“Her? Your dad is the one who invited her back to his place for commitment food. Why don’t you tellhimto stop?”
I heard her low, frustrated breath. “You’re not taking this seriously. After the game, our parents think we should all go out for ice cream. Is that what you want—our families doing group activities? You’ll have to explain to your popular friends why you’re suddenly hanging out with me.”
“If our parents are dating, my friends will know why we’re hanging out.” That wasn’t what concerned me. If Mom already had two dates planned with Mr. Seibold, she was more than just a little interested in him, and my father’s chances of mending things were taking a sharp dive. The last thing I wanted was to be forced to watch Mr. Seibold make eyes at my mother Friday night.
I rubbed my forehead. “So talk to your dad and tell him my mother is off limits.”
“That might work if you give me incriminating informationabout her. Does she have any bad habits that will drive him crazy? Has she ever been convicted of a crime?”
“No.” Besides, I wasn’t about to give Madeline dirt on my mother. “My mom is great.”
“Well, that’s not really helpful.” She coughed in irritation. “I can’t believe this. How many times am I going to be stuck watching you play football?”
“I think the word you mean to use islucky. You’re lucky to get to watch me.”
Claire popped her head into my room. “Are you talking to Mom?”
“No,” I mouthed. “Madeline.”
“Oh?” Claire’s eyebrows lifted in knowing suspicion. “You’re just sitting alone in your bedroom talking to Madeline? Why?”
I held my phone away from my mouth. “It’s adult stuff. You wouldn’t understand.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not that much younger than you. I think I understand when you like a girl.” She turned, all huffy, and stomped off.
Why did people always think that any time I talked to a pretty girl, I had some ulterior motive?
Then again, maybe I could use that suspicion to my advantage.
“Cooper,” Madeline drew my attention back to the phone. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah, and I have an idea to keep our parents apart.” It was taking form in my mind as I spoke. Probably wouldn’t be that hard to pull off. “What if they thought that we were a couple?”
Clanking noises came from Madeline’s side of the call. “A couple of what?”
“A couple. Dating. Seeing each other.” More clankingsounds came across the phone. “What are you doing that’s making that noise?”
“Stress eating,” she said. “Key lime pie is my comfort food. How would acting like a couple help anything?”
What was the best way to sell this to Madeline? “If they think we’re hormonal teenagers in love, they wouldn’t want to pursue a relationship that could end with them getting married and us spending every night together under the same roof. At the very least, they’d put things off until we graduate, and by then, there’s a good chance they’d find other people.” Hopefully, my mom’s other person would be my dad.
“Hmm,” Madeline said, clanking through her pie. It sounded like she was wrestling Marie Callender somewhere in her kitchen. “You might have a point. But do you really think they would end things just because they thought we liked each other?”
Time to air a little family history on why my parents were so cautious about who I dated. “My mom had me when she was seventeen. Trust me, the last thing she wants me to do is spend a lot of unsupervised time with a girl I like.”
“You’re a man of ill repute. That’s good. It will worry my father.”
“I’m not a man of ...” There was no point in arguing with her about my character. The fastest way to nip our parents’ relationship in the bud was to pretend we were dating. “What exactly did you tell our parents about our stint painting?” That was a crucial detail.
“I told them we’d talked, and they didn’t have to worry about more pranks.”
“That’s all?”
“I wasn’t about to tell them that I threw a gallon of paint on you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good,” I said. “Your deviousness will work in our favor this time. After our parents come back into your house, tell them that we not only worked out our differences, I realized that all the pranks you pulled were really just your way of flirting with me. Yada yada. You’ve had a secret crush on me for years, and this was your way of getting my attention.”
“What? How come I have to be the one with the secret crush? Why couldn’t you be the one who suddenly came to his senses and realized what a great catch I am?”
