The Girlfriend Request

by Jodie Andrefski

  I’d been hoping to do something with Em after playing paintball with the guys, but clearly that wouldn’t be happening. I rotated my shoulders, trying to work out some tension.

  “I’ll probably grab something after we hit the range. Don’t worry about me, but thanks.”

  She nodded. “Okay, well, have fun. Don’t be out too late.”

  “I won’t.”

  After she left, I sank down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Normally, I’d talk to Emma if I had a problem, but that option was obviously off the table. I sighed. Maybe Kevin would have some advice. I’d ask him tonight. It was better than nothing.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Emma

  “Oh my God, you’re on crack.”

  Sarah shot me a withering look. “Look, do you want to get Eli once and for all or not?”

  “Well, yeah, but not like this.” I shook my head as I stared at the strange guy sitting on a basketball in front of me in Sarah’s driveway. “I mean, no offense,” I added belatedly.

  He tipped his head my way. “None taken.”

  I turned back to the instigator of this brilliant plan. “You seriously don’t think this whole idea is just a bit over the top? I’ve gotten into enough of a hot mess by lying and making stuff up. This?” I ran my hand through my hair, pushing the bangs off my forehead, feeling weary. “This just seems…I don’t know. Too much.”

  “Emma.” Sarah adopted a drill-sergeant tone. “Either you admit the truth to him, all of it, or”—she motioned to basketball guy—“you need a boyfriend. Stat.” Shrugging, she added, “Really, what’s the big deal? Jake is here for two weeks with Tony for spring break. He’s going back to college after that, so it’s completely believable if you two break up then.”

  I stared at her, not quite able to fathom how things had gotten so out of control that we were even having this conversation. “And how’s your brother going to feel about his friend lying and pretending to go out with me?” I finally asked.

  She snorted. “Why would Tony care? Jake’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions.” Sarah brushed away my concerns. “And besides, if you have to have a fake boyfriend, Jake’s not half bad.”

  “Umm…hello? Still right here, you know.” Jake waved his hand in the air.

  “Shh, we’re trying to work this out.” Sarah brushed him off without looking his way.

  Jake stood, picked up the basketball, and began to dribble it absently. The ball made a hollow thunking sound each time it hit the ground. His tall, lanky frame made it obvious why he preferred the sport.

  I had to admit, he wasn’t bad looking, but her idea was crazy. And to try to pull off that he was suddenly my boyfriend? It’d never work.

  “And how are we going to convince Eli that we’re dating? I don’t even know him.” I motioned vaguely in Jake’s direction, looking at Sarah the whole time. I felt stupid even having the conversation in front of a guy I’d just met. About a guy I’d just met.

  Jake stopped bouncing the ball and looked up, slate blue eyes boring into me. “Look, do you really like this guy?”

  I nodded, unable to say a word.

  “Then why don’t you just tell him that?” Rotating the ball back and forth between his large hands in front of his chest, he continued. “This whole thing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”

  Sarah reached over and knocked the basketball from his grasp. “Jake, you’re not helping. Are you in or out?”

  He threw his hands up in surrender. “Fine, if she’s in, I’ll do it. I need someone to hang with nights Tony has to work anyway. It’s not like I have anything better to do.” Jake looked my way. “No offense.”

  I rolled my eyes. “None taken.”

  He winked, then shook his head. “But, I still don’t see why you can’t tell him.” As he turned and walked up the driveway toward the house, he called back over his shoulder, “Let me know where to meet you for our first date, honey.” He laughed good-naturedly before heading in the front door.

  Embarrassing didn’t begin to cut it. I couldn’t really be so pathetic that I was enlisting the help of Tony’s college roommate to convince Eli that he was in love with me, and just didn’t know it yet.

  I sighed. “This is nuts, Sarah.”

  “No, it’s perfect. Jake’s a nice guy. Like I told you, he’s been here before a few times on weekends. It’s not like he’s some creepo stranger you have to worry about.”

  We glanced up as a squealing voice carried out the front window. “But I want cookies!”

  Sarah shook her head. “Want a younger brother?”

  I laughed. “No thanks.”

  “Anyway, Jake’s pretty smart, so it’s not like you won’t be able to talk to him.” She walked over and set the basketball in a large blue storage container filled with sports equipment. “He’ll be perfect.”

  “And what about the fact that there is no Kelli? It’s not like Jake and I can really go on a double date with her and Eli.”

  Sarah thought for a moment. “What about coming up with a reason they can’t talk anymore? Now that you have Jake, I think that’ll get his attention anyway, so you won’t need Kelli anymore.” She added, “Just don’t make it right away, or that might look too obvious.” She checked her watch. “Look, my mom’s at work so I have to go in and start dinner before Scotty convinces Jake to let him eat all of the Oreos. What do you want me to tell him? ”

  I had a bad feeling about the whole plan, like it was going to blow up in my face. But desperation made me nod slowly. “Tell him I’m in.”

  I had another message from Eli waiting when I got home. Well, Kelli did. He still wasn’t talking to me.

  This was probably the longest we’d ever gone without speaking, except for that time when we were about eight and I’d innocently told Billy Waters that Eli had a tea party with me the day before. Yeah, that hadn’t gone over well, and he’d never had one with me again after that, no matter how much I begged and said it would be our secret.

  Sighing, I clicked open the message, wondering what lovey-dovey quotes Eli would be sending the oh so perfect Kelli this time.

  I still couldn’t believe I was jealous of a girl who didn’t even exist.

  What’s going on? It seems like you’re trying to ignore me.

  Tapping my nails on the computer’s hand-rest, I tried to come up with a plausible explanation for the fact that Kelli hadn’t been talking to him as much anymore.

  My mom walked in the room carrying a laundry basket filled with folded clothing. “Hey, sweetie. How was your day? I didn’t even hear you come home.” She carried the basket over to my bed and set it down.

  I lowered the screen on my laptop, and forced a carefree smile. “Oh, it was good. I went to the bookstore for a while, and then over to Sarah’s.”

  After a moment, Mom sat down on the bed next to the laundry basket. “Is everything all right? You’ve been quiet at dinner the past couple of nights, and I haven’t seen Eli around lately.”

  The smile faltered a bit. “Everything’s fine.” I nodded, trying to interject as much normalcy in my tone as I could. “He’s been busy working on a project for school.”

  It was kind of obvious she didn’t entirely believe me. “Are you sure? You two aren’t fighting, are you?” Her eyes looked worried.

  “What? Oh, no.” I shook my head. “Really, everything’s fine. I promise.”

  Mom stood up, and smoothed minute creases out of her linen slacks. “Okay, if you’re positive. But you know you can talk to me if you need to.” She walked over and kissed the top of my head.

  I felt awful lying to her. It seemed like that was all I did anymore, lie to the people around me who I cared about the most. It took major effort to push the guilt down so it didn’t swallow me whole.

  “I know, Mom. Thanks.” I looked directly into her eyes and added, “I love you.” That part was true, at least.

  “I love you too, Emma.” Headed to the door, she added, “Dinner will
be ready in about twenty minutes.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  I turned back to the computer after she left the room, determined to send Eli a message that would somehow convince him to stop emailing Kelli. I couldn’t keep the double identity up much longer, it was way too difficult. And it’d become clear that I had about the same chance of getting the two of us together as I did becoming bffs with Carissa.

  The cursor blinked repeatedly in the blank message square. Finally, I began to type.

  Eli, I’m sorry if you felt I was ignoring you. I was sick, but I guess there was more to it than that, and I wasn’t sure what to say.

  I still wasn’t. I felt like crap for even playing games with him in the first place, but I didn’t know how to stop the avalanche, so, I continued. I had to present it kindly; I didn’t want Eli to be hurt by even a fake girl. He deserved so much better than that.

  I guess I felt bad since I know you and I have been talking for a while, and you seem like such a nice guy. But, the thing is, I wasn’t sure how you felt about me. Then I met someone recently, and we went out a couple of times. And now, I just don’t feel right about talking to you when I’m dating him. I know you and I never really discussed anything like that, but I have to be honest. I think you’re cute, and funny and sweet. And I don’t want to confuse things by continuing to get closer to you when I’m with someone else. Maybe if I had known where things stood with us, this wouldn’t have happened…who knows?

  I paused a minute, closing my eyes. Why did ending things online with him seem so much like a real goodbye?

  Maybe I never should have sent the friend request to you. I don’t know? But I see now, this with us just isn’t a good idea. I’m sorry.

  It felt as though I wrote the last section from me, not Kelli. But it seemed to fit either way.

  I hope you find someone great too. You deserve that.

  I couldn’t resist adding,

  Who knows? The perfect girl could be closer than you think.

  My chest tightened as I typed the last line. I wondered if there was any way that would ever come true, that he would ever look at me that way. I doubted it, especially the way things stood between us now.

  I’ll never forget all of our talks. Kelli

  I read back over the message, and hit send before I chickened out and changed my mind. It didn’t look like Eli was online, so I’d have to wait to see his response. Probably better that way, I didn’t know if I could take it right now if he made some big plea for Kelli to give him a chance.

  A car door slammed nearby. Gauzy curtains covered the window behind me, so I brushed them aside to look.

  Eli walked toward his front yard, carrying an oversized box. The muscles in his upper arms flexed under the weight. I swallowed, watching. I inched the chair closer to get a better view. Grass stains covered his jeans, and it looked like dirt or mulch streaked his arms and hands where they grasped the box. Some kind of bricks peeked out.

  A freshly dug up patch of grass circled a large maple tree in his yard. After he set the box down near the overturned earth, he ran his forearm absently across his forehead, wiping away sweat. He looked tired and dirty, and totally hot.

  As though he felt my gaze, he suddenly turned and faced my bedroom window, squinting against the sun. Gasping, I pulled back and dropped the curtain. I felt stupid for gawking at him while he worked, like some love-struck peeping Tom, considering we hadn’t even said a word to each other in six days.

  I wondered if he’d seen me.

  I grimaced, and inched forward again in the chair, sliding to lean over and peek out from the side of the window. I took care not to move the curtain this time.

  He still looked my way. His head cocked slightly, but his long bangs and distance shielded his eyes from my view.

  I wished he would wave or something, show that he wasn’t angry anymore, that he felt badly and wanted to make up, too.

  Fine, one of us had to take the first step, might as well be me. One push and the curtain cleared the window. I looked directly at him, and offered a small, tentative wave.

  For a second it looked like he was going to call out, but just as quickly, his face shifted, his expression going blank. Instead of acknowledgement, he simply turned and bent down, going back to his work, ignoring me.

  My heart dropped, and tears threatened. He didn’t care. He didn’t miss me at all.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Emma

  Sarah sent me several texts after dinner. She was pushing me to meet up with Jake later that night since Tony worked. At first, I was going to say no, since I still hoped to hear from Eli. I was also starting to second-guess the whole fake-boyfriend plan. After all, the fake profile idea hadn’t exactly gone over like gangbusters.

  I stalled while I tried to decide what to do, but Sarah kept insisting it was the way to go. She said I needed to let Eli know I wasn’t waiting around for him to come to his senses. I am woman, hear me roar. Or at least meow.

  After sending two unanswered texts to Eli asking what movie he wanted to watch for our Sunday movie-fest the next day, I finally gave in. I told Sarah to tell Jake to meet me at Roma, the pizza place in town where a lot of the high school students went to hang out on the weekend. The large Italian restaurant still had an arcade connected to the back room, which was pretty cool. If I was going to go through with it, I may as well be seen. Let Carissa and her cronies wonder about the cute college guy sitting next to me.

  Next conundrum…what does one wear on a fake date? Do I go cute and flirty, hanging out casual, or sex-kitten ready to snag her man? I finally settled on a pair of skinny jeans and a simple pale blue T-shirt. Plain Jane it is.

  Now, what to do with my hair? I studied it in the mirror. Down or up? The humidity made my curls go crazy, but wearing it down would add a little feminine appeal since my outfit sure didn’t do much in that department.

  I spritzed some light styling spray in my curls, hoping it would help control the frizz that was sure to come. Almost as an afterthought, I reached for my favorite perfume to wear too. Never really big on makeup, I brushed some mascara on my lashes, and dabbed on some pale gloss. Rubbing my lips together, I suddenly felt nervous.

  What if Jake expected me to kiss him? After all, he was in college. Maybe college guys expected more on a date…even if it was fake. Oh God, what if he expected me to put out? Hamsters ran pell-mell on a wheel in my stomach.

  “Deep breaths, Em, deep breaths.” And now I’d graduated to talking to myself. Perfect.

  He wouldn’t think that. There was no way Sarah would’ve set the whole thing up if Jake was some skin hound. And he knew this was just for show anyway. Besides, it wasn’t like any guy had ever found me so kissable that he couldn’t restrain himself, so I obviously had nothing to worry about.

  I’d always imagined my first kiss would be with Eli, or hoped, anyway. In any of my fantasies about the perfect first kiss, Eli always played the leading man, which was obviously never going to happen, so I needed to get over it. Heck, maybe if Jake tried to kiss me, I’d let him, at least then I would know what it was like. I was probably the only junior in school that had never been kissed, which made my parents’ sex-talk all the more ludicrous.

  My cell beeped. Sliding it out of the pocket of my jeans, I expected it to be Sarah offering some last minute advice. A part of me still held hope that it was Eli.

  I didn’t recognize the number on the incoming text.

  Hey girl, how about I give you a ride rather than meet you there?

  It had to be Jake. Before I could type a polite refusal, another message appeared.

  After all, wouldn’t that be a little more realistic?

  Hmm. He had a point. Before I could talk myself out of it, I typed back,

  Sure, thanks. 8:00 good?

  His response was almost immediate.

  Yep, works for me. See you soon. :)

  There was a smiley. What did that mean? The whole thing was getting too awkward f
or words. I was over-analyzing a freaking smiley face.

  I shoved the phone back into my hip pocket, and told myself to calm down. So what if this was only my second date…ever. And the first one wasn’t even worth counting. I’d consider it a practice run, kinda like the PSATs.

  But I couldn’t completely convince myself not to feel sort of depressed, to wish I was going on a real date with someone who asked me out because he wanted to. Because he liked me.

  It’s not like I wanted Jake to feel that way, but someone.

  You mean Eli, my inner cynic taunted, which was true, but at this point, even a stand-in who actually wanted to date me would be better than someone who was doing his roommate’s sister a favor.

  I stood up and told myself to stop whining and get over it already. This might work to get me what I really wanted. And if not? Well, maybe it was time to give up my dream of ever getting together with Eli.

  The alarm clock next to my bed read 7:44. He’d be here soon. I grabbed a cropped ivory crocheted cardigan from my closet, and wondered if I should throw it on too. It might add some cute factor to an otherwise boring outfit. Then again, it might still be too warm to wear it.

  I finally decided to switch the T-shirt for a lace cami so that way I could still wear the sweater and not end up sweating to death. After yanking off the T-shirt, as I pulled the wine colored cami over my head, I realized I was now messing up my hair. Awesome.

  Maybe not dating was better. Sitting home alone in PJs and reading began to sound preferable. So much less stressful.

  It was too late to cancel, so I licked my fingers and smoothed the flyaway hairs the best I could. It wasn’t like it really mattered anyway.

  A patterned hobo bag hung over the back of my desk chair, and I grabbed it and threw in my wallet and a lip-gloss. That was probably all I’d really need.

  I walked over to my bedroom door, peeking out the window as I passed. Eli’s car still sat parked in the driveway from earlier, but there was no sign of him. Sighing, I flipped the light switch before walking out of the room to head downstairs. I’d wait outside for Jake to show up, and avoid any questions that way.