Fake It 'Til You Break It

My phone rings a minute later.

Great. My mom decides to come now?

I don’t look but answer as I bring it to my ear.

“Yes,” I drag out, aggravated.

“Demi?”

I pull it from my ear, glancing at the screen and my eyes widen.

Oh shit.

“Hey,” I say, internally cringing as I clear my throat.

Nico’s frown slides my way, but I pretend I don’t notice.

“It’s Alex.”

A light laugh leaves me. “Yeah, I realize that now. Sorry, I thought my mom was bugging me again.”

He’s quiet a few seconds before he asks, “Are you still at the school?”

I turn away from Nico. “No, I just left.”

“Oh.”

Oh?

“I didn’t see your car,” he says.

“Yeah, I got a ride home.”

“Huh.” He pauses. “I was thinking, maybe I could stop by a minute, you know, if you’re going home right away...”

I squish my lips to the side to fight a smile. “I am. I was supposed to hang at Krista’s awhile, but I decided not to.”

“Cool.” Alex is quiet a moment. “Text me when you’re there?”

“I will,” I tell him, nodding even though he can’t see me, and hang up.

“Who was that?”

Nico fires off, maybe even before the call is ended, and my head snaps toward him.

I scowl. “Thought you didn’t like to talk after a game, or you know, ever as far as I’m concerned?”

A bored glance is his response.

Now that I’m closer to him, and there’s a little light in here from his dash, a small bruise beneath his right eye reveals itself.

That wasn’t there in class today...

I don’t know why, but after an uncomfortable minute of silence and convincing myself not to ask him about his battle wound, I decide to answer his question.

“It was Alex.”

“I told you he was talkin’ to someone else.”

Another instant response...

His grip on the steering wheel tightens.

I glance from his hands to his face. “You mean the same person you’re more than talking to?”

“I’m not.”

His eyes, dark and full of something indefinable, meet mine for a short pause before he focuses his frown on the road.

Nico licks his lips but doesn’t say another word, and low in my gut, there’s a sudden pull.

A minute or two later, he’s parking in front of my house, not bothering to look over or acknowledge my thanks as I step out.

He does wait until I’m in the door to drive away, though, which was more than I expected.

As soon as I’m locked inside, I quickly send a text to Alex letting him know I’m home.

I find my way to my bed and lie there wondering why Nico decided to share he was no longer sleeping with Sandra and accidentally fall asleep.“Demi,” Miranda, my school dance coach, calls. “Get lower on the second count, your booty needs to be an inch from your ankles. You’re the most flexible person in here, don’t go half ass on me.” She claps and moves to the next group.

My friend Ava looks at me sticking her tongue out as she rolls her eyes making me laugh.

Miranda is a stickler for perfection, but it’s good. It’s what I want, so I like when she calls me out if I’m being lazy. Today, though, I’m so exhausted I almost wish she wouldn’t.

Thankfully, it’s only a forty-five-minute practice we squeeze in a few days a week before school begins, and it passes quickly.

I rinse in the showers and get ready as fast as I can and then meet Carley and the girls in the parking lot.

Krista hands me an iced coffee the second I approach.

“You’re a lifesaver, thank you.”

“Yep.” Krista spins back to her car, pulling out a stack of lanyards with keycards hanging from the ends, little shot glasses clipped on as well, and waves them around.

“My dad brought these home last night!” she squeals. “I added the shot glasses, obviously, but check it out! We’ll have separate rooms, each of ours is adjoining so we can open the middle doors if we want, but Trent is totally sleeping in mine, so that door will not be opened often.” She gives a Cheshire Cat grin. “Unless someone wants to see what I’ve taught him—”

“Okay, enough of that.” I laugh. “Keep your door locked, please.”

“And maybe leave your TV on,” Macy suggests, making me laugh harder.

Krista glares at her a second but then laughs with us. “Yeah, maybe I should. I’ll be drinking so, things could get a little extra, but anyway, jerks, we’re all set to head out first thing in the morning! I’ll hand the cards out there as people start arriving, but ours and a couple others are in a separate baggy with our names on them.”

“Sounds good.” I nod, I assume she explained all this to the girls last night.

“What time did your mom show?” Carley asks me.

I consider lying, but in case someone saw and mentions it, I admit, “She didn’t. Nico actually drove me home.”