Smart Boys & Fast Girls (A Girlfriend's Guide to Boys)

by Stephanie Rowe

  Dinner? That meant Matt would have to keep up the charade. He'd never do it. Ever! "Um ..."

  "It's either dinner or you don't get to see him again," she said. "You aren't having a boyfriend who we don't know and approve of."

  Oh, this was great. I was really in deep now. "I'll see what he says."

  "Good."

  Yeah, great. How in the heck was I going to get myself out of this mess?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  My wonderful friends were able to meet for a quick emergency session of "Save Natalie" at two o'clock, between school and practice. Fortunately, Allie and Frances both got out at one o'clock—didn't private-school kids ever go to class?

  Blue and I met them after last period, and we congregated in the corner of our cafeteria. It was too rainy to meet outside—yuck!

  "So, what's up?" Allie had become a fixture at my practice lately. Since she'd started dating Tad, who ran cross country for another school, she came to my practice so she could learn about the sport and talk with him about it. Gah. How pathetic was that? Taking on his interests just because she was dating him?

  It was amazing I'd managed to get them all together without any boyfriends in tow. Of course, Blue's boyfriend was in college, but he was going to Harvard, so he was around a lot. Guess that's what happens when you attend college only twenty minutes from your true love, huh? I wanted to think it was pathetic, but really, I just thought that it was amazingly sweet the way Colin came back to see Blue a couple nights a week.

  My need to spend time with my friends was also hindered by the fact that Frances's boyfriend went to Boston University, so she and Blue were always hopping the T to ride down there and visit them.

  I'd never gone with them because I had practice, and Allie hadn't gone because she was hanging with her boyfriend. Not that we'd been invited. I don't think either of them wanted to share their time with their precious boyfriends. Sometimes I wanted to hate them for it, but most of the time, it just made me feel lonely. I was happy for them. I really was. They all deserved it. But sometimes, it was just hard.

  Anyway, none of their boyfriends were around, which was why they were all boy-less at two o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon.

  "Okay, here's the scoop." I had decided not to tell them about the tutoring/fake-boyfriend thing. I mean, sure, they were my friends, but the tutoring thing was too embarrassing. "I need to impress a guy. I need to get him to notice me."

  Allie sat up. "It's that guy from practice, isn't it? Zach whassiname?"

  My cheeks got hot, and she whooped. "I knew it!" She turned to Blue and Frances. "He's totally cute. Natalie knows how to pick 'em."

  "Shh!" I smacked her arm while I looked around the cafeteria to make sure no one was within listening distance. Mucho embarrassing to be caught talking about Zach's hotness. "How do you get a guy to notice you as a girl, instead of a buddy?"

  "Kiss him," Allie announced.

  Blue nodded. "That would definitely send a message."

  Frances rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about kissing him! He'll think you're a slut and he won't respect you."

  Allie spun around to face Frances. "That's ridiculous. One kiss doesn't make a girl a slut."

  "Hey!" I didn't want this to turn into an argument between Frances and Allie about how much to put out. Their takes on the situation were kind of ironic, given that Frances was dating the college guy and Allie was dating the high-school sophomore. "I can't kiss him. I need to get his interest first. I already learned I have to go slow in the locker room. What else?"

  My friends stared at me.

  "What?" I shifted under their gaze.

  "What in the world are you talking about?" Allie asked. "Go slow in the locker room?"

  "I have to spend time primping and let him know I'm doing it."

  "Oh." They all relaxed. "That makes sense," Allie said. "I had no idea what you were referring to."

  "And I learned I should worry about my hair."

  Allie eyed the feature in question. "Not just worry about it. Do something about it, too."

  I touched my hair. "I blew it dry this morning. It doesn't look okay?"

  "It looks like the same wild mop it always does," Allie said.

  "Ignore her. Your hair is fine and you don't need makeup," Frances said. "What you need to do is be mean to him. Keep him in his place, and then he'll appreciate you."

  "No," Allie said. "Make out with him as soon as you can and definitely get a haircut. I'll take you to my stylist if you want. She's fab."

  Blue held up her hand. "Ignore them both. Be yourself. If he doesn't like you the way you are, then it's not right. Kiss him if you feel like it. If you don't, don't. It shouldn't matter." She sat up. "In fact, you should become friends with him first. That's the best way."

  Were they kidding? They were all contradicting each other!

  I leaned back in my chair as they launched into a debate about the best way to get a guy to notice you. "Um, hello?"

  They ignored me.

  "Hey!" I smacked my fist on the table and only got a rush of pain for the effort. They didn't even notice. "I already slept with him."

  Three heads spun toward me so fast I wouldn't have been surprised to see them all go flying across the room. Total shocked silence from my three virgin friends who all had serious boyfriends.

  I grinned. "I was kidding. It was the only way to get your attention." I plunged ahead before they could regain their composure and interrupt me. "Blue, I always become friends with guys and it never goes any further than that. That's why I need the help. Frances, I'm not going to be mean. It's not my style." I looked at Allie. "Zach made a couple comments about how I'm not like other girls, mostly because I wasn't primping and worrying about my hair. So I was thinking that was why nothing has gone beyond friends with all these other guys? Because I'm too much like a guy?"

  Frances snorted. "You have boobs, Natalie. You're not a guy."

  "Then why don't any guys notice me?"

  "Because they're not right for you," Blue said.

  "Or because they're stupid. Guys can be stupid," Allie added.

  Stupid. I wasn't too high on that word right now. "Stupid isn't a bad thing."

  Frances rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Natalie. Stupid isn't good either."

  I swallowed and picked my fingernails. "I just wanted to know how to be feminine." Natalie is stupid. Natalie is stupid. Natalie is stupid. I clapped my hands over my ears to try to drum out the noise.

  "Not by doing that," Allie said. "That's not all that girly, if you want the truth."

  Yeah, I looked cool cringing like I was hearing voices. I immediately dropped my hands. "I need to know how to act like a girl. Will you guys help?"

  Allie was the first to volunteer, and Frances and Blue chimed right in with their willingness to contribute to the cause. Awesome. I loved my friends. "How about Saturday? We can have a girl's day?"

  Blue shook her head. "I'm going to spend the day with Colin."

  Frances nodded. "And I'm going to watch Theo play football."

  "And Tad's family is taking me shopping so I can buy my own camping equipment," Allie said.

  My shoulders sagged. Okay, then. "I can't go Sunday because I have a meet."

  "Hmm ..." Allie pulled out her iPhone and scrolled through. "I'm free the next Saturday. Anyone else?"

  "Football," Frances said.

  "Oh, come on, Frances," Blue said. "I think he can play without you glomming on to him on the sidelines."

  Frances glared at Blue. "I don't get to see him all week. You just don't appreciate his talent because he's your brother."

  "What happened to The Ledge?" Blue asked. "Shouldn't you at least be trying to give the pretense of having your own identity?"

  "I have my own identity," Frances said. "I'm on the newspaper, I have great grades. Theo's grades went up an entire point when he started dating me."

  Great. Just great. My friends arguing about their boyfriends. Left me out in the c
old, didn't it? I sighed. "Let's plan on next Saturday. Whoever can be there, great. As long as Allie comes, that's what matters."

  Blue and Frances snapped offended glares my way. "You only care about Allie?"

  "I didn't mean it that way. Allie's the one who offered to set me up with her stylist, and we all know she's the expert when it comes to makeup and fashion, right?"

  They shared disgruntled looks, but shrugged. No one could disagree that Allie was the fashion queen.

  "But I want all of you there," I added. "I just can't wait a month until all of you have time for me." I saw Valerie and her friends walk through the cafeteria on their way to practice. "I gotta go. Practice." Without waiting for a response, I grabbed my bag and jumped to my feet. I hoped Valerie or Marcie would notice me, because I wasn't sure if I should go up to them.

  They didn't, and I ended up walking about twenty feet behind them all the way to the gym feeling like a total idiot.

  They even let the door to the locker, room slam in my face, but it was because they hadn't noticed I was there. At least that's what I kept telling myself. Before yesterday, it would have been intentional, but I was hoping it was different now.

  I picked a locker on the same row as them, but way at the end. Usually, I changed in a whole other part of the locker room, but I didn't want to offend them if they were thinking I should be with them. But I didn't want to get in trouble by being too close to them either. So I picked a happy medium, and I was rewarded with a brilliant smile from Valerie when she noticed me.

  "Natalie! What happened to you yesterday?"

  "Um ..." Why hadn't I spent last night coming up with a good excuse? Instead, I'd spent the night lying in bed wondering how I was going to solve my little predicament with Matt. He'd barely said two words to me in geometry class, not even to set a time or place to meet tonight.

  Did that mean he was going to show up at my house at seven? What if he was planning to come clean to my parents? Crud. I had to find a way to head him off.

  Or maybe he was abandoning the tutoring job. Yeah, that was it! Excellent! Then I wouldn't have to finagle the dinner invite with my parents.

  I realized Valerie was waiting, as were her friends. "Family crisis. My mom had a car accident."

  "Oh. Is she okay? Can you still drive the car?"

  "Yeah, they're both fine." Not that it mattered, since I didn't have my driver's license; but there was no need to remind Valerie-the-senior of that.

  "Good." She nodded and went back to changing.

  Either I had to prepare my mom for a lot of car accidents, or I was going to have to come up with a better excuse for my time spent with Matt.

  Valerie and her friends waited for me, and we all walked out together. Marcie even held the door for me. Score!

  We walked across the field as a bunch, and I was in the middle. Sure, I was too scared to talk, but to the world, it would definitely look like I was in.

  Like Zach, who was watching us approach. Yes! I touched my pigtails to make sure they were cute, then I grinned at him.

  He smiled back, and then I caught my toe in the turf, tripped and crashed into Valerie's back. "Sorry."

  She gave me a weird look. "No problem. As long as you don't trip when you're racing, it's fine with me."

  Yet another reminder that my social future depended on my legs. Good thing I was up to the challenge.

  "Natalie!" Matt stood on the edge of the field. He was on his bike, wearing his helmet and glasses, with his jeans bunched up by that little tie thing again. Oh, God. I was going to die right then.

  "You know him?" Valerie asked.

  Since he'd yelled my name, there was no way to get anyone to believe I didn't. "He's stalking me," I said. "Let me go get rid of him." I broke into a jog and raced toward Matt. He was so banned from coming to practice! "What are you doing here?" I whispered fiercely when I got close enough.

  "As your boyfriend, I can come see you practice, can't I?" There was no humor in his gaze.

  I winced. "I'm really sorry about that. I panicked."

  "And used me." He did not sound happy at all.

  "No! I just... well... I wasn't thinking." I eyed him hopefully. "But it's not so bad, is it? I mean, maybe you could keep up that charade with my parents? Would that be cool?"

  His gaze darkened. "No, it wouldn't."

  Darn it. This was really not going well. "Please? What does it hurt you?"

  He lifted a brow. "You think you're so cool that it could only enhance my reputation to be associated with you, even as a lie?"

  "No! I don't think I'm cool!" How did this conversation get so screwed up? "Listen, can we talk about this later? I need to go practice."

  His gaze flicked over my shoulder. "Fine. Town library at seven?"

  "Not my house?"

  "Not until you straighten things out with your parents. I'm not interested in being used."

  "I'm not using you!"

  "Then what would you call it?"

  "Um..." Good question. I glanced over my shoulder to see if practice had started and saw Zach on his way over. "Oh my God."

  Matt followed my gaze. "Who's that?"

  "I totally like him. You have to be cool."

  He arched a brow behind his glasses. "I'm surprised you think I have it in me to be cool."

  "Shut up, Matt. I can't mess this up. Don't you dare tell him about the tutoring thing. Just be quiet." I broke into a smile. "Hi, Zach."

  Zach nodded at me, then eyed Matt. "Who are you?"

  Matt hesitated for a sec, then he threw his arm around my shoulder and hauled me up against him. "Natalie's boyfriend."

  What? I whirled around to kick him in the shin, but the second I was facing him, he grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me. Then he released me and flipped me a grin. "See you tonight, darlin'."

  He took off on his bike before I could injure him, leaving me standing with a very surprised Zach. "I didn't realize you had a boyfriend."

  "Um...yeah...well..." Seeing as how I might be seen with Matt on repeated occasions for the rest of the season, I had to be very careful about how I dealt with this. One bad choice could expose me. "He's not really my boyfriend... he's actually...um..."

  "Zach! Natalie! Get over here!" Coach Thompson hollered at us, giving me a reprieve before I had to come up with a coherent explanation for that nightmare.

  When Zach and I rejoined the team, I quickly dropped to the ground and leaned over my hamstring. Matt Turner was dead meat when I saw him tonight.

  Dead.

  Meat.

  * * *

  I slammed my backpack on the table, making Matt jump backwards. "Good," I muttered. "I hope I scared the crap out of you."

  He grinned and laced his fingers behind his head. "Doesn't feel so good to be on the other side of that lie, does it?"

  "What was that about? Didn't you hear me say that I liked Zach? And now he thinks I have a boyfriend? How exactly do you think that's going to help me snag him?"

  "Did it ever occur to you that I might already have a girlfriend?"

  No response came to mind at all. It hadn't remotely occurred to me that he might already be dating someone. I'd just assumed he was like me: hopelessly single. But he wasn't? The world biggest geek had a girlfriend?

  "You thought I was too much of a brain to have my own life?" he asked.

  "No...I didn't think at all. One way or the other." I swallowed. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

  "Yes."

  Ouch. So even brainiacs had significant others? Was I the only one on the entire planet who was single? "Really? You're not just saying that?" I dropped into the seat across from him. "You're making it up."

  He took his wallet out of his back pocket and tossed it across the table.

  "You want me to look in your wallet?" At his nod, I opened it. Fifteen bucks in cash, an ATM card, a student ID and a photo. I pulled it out and looked at it. The girl looked our age, with straight blond hair, a nice smile and a perfect nose. She wa
s totally cute, and not at all geeky looking. "This is your girlfriend?" Wow. She was beautiful. Not geeky at all.

  "Read the back."

  I flipped it over. "Matt. I'll always love you. Liz," I read. I hadn't seen this twist coming. How was I going to cope with this one?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  What to do? I carefully replaced the picture into Matt's wallet, stalling for time, but when I handed it back to him, I had no idea what to do. "So, I guess the boyfriend thing is off, then, huh?"

  "It would be off anyway." He shoved the wallet back in his pocket. "I'm your tutor, and that's it. If you have a problem with telling people you're being tutored, that's your issue, not mine. I personally like being known as your tutor. Enhances my reputation."

  "As a brain."

  "Exactly. I consider that a good thing."

  Was he arrogant or what? I was used to athletes who thought the world revolved around them because of their muscles, but never a smart person who thought his IQ made him better than everyone else. Totally annoying, because I was already worried that he was right. "Does Liz go to our school?"

  "No."

  "What school? Doesn't she get mad that you have all this tutoring stuff going on? When do you see her?"

  He opened his math book. "She's in London for a year with her parents. Her dad was sent there for his job." My cell phone rang then. Blue. Excellent. I'd take any excuse I could to regroup. "Give me a sec?" I turned away before he could answer. "Hello?"

  "You have a boyfriend? What's that all about? Named Matt Turner? Not Zach? What was today all about, trying to snag Zach? We want details, girl, and we want them now!"

  Oh, God. How had they found out? And if they knew, who else did? Matt would kill me! "Um ... Blue? This isn't a good time." Then I remembered what had happened at practice. What if Zach had told people? The whole school could know already! And then what? How would I explain it that we weren't dating without looking like a total fool?

  "Frances and Allie are here, and we expect you to get your butt over to my house within ten minutes to fill us in. I can't believe I had to hear about it from my mom who heard it from your mom. Ten minutes." She hung up before I could reply. Crud. This was getting way out of control. I couldn't believe my mom had spilled. Who else had she told?