The Stand-In Boyfriend

by Doherty, Emma

  I glance at Jessie, but it’s gone completely over his head. He’s just nodding in agreement and grinning at them. I hate it when he does this. Jessie has plenty of friends, but Sophie and I have always been enough for him. Recently, though…recently I think he wants to hang out with other people, and I hate, hate, hate that he wants to hang with the popular kids. It’s so cliché.

  “So, Ferguson’s?” Jessie asks again.

  Aaron nods. “Yeah. You guys wanna—”

  “No.” Chase cuts in before Aaron can finish his sentence. “I think we’re gonna pass this week.”

  There’s an awkward silence. That whole crowd goes to Ferguson’s every single Friday straight from school and everyone knows it. Chase clearly just doesn’t want us there. I don’t care, but one glance at Jessie tells me he does. This is what I don’t get about Chase: he seems so carefree and fun when you see him around school—hell, he was even a few minutes ago when he was joking around with Sophie—but whenever I interact with him, he’s just cold and aloof. I have a feeling he doesn’t like me, and he definitely doesn’t like Jessie judging by all the times he’s blown off Jessie’s invites; I just don’t know why.

  “Um…so…we better go then,” Aaron says eventually, shooting a confused glance at Chase. Chase nods, not even bothering to look at us, and starts walking toward his friends. Aaron follows him but then stops a few feet away. “I’m having a party at my house tomorrow night,” he says. His eyes flash to each of us and he smiles warmly. “You guys should come.” I actually see Chase stiffen next to him, but I’m distracted by Jessie and Sophie.

  “Sure!”

  “Sounds great. What time?”

  My jaw drops open involuntarily. We just planned for them to come to my house.

  “You down, Chapman?” Aaron asks.

  I glance back at him and see his and Chase’s gaze fixed on me, waiting for my answer.

  “Uh, I dunno, probably not,” I tell them. “It’s not really my thing.”

  Sophie rolls her eyes across from me. “She’ll be there,” she says matter-of-factly. Aaron smiles at me, offers us one last wave, and then turns to greet his friends; Chase is right beside him, in his ear, probably irritated that Aaron invited us. I don’t know what his problem is, but I agree with him—I also wish Aaron hadn’t invited us.

  Jessie turns around, grinning, clearly excited at the prospect of hanging out with all those guys tomorrow night, and Sophie isn’t exactly hiding her enthusiasm either, even though I’d put money on her having already known about the party. I frown as Chase’s car peels out of the parking lot. I don’t have a good feeling about this.

  I KNOCK QUICKLY ON SOPHIE’S door before pushing it open. Predictably, it’s like stepping into a war zone. Clothes are strewn all over the place, makeup is scattered all over the floor, and music is blasting from her speakers. I gingerly step forward, glancing around for her amongst the chaos as I make my way over to her window seat, plonking myself down in my usual spot just as she emerges from the closet.

  My jaw falls open at the sight of her.

  Sophie doesn’t just look good, she looks amazing—as in, she’s taken it to a different level tonight. She’s wearing a skin-tight miniskirt (so mini it should probably be illegal) that hugs her hips and a sheer fitted tank top that’s low enough to hint at her incredible chest, showing just a glimmer of her bra underneath. She’s paired it with stilettos that easily add five inches to her frame, her dark brown hair is slicked back into a ponytail, and the smoky eye thing she has going on adds to the effect. She strikes a pose when she sees me.

  “You look insane,” I tell her.

  She grins. “Good.”

  “No, I mean, seriously,” I reiterate. “As in, you’re gonna give the guys at the party heart attacks.”

  She laughs at me, walking over to her dresser and spraying herself with some perfume. “That’s the plan.”

  I let out a yawn as I watch her. I forget how beautiful she is sometimes. She’s the complete opposite of me. 5’3 to my 5’8, her hair is dark and long while mine is a light blonde that falls just above my shoulders. Her eyes are warm and brown, mine are a clear blue, and she has curves to die for while I resemble an ironing board. It’s not just in looks that we differ; we could not be more different in our personalities either. She’s loud, popular, outgoing, and sociable. I’m quiet, shy, nervous, and an insane worrier, but despite all our differences, she has my back like no one else, makes me laugh until I cry, and is the sister I never had. I know I couldn’t live without her.

  “You ready to—” She stops abruptly and narrows her eyes at me. “You’re not going like that!”

  I glance down at my faded jeans and loose fitting t-shirt then look back at her, confused. “What? I wear this all the time.”

  “Exactly.”

  I shrug uneasily. “I was actually thinking I might just skip it. You know I hate parties.”

  “What?” Her face falls.

  I start to laugh. “I was hoping I could talk you out of going too and we could stay in and watch movies like we planned.” I gesture toward her outfit. “Obviously I was wrong.”

  She folds her hands in front of her. “We’re both going to this party.”

  I shake my head. I really don’t want to go; I’m just not into parties anymore. “You don’t need me there.”

  “You haven’t been to a single party with me this year.”

  “I know but—”

  “No buts. You’re coming.”

  “I could order us pizza.”

  “Liv! You’re coming! Do you want me to tell you why?”

  I sigh, bracing myself for a lecture. I should have known better than to disagree with Sophie. “Why?”

  “One, I did not spend two hours making myself look like this to not be seen by Chase Mitchell.” I laugh at this. No one could ever accuse Soph of being coy. “Seriously, we both know there’s only like a four-week window before Abigail gets her claws back into him. I need to move fast.”

  “Aren’t you worried she’ll turn on you?” While Sophie and Abigail aren’t exactly besties, they do socialize occasionally, and I’d describe them as friends—well, friendly acquaintances, at least—but Abigail’s temper is notorious. Friend or not, she won’t hold back on anyone when it comes to Chase.

  Sophie just pulls a face. “Please, she can try her hardest. She doesn’t own him.” I laugh. Of course Sophie is completely fearless when it comes to Abigail. Everyone else at school bows down to her and Sophie doesn’t give a crap. She’ll go after who she wants, and that’s that. My best friend is fierce.

  “Two,” she continues, “I know for a fact that Mark is going tonight and he’ll have Jenna hanging all over him.” She’s referring to her ex-boyfriend, one of the guys who runs in Chase’s crowd and is on the basketball team. He and Sophie started dating at the end of junior year and into the summer but she got distracted by one of her brother’s friends, ended up ghosting Mark for most of the summer, and then when they’d made up and things were back on track, she got caught making out with her brother’s friend. Mark rebounded instantly with Jenna Richards, one of Sophie’s teammates from the cheerleading squad, and despite the fact that it was Sophie who messed around, it has not gone down well. I think she likes Mark a whole lot more than even she realizes. “He needs to see me like this.”

  I just smirk.

  “Three, you haven’t been to a single party this year. In fact, I was thinking about this earlier, and I think you attended only three parties all of last year, and that was only because I dragged you. Seriously, Liv, this is senior year—we have to make the most of it. I want to party with my best friend.” Her voice turns slightly wobbly. “We won’t be together next year, and I want this to be the best year ever.” She’s pulling on my heartstrings here. Sophie is set on going to Dartmouth and is about to apply for early acceptance; I know she’ll get in. I don’t know where I’m going yet—anywhere I can get a scholarship—but it’s pretty clear we won’t be
together. Although I refuse to think about it yet, I know Sophie is already hating the idea, even though it’s only October and we have months and months to go until graduation.

  “Four—and this is the most important.” She pauses to make sure she has my attention. “Are you listening?”

  I nod.

  “Jessie will be there, and he’s single, and you’ll be in a totally different environment than usual. People will be relaxed. There’ll be laughing, there’ll be dancing, people will be hooking up, and maybe Jessie Stephenson, the dumbest guy on the planet, will actually wake up and realize he has a chance with the Olivia Lorraine Chapman.”

  I start laughing at her.

  “I’m being serious, Liv. This is your chance.”

  I sigh. “He doesn’t see me like that.” It hurts, but it’s true.

  “No, but tonight you can make him see. Come on, it’s been building for years—aren’t you tired of it? Don’t you want to do something about it? Anything?”

  I lean my head back against her window. I am tired of it, so, so tired of feeling like this about him when he has no clue, but… “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” She raises her eyebrows. “Urrgh, this is so annoying! I wish I didn’t feel like this.”

  “You can’t help how you feel, Liv.”

  “I swear, sometimes he doesn’t even know I’m a girl.”

  She grins, her eyes sliding down my frame, taking in my outfit. The look on her face makes me nervous. “Well then,” she says, returning her gaze to my face. “Tonight we’ll show him.”

  “Liv, get out of the car.”

  I’m clenching and unclenching my fingers while breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth in an attempt to quell the rising panic I’m feeling. I cannot believe I let her talk me into this.

  “Liv, seriously, you need to chill.” I glance over at her as she reapplies her lipstick in her overhead mirror. She looks over at me and winks. “You look seriously hot—like, unbelievably. Jessie isn’t going to know what to do with himself.”

  Jessie. I need to focus on Jessie. That’s the reason I’m here, the reason I let her dress me up in this ridiculous way. She’s right—I know Jessie likes the glam look. Maybe Sophie’s plan might actually work after all. Right now, though, I want to run home and hide.

  “Do you have a jacket I can throw on?” I ask, looking behind me into her back seat.

  “No way. There is not a chance I’m letting you cover up. If I had abs like yours, I’d wear nothing but crop tops.”

  “Soph—”

  “Seriously, you’re not even that dressed up. I have way more showing than you.”

  I gulp but can feel myself nodding. She’s right. Sophie has on a tiny skirt and shirt. I’m wearing her long sleeved crop top and high-waisted skin-tight jeans. Yes, they’re formfitting and don’t exactly hide anything, but in terms of actual skin on display, there’s only a couple inches of my stomach showing.

  “Are you sure about the shoes?” I ask. I’m wearing her nude-colored stilettos that she saved all junior year for. They’re a size too small for me so they pinch a bit—which is the least of my worries since I never wear heels and therefore resemble a newborn colt in them—and add five inches to my already tall frame.

  “Yes. They totally complete the outfit.”

  I pull down my own visor mirror and take a look at my reflection. I’ve got to admit, Sophie’s got skills. I rarely wear makeup—too much hassle—but Sophie has spent hours watching tutorials online and she really worked her magic on me tonight. She used subtle browns and metallic golds to make my blue eyes pop, and she pulled the top half of my blonde hair back off my face into a messy top knot. The rest of it falls around my shoulders, contrasting with the black of her top. I swear when she showed me the end result, I nearly fell over. I don’t look like me right now. I know deep down I look good. I know she’s right and I look conventionally hot, but I’m so far out of my comfort zone I can’t even get out of the car.

  “Soph—”

  “Liv.” Her voice has softened and she turns to fully face me, her brown eyes warm. “Honestly, you look beautiful.” I smile at her sincerity. “We are going to have a great time tonight, but we can’t do that from in here. So, stop freaking out and get your fine ass out of the car.” With that she opens her own door and climbs out. I take a deep breath and follow her lead.

  She waits for me by the side of the car and then together we make our way up the driveway to Aaron’s house, her sashaying along like she’s on a runway, me trying to make sure I don’t trip and land on my face. It takes me a minute to actually look up at the house and when I do, I let out a low whistle. This place is huge, like an actual mansion. I had no clue Aaron was so loaded.

  Sophie chuckles next to me and when I glance over, she’s grinning. “I forgot you’ve never partied here before. Did you never wonder how he drives around in that brand new Jeep?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know what car he drives.”

  “His family is loaded,” she explains. “Something to do with dealerships, I think.” I nod. I guess Aaron’s always looked like he’s wearing the latest clothes and has the newest phone and all that; I just never put two and two together. “Chase lives like two streets away. His house is even bigger.”

  Suddenly she throws a hand out, stopping me in my path. She nods toward a tree a few feet away from the steps that lead up to the porch. Mark Feltham, her ex-boyfriend, is standing by it with his phone in his hand and his eyes fixed on Sophie. He mutters something into his phone and abruptly hangs up. I don’t even have to look at Sophie to know there’s a smirk on her face.

  “Give me a second—I’ll meet you by the steps,” she mutters under her breath before strutting over to Mark, I’m sure making it very abundantly clear to him what he’s missing now that he’s dating Jenna and no longer pining after her. Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Sophie has always wanted what she can’t have. A hot older guy showed up and Sophie forgot all about Mark. Now that Mark’s taken, she’s noticing him again. I have to bite back a grin as I watch her. Mark’s jaw is almost on the floor as he takes her in, and I have to walk away just to avoid feeling sorry for him. Sophie will have him eating out of the palm of her hand within minutes.

  I climb the steps to the porch before brushing my palms down my jeans and then I lean against the wooden frame, waiting for Sophie to be ready. There’s not a chance in hell I’m entering the house alone.

  A loud wolf-whistle comes from the house, and it takes me a couple of seconds before I realize it’s aimed at me. I turn around to see Chase Mitchell, Brendon James, and Jackson Taylor—all jocks from school—spill out onto the porch. Judging by the shit-eating grin covering Brendon’s face, I’m guessing the whistle was his doing.

  “Livy Chapman is actually gracing us with her presence?” he begins, looking me up and down. “And looking like this? Be still my fucking beating heart.” I shake my head but allow a small smile. I don’t know these guys well but we’ve gone to the same school for the last three years, and because they’re on the soccer team we’ve shared the occasional training session, so we do know who each other is.

  Jackson laughs and shoves him in the shoulder. “Shut up, man,” he says before turning back to me. “Hey, Livy.” He’s greeting me, but his eyes don’t reach my face. In fact, all three of them seem to have their gaze fixed on the sliver of bare skin I’m showing, and I shift uncomfortably under their scrutiny. “You look great.”

  “Damn, Chapman!” Brendon says again, finally looking at my face. “Who knew?”

  “Shut up,” Chase tells him, looking away from both of us and out toward the street. “You sound like an ass.”

  “No, I want her ass,” Brendon shoots back.

  Chase pulls a face and throws his arm out so fast to hit him in the stomach that if you’d blinked, you’d have missed it. Brendon doubles over just as I hear Sophie’s voice. “Brendon, seriously, you don’t think I haven’t warned my girl that if she stands t
oo close to you she’ll catch a rash only a trip to a clinic can take care of?”

  Chase and Jackson start to laugh along with Mark, who is following Sophie up the stairs. Brendon just grins good-naturedly. “You know what, Soph, I’m gonna take that—just because you got Chapman here and looking like a freaking goddess.”

  I try to force a smile at the compliment but can feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I just want to get inside now and find Jessie. “I show up to parties sometimes,” I say quietly.

  Brendon snorts out loud. “When?”

  Sophie waves her hand between us. “None of this is for you, James.” She pauses and does a little twirl on the spot, allowing them to get the full effect of her outfit before winking over at Chase. “Although maybe a little bit of this is for you, Chase.”

  Chase starts to laugh and I feel some of my anxiety dissipate. It’s impossible not to be entertained with Sophie around. Maybe she’s right—tonight might actually be fun. Mark shakes his head and walks through the guys, patting Chase on the back. “Good luck, man,” he tells him, making his way inside and passing Aaron, who just walked out of the house.

  “Hey! You made it,” he says when he spots me. “You look awesome,” he tells me with a grin before glancing over at Sophie. “The party is here.”

  “You know it,” Sophie replies.

  “Dude, you need to start getting Chapman to your parties more often,” Brendon says.

  Aaron looks over at me and smirks. “I’ve been trying.” That’s true. He’s always asking what I’m doing over the weekend and inviting me to hang out, but I always say no.

  Brendon starts walking over to me and drops an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go get you a drink, Livy.”