My conversation with Dahlia had paused for too long. I’d been so busy thinking of Madeline, I hadn’t heard what Dahlia was talking about. I struggled to think of something to say and came up blank.
As though Dahlia could read my thoughts, she said, “I saw you and Madeline walking together. I thought you didn’t like her.”
I wasn’t sure why I suddenly felt the need to defend Madeline. “She’s not that bad.”
Dahlia scowled. “Then why did you hide her car under the bleachers?”
That made me smile. “Because I could.” One of theadvantages of growing up on the poor side of town was that I’d learned a few things about cars, and one of them was that if you disconnected the shift linkage from the gear selector, you could put a car in neutral and roll it wherever you wanted.
“So what were the two of you talking about?” Dahlia asked. “Do you still have detention stuff to do?”
“No, we were talking about our parents.”
She gave a little groan of commiseration. “Having your parents date has got to be the worst. But what is there to discuss? I mean, they’re adults. What can you do about it if they want to see each other?”
I shouldn’t expect her to understand my hopes for my parents. Madeline hadn’t. Claire didn’t. But I wanted my father back, not somebody else’s. People weren’t interchangeable like that.
This was the perfect opening to explain that Madeline and I were fake dating, except that I’d told Madeline I wouldn’t say anything. It was more than a little unfair of Madeline to insist that I keep that from Dahlia. Once I was ungrounded, I would have to sneak around behind my mother’s back to see Dahlia, and if I couldn’t tell Dahlia what I was doing, I’d probably end up making all sorts of lame, suspicious excuses. Sooner or later, I’d look like I was out of my mind.
“Your mom is so pretty,” Dahlia went on. “When I first saw her, I thought she was your older sister.”
“She’s a fitness instructor. It’s part of her job to be in shape.”
“My mom loves to work out too. I bet she’d like your mother a lot.”
Yeah, no. Dahlia was about to suggest an introduction, and I couldn’t let that happen. “Probably not,” I said.
And my prediction of looking like an idiot had just happeneda lot sooner than I’d supposed. I’d meant to say that an introduction wasn’t a good idea—and had been so busy searching for an excuse to keep them apart that I’d accidentally told Dahlia her mother probably wouldn’t like mine. Now she was looking at me with her eyebrows pulled into a question.
“I mean,” I said hurriedly, “it’s not a good idea because ...” Still no good excuse. What possible reason could my mother have for not meeting people? “I just wouldn’t talk to her at the game.”
I was only making this worse. I paused and took a deep breath to stop myself from saying more stupid things.
And this was just one hallway conversation. There was no way Dahlia would make it through the homecoming game, sitting in the stands as my date, without speaking to my mother.
The scene unfolded in my mind—Dahlia walking up to Mom and Mr. Seibold in the stands. “Cooper is playing great. You must be so proud of him. We’ve never met, but I’m his date to the dance ...”
Or worse, Dahlia would say something vague and complimentary, and my mother would send her a hostile stare and say, “Don’t you think it’s time you stopped chasing Cooper and found someone who’s actually interested in you?”
If their meeting went particularly horribly, Mr. Seibold would slip into lawyer mode, mention stalking laws, and threaten a restraining order.
I had to prevent that trainwreck. Madeline would just have to understand. Well, if I ever decided to tell her what I’d done. “Can I swear you to secrecy about something?” I asked.
A flash of hesitancy went across Dahlia’s face, then concern. “Sure.”
I glanced around and lowered my voice. “I don’t want mymom to know about you because I want her to think I like Madeline. That way, my mom will be reluctant to rush into things with Madeline’s father.”
Dahlia frowned like she didn’t quite understand. “Did you actually tell your mother that you liked Madeline?”
“Yeah.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “So, she thinks you’re like, a couple?”
“Pretty much.”
Dahlia took a slow breath, processing this. “What does Madeline think about that?”
“She’s on board with it.”
