The Truth About Faking

quiet. But after that exchange in the hall, I’m getting a little worried about my hottie-future-husband.

Nine
     
     
    Even Mom’s happier when I get home that evening. She’s breezing around the kitchen singing one of her classic rock songs in her typical tone-deaf fashion. I like that Ricky’s not hanging around in the afternoons as much now that they’ve traded appointments. Maybe Dad’ll start coming home a little earlier, too. I won’t even complain about having to make myself scarce a few times if it gets them back on track. Not that they’re off track or anything.
    “Hey, hon! How was school?” she asks as I walked in the door and drop my bag on the table.
    “Perfect,” I decide.
    “That’s pretty good. What made it perfect?”
    “I got a date with Trent Jackson on Saturday. At last!” I do a little dance.
    “Wait. What happened to Jason?”
    “Oh. Well. We just decided it wasn’t working out.” I shrug like it’s no big deal. Because it isn’t.
    “Really? You’re kidding.” Mom frowns and goes over to fluff the couch cushions. Then she flops on them. “I actually liked him. And you guys were so cute together.”
    That makes me frown. “You liked him? After the grilling you gave him before the luau?”
    “Well, c’mon, honey,” Mom smiles, twisting her long brown hair back into a knot. “He shows up topless to take you out for the first time. What do you expect?”
    “I guess.” I can’t help a tiny grin when I remember half-dressed Jason shaking my dad’s hand for the first time. He’s so crazy. But in a very irritating way, I remind myself, putting the brakes on that train of thought.
    “So Trent,” Mom continues. “He was the first one you were trying to go out with?”
    “That’s him!”
    “Well, great! Is he picking you up here?”
    “Yes, Mom. You’ll get to meet him.” I roll my eyes and walk over to the refrigerator, reaching inside for a soda. “Hey, you’ve probably already met him. His mom’s one of your clients.”
    “Who?”
    “Ms. Jackson?”
    “Oh. Really? They’re the ones over in the new development.” She releases her hair and picks up her yoga magazine avoiding my eyes. Very curious response.
    “Right,” I say, watching her.
    “I do remember her mentioning her son, but I guess I didn’t put you two together.” Mom flips through the pages without really paying attention. “Ricky’s taking her appointments now.”
    “He told me this morning.”
    Mom stops for a second as if she just remembered something.
    “So Ricky seemed very… upbeat this morning,” I say.
    “Did he?” She doesn’t seem impressed.
    “Yeah. Except I guess you weren’t here to see it.”
    “I haven’t seen him at all today.” She goes back to flipping.
    “Well, he was very upbeat,” I repeat, watching for any sign that it bothers her.
    My phone interrupts our conversation, and I dig in my bag to find it. Mom motions to me and walks over to the front door, opening it and going outside. I look at the number. It’s Stephanie Miller.
    “Harley?” She says in her direct, head-cheerleader-giving-orders voice.
    “Hey, Steph.”
    “Listen, Robin can’t make it to the game on Friday. Can you fill in? I mean, I know you’re dating Jason and all, but you’re a junior. And you’re sort-of the new person. So that means you have to fill in when a senior can’t cheer—”
    “Sure, Steph! No problem.”
    “Really?” It almost sounds like she’s relieved.
    “Yeah,” I say. “And I’m not dating Jason. I mean, we only went out like twice.”
    “Oh. I didn’t know.” She sounds even more surprised. “You guys looked really tight at school.”
    God, high school is so dumb. Two dates, and everyone thinks you’re engaged. “It’s okay,” I smile. “I’m actually going out with Trent on Saturday.”
    There’s a pause. And for a second I worry I might’ve offended her, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Stephanie dumped Trent. And it was almost two months ago.
    “Really?” I can tell she’s skeptical. “You’re going out with Trent.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Trent Jackson.”
    “That’s the one!” I say brightly.
    “Well, have fun.” It sounds like she means just the opposite. “But you’ll be there Friday?”
    “You bet!”
    “Okay. Thanks, Harley.”
    We hang up, and I stare at my phone a second. Stephanie didn’t sound mad that I’m dating Trent, but she certainly sounded surprised. Does she think I’m not good enough to date her