by Judy Corry
"Yeah, no." Ava swiped her finger across the screen to move the sumo-wrestler image out of view. "Half of the reason why I'm dating Carter is because his hotness makes me look hotter. I'd much rather have him show it off than hide it."
Carter chuckled. "Are you saying that if I got fat, you wouldn't like me anymore?"
"Maybe." Ava shot him a sideways glance, her eyebrows wiggling in a challenge.
Carter's jaw dropped, and I wondered if I might need to leave them alone to rethink their relationship.
But then Ava laughed and said, "I'm totally kidding. Yes, your muscles and pretty face are a nice bonus. A very nice bonus." She eyed him flirtatiously. "But if you suddenly got a dad bod and looked like Quasimodo, I think I'd still like you."
"You think?" Carter arched his eyebrow. "You think?" He leaned closer and started tickling her. "How can you say that after all we've been through?"
Ava giggled and squealed as she tried to get away from him. And even though it was kind of annoying how much they liked each other, they were also super cute together and I was totally jealous of their happiness.
"What's going on in here?" Mack's voice sounded behind us, startling me enough that my tea sloshed a few drops over the brim of my mug.
I quickly licked off the droplets before they could drip onto the rug. Then I looked up at Mack who was a full foot taller than me and said, "Carter and Ava are testing how shallow each of them are."
"And who's winning so far?" Mack asked.
"It's hard to tell," I said.
Ava was now lying on the couch with Carter pinning her in place with his legs as he continued to tickle the sides of her ribs.
As we watched them, Mack lifted my mug from my hands and took a sip. "Mmmm," he said, smacking his lips together. "That's really good. What is it?"
It took me a moment to respond because I hadn't expected him to do that. But once I regained my wits, I took my mug back from him and said, "It's blueberry green tea with a splash of chocolate creamer."
"Nice," he said.
I took another sip from my mug, trying not to think about the fact that Mack’s lips had just been on it. "Have you decided what you're wearing to the Halloween dance?”
"Not yet." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Haven't really thought that far ahead."
“Yeah, probably not your top priority right now, huh?”
For a brief second, I considered suggesting that we wear the sumo wrestler costumes if Ava and Carter decided not to use them, but since it would be weird to suggest we dress alike, I stopped myself.
Plus, I had already been working on a special costume for the occasion—something that I was hoping would help me finally get on Ben Barnett’s radar.
Mack glanced at his watch and sighed. "It's five-thirty. I guess I better head home to help my dad make dinner."
"Yeah?" I asked, feeling a little disappointed that he was leaving already.
He nodded. "We're having the twins over for the first time tonight, so he and my mom want everything to be perfect."
The news about the twins being Mack's half-sisters had been buzzing around the school all week. I knew that Mack had been slightly interested in Ava and Elyse when they'd first come to the school, so I was sure it was a little weird for him to find out he was related to them. Well, actually pretty shocking since it had come completely from left field. But yesterday, while studying for a biology test, when I asked him how he felt about it, he seemed okay with it. He said it was the least of his worries right now, anyway.
Which was why I asked my next question.
"Is your mom out of bed today, then?" I asked, hating that it was a question that even needed to be asked. His mom was the same age as my mom. She shouldn't be spending most of her days in bed when she was barely over forty.
But Mack nodded and said, "Yeah. She's feeling a little better today." He sighed. After glancing at Carter and Ava who had finally stopped their tickling session and were back to looking at possible costume options, he spoke in a low voice, "They're going to New York again next week. I think they were planning to ask your parents if I could stay at your place—with permission this time. So you won’t have to worry about me sleepwalking outside your window in the middle of the night."
Even though I knew it meant nothing—that Mack would only be staying at my house because he hated to sleep alone when his mom was getting her treatments—my heart still raced a little at the thought of him sleeping nearby again.
But I tried to keep my face neutral because having feelings for Mack was not something I should ever entertain. So, in as unaffected of a voice as I could manage, I said, “Hopefully you’ll sleep better this time."
And hopefully his sleepwalking episodes would stop so my brothers wouldn’t find out the real reason why I now kept a men's deodorant and extra toothbrush in my bathroom.
Want to read a bonus epilogue from Carter’s point of view set five years in the future? Snag it here: https://BookHip.com/QTJZSZX
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for picking up The Charade. I’ve written fifteen books so far, and while I love them all for various reasons, this one is one of my all-time favorites because Ava and Carter were so much fun to write!
Forbidden romance is one of my favorite tropes and so when I had the idea to write Eden Falls Academy, I knew it was time for me to write the slightly taboo trope that I’d been dying to write for several years now. (You know…the one where they thought they might be siblings.)
I went back and forth a lot on whether I dared write that kissing scene during the soirée or not, knowing that it might push things a little too far for some of my readers. But since forbidden romance and high stakes are kind of my favorite things in books, I knew that in order to write a story that was truly satisfying for me, I had to do it.
And it was worth it, right??
*anxiously bites nails as she waits for reviews to come in*
Anyway, thank you again for taking a chance on Ava and Carter’s story. They were such a blast for me to hang out with during the past few months and I’m excited for them to pop up here and there in the upcoming books in the series.
If you want to stay in the know about my upcoming releases (Cambrielle and Mack’s book *cough cough* followed by Elyse’s) and other special behind-the-scenes news, sign up for my newsletter, join Judy Corry’s Crew on Facebook or follow me on Instagram!
Also, if you enjoyed The Charade, please consider leaving a review and telling a friend. Word-of-mouth is crucial for an author to succeed and it always makes my day when I see a new review on Amazon or when someone tags me in a Bookstagram post or BookTok video.
Always grateful,
Judy
Also By Judy Corry
* * *
Ridgewater High Series:
When We Began (Cassie and Liam)
Meet Me There (Ashlyn and Luke)
Don’t Forget Me (Eliana and Jess)
It Was Always You (Lexi and Noah)
My Second Chance (Juliette and Easton)
My Mistletoe Mix-Up (Raven and Logan)
Forever Yours (Alyssa and Jace)
* * *
Protect My Heart (Emma and Arie)
Kissing The Boy Next Door (Lauren and Wes)
* * *
Eden Falls Academy Series:
The Charade (Ava and Carter)
* * *
Rich and Famous Series:
Assisting My Brother’s Best Friend (Kate and Drew)
Hollywood and Ivy (Ivy and Justin)
Her Football Star Ex (Emerson and Vincent)
Friend Zone to End Zone (Arianna and Cole)
Stolen Kisses from a Rock Star (Maya and Landon)
Before you go, here’s a little taste of
Meet Me There
Breaking up with Noah was a good thing. I gave my reflection a pep talk one more time before leaving the locker room. You made the right choice. Life is better without him.
I drew in a deep bre
ath, trying to calm my first-day-of-school jitters. My blonde hair looked okay after being in a ponytail for this morning's 6:30 a.m. drill team practice. My blue eyes were maybe a little tired looking, but that was to be expected since I'd slept terribly last night. At least my new outfit rocked—an awesome floral printed blouse with dark skinny jeans. It had felt like Christmas when I'd found the last shirt in my size at Chic Girl Boutique. Being a tall girl made it hard to find shirts that fit my long torso just right.
I inspected myself one last time before pulling my bag over my shoulder and leaving the deserted locker room. All the other drill team girls had left five minutes ago, excited to see everyone again after summer break.
I made it to the top of the stairs that led away from the gym, and then scanned the hall. There were different clusters of students standing around, but no Noah.
Good. I breathed a sigh of relief. Last year, when we were still together, he'd always wait for me in the mornings. It was nice he'd decided to change his routine as well. If I was lucky, I might be able to avoid seeing him all morning. Juniors and seniors didn't usually have many classes together, so if I could figure out a way to avoid him at lunch I wouldn’t have to see him at all.
I was walking into the main hall when I saw a poster that made my stomach drop.
No!
I rushed forward and ripped the paper from the wall. There was only one person in this school who would do something like this.
I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill Luke Davenport.
I stared at the flyer. There was a hand-drawn picture that I assumed was supposed to look like me, since my name stood out in big, bold letters right above it. It looked like a seven-year-old’s art project.
BOYFRIEND WANTED
* * *
For: Ashlyn Brooks
Junior. 5'8"ish. Dancer. Blonde hair. Blue or Green Eyes. (I think)
He was starting this up again? I shook my head and read over the headline once more. He didn't even do his research before posting the ridiculous thing. I was five-foot-nine and my eyes were most definitely blue. No, I didn't have one green eye and one blue eye like this hideous portrait suggested—something he might notice if he ever took the time to actually look at me instead of pulling these annoying pranks.
But he’d been pulling pranks like this since last spring. It all started when he slipped extra baking soda in my cake during Foods class—and all because I grabbed the last non-flowery apron, leaving him to look like a field of daisies exploded all over his front. One prank led to another, and before long, we were in a war—a friendly war, anyway. I thought he'd forget about our rivalry over the summer, but apparently, he still had nothing better to do with his time. We'd always kept our pranks fairly harmless, but this…this was going too far. How long had these flyers been up? And how many people had seen them? Had Noah seen them and thought I had posted them? I was going to throw up.
I read the rest of the flyer.
Seeking guys with the following qualifications:
Happy to commit. (Good ol’ ball and chain.)
Loves to pamper his girl.
Tall, dark, and handsome preferred, but short and squatty are OK.
Must love shopping for hours at Chic Girl Boutique.
Must be fine with watching chick flicks over football.
* * *
If interested, call Ashlyn at 315-555-7892
Or wait for me by my black Mercedes after school for your interview.
My jaw dropped. He actually put my real number on there. I crumpled the flyer in a ball and looked down the hall bustling with students. There were identical ads taped on lockers all along the row. My face flushed with heat as I rushed down the tiled floor, knowing I only had a couple of minutes before the bell rang. I didn’t want to be late for my first class. I ripped down sign after sign, going down the main hall as fast as I could in three-inch wedges.
The warning bell rang.
No!
I made one mad dash, ripping the last flyer down before the hall was completely full of students rushing to their first-period classes. I threw the offending flyers in the trash and headed to my locker to grab my History notebook.
My friend and next-door neighbor, Eliana, saw me as soon as I turned the corner.
"Did you see them?" Eliana asked in a hushed tone, her blue eyes searching mine for signs of a freak-out.
I nodded. "Just barely. I took down as many as I could on my way here."
"Me too. Your brother and I started yanking them down as soon as we got here, but we could only get the ones in this hall."
I opened my locker, resisting the urge to punch it. "Why does Luke keep doing this? Doesn't he have anyone else he can annoy?"
Eliana leaned her barely five-foot frame against her locker, her notebooks hugged to her chest. Her dad was from Italy and her mom was from here, so she looked gorgeous with her darker features and light eyes. "I have no idea, but we definitely need to get him back good this time."
"For real." He'd taken these pranks to a new level of public humiliation. He needed some public humiliation himself.
My brother Jess walked up behind us then. "Do you want me to take care of Luke this time?" he asked in his protective, older-brother voice.
"No. You don't need to get involved. But I’m open to suggestions for revenge."
Jess checked his watch. "The late bell is gonna ring in a minute, but we'll talk more about this after school." He looked at Eliana. "See you at Math Club?"
She nodded, and then Jess left us.
"You guys have Math Club on the first day of school?"
Eliana shrugged. "Not officially. But since Jess and I are in charge this year, he figured we should go over some stuff with Miss Maloney today if we could."
I couldn't keep a grin from spreading across my cheeks. "You guys are such nerds."
"And proud of it!" She grinned back. "Anyway, I better get to class. But I'll grab any flyers I see on my way. Sorry about this. Luke went overboard this time."
I was almost to my History classroom when I spotted the devil himself. Luke was leaning against the wall as if he'd been waiting for me to walk by. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd stolen my class schedule from the office. When our eyes met, a smirk lifted his lips. He pushed himself off the wall and his long legs fell into step next to mine.
"How's your first day going?" he asked.
"Fabulously," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Pretty much a dream. I've always wanted to see a cartoon version of my face plastered all over the school. Did you draw that picture yourself?"
He grinned. "No, actually my neighbor was selling her art on the sidewalk last weekend and her picture reminded me so much of you I had to buy it."
I wanted to smack that smug look off his face. How could a guy who looked so cute and innocent be so devious? It wasn't fair. Guys should come with a warning label. I mean, I could've saved myself a lot of trouble last year if Noah's cover had matched his inside.
"It was great to see you again as always, Luke," I said when we reached my destination. "Oh, and my eyes are blue, for future reference."
He stopped and peered into my eyes for a moment, his own brown ones catching me by surprise. Had they always had that much gold mixed in with them?
"Ah, yes, blue," he said, his warm minty breath tickling my face. "I'll have to tell my neighbor so she can get it right next time. You wouldn't happen to know what your blood type is, would you?"
My stomach lurched. "My blood type?"
The smirk was back on his lips. "Totally joking there."
I slugged him in the arm—a very well-defined arm. No wonder he was the football captain this year. He probably worked out in all of his free time to get so sculpted. He definitely hadn't been so big last spring. He seemed taller as well. He had to be at least six-two or six-three.
I shook my head, hoping he hadn't noticed my lingering gaze. He was still rubbing his arm where I'd hit him. That made me smile. Who says dancers aren't t
ough? "You better hurry to your class before the bell rings. I'll look forward to planning our next meeting."
He raised an eyebrow. "By ‘meeting,’ you mean your next form of revenge?"
"Of course."
His grin spread wider. For some reason, one I couldn't understand, Luke seemed to be looking forward to my participation in the pranking game again.
Deciding I'd have to figure him out later, I turned on my heel to find my seat in U.S. History.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. There were about a dozen missed text messages and five missed calls, all from numbers I didn't recognize.
315-555-2934: UR hot. I'll be your boyfriend.
315-555-2345: I'll dump my girlfriend 4 you.
315-555-9723: meet me in the maintenance closet @ lunch 4 a good time.
The rest of the texts were along the same lines. Who in their right mind would think I'd be interested in any of those things? Oh yeah, guys who thought the ad was actually real.
I’m going to kill Luke Davenport.
I was barely able to concentrate on my classes the rest of the morning because I kept getting texts. Most of them were from total idiots, but there were a few that seemed sincere. Had every guy at school seen the ads? There couldn't be that many guys interested in dating me. It's not like I was that popular. Maybe Luke put all his friends up to this. I wouldn't put it past him. I mean, no guy in their right mind would actually be interested in filling the "boyfriend wanted" spot, given those outrageous requirements on the flyer.
If my phone was this popular during class, what the heck was I supposed to do during lunch? Jess and Eliana's meeting would probably take forever. And without them, I didn't have anyone else to hang out with since I'd always been with Noah. If I sat at a table by myself, Luke's buddies might try "helping" his plan along even further.