The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(5)

“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.”