Okay, I know this looks bad, but she knows the real reason why we’re here. It’s just part of the plan. She’s got to understand that, although I bet it’s a shocking thing to see. She’s never seen me kiss a guy before, much less in the middle of a party, but she’ll understand when I explain to her that it was all for show… at least for Freak it was.
I give my roommate a weak smile, but all she does is take a sip from her red cup and give me a judgmental look in response. And as I quickly step away from Freak, I find myself stumbling through my next few words.
“Um, don’t you think Aaron will get the wrong idea about what just happened?”
Freak’s face contorts into an ugly scowl.
“You’re thinking about Aaron right now?”
Not really.
I’m actually thinking about climbing Freak’s body like a pole, but that’s not what I’m here for, so that’s not what I say.
“Isn’t he the whole point of me being here?”
“I just kissed you.”
“I realize that.”
“And you kissed me back.”
“Which seems very counterproductive to our arrangement, don’t you think?”
“Our arrangement,” he repeats my words back to me as if he’s spewing venom.
“Yes.”
Freak hands me back my beer with a blank look on his face. It feels like he’s done with this conversation… and with me.
“You’re right,” he says. “That was my bad. I shouldn’t have caught you off guard like that.” Not knowing exactly where to look, I glance awkwardly down at my feet, feeling conflicted about his admission.
“Aaron will approach you by the end of the night,” he assures me.
“So… the kiss was for his benefit?”
He pauses before he answers. “Yes.”
It doesn’t make any sense, I hardly know this guy, but my the back of my eyes water when he answers my question. I’m disappointed by it. Hurt by it. And it makes zero sense why.
“Is Aaron even here?” I ask, clearing the frog in my throat.
Freak squints his eyes at me, almost sensing that something’s off with me, but gratefully he doesn’t pursue it.
“Oh, he’s definitely here, and he knows you’re here, too. By the way, he thinks we’re together, and I suggest you allow him to keep thinking that.”
“Allow him to think what, exactly?”
“That we’re a couple. It’s pillar three of the plan.”
“Freak, I don’t know. I’m not the greatest at being deceitful and–“
“Hold that thought, Teach, because I underestimated my cousin. Here he comes now,” he announces, cutting me off mid-sentence. “He couldn’t even wait until we were off the dance floor to approach you. Remember, you’re my girl. That’s the only way this thing works.”
His girl?
I step back and take another swallow of my beer for courage and good luck. Freak is staring at me with an unreadable expression as Aaron approaches, and for the first moment since we’ve negotiated this bargain, I feel as if I may be doing something wrong.
“Hey, Willow, is that you?”
