The Fill-In Boyfriend(18)

“Jules and Laney. Remember, I told you we’re surfing.”

“I thought you were surfing by yourself, peacefully.”

She laughed. “No, they wanted to come this time.”

“Jules surfs?”

She shrugged. “She wants to learn.”

It took everything in me not to run inside and put my suit on like I now wanted to. I wasn’t going to change my mind just because the three of them would be there without me. And I also wasn’t going to rush telling her about prom right now. I’d tell her when she had more time. “Have fun.”

As Claire got in her car I yelled out, “Thanks for this,” and held up my shake.

“May it bring you peace,” she said with a smile, then drove away.




In Government the next morning as I sat down, Bec immediately turned around in her seat. “Change of plans. It’s time to pay up.”

“Uh . . . what?”

“You owe my brother a favor and I’m here to collect.”

She wanted me to do something for her brother when I’d just banned him from my brain? “I can’t.”

“You owe him.” She pulled something out of her bag and slapped it onto my desk. It was an envelope, its top edge jagged.

“What is it?” I asked without picking it up.

“It’s not going to bite you.”

“And you didn’t poison it?”

“Open it.”

I picked it up and took out the single page inside. An invitation, printed on gold-bordered paper. “Are you inviting me to your birthday party?”

“You’re just a regular comedian this morning, aren’t you?”

I read the invitation. You’re invited to a graduation party for Eve Sanders. Saturday, May 7th at 7pm. “Am I supposed to know who this is?”

“My brother’s ex.”

My eyes zeroed in on the address included on the invite. Eve lived only, like, twenty minutes away. Bec and her brother had moved from across town?

Bec continued, “I found it on the counter last night and then I heard him calling her to confirm that he is actually going to that thing. She invited him. And he is going. She’s trying to sink her claws into him again when she is the one who left him. She is awful, Gia. Worse than you.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re just clueless. She’s intentionally mean.”

“Was that supposed to make it better?”

The bell rang and Mrs. Rios stood in front of the class, her eyes narrowing in on me. Bec turned around to face the front. My attention drifted to the invitation still on my desk. When Mrs. Rios turned to write something on the whiteboard, I leaned forward. “So, I don’t understand. What do you want me to do about this?”

Mrs. Rios must have supersonic hearing because her head whipped toward us. I leaned back. Half of class passed and I swore Bec was just trying to drive me insane by not saying a word. Finally she slipped a note back to me.

You are going to be his date to the party. His new “girlfriend.” You owe him.

My heart thumped loud in my chest. I had told him I owed him a fake date on prom night. He’d taken me up on it. Why had he taken me up on it?




The day passed excruciatingly slowly as I thought about Saturday. I hoped seeing him again wasn’t going to screw up my plans. No, this was good. Like I said before, he could answer my questions and it would be over.

It was hot as I headed toward Claire’s car at the end of the day. Had it been this hot all day? I peeled off my sweater and laced it through the strap of my backpack. When I looked up, Logan Fowler was standing in front of me, blocking my path. His easy smile and confident posture reminded me why I had told Claire to ask him to prom. He was definitely A material. I returned his smile.

“Logan.”

“Gia. What happened at prom? You were supposed to be my queen.”

“Are you rubbing it in that you won and I didn’t, Logan?”

He let out a loud laugh. “I was just surprised you didn’t, that’s all.”

Why did everyone else keep bringing this up? Did they want me to be upset? “I guess you’ll have to dance with me another time.” I moved to go around him but he held out his arm, stopping me.

“I’m having a party this weekend. Come.”

“This weekend?”

“Saturday.”