“Jenna is such a bitch,” I said. “She wouldn’t be doing this if she wasn’t worried about you actually being competition.”
“It doesn’t matter. I doubt anyone will vote for me, anyway.”
“They will. I promised I’d help you and I plan on it.”
This fake boyfriend was going to step up his game and help her bring Jenna down.
Chapter Nine
Ayla
I couldn’t believe Jenna had done this. Even with Chloe rushing through the school to tear the pictures off the walls, I knew the damage was already done. And here I stood with Luke Pressler as he tried to comfort me.
“I’m never going to win this freaking election. I don’t know what I was thinking,” I said.
“Listen, you can’t give in just because Jenna put up a few pictures of you,” Luke said. “If you do, then she wins.”
“But she’s going to win anyway.”
“No, she isn’t. You told me that you wanted me to help you with the election, and I plan to.” His thumb brushed against my hand where he still held it. It sent tiny waves of heat through my whole body.
No. I was not going to react to Luke Pressler. No matter how freaking adorable he looked right now. The way his floppy blond hair fell across his forehead or how his muscles were evident even beneath his shirt. As I craned to look up at him, I swallowed hard. Nope. I wasn’t going to react at all to the fiery anger I saw in his eyes as he glanced at the posters Chloe was tossing in the trash. I didn’t have any idea why he’d be angry. He should be happy to see my fall from grace. To see me potentially lose the race. I mean, I’d totally be holding his social life prisoner for the next couple of weeks.
“Well, what should I do?” I peered up into those startling blue eyes. My stomach tingled and twisted. Maybe it was from the breakfast burrito I’d eaten this morning.
Or at least that’s what I told myself.
“Well, we could finish planning that photo booth we talked about yesterday. And do it at the football game this week. I’ll get with Mr. Fairchild for approval,” he said.
My eyes went immediately to his lips. Oh, God. I needed to look somewhere else. “Okay.”
He smiled. But Chloe interrupted. “Actually, if she wants to make posters of you, I can make a few of her. She doesn’t know who she’s messing with.”
“No. It’s fine. Besides, I don’t want to stoop to her level.”
“Ayla, do you want to tell me what the meaning of these posters is?” Mr. Fairchild came marching up to us.
“I didn’t hang them. Why don’t you ask Jenna Lee?”
“Jenna’s the one who said you were doing it as a publicity stunt. But you should know this is inappropriate.” He waved the Photoshopped, bikini-clad picture of me in my face.
“Do you honestly think I’d give myself a mustache and hang up negative stuff about myself?” What a prick.
“I do. I think this is about us not letting you do that article on the transgender bathrooms,” he said.
If Luke hadn’t jerked me closer to him, I might’ve actually punched Mr. Fairchild in his pasty-white face or ripped off his stupid toupee that looked like something my cat, Oscar, puked up.
“Mr. Fairchild, Ayla wouldn’t do something like this. She’s a really good student. Besides, she was with me last night and all morning. She didn’t have time to put anything like that up,” Luke said.
The principal glanced at him. “Are you sure, Luke? Or are you just covering for your girlfriend?”
“I’m sure, sir. You’ve known me and my family for a long time.”
He sighed. “Very well. Just don’t let this happen again.”
“We won’t. And while you’re here, sir, I wondered if I could get permission to set up a photo booth at the game Friday?”
“What’s the occasion?”
I glanced at Luke. Crap, if he knew it was to earn me votes, Mr. Fairchild would definitely say no. “We’re going to try to raise money to donate to the local food pantry,” I said. “And I’ll likely hand out a few pins for my campaign, that’s it.”
“The food pantry?”
“Yeah.”
“All right, but keep things tasteful,” he said. “I don’t want any inappropriate photos…”
From farther down the hall, I saw Jenna Lee standing and watching us. She smirked and waved at me.
Swallowing hard, I attempted to gain my composure. Luckily the bell rang, giving me an excuse to get away from the principal. Luke walked me to my locker.
“Mr. Fairchild’s a dick,” he said.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“You’re such a caring person, Ayla.”
I rolled my eyes. “If this is fake boyfriend talk to make me feel better, it isn’t working.”
“No. I mean it. You came to my rescue today and didn’t have to. And you write articles that actually have meaning. You stand for something. That scares some people—like Jenna. She’s afraid people are going to finally see what a fraud she is compared to you.”
I stared at him as he stopped outside my class. Without even thinking about it, I reached up and gave him a hug. “Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome.” He hugged me back. “See, if there’s one thing about the Pressler name, it’s that my family has connections. Or my dad does. Even if he isn’t around, people at least respect the last name.”
I nodded. It was nice to be standing here with him. Wrapped in his arms. For some reason, I felt safe with him. Like he’d be my shield against all things Jenna. Realizing the thoughts rolling through my head, I took a step back. “I’ll see you later.”
I rushed into class, Chloe on my heels. When we sat down, she turned to face me in her seat. “I’ll redo your posters later on, and I’ll make up a few for Jenna, too.”
“Chloe, no. I mean, you saw Mr. Fairchild freak out. Besides, I don’t want to be like Jenna.”
“I don’t care. Jenna had no right to do that to you. If she wants to be childish, then so can we.”
“Look, just let it go.” Because I knew if she did anything in retaliation, it’d only escalate things more.
“So, this thing with Luke is kind of interesting,” she said, smoothing some of her wispy blond hair from her face.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, today you guys actually looked like a real couple. He stood up for you with Fairchild, and he seemed genuinely ticked off about the posters. Are you sure there’s not something really going on with you two?” she whispered.
“I’m sure. You’ve seen him—do I look like his type? He’s just playing a part. A part I’m forcing him into,” I said, which gave me a great idea. With my phone out, I searched for the local florist. Nothing that a few flowers from Luke couldn’t fix. Okay, so I was sending myself flowers from Luke. But it would be romantic, and all the girls would see it.
She watched me a moment. “Okay, if you say so. Just be careful, Ayla. Boys like him can really hurt a girl.”
She was right, but I needed him to get through this election. And I knew now that he wasn’t always what he seemed to be at school. The real him was kind of different. Unless this was part of his act.
By lunch the flowers had been delivered to the office, and I made a big scene of carrying them to my locker. All the girls kept stopping me to look.
And Chloe had made new posters for me in art class. She used the same picture of me that she’d used the other day. It said above my head: “Don’t vote for something fake. Be real. Vote Ayla.”
“Those are awesome,” I said, sipping my chocolate milk.
“I’ll hang them up after play practice tonight. We really need to focus your campaign on you being real and wanting to deal with real things. Jenna only cares about the popular kids, so use that to your advantage.”
“You know, you’re pretty damn smart,” I said. As I shifted my gaze, I found Luke and Brady strutting into the library. I hadn’t even told him where I’d be today, yet here
he was.
As if it was the most normal thing in the world, he sat down beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, much like he had yesterday. Everything inside me sizzled with heat.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. A few people made smart-assed comments, but other than that, nothing huge,” I said. “But the flowers you bought me really helped.”
“Yeah?” He quirked an eyebrow at me.
“Yes. They were perfect. I had to put them in my locker.” I showed him the receipt for the flowers.
“Well, I’m glad you like them.”
“That was really shitty of Jenna.” Brady stared between us for a second as he spread his lunch out in front of him, then said, “So, I talked to a few of the guys on the basketball team, and they agreed to help with the photo booth. They said they’d bring their jerseys for people to put on, too. We can set it up before the varsity football game. You’ll get a lot of people that way.”
“We should start advertising it now, maybe every day reveal one of the guys who’ll be participating,” Luke said. “And if you want, I have some connections on the girls’ volleyball team. I can see if they want in on it, too. That’ll get you some more of the jock vote anyway.”
I stared at him. Okay, he was being totally sweet and going out of his way to help me. “That would be great. Seriously, I don’t know how to thank you,” I said.
“You could come to the party I’m having this upcoming weekend,” Brady said. “There’ll be some guys from our basketball team there, and we’ll probably have a hayride along with a bonfire.”
My mouth fell open. Whoa, did I just get invited to a party? I glanced at Chloe. I didn’t want to leave her behind in all this, but fake or not, this was the first invite I’d ever gotten.
“Chloe could come, too.” Brady watched her as she twisted her hair up into a messy bun.
Did he like her? If so, that might be kind of cool for us to do double dates—well, if this were real and all.
“Sure, I could come. Do I need to bring anything? Or do I need a date?” Chloe turned to face him.
“You don’t have to bring anything or anyone. Just yourself.” Brady grinned, revealing a dimple in his cheek.
We spent the rest of the lunch hour going over my campaign. And with their help, I started to believe I might actually be able to pull this off. Or potentially make a giant-ass fool of myself.
Chapter Ten
Luke
I hung out with Brady and Jack after school, waiting for Ayla to come to the parking lot. Her dad had gotten my car fixed, so I’d have it for work tonight, but I needed a ride home first.
“Fuck, look at that kid’s teeth.” Jack socked me in the arm, pointing at some scrawny freshman boy with buckteeth. “The dude could be a damn horse.”
As the boy walked by, Jack made neighing sounds after him. Brady laughed, and I just stood there. Shit, I wanted to say something. But I didn’t need any of Jack’s unwanted attention. Sure, we were cool now, but if he dug into stuff and found out about my real home life, he’d ruin me. The kid’s ears turned pink, and he ducked his head down. My gaze followed him, and there, standing only a couple of feet from me was a very angry-looking Ayla. Shit.
She marched right past me, nudging me hard with her shoulder.
“Ayla, wait. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Ooh, someone’s in trouble now.” Jack laughed.
I ignored him and chased after her. “Ayla, come on.”
She whipped around and shoved her finger into my chest. “Your friends are being jackasses. Why the hell would you let them pick on that boy back there? Do you realize that he lost his mom to cancer this summer? That he’s been living with his grandparents?”
My mouth went dry. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…” Shit, she was super pissed off.
“No. You didn’t. You guys never do. Even not knowing about his mom, you stood there doing nothing. You’re in a perfect position to stand up for people, and others would follow your lead.” Ayla got super quiet and just stared at me.
“Whoa. Hold on a second.” God, I needed to fix this and fix it now. “I’m not a jerk. I promise, I’m not. Besides, if you had such a problem with me, then why did you want me as your ‘boyfriend’?” I held my fingers in quotations.
Her eyes narrowed, and I thought for a second that she might actually punch me in the balls. Instead she groaned and turned her back to me. “I made a big mistake.”
“I’m sorry. If you want, I’ll go find him and apologize.”
“His name is Isaac Weathers. But you wouldn’t know that, because you don’t see anyone, Luke. You hang out with people who are jerks. Your small world is just that—small.”
I don’t know what pissed me off more, the fact that she was calling me out on it, or the fact that she was right. For a moment, I stood there, stunned, staring at her. The way her cheeks turned red with irritation, the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she attempted to stay in control. Mostly, it was the disappointment in her eyes.
But why did I care what she thought? It wasn’t like we were really together. Yet, it did matter. Ayla stood for something. Lots of somethings. And me? All I worried about were things going on with me or whether or not my friends would find out the truth about my home life.
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “I’ll do better. Just give me a chance here.”
“Like the same chance you gave Isaac?”
“No—I—I… Damn it. I really am sorry. I will try to fix this,” I said, and I meant it.
“Fine. I hope you will. Now come on, so we’re not late picking up your brother.” She stalked ahead of me.
Without even thinking, I rushed to catch up with her, clasping her hand in mine. Sure, I needed to smooth things over, but I also didn’t want her thinking I was a jerk, either. She whipped her head in my direction but said nothing.
When we go to her car, we climbed inside and drove to get my brother, who was more than happy to see Ayla again. The whole car ride they talked about Minecraft, until we pulled into my driveway.
“I’ve got work in about an hour. Did you want to come in for a few minutes?” The words fell from my mouth before I could stop them.
Ayla drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. But as Landon got out, he leaned over and grabbed her arm.
“Yeah, come in. I want to show you my room. I think you’ll like it.” He smiled at her.
Her gaze softened. She turned off the ignition and glanced at me. “I can only stay a couple of minutes, though. I have stuff with the paper and drama club today.”
“Sweet. Come on.” Landon took her hand, dragging her toward the house.
He really seemed to like her, unlike the other girls I’d dated over the years. Not that there’d been a ton of them. None of them came home with me; it was normally a date in the park or at the beach, and if I could afford it, sometimes a movie.
Anywhere but here.
Everyone still thought I lived up on Mansion Hill, as the locals liked to call it. It was a three-mile stretch of mansions built in a private, gated area. There was a private lake up there, which my grandparents owned part of. My dad’s place, which sat empty half the time—or so I assumed, since he had that house in Italy—was right across the lake from theirs.
Brady and Jack had houses up there, so even after Mom moved out and we took up residence in Povertyville, I got the great big reminder of what my life used to be. What it could’ve been if my dad hadn’t flaked out on my mom and found some younger woman.
I sighed and followed Landon, noticing my mom’s car in the drive. She normally worked this time of day; I wondered why she was home so early.
Nervous, I watched for Ayla’s reaction when she got inside. If she was surprised by the worn blue carpet, mismatched furniture, and the outdated paneling and appliances, she didn’t act like it. Not even when she nearly tripped over the bucket in the center of the room that was catc
hing water from a leak in the roof, which the landlord kept promising to fix. More than likely I’d have to get up there before winter hit and check it myself.
Ayla continued to smile at Landon, who was animatedly telling her about his Star Wars toy box that was shaped like the Death Star, the one we’d found at a yard sale this summer for like two bucks. She then asked him if he’d seen her awesome Star Wars backpack. And off they went talking about more nerdy things.
As we passed by the kitchen, I saw my mom leaning against the counter, red rimming her eyes. What was going on?
I didn’t follow my brother, instead beelining to my mom. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
She stared at the counter, ripping up a tissue. “I got laid off from Wood Acres.” She sobbed. “Mildred said they just don’t have enough work for me right now. I have no idea what we’re going to do.”
My chest tightened. Fuck. This wasn’t good. “Well, you still have your job at the law firm. It’s okay.”
“But we needed the extra money from Wood Acres. I know I only got thirty hours there, but it’s what I used to cover the gas, electric, and water.” She propped her head in her hands.
I rubbed my temples. “Look, I can talk to Charlie and see if he’ll let me pick up a couple extra shifts on the weekend. I’m sure I can make up some of it.” And probably have no time to do homework. Damn it. If my dad would just step up, we wouldn’t be struggling like this.
“Luke, no. I can’t ask you to do that. It’s my job to take care of you.”
Except I knew that it’d been my checks covering groceries and the babysitting costs for Landon for the last several months. I’d been helping take care of us for longer than Mom wanted to admit.
“It’s no big deal,” I lied.
Mom and I argued about it for a few minutes, until I saw Ayla standing in the doorway.
“Hey,” she said, glancing between me and my mom. “I have to head out now. Just wanted to say good-bye.”
“I’ll walk you out,” I said.
But before I could get away, my mom spoke up. “You must be Ayla?”
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