’s something that you should?—”

“Anyway,” she says, cutting me off, “I have an idea.”

“I was just about to say something to you.” I frown at her interruption.

“You can say it to me after I tell you my idea.” She gives me her impish smile, the contagious one that makes me smile in response, even though I’m slightly irritated.

“I’m listening.”

“Can you come early?”

“What do you mean, can I come early?”

“Can you get home early? Maybe a good week early so that we can go over everything and get our story straight and practice acting like a couple who’s desperately in love.” She makes a face like that grosses her out. Her long blond hair falls past her shoulders, and I watch as she twirls it in her fingers delicately. I can still remember when we were fifteen, and she’d asked me to brush her hair a hundred times a night. At the time, the task had felt tedious, but now, I miss touching those silky locks.

I can’t help but laugh.

“Because I’m not that good of an improv actress, and I don’t think you’re that good of an actor, period.”

“It’s going to be that hard for you to act like you’re in love with me?” I pretend to be wounded.

“Luke, we have to pretend we’re in a relationship.” She gags. “We have to pretend that we kiss, we touch, and … oh my, even thinking about it makes me feel sick to my stomach.” She shudders. “Can you imagine us kissing?”

My heart sinks at her words. I’m offended by what she’s saying, but I’m not going to tell her that.

“It makes you sick to your stomach to think about kissing me? Well, that’s good to know.”