The Charade

by Judy Corry

  17

  Carter

  "Should we grab some food?" I asked Ava when we walked onto the terrace behind my house. There were about thirty kids from school scattered around the stone patio and on the grassy area below, most with plates of food already made up as they sat and chatted happily with each other.

  Our chef, Marie, had done a great job with the menu as always. We had decided on hamburgers and grilled chicken for the main dish, along with vegan burgers for our friends who didn't eat meat, and then there were various side dishes lined out on the banquet-style table to fit anyone's tastes.

  "I haven't eaten anything since lunch, so yes, let’s get food now," Ava said.

  I grabbed two thick plastic plates with a hammered gold design, handing one to Ava. We went down the table, telling the servers which foods to add to our plates.

  After Sofia broke up with me, I'd decided to focus on building up my muscle tone as my own little form of revenge—hoping that when she saw me at school again, she'd regret casting me aside for Simon. So, I asked for extra portions of the grilled chicken because I could always use more protein. And even though Marie's famous strawberry pretzel Jell-O salad was calling my name as I passed it on the table, I had a server put a big helping of the green salad and grilled asparagus on my plate instead.

  When our plates were full, I made a quick survey of the area to see where Sofia and Simon were. They must be still inside since I didn't see them anywhere on the terrace or at the grassy area below. I led Ava to a table near the edge of the terrace that overlooked the pool and gardens.

  "Do you always eat so healthily?" Ava commented after glancing at my plate once we were seated.

  "I try to for most meals," I said. "Why?"

  She shrugged and picked up a potato chip from her plate, dipping it in ranch. "It just looks so boring."

  Her plate had a hamburger, a helping of fruit and the Jell-O salad, potato chips with dip, and a few cucumber wedges.

  "Do you like everything in your life to be exciting?" I arched an eyebrow.

  "I just think that since we don't know how long we really have, we might as well make the most of every opportunity."

  "Yes," I said, agreeing with her point. "But then, don't you think that eating foods that really nourish your body instead of simply bringing pleasure would count toward longevity?"

  "It might help you live longer," she said. "But how boring would life be without a brownie or cheesecake every once in a while?"

  "Touché," I said, unable to keep a smile from lifting my lips at her thought process.

  I bet Ava had an argument for everything. She could probably have a great career in law if her dream of having a fashion empire didn't work out.

  "Mack did warn me about how disciplined you were," Ava said conversationally. "I just didn't realize it went to your food choices, too."

  "You talked to Mack about me?"

  She shrugged and took a small bite of a cucumber. After swallowing, she said, "It was his excuse for why you were so rude the first day in the weight room. He said you like to stick to your routines."

  "That's true." I picked up my fork and knife and cut into my chicken. "Is there anything wrong with sticking to a routine?"

  "It's fine. I mean, it gives you a sense of control and helps you know what to expect, but I don't know. I guess it seems like it could also get boring." She cast a glance at my food. "Like your plate."

  What she called boring, I called security. And after having so much instability for the first half of my life, I quite liked the safety my routines provided me—even if everyone gave me a hard time about it.

  But instead of explaining, I pursed my lips and cut off a small piece of my chicken. "If you knew how good this chicken was, I don't think you'd say it was boring."

  She arched an eyebrow, challenging me.

  So I speared a piece on my fork and held it up for her. "Try it."

  She narrowed her eyes, gauging whether I was serious about letting her eat some of my food, and then she opened her mouth.

  I placed the forkful of chicken in her mouth and then waited.

  She chewed slowly, savoring the taste of the meat, and then her eyes widened with surprise. "What kind of chicken is this? It's amazing."

  "It's our chef's secret recipe." I smiled and cut another small piece for myself, plopping it into my mouth. "But it's good, right?"

  "I'm seriously tempted to throw this plate away and get one that looks like yours now." As if to prove her point, she scooted her chair back, lifted her plate, and stood up. "Actually, I think that I'll—"

  But before she could finish her sentence, I reached out and quickly snatched the plate from her hands. "You're not going to throw a whole plate of food away."

  She froze in her spot, half-standing, half-sitting, and completely shocked at what I'd just done. After staring at me like I was crazy, she took her plate back from me and said, "No. I was going to grab a piece of that delicious chicken." She glanced around the terrace, an embarrassed expression filling her features. "But now I kind of just want to die."

  Her gaze flicked around us, and that was when I realized our sudden movements had brought an audience to our meal.

  And I looked like the guy who had issues with the food choices my date was making.

  I pinched my eyes shut, wishing I could go back in time about fifteen seconds and smack myself.

  But since time travel wasn't invented quite yet, I cleared my throat, feeling my cheeks burn as I met the curious eyes watching us. In a lowered voice, I mumbled, "Sorry. I, uh, what I should have done was offer to get that chicken for you."

  Ava gave me a wary look. But she was better than me at being the center of everyone's attention. She managed to put on a smile that almost seemed real and said, "How gentlemanly of you, Carter." After handing me her plate, she spoke to the crowd still watching us, "Isn't my boyfriend the best?"

  With her plate in my hand and everyone's eyes on me, I strode over to the buffet table and added the dumb piece of chicken to it.

  I really shouldn't have come down to this stupid party.

  I was just trying to figure out how to get myself out of eating my meal beside a girl who probably hated my guts now when I saw that Ava was no longer alone at our table.

  Sofia and Simon had joined her.

  Man, this night was just getting better and better.

  18

  Carter

  "Thanks for getting that chicken for me, babe," Ava said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek when I reached the table and handed her the plate of food. "You're the best."

  "Y-you’re welcome," I said stiffly, caught off guard by the kiss on the cheek and term of endearment since last I'd checked, she'd rather die than sit at the table with me after how badly I'd botched our earlier interaction.

  But when she turned to my ex-girlfriend and the guy I'd been replaced with and said, "Carter saw me drooling over his plate and was so sweet to get me some of that amazing chicken his chef grilled," I knew that even though she was probably still annoyed at me, she was putting it aside for the moment to continue with the fake boyfriend/girlfriend plan we'd agreed to before coming down here.

  Ava had said that her sister was the one who was going out for the school's next theater production, but based on the past few seconds, I couldn't help but feel she had yet another calling in life: a career on the stage.

  Apparently, Ava was a girl with a plethora of hidden talents.

  "Marie's chicken is my favorite," Sofia said, a broad smile on her lips as she spoke to Ava. "I've tried to copy her recipe so many times, but it never turns out as good. I even tried to get Carter to sneak into Marie's recipe box when she wasn't around, but he never found it."

  "I'm ninety-percent sure she burned all the copies of that recipe and just relies on her memory now, so no one can ever steal it," I found myself saying as I sat back down in the chair beside Ava.

  "You're probably right," Sofia said, her eyes lighting up. "She know
s how addicted your family is to the stuff. She probably keeps the secret locked down tight so that your family has to keep her on forever."

  "Marie is crafty like that," I said with a smile.

  I glanced back at Ava and noticed a look of surprise on her face. It took me three full seconds to realize why.

  I'd just talked to Sofia like we were friends.

  So, not wanting to give anyone the wrong impression, I cleared my throat and quickly removed the friendly smile from my face, replacing it with my usual neutral expression.

  Sofia must have noticed the shift in my demeanor because her smile disappeared as well.

  "Anyway…" Sofia cleared her throat awkwardly. "The reason why I wanted to stop at your table was to introduce Simon to you." She gestured at the tall guy beside her who had short brown hair that curled slightly at the ends, green eyes framed by dark-rim glasses, and a neatly trimmed beard that I knew Sofia must be in love with from how many times she'd tried to get me to grow out my facial hair in just the same way.

  "I'm Simon Bailey," Simon said on cue in his British accent, holding his hand out for me to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

  I considered ignoring the friendly gesture, but since I didn't want to look like the petty and jealous ex, I introduced myself as well and gave his hand a firm shake—squeezing slightly harder than necessary to prove—what? I didn't know exactly. That I had strong hands?

  After giving me a weird look, he shook Ava's hand. "And what's your name?" he asked.

  "I'm Ava," she answered, a slight flush filling her cheeks. "Ava Cohen." From her blush and what she'd said in my room earlier, I almost expected her to ask if he'd take a selfie with her right then and there. But she surprised me by returning her hands back to her lap and simply adding, "It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness."

  Simon chuckled for a moment before saying, "You can just call me Simon."

  "Okay, it's nice to meet you, Simon." Ava giggled, and from the way she ogled him, I got the feeling that if she stayed in his royal highness's presence for much longer, I may not only lose my ex-girlfriend to the dude but also my fake girlfriend.

  "So, what brings you all the way over here from London?" I asked Simon in as conversational a tone as I could manage. "Do you have business in the states?"

  "I'm not here on business." Simon shook his head and glanced over at Sofia. "I missed seeing my girl, and so I came here as a surprise this weekend."

  "That's so sweet," Ava said, her voice slightly higher than usual.

  "It is." Sofia looked down at her hands with a slight smile on her full lips, like she was both happy about Simon's thoughtfulness but also uncomfortable that I was witnessing it. "Simon’s always surprising me with things like this."

  When she lifted her gaze to Simon again, the way she looked at him with her brown eyes was like a knife in my heart. Because she was looking at him like he was the center of the universe and all she wanted was to be in his orbit.

  I'd always thought she cared about me as much as I'd cared for her when we were dating, but with that one look, I knew she couldn't have because she'd never looked at me the way she was looking at Simon.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat, hoping to keep my disappointment from showing. But I must not have hidden the pain in my expression very well because when I caught a glimpse of Ava out of the corner of my eye, she was watching me with a sad smile on her face. As if she knew exactly how much it hurt for me to come face to face with the reality of how I hadn't measured up to Sofia's expectations and how Simon did.

  Ava slid her hand onto my leg and gave me a gentle squeeze just above my knee.

  Sofia must have noticed the gesture because she asked, "So, tell me about what's been going on with you two? It seems like you've been inseparable since you met."

  "Things are so good," Ava said with the biggest smile on her lips. "When I saw Carter that first day, I thought for sure that he was taken already. I mean, he's just so gorgeous that there was no way he wasn't already dating someone." She glanced over at me and slid a little closer, slipping her hand around my left bicep possessively. "But then I found out he was actually single, and I knew I had to get on his radar fast since guys like him don't stay single for long. I mean, he's so smart and witty and we were able to connect on a different level than I usually do with guys, since we have some things in common." I was guessing she was talking about our common thread of not always knowing who our fathers were. "And I know it probably seems pretty fast since we just met, like, five days ago, but I just think that if you two hadn't gotten together behind Carter's back and he hadn't been available, I never would have had a chance with him. So, thank you."

  Did she just diss Sofia and Simon for cheating on me?

  Had she just buttered them up over the past few minutes, only to turn the tables and give them the smackdown?

  This girl was an evil genius.

  When I watched Sofia and Simon for their reactions, the shocked expressions on their faces told me they were as surprised by the sudden turn of events as I was.

  "D-did Carter tell you that I cheated on him?" Sofia finally said after processing Ava's words.

  "Oh, no." Ava put a hand to her heart all innocently. "Did I assume wrong? I just thought that someone as famous as you probably has all sorts of offers from guys, and so when one from a prince came through you couldn't resist. Was I wrong? Did my sweet Carter dump you?" She squeezed herself closer to my arm. "He's just been such a gentleman so far that I didn't think he would break someone's heart like that."

  I watched Simon and Sofia carefully, interested in their answers since I myself had been wondering the very same thing for months. Had they gotten together before she broke up with me?

  "I—we—" Simon cleared his throat, fumbling for an answer.

  But Sofia put her hand on his to stop him. "You don't need to answer that, honey." Then tilting her head up so she was looking down her nose at Ava, she said, "I don't know what gossip you've heard, but I'd be careful before you start spreading rumors about us." She stood up and said, "Come on, Simon. I think it's time for us to move along, so I can introduce you to some of my closer friends."

  19

  Ava

  "Thanks for saying all that," Carter said, leaning back in his chair after Sofia and Simon had walked down the stone steps from the terrace to talk to her friends below. "It was perfect."

  "I've always wanted to do something like that, so it was fun," I said.

  It had been fun. I mean, how many girls could say they put a supermodel and her royal boyfriend in their places at a back-to-school barbecue with her hot fake boyfriend by her side?

  Not many.

  So even though it was highly possible Sofia might take an embarrassing photo of me and post it to her Instagram stories later for revenge, seeing the jealousy on her face as I'd cuddled up to Carter was totally worth it.

  That's right. I have a world-famous supermodel jealous of little ol' me.

  I was feeling so high on life right then that I almost told Carter he didn't need to take me shopping for payment since I had so much fun doing it.

  But I’d never turn down a free outfit, so I kept that info to myself.

  "You sure you're not interested in auditioning for one of the school plays?" Carter asked with a chuckle in his voice. "Because after hearing everything you just said, even I was starting to believe that we might be perfect for each other. And I'm in on the secret."

  "I don't know." I leaned closer to him, close enough that I could breathe in the delicious scent of his cologne, which I'd wanted to drown in since that first day in his truck. "Maybe we are."

  "You think so?" He narrowed his aqua-blue eyes at me, like he wasn't sure if I was still playing a part or not. But then he sat up straighter, and his tall, muscular physique couldn't help but capture my attention. He said, "Then I guess it's too bad you wrote that little addendum to my contract, forbidding me from falling in love with you, huh?"

  And the
way he looked at me, like he might have been interested in me for real if I hadn't needed his help with math and we didn’t sign that contract, made me wonder if something could have happened on its own even without this fake dating arrangement of ours.

  But then I remembered that Carter only dated supermodels, and while I may be tall enough to be one, I most certainly didn't look like one. So I pushed those thoughts away and simply said, "I guess it's something we'll always have to wonder about, isn't it?"

  He seemed to study me for a moment before saying, "I guess it is."

  Cambrielle, Elyse, and the rest of the crew joined us as we finished the last half of our meal. Nash and Mack decided to recount stories of the various pranks they'd pulled on the headmistress and the drama teacher and soon had us all laughing until we had tears coming out our eyes.

  When we'd finished eating, Scarlett challenged us to a game of volleyball on the court below with a few of her volleyball friends. After playing a game where she, Hunter, and Mack basically dominated on the sandy court, I decided to take a breather and explore the little path that led into the gardens Cambrielle had pointed out when she was showing us the pool-house and pool on our tour earlier.

  I was just walking onto the stone path lined with bushes and beautiful flowers when Carter jogged up to my side and asked, "Everything okay?" He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, his breathing still hard from the volleyball game. "You're not escaping in here because you're mad that your team lost the game, are you?"

  "No, of course not." I shook my head, finding it funny that he would even think of it. "I don't care about the game. The only things I get competitive over are basketball games and when other girls try to steal guys from me."

  "Okay, good," he said. And then, with a half-smile slipping up his lips, he added, "But thanks for the heads up on that. I'll have to remember to warn my next fake girlfriend that you could be a little territorial over me." He winked.