Veronica

Trent kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “Why do you look so freaked, Ron?”

“I’m not freaked.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. I’d so freaked. Ever since that awful run-in with Drew in the hall, I’d been scared of seeing him again.

Now it wasn’t just that I didn’t want him to figure out who I really am. Now it was so much more. I was afraid he’d see straight through my lies, I was afraid he’d look into my eyes and see, oh I don’t know—everything.

Today it had finally happened. After days of avoiding him, he’d not only tracked me down, he’d caught me coming from soccer practice.

Soccer.

AKA a sport.

I groaned as I slid down further into the car’s seats. “I’ve made such a mess of this.” I looked over to see Trent grinning as he watched the road. “I’m so glad my tragedy amuses you.”

He glanced over, not even trying to hide his smile. “It’s not too late to transfer back.”

I snorted. “And admit defeat after two weeks?” I gave him a sidelong glare. “I don’t think so.”

“There’s my girl,” he said, patting my knee condescendingly enough that I felt required to smack his shoulder. Hard.

“Ow.” He rubbed it, giving me that kicked puppy dog look that never failed to make me feel bad. “I was just trying to give you a pep talk.”

Rolling my eyes, I smacked him again, a little less hard this time. “Oh please. You’re being a condescending ass.”

He cast me a sidelong look and I let out a little laugh. “Okay, yeah. Maybe I deserve it. I suppose I’ve been acting a little crazy lately.”

“Crazy’s one way of putting it.” My best friend since birth pretend to toss his non-existent long hair and donned the worst Valley Girl accent I’d ever heard. “Oh. My. Gaaawwd. The boy I like likes me back and the other boy I like doesn’t know that I like him and he doesn’t know who I am but, like, I think that I like that but maybe I don’t and—Ow!”

I’d smacked his shoulder so hard the sound seemed to echo in the car. “Sorry.” Not really, he’d had it coming. I tried not to laugh. I mean, he was making fun of me and I didn’t want to reward him by laughing.

But I couldn’t help it. I let my head fall back as the last of my carefully constructed image faded away like a bad dye job. It felt good to laugh like an idiot, snorts and all. It was a relief to have my feet up on his dash and be sporting my sweaty soccer uniform.

“You’ve got to admit,” Trent said. “I have a point.”

I sobered at that. “Yeah, I know you do. And you deserve a medal of honor for putting up with my craziness these last couple weeks. You and Margo both.”

He let out a loud laugh. “Margo? Are you kidding? She’s having a field day with all… this.” He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture toward my hair and face. This, apparently, meant the new and improved “best version of me” that Margo had created and helped maintain. If it weren’t for her, I might have fallen off the blowout wagon a week ago.

“She’s been great,” I said, watching and loving as his mouth twisted up in a cute little smirk.

Trent might not be the most emotive guy on the planet but for anyone who knew him well, it was totally obvious that he was head over heels for his sweetheart of a girlfriend. My secret glee over Trent’s sappiness was almost instantly replaced with a pang.

That. That was what I wanted. The kind of connection they had, the excitement of dating and relationships. That was the whole reason I’d wanted to do this whole “new and improved” Veronica routine. I stared ahead at the road. I just had to stay focused on my goal and not worry about everything else.

Like Drew. Or the fact that he’d seen me in my soccer outfit today which pretty clearly confirmed that I was a big fat liar who loved to lie. I didn’t even realize I’d groaned until Trent looked over again. “Okay, spill.”

I shook my head. “You don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

This was the truth. I was so tired of thinking about Drew Remi, the last thing I wanted was to talk about him. Besides, I already knew what Trent would say.

You’re being an idiot.

And he’d be right. I should never have lied in the first place. And by lie I mean the lie of omission I’d started by pretending that I also didn’t know who he was. This whole situation was ludicrous. At some point he would figure out who I really was or he’d out me to his friends as the psycho sports-loving liar I’ve been these last two weeks.

Either way, one of the hottest and most popular guys at Briarwood had all the ammunition necessary to put a definitive end to the great Veronica 2.0 experiment.

I held back another groan of self pity.

But, I reminded myself, all Drew issues aside, this whole plan was going well. I mean, I had a date. My first date. Which could very possibly lead to my first kiss.

I glanced over at Trent. Nope. No way he’d be cool chatting about kissing and dating. Better wait until I saw Margo.

Margo would know what I should wear to the party. She’d know what I should talk about at dinner with Alex. The thought of Alex made me remember a moment at the end of practice I’d almost forgotten. One of the girls had made a weird comment about him and Tina and—

“Earth to Ronnie.” Trent was using his stupid robot voice, which had been lame when we were kids and had not gotten cooler as he’d aged.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

He gave me a funny look but let it go. “I said the guys are coming over, you want to hang out?”

“The guys” meant our friends, Pete, Robbie, and Luke. It was always the same group and “hang out” meant eating pizza and playing video games until we were either ready to puke from too much cheese or pass out in a carb coma.

I sighed as I thought about all the primping and prodding that would come tomorrow as I once again slipped into my new Margo-approved clothes and played the role of normal teenage girl.

“Honestly? That sounds like heaven right now.”

And it was. A little while later I was firmly entrenched on the couch in Trent’s basement, playing a game I’d played a million times before and listening to my friends talk smack like they’d done a million times before.

They caught me up on the gossip at my old school—not the girlie gossip, but the funny stuff. Like how old Mrs. Haggerty had finally gotten her dream come true and left to tape an episode of Wheel of Fortune last week. And how no one could figure out who specifically had hacked into the teacher’s online forum so they’d brought in every single student who’d logged in to the computer lab that week.

The conversation was easy, the pizza greasy, and all thoughts of Drew Remi or any other Briarwood drama was temporarily put on hold.

All in all, that night was perfection.

* * *

The next night, on the other hand…

“You cannot be serious.” I glared at Margo in my bedroom mirror.

She held up an eyelash curler and arched one brow. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

I pursed my lips but then let out a sigh. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

“What does that mean?” she asked. Now she was the one frowning as she came toward me with that metal torture device.

“I have no idea,” I said. “It sounds good though.”

She made a mmm noise that I took as agreement, though she’d clearly lost interest as her attention was avidly focused on my eyes. Which was good. If someone was going to perform minor surgery to my eyelashes, I hoped they’d be focused.

“You are going to look sooo hot,” she murmured. “Drew Remi is not even going to recognize you.”

I gave a little snort of amusement. “Funny.”

She grinned down at me as she leaned back to assess her handiwork on eye number one. “I thought so.”

“It’s not Drew I need to impress though,” I said. I shifted a little but as she was once again coming at me with the metal wand, I stopped and froze.

“That’s right. So tell me about this Alex guy,” she said.

I told her everything I knew, which, to be honest, wasn’t a whole lot. In my defense, I’d only been going to school with this guy for two weeks and we had no classes together so all the info I had was from our little tet-a-tets outside the cafeteria and our short walks together down the hall.

“He sounds nice,” she said.

I nodded. Yeah, nice. Such a bland word and not one that really captured Alex, but I didn’t have a better description. Besides, I’d become more focused on what my teammate had said after soccer practice the other day.

I’d mentioned that he was taking me to Melody’s party and she’d given me this weird look. “Alex,” she’d repeated. And then, “Alex Wilson?”

I’d nodded. We were definitely talking about the same Alex. But then she’d said, “Tina’s Alex?”

I’d wanted to ask her what she’d meant by that but then Drew had shouted out my name and I’d done what I now seem to do best whenever my old friend was around. I panicked, diving into Trent’s car and temporarily forgetting all about that weird remark.

I’d managed to block it out until now. Now when I had approximately twenty minutes until he was set to pick me up.

I don’t know why I thought Margo would know, but she was so much better at the whole dealing with high school girls thing.

And now she was frowning at me, her brows drawn together in consternation. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

I arched my brows. “Join the club.”

Margo sank beside me on the bench seat we’d pulled into my bedroom for makeover sessions. “Maybe Tina and Alex were a couple and they just broke up.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.” It was as good a guess as any. “I mean, they can’t still be together, right? He wouldn’t ask me out if he had a girlfriend.”

Even to my own ears it sounded like I was trying to convince myself.

She nodded hesitantly. “Yeah. Right.”

“And it’s not a secret. Melody and Drew and some others heard him talking to me about it, so….”

She nodded with a little more enthusiasm which eased some of my tension. “Yeah, totally. She’s probably his ex or something.” She gave me a forced smile. “You’ll just have to feel it out at the party, I guess. But don’t worry. Even if you’re stepping on some other girl’s toes, you’ve got the excuse of being the new girl.”

The anxious feeling came back with a vengeance. First of all, Tina was not just “some girl.” I barely knew her but I knew that much about her. She had the kind of cool, ringleader vibe that April had in our old school. There were some girls who just seemed to have that quality. They were natural leaders.

Or maybe they were just naturally intimidating. Either way, I did not have that quality and neither did Margo.

She was watching me now with such hopeful optimistic eyes I could only smile and nod. “You’re right. It will totally be fine.”

Spoiler alert. It was not fine. Not even a little bit fine.

The whole “date” was a disaster. And I’m using quotes for a reason. I know I had no experience with dating but whatever that was with Alex, it so did not qualify as a date in my books.

First of all, there was no dinner. He honked the horn and I went out to meet him—no, I didn’t expect a corsage and roses, but seriously. Getting honked at like I’m late for carpool? Not exactly the most flattering way to start off my first date.

Then when I get in he grinned, told me I look hot, and also informed me that he ate already so let’s just get to the party.

I had not eaten. Why would I have eaten when I’d thought we were going out to eat? I should have said that. In hindsight I would have told him that. But it all happened so quickly, and I was so nervous, and have I mentioned that this was my first date? Oh yeah, and also my first real high school party. Unless you count our little pizza parties down in Trent’s basement, but I’m pretty sure no one would consider those a “party” despite the fact that we down enough pizza to feed an army.

Where was I? Oh right. No food. So there I was, looking “hot” according to Alex, in my short skirt and slinky T-shirt. But I was now starving on top of anxious, and one thought kept playing through my mind. What the hell had my teammate meant by “Tina’s Alex?”

I should have asked. In hindsight, I totally would have asked.

God, I one hundred percent understand that “hindsight is twenty-twenty” saying now. If I could do it all over again, I would.

But I couldn’t, so here’s what happened. We bypassed dinner and headed straight to the party. Alex wrapped an arm around me and led me to the door. I felt like everything was happening too fast. Not only had we already skipped over a crucial component of this date but everything was happening in warp speed.

Melody’s house was close to mine so before I could say “let’s change the radio station” we were already pulling up in front of her house. Tons of cars were already there so clearly the party was well underway even though the sun had barely set.

Next thing I knew I was being hustled up the drive as Alex shouted out to people he recognized getting out of a truck nearby.

I didn’t recognize them but no one thought to make introductions.

And then we were inside and yet again I felt like I’d skipped something crucial… I mean, other than dinner.

The party must have started early because Melody and all of her friends looked wasted. Have I mentioned that it was dinnertime? I thought parties didn’t really get started until later, but what did I know.

Nothing.

Turns out, I knew absolutely nothing. Man, I was so naïve.

“Veronica!” Melody called out, her brown curls bouncing as she headed over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. Melody is about half my size so she looked a bit like a child cuddling up to me.

Then she pressed a red plastic cup in my hand and gave me a sloppy grin, her eyes unfocused. “I’m so glad you came.”

She sounded so sincere it honestly made me a little weepy. Things had been going well for me at Briarwood, but I could safely say that being the new girl sucked no matter how well I was faking it.

Being new meant there was always an uneasy component to it all. Shifting variables that I could never quite determine. There were always subtexts and hidden agendas, or maybe I was just paranoid? It was impossible to say because unlike at my old school, I didn’t know these people, not truly, and I didn’t have access to all the information.

A fact that would become appallingly obvious in about… oh, thirty minutes. That was how long it took for Tina to discover that I was there.

And that I’d come with Alex.

For the first half hour or so I hung out in the kitchen with Melody and her friends as Alex came and went. I’d like to say that he kept coming back to the kitchen to check on me, but that would be giving him too much credit.

The kitchen also happened to be where the keg was located and it is with full humility that I admit—as far as my date’s priorities were concerned, I came in second to a keg.

I pasted a smile on my face, but the smile hurt. Two weeks of being friendly and acting like I had all the confidence in the world when really I was questioning everything I said and did… It was exhausting. I was tired. I would have paid money to go over to Trent’s and join him and the other guys for a round of Mario Kart.

I would have sold my soul for a slice of the pizza that they were most likely devouring as I stood there awkwardly pretending to be part of a conversation, even though it was about people I barely knew and their boring lives.

I know, I was being judgy. For a girl who wanted to be playing Mario Kart on a Saturday night, I should not be calling other people boring.

But the stories were boring—for me, at least. And the beer was flat and gross. And the kitchen was way too crowded as fellow students of Briarwood continued to file in one after the other.

People were shouting because they were drunk, and then others were shouting to be heard over the people who were originally shouting.

My ears hurt. My cheeks hurt. My stomach hurt.

I was miserable.

And that’s when it happened. Alex came in from outside. He sought me out and draped an arm around my shoulders. “How’s my favorite date?” he said far too loudly.

I smiled up at him but I’m sure it looked forced. I was having a hard time keeping my lips in the smile formation and I know without a doubt that it didn’t reach my eyes.

He didn’t seem to notice but I became increasingly aware of the amount of eyes focused on me. On us.

Maybe I was being paranoid again. I glanced around and saw Melody peering at us creepily over the rim of her cup. One of her friends leaned in and whispered something to her and they both giggled while still watching me.

Um… okay. That’s not weird or anything.

All of the shouting seemed to stop as Tina walked in through the same outside door that Alex had just come through.

The whole thing felt staged. She stopped and stared, her pretty mouth pursing and her eyes narrowing on Alex’s arm around my shoulder.

I knew Alex saw her because his grip tightened on me and the air in the room seemed to grow thicker and heavier. Time seemed to slow as I found myself suddenly and unwittingly part of a scene.

I might be well-rounded but drama has never been my thing. I had no secret desires to be an actress, nor did I want to be in the spotlight. And if I’d ever doubted that decision, this moment confirmed it.

My empty stomach churned so badly I thought I might puke. I looked around frantically for escape from whatever weird high school soap opera I’d just been cast in. But all I saw were stares. Everyone was staring and no one was even pretending otherwise.

Tina stomped over to us, a red paper cup in one hand and the other planted on her hip. Like Melody, Tina was a short, petite little thing. Cute as a button when she wasn’t pursing her lips like that, but tiny. So right now, as she came within inches of me, where I couldn’t back away thanks to Alex’s arm around my shoulders, I was dimly aware of how ridiculous this must look.

I mean, I’m tall and have been kicking butt in soccer since I was five. If I wanted to I could probably take one big step and crush her like a bug. Not that I wanted to, but, you know… I could.

“What are you doing here with her?” she sneered. The question was clearly intended for Alex, but she never stopped glaring at me.

The venom in her voice stunned me. I found myself blinking rapidly, trying to figure out what exactly I’d done wrong here. A quick glance around confirmed it. I’d been cast as the hussy harlot in the junior class’s production of Days of our Briarwood.

What the hell?

“Relax, Tina,” Alex said. His tone was bored but I could practically feel his adrenaline pumping, and not with anger.

Oh. My. God. I turned my face up to see him and confirmed my worst suspicions.

He loved this. He loved being the center of attention. He loved being seen as the babe magnet who had two girls fighting over him.

Anger rushed up so swift and fierce it nearly blinded me. He’d done this to me on purpose. I looked over at Melody and her friends. They’d let this happen on purpose.

Were they all so freakin’ bored that they got their kicks staging these little dramas and ruining a new girl’s first date?

No, this would not go down as my first date, I decided right then and there. I had to get out of this situation. I hadn’t signed up for this. I tried to wiggle out of his grip as I turned back to Tina and opened my mouth to say, He’s all yours, I don’t want him. But I was stopped by cold, sticky, flat beer thrown in my face and all over my new, Margo-approved T-shirt.

I gasped at the shock of it. Seriously, you try having flat beer thrown in your face and tell me you’re not a little stunned. Through it all I heard my gasp echoed by some of the other girls, but those gasps were followed by giggles and whispers and unrestrained glee at my public embarrassment.

My heart started racing and I could hear the blood rushing to my head as anger, hurt, and humiliation waged a war.

Anger won out.

I would crush her like a bug.

I never got the chance. After what felt like a lifetime of shocked silence, everything happened at once. Just as I made a move to strike, I was stopped. Someone blocked my way.

Drew Remi was standing front of me, his back to me as he faced down Tina the Tiny.

“What the hell, Tina,” he said, his low voice filled with disgust.

I stared at his back, temporarily stunned silent once more at whatever was unfolding in front of me.

“Get out of my way, Drew.” I heard Tina’s high-pitched whine. I could imagine her self-righteous haughty pose even though I couldn’t see past Drew’s back. “That little slut has to learn who she’s messing with.”

Oh my God. Seriously? Who wrote the dialogue for this scene and why the hell had they cast me? I was pissed, but more than that, I felt betrayed by these people I’d stupidly thought were my friends.

Alex stood silent next to me but I was dimly aware that he was shaking his head and making a sound of exasperation. If I could translate his sighs, they would be saying something condescending like, oh silly girls.

I finally managed to wriggle out from under his arm. I tried to push Drew aside but he was too firmly planted. He didn’t seem to notice that I was trying to get around him so I could punch that stupid, adorable button nose, consequences be damned.

If this was what it was like to be part of their inner circle of popularity, I wanted no part of it.

But Drew was all over the situation and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“Relax, Tina,” he said. His voice still had that tone of lazy amusement, like he couldn’t care less about all of this stupid high school crap. His tone was perfect, really. It made everyone else seem immature and melodramatic without him having to outright call them out on it. “Get your facts straight before you go full-on crazy,”

I heard Tina’s harsh inhale and knew she was about to retaliate or maybe defend herself. She had to if she wanted to look good for the audience. But Drew didn’t give her a chance. He reached back to put his arm around me.

Between him and Alex I was starting to feel like a stuffed animal. Just tuck me under your arm for a quick cuddle.

But with Drew, the half embrace felt nice. Reassuring, even. He might not remember me, but out of all these people he was the only one I truly knew.

And I knew he was a good guy. He’d always stuck up for the underdogs, he’d always taken on the bullies. He was a good guy, whether he’d seen me or not. So I let him pull me up against his side as he stared down Tina. “I asked Alex to pick Veronica up for me because I couldn’t get out of a family dinner in time.”

Everyone stared at Drew, including me. We were all absorbing this new twist in the soap opera plotline. I’m pretty sure I looked just as confused as everyone else for half a second there before I realized what he was doing and forced myself to look the part he’d just recast me as.

Drew’s date. The poor, sweet new girl who’d been wrongly accused of harlotry by Tina, queen of the mean girls.

It worked. I almost laughed at how well it worked. Tina’s haughty expression turned wary. Her glance moved from him to me to Alex. I half expected her to call out “Line!” to someone standing in the wings.

She had clearly not been prepared for this turn of events. She gathered her wits pretty quickly, to be honest. Whirling around she glared at Alex. “Is this true?”

Alex was born to be an actor. He eased out from behind me and Drew. “Of course, baby.” He went to her and the next thing you know, the two of them were making out in the middle of the kitchen.

All that was missing was the swelling music and the rolling credits as the couple everyone was rooting for found their happily ever after.

Again.

Something told me this was not the first nor the last time this couple and their passionate love affair were in the spotlight.

Everyone was happy. The crowd around me went back to talking amongst themselves—about us, no doubt. The key players in an improve scene for the ages.

Alex and Tina went off into a corner where they seemed content to share whispers and caresses. Melody and her friends were laughing about something.

The only person who was not happy? Me.

What the hell was that? Also… I was still wet. And hungry. And angrier than I’d ever been in my entire life.

All of this combined meant I was also dangerously close to tears.

Drew’s arm was still around me and he leaned down to talk softly into my ear. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

I let him lead me out, not bothering to say goodbye. I was a little afraid that if I opened my mouth at all I would burst out in sobs. Or I’d start shrieking and cursing like some kind of crazed psycho.

There was a very good likelihood that I’d crush Tina like a bug.

Instead I let him guide me through the crowd, which was no longer paying attention to me. I was back to being invisible and for the first time in my life, I was totally okay with that.

It wasn’t until we were outside and nearing the street that he spoke. “You okay?”

I nodded. “I guess.”

His voice was so close and his arm was still wrapped around me. I should have minded, but I didn’t. He was comforting. Whether he knew who I was or not, he was the closest thing I had to a real friend at this party.

I could still hear Melody’s shocked laughter, mixed in with everyone else’s as I’d been humiliated in her kitchen.

I stopped walking so abruptly, Drew kept going and nearly knocked me over with his arm. He stopped and looked down at me.

“No,” I said. “Actually, I’m not all right.” Anger made my stomach queasy and my hands clenched into fists. “I’m cold and I’m wet.” I shook off his arm so I could spin around and storm back into the house. “I am so going to kick some ass.”

“Whoa, whoa.” He grabbed my shoulders and brought me to a halt before I could go more than a few steps. He leaned down so his mouth was close to my ear, keeping his voice low as some latecomers to the party walked past us, calling out a hello to Drew.

“You can confront Tina at school on Monday. If you still want to kick her ass, I’ll help hold the others back so you can have at her. All right?”

I heard the teasing note in his voice and had to fight a smile at the image of him with his arms out, holding back the rest of the school so I could give Tina the ass kicking she deserved.

“Trust me,” he continued softly. “You need to calm down first. Get your head on straight. Don’t give her or that crowd the satisfaction of any more drama.”

Those last words finally did the trick. I stopped trying to resist him, letting him spin me back around so we were heading away from the house. “Where are we going?”

His arm rested lightly on my shoulders as he guided me down the street to the right. “My car. I’ll take you home.”

He helped me into the passenger’s side of his car as if I was sick or elderly. Or maybe he was just worried that I’d try to run back to the house and start throwing punches.

The thought made me laugh.

He was buckling his seat belt and glanced over with a hesitant smile. “Feeling better?”

I shrugged. “Just plotting my revenge.”

His smile widened and I lost the ability to breathe as one of his dimples appeared. Man, this kid had the best smile ever. It could be his superpower. No villain could resist the power of the dimple.

“How evil are we talking?” he asked. “Are we talking Carrie levels of retribution?”

I pretended to mull it over. “More like Kill Bill.”

He tossed his head back with a laugh and I found myself grinning at him despite everything. He had a great laugh. And that smile… have I mentioned how sexy that smile was?

Criminally hot.

He turned to face me again and he wielded that sexy smile like a weapon. I swear I could feel it all the way in my gut.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” he said.

Too late. I managed to return his smile. Because in this moment, forgetting who I was paled in comparison to what his friends just did.

“I can’t believe you’re friends with those people,” I said without thinking. Because who was I to know anything about him or his friendships.

He didn’t seem to mind. He just shrugged. “Yeah, well. I’m friendly with them. I wouldn’t exactly call them friends.”

I snuck a glance at him. Then who were his friends? Because according to Trent and Margo, my sources back at Atwater, he wasn’t spending time with his old friends either. Or maybe he’d just been friendly with them too.

Unbelievably I felt a pang of pity for Mr. Popular. But really, for someone so popular he didn’t seem to have friends. I was definitely not popular but at least I had Trent, Margo, and the guys.

He pulled the car out of the parking spot and it was only then that I realized he didn’t know where I lived. Or, he didn’t know where Veronica lived, at least. I cleared my throat. “Um, if you take a right up here—”

“I know where you live, Ronnie.” His voice was low and gentle but I jerked back and sucked in air like he’d just slapped me across the face.

Ronnie. He’d called me Ronnie.

Oh crap, he remembered me. But even as I thought it, I felt a wave of relief. And complete and utter embarrassment. I was being buffeted by a tsunami of conflicting emotions and it was confusing the hell out of me.

Drew, meanwhile, looked irritatingly calm, cool, and collected. He even gave me a quick smile. “I played pin the tail on the donkey at your backyard birthday parties enough times that I’m pretty sure I could find it blindfolded.”

Awesome. Drew was so confident and relaxed he was making corny jokes while I sat there trying not to hyperventilate. But then, he wasn’t the one who’d pretended to be someone he wasn’t.

No. I shook my head slightly. I wasn’t pretending to be someone else, I was being a more confident, well-rounded me. The best version of me. I was faking it until I made it.

Somehow all the self-help jargon didn’t make a dent in how ridiculous I felt. In fact, right now they weren’t making much sense to my panicked, frazzled brain. Best version of me… what did that even me? What version of me was I before? And fake it until I made what, exactly?

I thought back to the party tonight and had to fight a wave of hysterical laughter. Well, I guess I’d made it. I’d certainly become visible. A hot guy had asked me out—only to make his girlfriend jealous, but hey, minor detail. And the popular girls loved me—until they threw their beer on me.

In my attempt to keep from laughing, I let out a snort-laugh that was so utterly old Ronnie, it made me laugh for real. I caught a glimpse of Drew giving me an uncertain smile. “Are you all right?”

“Never better,” I said as my laughter faded.

There was an awkward silence. Maybe he was waiting for me to explain the whole Ronnie-Veronica thing, or maybe he was trying to figure out what question to ask first. Either way, I didn’t want to hear it. “Thanks for the ride,” I said quickly, hoping to fill the silence and divert the conversation. “And thanks for, uh… you know.”

“Pretending I was your date?” he asked.

“Yeah that.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at his face so I watched his hands grip the steering wheel and then relax. Grip and relax. It looked like a nervous habit. Why would he be nervous? Maybe because he’s driving home the weirdo who pretended she didn’t know who he was. Or maybe because he’d just announced they were dating to half the junior class.

That triggered a memory—many memories, actually—of all the girls at Briarwood who’d mentioned how Drew doesn’t date. Ever. Apparently he’d gone to great lengths to make that known. And now tonight, thanks to me, that whole player rep was blown to pieces.

Oops.

I shifted in my seat and bit my lip as I tried to come up with the right words. It was a weird thing to apologize for, but then, who was I to judge? I knew what it was to have a reputation—wanted or otherwise—and clearly this was one he wanted, and I’d destroyed that.

“Sorry,” I said, the word coming out stilted and awkward.

“For what?” He sounded genuinely confused.

“For, uh… I’m sorry that people think you date now,” I said. I cast a quick glance and saw him giving me a little smile. One that clearly said “I like you but you’re crazy.”

“It’s cool,” he said. “It wasn’t like I set out to have a reputation for not dating,” he said. “It just kind of happened.”

I nibbled on my lip as I took in his profile—his way too gorgeous for life profile. “Because you don’t date,” I clarified.

He nodded. “Exactly.”

I shouldn’t ask. I shouldn’t bring up Atwater. I should continue to act like we’re stranger. I should— “But you used to.”

Damn my stupid mouth and its stupid lack of a filter. Curiosity had gotten the best of me. It was a question that had been nagging at me for a while now, ever since I’d first heard the rumors about the great, undateable Drew Remi.

He shot me a look before returning his attention to the road, then he shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable.

Way to go, Ronnie. The guy comes to your rescue like some knight in shining armor and in return you make him feel bad. Nicely done.

“Never mind,” I said.

At the same exact time, he said, “I guess you mean April.”

The silence was back. I could hear my own heartbeat in the awkwardness. Well, wasn’t this pleasant? I fought for a topic that would put us back on even ground. Half turning in my seat, I offered, “You want to hear my diabolical plans for Alex?”

It had the desired effect. Drew smiled that sexy smile again, glancing over at me. “Alex? I thought you were going to exact your revenge on Tina for, uh…” His eyes dropped down to my wet top, which I now realized was clinging to my body like second skin.

My cheeks may have caught on fire I was so freakin’ embarrassed. I glanced over and noticed that his face was unusually flushed too.

Well, at least I wasn’t the only uncomfortable one. Crossing my arms over my body in a futile attempt to hide myself, I explained my reasoning. “Don’t worry, I fully intend to take Tina down, but right now Alex is first on the vengeance hit list.”

My light tone seemed to help the tension levels in the car fall back to status quo, which was awkward but not humiliating.

“And why’s that?” His voice turned hard as he cast me a far more serious look. “Did he do something? Ronnie, I swear to God if he came on too strong or—”

“No!” I said quickly. I knew where he was going with this and needed to cut off his suspicions before they got out of control. “Nothing like that.”

At his questioning silence, I continued. “He didn’t take me to dinner.”

I watched Drew blink a couple of times. He pulled up in front of my house before turning to stare at me. “Excuse me?”

I sighed and then explained the whole embarrassing night because, honestly, at this point I wasn’t sure I could be any more humiliated in front of Drew Remi. Besides, now he knew I was Ronnie, so why not be honest?

Now it was impossible to pretend I was “the best version of me.” This guy had known me since birth, practically. He knew me just like I knew him. Sure, we might not have been the best of friends but we had a shared history.

I was humiliated by the night in general and about being caught pretending not to know who he was, but it was a relief. Being around him felt much easier now that I didn’t have to worry about pretending to be someone I’m not or not knowing things about him, like that he’d cried while watching An American Tail that one time in Mrs. Dumfry’s class.

So as we sat there in the darkness of his car, I told him about how Alex had asked me, the weird comment my teammate had made, the way Alex had eaten already and assumed that I had too. I told him how it had all unraveled in the kitchen right up until he’d stepped in.

I ended with a sad sigh as I let my head drop back against the seat. “Thank God this night is over.”

I rolled my head to the side to see that he was giving me a smile—a small one that was comforting and oddly sweet. I had no idea Drew Remi could do sweet. It seemed his smiles knew no bounds.

“So what I’m hearing is, you’re hungry.”

I stared at him, surprised by his teasing, comfortable tone as much as the glimmer of humor in his eyes.

God, could he get any hotter? It just wasn’t fair. He didn’t even seem to try. He was just naturally charming and sweet and sexy and—gah! I was staring. I shook my head quickly and reached for the door. “Starving. And desperately in need of a change.”

His hand on mine made me freeze and heat up all at the same time. My brain felt like scrambled eggs at the light touch. I turned back to see him giving me that lopsided grin that made my belly do backflips. “I don’t know about you, but it’s Saturday night and I really don’t want the night to end at eight o’clock or with either of us starving to death.”

I stared at him, my mind a blank. All of my attention was focused on his hand on mine. What was he saying? I felt too stupid to understand anything more complicated than one syllable action verbs.

“Let’s eat,” he said. “Together.” When I was still quiet he looked a little less certain but still just as cute. “Unless you don’t want to, in which case—”

“I do.” I blurted it out and then realized just how much it sounded like I was exchanging vows. “I mean, I do want to eat. With you.”

Ugh, I was never speaking again. After tonight I was swearing off the English language. Maybe I’d learn sign language or something.

“Great.” He sat back in his seat and released my hand. I was now able to breathe. And move.

I pointed at my house. “I’ll just, uh… I’ll be right back.”

I tried not to run into my house because I was trying to play it cool. No, I wasn’t trying to fake it till I make it. Not with Drew, at least. No amount of faking it would fool someone who’s known me my whole life. But I was attempting to be cool.

Cool for Ronnie, which was really not all that cool. But it did involve not running and squealing around the new hot friend.

I came to a screeching halt when I hit my bedroom. Was that what Drew was? My friend?

I shrugged out of my shirt and grabbed a change of clothes to slip into after a super quick shower. Thank God it was date night for my parents, otherwise how the hell would I explain the fact that I smelled like a brewery?

I pulled my hair back in a loose ponytail after I washed up and threw on a clean shirt. Another T-shirt but this one didn’t cling and I felt far more comfortable. I also swapped out the skirt for a pair of faded, comfy jeans. After all, there was no impressing Drew. No amount of fancy clothes or primping would change the fact that he knew me—the class tomboy, and the gangly, non-girlie, not-popular nobody.

As I headed out feeling comfortable for once, I didn’t care about any of that. All I cared about was reveling in the fact that I wasn’t suffocating in clothes. And that very soon I would be eating.

I was seriously starving.