I rubbed my forehead and hoped my father was being as inattentive to Cooper’s phone conversation as he’d been to mine. “Thanks for that. I need more lectures from my father about taking my grades seriously.”
“I bet Selena would do some of your college assignments just like she does your trig ones for you now.”
The boy was better at improv than I’d given him credit for. “Cooper, you’re a jerk.”
His voice went soft and teasing. “Right back at you, babe.”
“Babe?” I repeated. “You call your girlfriends babe? No wonder your relationships never last more than a couple of months.”
He laughed. “They don’t usually. But you’re not just some trophy girlfriend.”
“I’m going to hang up now. I suggest you say goodbye too because if my dad asks to speak to me, you’re going to have a hard time explaining why I’m not on the line.”
I didn’t wait for his response.
Really, Cooper was going to be the worst fake boyfriend ever.
c c c
Dad didn’t stay long at the Nashes’. I was standing in the bathroom washing my face when he stuck his head in the doorway to talk to me. It wasn’t unusual for him to check in with me before I went to bed. He worked late a lot, so half the time I would eat dinner by myself, and by the time he got home, I would be ensconced in my bedroom doing homework. Or sometimes I would just go over to Selena’s for dinner and wouldn’t come home until the evening. Her mother made the best street tacos in the city. I never missed a taco night.
His tie and jacket were gone, discarded sometime during his time with Ms. Nash. He regarded me with narrowed, disbelieving eyes, a reminder that he was a lawyer and used to grilling people in court. “So, are you serious about dating Cooper?”
Had Cooper done something to blow our cover? I slowly toweled off my face. “Why do you ask?”
“He’s not your usual type.”
“Well, you know, trying something new is a good idea.”
Dad leaned against the doorframe. “Mmm-hmm. Do the two of you think if you start dating, Nicole and I will believe you’ve reformed your relationship, and you’ll avoid getting any punishment?”
Not good. He was looking for ulterior motives. “Dad,” I said in amused disbelief, “You’ve seen Cooper, right? The guy is gorgeous. How many reasons do I need to date him?”
Dad’s eyes were still narrow. “Did he get more gorgeous today than all those times you called him a seven-headed hydra of catastrophe?”
That was an insult from the playThe Matchmaker. It had been too good not to reuse. “Yeah.” I rinsed out my washcloth and didn’t meet his eye. “Weird how that happens.”
“Right, weird,” Dad said. “So the consequence for your school pranks is that you’ll be grounded for two and a half weeks.”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. “Two and a half weeks?” I’d never been grounded for that long. There were people who committed actual crimes who didn’t go to jail for that long. “Two and a half weeks?” I repeated.
I’d only been grounded for a weekend that time I drove to LA to go shopping, knowing full well that driving out of Silver Creek was against Dad’s rules. He was positive that if I left the city boundaries, I would either crash my car or get kidnapped.
“It was going to be four weeks,” he said, “but Nicole and I decided to let you be ungrounded for the last weekend.”
Not him. He hadn’t decided that. This ridiculously long sentence was coming from Cooper’s mom and I suddenly felt sorry for what his childhood must have been like. “Nearly a month? That’s cruel and unusual punishment—”
“Although, since we already planned to go out for ice cream with the Nashes after the game on Friday, you can see Cooper when our families get together then. You’ll just have to wait a while for your first official date.”
I groaned. I was not only grounded, I would have to act like I cared about the football game and hang out with Cooper and his family afterward.
That was more punishment than my father realized.
9
Cooper
I wasn’t sure if Mom bought my story that I’d started dating Madeline. She and Mr. Seibold asked me about it while he dropped her off, but they both spoke in thatI’m humoring youtone—the sort parents use when you tell them you want to start playing the guitar, and they know you’ll last approximately two weeks before you abandon the hobby.
