“I don’t skate.”
“I could teach you,” he offered.
Daniel’s expression was so helpful. Considerate. Like he cared that I was practically having a nervous breakdown at the thought of going to Hana’s. And I felt terrible. Why was he doing all this for me? I was a grumpy negative Nancy, and he was literal sunshine in a jock’s body who offered to teach me to skate. Was putting up with me and my judgmental friends worth a bit of calculus help? He deserved a tutor who only wanted pies or something from him, instead of someone who made him pretend to be in a relationship.
“I know aboutDragon Arena,” he said, breaking up my self-pity party.
“What?” I hadn’t taught him anything about the game yet.
“It’s a MMORPG, which stands for a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. I know it was released two years ago, on June fifth. I know that you have to choose your class when you start your character, which is different from other MMORPGs where you can change your class. I know there are eight classes—four offensive ones, three defensive, and one mixed. I know that it’s the third most popular online RPG in the world right now and is the most popular with teens.” He smiled proudly as he recited all these facts. “I know it was designed by a team out of Japan led by Hiruki Matusaki, and that he always intended the servers in the game to be geographically based so players could meet in game and become friends in real life, too.”
I blinked.Okay... he might know more aboutDragon Arenathan I did.
“Where did you learn all that?”
“Wikipedia.”
I frowned. He’d done his own research? “Okay, but knowing about the game is not the same as playing it. People are going to ask questions specifically about what class you play, maybe what weapon you use, or about that update Hana was talking about. You can’t answer those questions from Wikipedia,” I said.
Daniel’s text tone went off then. “It’s Andre,” he said, looking at the text. “Break’s over.”
I exhaled. We headed back to the bake sale stand. Daniel was the same—cheerful, friendly, and enthusiastic as we continued to sell the baked goods. But my mind was reeling after the run-in with Hana.
I wasn’t really afraid that Daniel wouldn’t be able to fool my friends as a fake boyfriend, because clearly he could talk the talk, and him taking my hand there told me he’d be convincing in action, too. And I wasn’t afraid of seeing Devin and Hana together, because I had to see that at school all the time.
I had another fear—a reason that was muddling my brain and making me dread the thought of taking Daniel to Hana’s party. Sittingunder the stars and watching a movie with him sounded intimate. Romantic.
And the goose bumps that erupted all over me when he squeezed my hand with his? The way my stomach did a little somersault when he said he’d researchedDragon Arena? My body’s reaction was telling me it could be dangerous for me to be on a date, fake or not, with someone who I was becoming quite fascinated with.
I had no doubt Daniel and I could pretend to be really into each other in front of my friends. What scared me now was ... I wasn’t sure I’d be faking it.
14
Skimming Too Close to the Limit
By three o’clock, we were sold out of food, so we had no choice but to pack up and leave the market. Andre drove the van again, with Muniba next to him. Daniel and I sat in the row of seats behind them.
“That was a success,” Andre said as he merged onto the highway. “Three people told me they came specifically for our stuff. We’ll have to make more for next week.”
“Definitely,” Daniel said. “Want me to come Tuesday after school, too? I can make pies.”
“You’re already coming Thursday and Friday,” Andre said. “Balance, remember, Daniel? Anyway, no pies. The money doesn’t work out. We can sell a whole pie for maybe fifteen dollars, but we can cut up a tray of brownies into twelve pieces and sell for three dollars each. How much is that, Samaya?”
“Thirty-six dollars.”
Andre chuckled. “You should rent yourself out for party tricks.”
“That’s not a very impressive calculation,” Muniba said. She looked back at me. “Not that I have any doubt you can do complex math in your head, but Andre is too easily impressed. Hey, I saw you kids talking to my niece at the market. Do you know Hana?”
I froze. What did she say? “Hana is yourniece?”
“Yeah, her father is my second cousin. We’re not super close, though. She’s grown up so much since the last time I saw her!”
This was not good. “She goes to my school,” I said, trying to sound casual. Why hadn’t Hana said her aunt worked at the shelter when she mentioned she’d been there for the playground build? I looked at Daniel, panic rising. Hana thought Daniel and I weredating, and that we met playing video games before I started at the shelter. But Muniba knew we’d met for the first time at the shelter and that we definitely weren’t dating. What if Muniba told Hana?
“We’re going to a party at their house tomorrow,” Muniba continued. “Which makes it even funnier that I saw them today. Haven’t seen my cousin and his family in years, then twice in one weekend? Apparently, Hana was even at the playground build at the shelter last year, but I was at my sister’s in Montreal that week.”
Damn it. For sure Muniba would talk to Hana about me. Operation Lemon Squares was about to crumble, unless we extended our fake relationship to the shelter.
