Well, at least he’d remembered not to call me Maddy.
I watched him leave, then made my way across the stage, my shoulders relaxing in relief. I’d managed to smooth things over with him after my Fire Grill faux pas—and that was a strange thought in and of itself.
In a very short time, I’d gone from wanting to plague Cooper to wanting to make him feel better.
c c c
I changed into Cooper’s jersey before my dad came home from work. The thing hung on me, huge and shapeless, but it was also silky and smelled like him. I may have sniffed it because method acting required me to.
I peered in the mirror and considered what it would be like to really be a football player’s girlfriend, to be Cooper’s girlfriend. Again, method acting.
It felt like something unachievable, the title of Cooper’sgirlfriend. At least unachievable for someone like me, someone who didn’t belong to the popular clique.
My father came home from work, saw the shirt, and his eyes flicked over me unhappily. Cue the lecture. As he loosened his tie, he said, “I remember rendering a decision against that jersey.”
“You only ruled against me sleeping in it. I’m clearly awake.” I stroked the fabric. “Doesn’t it look good on me?”
He gave me a nice-try look. “Save those sorts of technicalities for law school. You’re giving the shirt back.”
“I might not go to law school, you know.” I hadn’t decided for sure and didn’t want to set false expectations. “The jury is still out.”
He walked past me, heading to the stairs. “Drama is a good hobby, but it won’t put food on the table.” He’d said the sentence a million times. Usually, I agreed with him. This time it bothered me.
“Cooper’s mom supports his football ambitions. Must be nice.”
Dad stopped and turned back to me. “She hopes he’ll get a college scholarship. I would also be happy if you got a college scholarship. But once Cooper is in college, he won’t be majoring in football. He’ll get a sensible degree so that if he doesn’t make it to the NFL, he’ll still have a good job. You should do the same.” He started back up the stairs.
Now he was using Cooper as an example of how I should live my life? That’s what we’d come to. Cooper probably had already chosen some parent-approved major but I couldn’t ask my father what that was because a real girlfriend should know.
Dad cast a glance at me over his shoulder. “UCLA has student legal societies with mock trials and legal internships in LA. You’d like that.”
He was always telling me which schools in the area had good prelaw programs.
And okay, he was right about majoring in drama. Even if I planned on becoming an actress—and I knew that was a long shot as a career choice—it’s not like bringing a drama degree to an audition would sway anyone. The casting director either thought you could play the part or not. No fancy college piece of paper required.
Still, I didn’t like the way my dad had my career planned out as though it was his choice and not mine. “Drama and law aren’t the only choices. Maybe I’ll decide to major in interpretive dance.”
Without looking at me, he said, “I’ll tell Iris that when Cooper’s jersey comes through the wash, she’s to give it to me so I can return it to Nicole.”
Iris was our cleaning lady who came twice a week.
“I’ll wash it myself,” I called.
“You’ll forget,” he called back. “It will end up on your bedroom floor with your other clothes.”
He was the second person today to accuse me of being a slob. I wasn’tthatbad, and I wouldn’t let him have Cooper’s shirt. To prove the point, I spent the next hour picking up my room.
Sheesh, this is what fake dating Cooper had done to me. I was willingly cleaning my room.
I had never called him before, but that night, just before bed, I did. My finger hovered over his name longer than I’d like to admit. Then I hitcall.
He picked up on the second ring. “What’s up?” he asked in a hushed, urgent voice. He clearly thought some new development had happened that I needed to tell him about.
“Nothing important.” I flopped onto my bed, and the mattress gave a softwhumpbeneath me. “I just need to know what you’re majoring in at college.”
A pause. “Why?”
I pulled the covers up around me and wedged the phone between my cheek and pillow. “My dad was telling me I should major in something sensible like you. I couldn’t even argue about that because I don’t know what you’re planning to major in. A believable girlfriend should know.” I shifted onto my side and closed my eyes. “So what are your hopes and dreams?”
