Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)(51)
“What do you want?” he asks.
“Bacon. Lots of bacon,” I answer. “And eggs. Over medium. Maybe some pancakes too.” I look at Estaine. “What do you want?”
“Same,” he answers.
I look back at Jake. “Thanks.”
“You’re more bossy than my four year old,” he says, as he walks towards the kitchen.
As Jake is leaving the room, Uncle Matty walks back in, phone in his hand.
“Here’s the story,” Uncle Matty says. “Your cousin... umm... whatever you want to call him or her, died. You wanted your boyfriend to go with you. So Estaine came. That is what you’ll tell kids when you both go back to school in a few days.”
“Estaine isn’t my boyfriend,” I say.
“The dean of the school seems to think so,” he says. “Why else would he go to your cousin’s funeral? He’s officially your boyfriend. Congratulations.”
Uncle Matty walks back out of the room and I turn to Estaine.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I dragged you into all of... this.”
“It’s fine. We will deal with the consequences,” he says. “It’ll all work out.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll let you dump me in a very public way when we go back. I’ll even shed a few tears to make it more believable,” I say.
“You can fake cry?” he asks.
“Who says I’ll be faking?” I ask, completely joking. “When I was about thirteen, Charlie dated this girl who was convinced she was the next big deal in Hollywood. She got some kind of acting job in a commercial. It was ridiculous. But she wanted to take some acting classes, and she forced me to do it with her. We quit after about ten classes because the teacher kept telling me how good I was, but he ignored her. Shortly after, Charlie dumped her and she hasn’t had an acting job since.”
“Are you going to be an actress?” Estaine asks.
“Heck, no,” I answer. “My stepdad is a producer, and I have met enough famous people to know that I want to stay as far away from the limelight as possible. Although, one time I was on this reality show, completely by random coincidence. I didn’t even notice they were recording. My friend saw me on the show and sent me the clip.”
“I guess you see a lot of famous people in Malibu.”
“Enough that it’s not a big deal,” I answer. “But I went to high school with celebrities, so...”
“Wow,” he says. “That’s crazy.”
“I guess,” I say. “So, what are we going to do around here for the next few days?”
“I’m thinking Smallville.”
I laugh. “Okay.”
Tuesday, August 29
We’re entertaining.
I don’t wake up until almost noon the next day, which I fully blame on Estaine. He just kept saying one more episode, until it was four in the morning and we had finished season two. And we will probably do the same thing again today.
I decide to check my phone before getting out of bed. I just kind of ignored it all day yesterday and I can only imagine that I have a zillion messages. When I power it up, my phone just keeps going off for, like, a solid minute straight.
Wow.
That’s a lot of messages.
I see Brooks’ name among the many of names. I wait until last to check his.
TEAGAN: What the heck? Where did you and Estaine run off to?
Two hours later.
TEAGAN: A teacher just told us about your cousin dying. I’m sorry.
Another hour later.
TEAGAN: I just heard that Estaine is your BOYFRIEND. This better be a sick joke, because I’m your best friend. I should know this stuff before everybody else.
I laugh at her text before replying.
ME: Hey. Sorry. Yesterday was a crazy day. I probably won’t be back until Thursday morning. And the whole Estaine thing kind of just happened. Like, trust me, it surprised me too. Please, don’t hate me. Love you, bye!
The next few messages are all very similar to Teagan’s. I have messages from Emma, Penelope, Zoey, Samantha and Jason. I pretty much tell them the same thing I told Teagan.
The last person I click on is Brooks.
BROOKS: You didn’t text me back last night after you “hung out” with Estaine.
BROOKS: And you’re not texting me back now.
BROOKS: Are you mad at me?
Three hours later.
BROOKS: Whatever I did, I’m sorry.
Two hours later.
BROOKS: Okay, now I am starting to worry.
BROOKS: At least let me know you’re alive.
Another hour later.
BROOKS: I texted one of my friends from East Raven and found out your cousin died and that you’re off campus. I’m so sorry. I hope you’re okay. Text me back.