The Stand-In Boyfriend

by Doherty, Emma

  Sophie offers her the fakest smile I’ve ever seen before turning back to Jackson. “So where’s Mark?”

  “Avoiding you.”

  “What?” She looks outraged. “Why?”

  “Because he knows you don’t take no for an answer and he’s back on your radar.”

  Sophie’s jaw drops open. “Are you being serious?”

  “As a heart attack,” Brendon tells her, grinning. “His heart can’t take the trauma again.”

  Sophie bursts out laughing and Sasha joins her. “You’re kidding. You have got to be kidding me.”

  Chase smirks and shifts in even closer to me. I try my hardest not to squirm away. “Direct quote, Steele.”

  Sophie shakes her head, looking over at me. I just shrug. It doesn’t surprise me. He was crazy about her and she got bored and went somewhere else—I wouldn’t want to risk getting hurt again either.

  “Jenna ended things with him yesterday,” offers Sarah Billington, the knower of all gossip. Abigail glares at her, clearly pissed that she’s talking to Sophie, but Sarah doesn’t even notice, her urge to gossip stronger than her loyalty. “Said she didn’t want to be with someone whose mind was elsewhere, but I think she’s interested in the new exchange student from Australia.”

  Sophie raises her eyebrows but doesn’t look shocked. I’d bet money she knew Mark was single again.

  “So, Chapman,” Aaron starts just as our food arrives and I swipe a handful of fries. “You ready for your game next week?”

  I nod, the familiar anxiety of game day twisting in my stomach. I know I’ll be fine when I get out on the field, but I’m always scared I’m going to mess up, especially with the playoffs coming up and me wanting to impress the scouts for a scholarship. There’s just too much on the line.

  “You’ll kill it,” he tells me. “How many goals have you scored this season? Fifteen?”

  “Sixteen.”

  I look at Chase in shock. How does he know my goal tally? He just shrugs like it’s no big deal while Sophie beams proudly across from me. “Highest on the team,” she tells the table, looking around to make sure they’re all listening. “She’s gonna beat the school record by the end of the year.”

  “Soph, don’t,” I say, embarrassed to have everyone looking at me but loving her even more than usual. Sophie is the sole reason the cheerleaders cheer for us at our games. When we were freshmen, they only cheered for the main sports—guys’ lacrosse and soccer (football isn’t big in Newsummer, Florida). Sophie wasn’t having any of that and campaigned for them to cheer the girls on too, eventually wearing everybody down so much that they agreed, even though we don’t get enough spectators at to our games to justify it. She’s told me before that the only reason she’s stayed on the team is so she can cheer for me, and I believe her. When I’m playing, I can hear Sophie shouting louder than anyone else.

  “Well, I’ll be there,” Aaron tells me with a smile. He started coming to some of my games earlier this season after we became friends and is really helpful at giving me constructive advice and criticism.

  “Me too,” Chase chimes in.

  “Oh, you don’t have to,” I reply before I have time to think. “It’s really not a big deal.”

  The table seems to fall silent around me and I realize maybe I should have waited to say that when we were alone. I guess publically rejecting him doesn’t exactly scream devoted girlfriend.

  “Maybe I want to,” he replies tersely.

  “Really, you don’t—”

  I receive a kick under the table and when I look over at Sophie, she’s glaring me. I know me telling Chase not to come to my game isn’t helping our relationship look real, but I really don’t want him there. Chase is good at soccer—not just good, on-another-level good, as in could go professional one day, and I don’t want him there judging me. Soccer is so important to me, and I don’t want him imposing on that as well as everything else.

  “Don’t want your man there to support you, huh?” Abigail asks. She looks over at Chase pointedly. “Real believable.”

  “Well you’ll come to our game, right?” Aaron asks. “We’re partying at Chase’s afterward.”

  “Of course she will,” Sophie declares with conviction.

  “Actually I can’t,” I say quietly, hating that so much attention seems to be focused on me and what I’m saying. “I’m going to the JV game and it won’t be over by the time your game starts.” I’m talking to Aaron but everyone knows it’s Chase who will be listening to the answer.

  “The JV game?” Jennifer asks incredulously, like the mere thought of skipping the varsity game for the junior varsity game is ridiculous.

  “Yeah,” I tell them, looking toward Sophie for some reassurance. “My friend Jessie is on the team and I never miss his matches.” I feel Chase stiffen at my side.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Abigail says, a smirk covering her entire face. “Your good friend Jessie Stephenson. Wouldn’t want to miss one of his games, would you?”

  I shift uncomfortably. “The team is actually doing really well. Jessie scored last week and they’re getting better all the time.”

  Chase scoffs. “Well they couldn’t get any worse.”

  “That’s not fair,” I shoot back instantly, and I hear Abigail chuckle from her seat next to Aaron.

  “You know, I always thought you and Jessie were together, Livy.” My face betrays me as it blushes red at her comment. She has no idea how much I wish that were true. “I’m not surprised you want to support him. You guys just look like you go together.”

  “Um…”

  “You know I was surprised when I heard he hooked up with Courtney again. I really don’t think they work as a couple.”

  I press my lips together. I don’t know what to say, and in all honesty, it’s probably best if I say nothing or else I’ll give away my true feelings.

  “I can talk to Courtney if you want?” My eyes find hers and she focuses on me intently. She looks almost concerned, like she knows it upsets me and she wants to help. “Get her to back off. Just say the word.”

  I swallow hard, mortified that she seems to have figured out my crush on Jessie. The truth is Courtney probably would listen to Abigail—she’s the sort of social climber who would love the chance to interact with Abigail—but how demeaning for me that she knows she could do that, that she knows with just a snap of her fingers she could change something that’s been tearing me up. All I’d have to do in return is stop this thing with Chase—whatever this thing is.

  Sophie gives me another swift kick under the table. “We’re just friends,” I mutter.

  “Like you and Chase, right?”

  “I—”

  “Shut up, Abigail,” Sophie cuts in, effectively rescuing me from digging myself any farther into this hole. “You know we’ve always been friends with Jessie and they just told you Chase and Livy are dating. You continuing to talk about it won’t make it any less true.”

  Abigail grins, her perfect teeth on full display. She stands slowly from her chair, tossing her bag over her shoulder and flipping her hair. “They don’t even look like they know each other, let alone like they’re dating,” she says to Sophie triumphantly. “Better luck next time, Chase.”

  With that final shot she turns and walks out of the diner, her friends scrambling after her. Aaron and the rest of Chase’s male friends just kinda shrug, unsure exactly what’s going on. As far as they’re concerned, we are dating, but there’s no denying the lack of chemistry between Chase and me. Chase just waves them on, his jaw tense. I might not know him well, but even I can tell he’s pissed. Rather than putting Abigail off, it now almost looks like she’s seeing it as a challenge. Not exactly what he was hoping for.

  Sophie and Aaron are the only ones left at our booth. Chase shifts away from me, and I know without even having to look that he’s not happy with my performance.

  “Well that went well,” Aaron starts.

  Sophie snorts and grabs her bag from th
e ground. She rounds the table and leans down between Chase and me. “You two are going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want anyone to believe you. I have more chemistry with my mailman.”

  IT’S BEEN ALMOST TWO WEEKS since the Ferguson’s debacle, and luckily Chase has given me a wide berth ever since. He showed up at my game, as promised, but I think he got the message when I awkwardly thanked him for showing up then point blank refused to hang out with him and Aaron afterward. I think he’s finally realized acting isn’t my forte and he should find somebody else to play his pretend girlfriend. It’s not like he’ll be low on offers.

  One good thing about last week was that Jessie definitely heard about it. Immediately after Chase kissed me in the cafeteria, he asked me if we were hooking up, but I denied it. When he didn’t see us together and the rumors died down, he didn’t mention it again, but he straight-up asked me if I went to Ferguson’s with Chase and when I told him I did, he went all quiet and distant. Even so, he came over the next day and hung out while I was babysitting my brother all day, and it was the most normal things have felt with him since before Aaron’s party. He’s even waiting for me now as I exit English lit, and when I see him standing across from the door, leaning up against the lockers, it gives me the kind of warm glow only he can cause.

  “I flunked McCarthy’s test.” That’s what he greets me with.

  “What? Oh no.”

  He sighs. “Yeah, sucks. He’s going to give me another paper to do so I can make up some credit or else I’m failing his class.”

  “Well that’s good,” I tell him.

  “I guess,” he replies. Jessie’s smart, but he’s lazy. He doesn’t focus in class, and then when it comes to tests, he usually has some gaps in his knowledge. “You can help me study, right?”

  I nod immediately. “Of course. We can look at it this weekend.”

  He grins, relief crossing his face, and I relax too. This is how we should be, back to normal in our relationship without all the strangeness of the last couple of weeks. “I owe you big time. I’ll buy us a pizza.”

  I grin. This is sounding even better. I don’t mind helping Jessie at all, but with the added bonus of pizza, I can almost convince myself it’s a date.

  We make our way down the hall and enter the cafeteria. Predictably, it’s already crazy busy as I make my way over to our table as Jessie goes and grabs his food. Sophie’s already waiting and when I get there, she picks up a plate of lasagna and green beans and passes it over to me.

  “I didn’t want them to sell out before you got here,” she tells me as I gratefully accept it. Lasagna day doesn’t happen often enough in my opinion, and when it does, they go pretty fast. Jessie returns with his own tray and I see he picked lasagna too. Sophie lets out the least subtle cough I’ve ever heard and I just about resist the urge to flip her the finger. She’s trying to point out that Jessie didn’t bother to pick me up a lasagna even though he knows it’s my favorite, but she’s just being petty. Jessie would definitely get me one if I asked, he just wouldn’t have thought about it.

  Another tray is placed on our table and I look up in surprise as Courtney sits down on the other side of Jessie. Sophie just looks at me, raising one perfectly drawn-on eyebrow. We’ve only ever eaten lunch just the three of us. Other people might come and go at different parts of the lunch period, but it’s usually just us. I don’t sit with the soccer team to be here, Soph doesn’t bring any of her millions of friends to lunch, and even when she’s dating someone, she doesn’t ditch us for them. It’s not like we’re cliquey or unwelcoming—it’s just how it is. Courtney hasn’t joined us for more than a passing few minutes before.

  “Hey, baby,” Courtney says, shifting in closer to Jessie, and it’s like a slap to my face. She hasn’t been around over the last week or so, and Jessie hasn’t mentioned her once. I assumed they were officially done, assumed their breakup status remained the same and them hooking up at Aaron’s party was just a one-time thing that wasn’t about to be repeated. Jessie glances over at her and smiles before turning back to me.

  “So, Saturday—we on?”

  I nod my head.

  “What’s happening on Saturday?” Courtney asks immediately, her eyes narrowed on me.

  “Livy’s gonna help me study for the extra paper I have to do for McCarthy,” Jessie tells her, glancing over. “Or else I’m failing.”

  Courtney pouts. “I could help you study.”

  Sophie snorts. “Aren’t you in remedial math?”

  Courtney’s pout turns to a glare but she doesn’t say anything back. I think she’s secretly in awe of Sophie and knows better than to take her on. “Well,” she says after a minute, raising her right arm and dropping it around Jessie. “I bet I could make it more fun when we finish studying,” she tells him, the innuendo clear for all to hear.

  I stare down at my plate, my appetite suddenly gone. This does not sound like a couple that’s over, and Jessie is certainly not giving that impression either. He’s not shifting away from her or asking her not to touch him.

  “You know, Livy,” Courtney begins, and I raise my head to face her. “I’ve been meaning to tell you how awesome you looked at Aaron’s party.”

  “Um…thanks?”

  “I really think you should consider wearing more makeup on a day-to-day basis. It’d stop you looking so washed out all the time.”

  I actually hate her.

  “Shut the hell up,” Sophie snaps. “Livy doesn’t have to wear any makeup. She has this thing called natural beauty that you weren’t blessed with.”

  “Sophie—”

  “Hey!” Jessie suddenly chimes in, interrupting me. “Don’t talk to Court like that,” he says, glaring at Sophie. “She didn’t mean anything by it, did you, Court?” He glances at me while at the same time reaching for Courtney’s hand. “She was just giving you some friendly advice.”

  Courtney preens next to him and dismisses me from her view, instead turning and gazing into his eyes. “Yep, just some friendly advice.”

  Sophie snorts and mutters something under her breath about her being an Abigail Baker wannabe. I’m trying really hard to keep my face neutral and pretend like this isn’t bothering me, but I can tell Soph knows I’m mad.

  Really? Courtney sits here and insults me at my table—a table she shouldn’t even be sitting at?

  I’m not even mad at Courtney; I don’t expect anything from her, but I do expect better of Jessie.

  I stand up abruptly. “I’ll be right back,” I tell them.

  Jessie glances up at me for a moment, looking a little confused at my sudden announcement, but then Courtney shifts even closer to him and he’s right back to gazing into her eyes.

  Okay then.

  I turn abruptly, unsure what I’m actually doing, and then I hear a loud laugh from Chase’s table and turn to see Brendon high-fiving him. Chase—right. I know how to get Jessie’s attention and pay him back for that little remark.

  I walk quickly over to his table, weaving my way through all the different groups—the stoners, the mathletes, the debate club—and I even manage a grim smile when Hallie looks up from the girls’ soccer table and grins at me. I look confident as hell striding through them all, but by the time I actually reach Chase’s table, my legs have faltered slightly.

  Aaron sees me first. “Hey.”

  “Hi.” My voice is a lot softer than I would like it to be. The table quiets down and I can feel them glancing over at me.

  Abigail, who is sitting directly in front of me, turns to look me up and down. The expression on her face makes my stomach roll. I’m clearly not welcome here. This is her domain. “Did you take a wrong turn?” she asks. I hear the gasps and snickers of her friends.

  “Watch it, Abigail,” Chase snaps before I even have time to open my mouth. She goes to say something to him but the look he sends her shuts her up. No one else utters a word. Chase turns to look at me, and if he’s surprised I’ve showed up at his lunch table, he d
oesn’t show it. “Hey.” He smiles, his eyes warm. “You okay?”

  I nod and force the best smile I can. “Uh, yeah. I’m good.”

  There are a couple of seconds of silence while Chase waits for me to get to the reason I’m here, and my mind goes blank. What the hell was I thinking waltzing over like this? Everyone’s looking at me like I’m crazy, and while the guys at the table merely look like they’re waiting on me, the girls are starting to narrow their eyes, clearly judging everything about me right now.

  “Livy?”

  “Uh…” I glance behind me quickly and find Jessie watching me, his brow scrunched up like he’s confused. For a while earlier this year he tried to chat with this group a couple of times at lunch, trying to sit with them, but they weren’t exactly welcoming. In fact, I think it was Chase who made it clear he should return to us. I turn back to Chase, hesitate for a second, and then walk around the table so I’m standing behind him, rather than across from him.

  “Can I, um, can I get in here?” I ask, my face burning at how awkward I am.

  Chase looks surprised but Aaron doesn’t bat an eyelid. “Sure,” he replies, immediately shifting away from Chase and pushing the girl on his other side down the bench so there’s room for me.

  I step over and sit down between them, actually closer to Aaron than Chase because it still feels weird being near him and I’m definitely more comfortable with Aaron.

  I look around, noting everyone’s stares, and I actually feel my heart thudding nervously in my chest. They’re waiting for me to speak, to say something—something to justify why I’m here. These guys eat lunch together all the time, every day, and rarely does anyone new ever join them. This is their group, has been since freshman year, and no one infiltrates it. It might be different if I were Sophie—hell, if it were Sophie, she’d already be talking a million miles an hour and have everyone hooked on her every word—but I’m not. I’m Livy Chapman, and right now I look like a complete idiot—a complete unwelcome idiot.

  “Um, so, hi.”

  “You already said that,” Abigail says dryly.