This time, Madeline didn’t hold my hand. She crossed her arms tersely, and when I leaned toward her to whisper an explanation, she hissed, “We’ll discuss this later.”
So we sat in silence while our parents made small talk.
Mr. Seibold mentioned he was getting season tickets for the symphony and asked if Mom wanted to go with him. Even though my mother had never listened to classical music in her life, she acted all excited about dates with him that consisted of sitting in a darkened room, watching people play the cello.
Who had she become around this guy?
Madeline sent me an especially ticked-off look as they made plans, like it was my fault they wanted to go out symphonizing.
She didn’t want to talk. Fine. I pulled out my phone and texted the words,Stop acting like you hate me. We’re supposed to be a couple.I didn’t send the message, just showed it to her in case she was right and either of our parents could read our texts.
She snorted and wrote,You finally remembered we’re a couple. Now I understand why you can’t keep girlfriends for long. Way to flirt with Dahlia in front of our parents.
First of all, there was nothing wrong with my ability to keep a girlfriend. My relationships had ended for other reasons. Stephanie wanted a boyfriend who could hang out all the time and had gotten tired of me always working or practicing. Amber’s parents never liked me, and when she’d started lying to them about going out with me, I broke things off. I wasn’t about to be anybody’s dirty little secret. Layla cheated on me with the student body president, a dude who was every cliché about rich, entitled guys, right down to his stupid Corvette.
Come to think of it, there weren’totherreasons for my breakups. There was just one: Girls in this school wanted guys with money. I wrote,I talked to Dahlia. That’s different than flirting.
Madeline read over my shoulder, and before I even finished, she was stabbing out a response.I’ve watched dozens of videos on body language. I’ve read books on the subject. I know how to spot flirting when I see it. What are your credentials?
Credentials? She was being ridiculous.The proof that I can tell when someone is flirting is that I’ve never asked out a girl and been turned down.
Madeline rolled her eyes.That’s not because you’re good at body language. It’s because you’re hot.
I smiled, took a picture of her holding the message, and mouthed, “Now I have evidence that you think I’m hot. How should I use this against you?”
She wrote,You can’t. No one will think anything of me admitting what is common knowledge.
I raised an eyebrow and leaned close enough to whisper, “Really? Tell me more about how hot you think I am.”
She pushed me away and wrote furiously.Couldn’t you havewaited until school to make eyes at Dahlia? You blew our cover the first time we were with our parents.
I sank back into my seat.The way you’re acting right now is what will make our parents think you’re not my girlfriend.
She dragged in a patient breath.I’m helping our cover because if I were actually your girlfriend, I’d be mad at you right now.
Just for talking to another girl?Only if you’re the jealous sort. I guess this explains a lot about your dating past.
I didn’t realize what Madeline was doing until a group chat with Claire, Madeline, and me showed up in my text messages. Madeline had written,Claire, does a girl have a right to be upset about her boyfriend ditching her to go watch Dahlia seductively eat ice cream?
Claire only glanced at me before writing,Yes.
And to think my problems with Madeline started because I told everyone my sister was the better actress. Right now, she couldn’t even act grateful.
I wrote,Seductively? You mean because she licked her spoon?
Madeline turned to me and whispered, “She was practically making out with it,” then texted,And shouldn’t Cooper have better taste than to hang out with the junior class’s latest mean girl, anyway?
Claire didn’t look at me that time.Yes.
Claire had never said anything about Dahlia before. I wrote,What’s wrong with her?
Madeline and Claire exchanged a knowing look that said, “Guys are so oblivious.”
Madeline wrote,Claire, fill him in when you get home.Then she left the group chat and went back to writing to me withoutsending it.If we want to fix this, you’ll need to come up with a grand gesture.She bit her lip, thinking for a moment.You could send me flowers. That way, you can ask your mom’s advice about what to write on the card so she’ll know you’re apologizing.
Flowers seemed overboard, but judging by the way Madeline’s big blue eyes were expectantly locked onto mine, she didn’t think so. The girl was probably used to her rich boyfriends sending them at the drop of a hat. I’d seen her after drama productions. She always carried so many bouquets that she was only a few flowers short of qualifying for the Rose Parade.
I wrote,What flowers do you like again?
