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dating.”

  Lexie hadn’t thought about that. Would Jake be paying for her? Maybe he’d

  have to, for appearance, and then she could pay him back later.

  “Hi, Colin,” Sally said as they entered the den. “Hey, did I see you at the

  drugstore yesterday?”

  “No,” he said quickly.

  “I thought it was you,” Sally said, “but I couldn’t figure out why anyone

  would be buying notebooks and a protractor in the summertime, so maybe I was

  wrong.”

  Lexie gave Colin a puzzled look, but he didn’t meet her eyes.

  The doorbell rang again, and this time it was Jake. He looked freshly

  showered and his short-sleeved gray button-down made his eyes look all smoky

  and dark. He was holding a short, dark red rose.

  “Holy smokes,” he said. “You – that – you – uh... I like your dress.”

  Lexie felt like she must be turning the world’s brightest shade of red.

  “Hi, Jake,” she managed.

  “This is for you,” he said, handing her the rose. As she took it, their fingers

  brushed, and suddenly he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. It was soft

  and quick, like a butterfly bumping against her face. Guessing that that meant

  Sally was behind her, Lexie glanced around, but they were alone in the hallway.

  So...why did he - ?

  “Jake!” Colin called from the den. “Stop loitering and come in here!”

  “Thank you,” Lexie whispered, shutting the door behind Jake as he stamped

  his feet on the welcome mat. He looked quizzical, and she held up the flower.

  “Oh my God,” Sally said, poking her head in. “Did you get her that, Jake?

  That’s unbelievable. Do you know how many times Ian has gotten me flowers?

  Zero. He’s such a troglodyte. That was the Word of the Day today; isn’t it cool?

  Man, look how perfect that rose is! You guys are too cute for words. Lexie, let’s go

  find something to put it in.” She fastened her hand around Lexie’s wrist and

  dragged her into the kitchen. Jake went into the den and Lexie could hear the

  murmur of his voice and Colin’s.

  “How much does that guy adore you?” Sally said, pulling open cabinets. “I

  know Amy Sorrento a little from field hockey and I don’t think he ever got her

  flowers. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t being up the ex-girlfriend, should I? Don’t worry, he

  never looked at her the way he looks at you. Oh here, this should work.” She

  fished out a small glass vase and helped Lexie fill it with water.

  Lexie set the rose in the vase and gently touched the petals. It was perfect.

  Why couldn’t this all be real?

  They said good-bye to Colin and set off walking. Sally chattered most of the

  way, so Lexie didn’t have to worry about what to say to Jake. Normally it was easy

  to talk to him, but this was different. This was a date. Sort of.

  Ian Montgomery was standing in front of the movie theatre, rocking on his

  heels. Unlike Jake, he was just wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans, and he looked

  like he hadn’t showered in a couple of days. He also didn’t compliment Sally,

  although Lexie thought she looked totally cute in her dark green sundress. And

  Sally had been right: He’d already bought his ticket, so she had to buy her own.

  Jake closed his hand over Lexie’s as she tried to pull money out of her purse.

  “No, no,” he said. “Let me do the boyfriend thing.” He grinned and she

  smiled back.

  “Ahem,” Sally said. “The boyfriend thing, you say? You mean, taking your girlfriend to the movies, bringing her flowers, telling her she looks nice? Are there

  boyfriends who actually do that?”

  “Hey, I’m here, aren’t I?” Ian said grumpily. “Even though this movie looks

  super lame. You should be happy enough about that.”

  “Oh, I am,” Sally said, taking his hand. “I feel so blessed to be honored with your presence, I can’t even handle it.”

  Lexie giggled, but Ian huffed out a breath of air like he didn’t get that she

  was joking.

  Inside, there was a confusing moment as they figured out where to sit. But

  Lexie wound up between Jake and Sally, with Ian on the other side of Sally. Then

  Jake offered to go get popcorn, and Ian asked him to get some for him, too. When

  Jake came back, he was also carrying a large soda and a box of Junior Mints for

  Lexie.

  “You like these, right?” he said to her as he sat down.

  “They’re my favorite, thank you,” she said. On her other side, Sally sighed

  loudly, but Ian missed her meaningful look.

  “I figured we could split the soda,” Jake said, “but, um they were nearly out

  of straws, so I only took one. Is that gross? Do you mind?”

  “No, that’s okay,” Lexie said. As she took a sip she realized it was Cherry

  Coke, the kind she liked. Jake was a perfect pretend boyfriend. He should take

  notes for the next time he really dated someone. She looked down at her hands,

  suddenly feeling sad. She didn’t want him to date anyone else. She didn’t want to

  go back to being just Lexie while someone else got to be Jake’s girlfriend. And

  then Sally would pity her, and Bree would be so smug.

  The lights went down and Jake leaned over. “Are you all right?” he

  whispered. “The soda seemed to really depress you.”

  She laughed. “Well, it had such a sad childhood,” she whispered back. “I

  feel like we’re taking advantage of it.”

  “Nah, just putting it out of its misery,” Jake said with a grin, and then the

  previews came on.

  As the theatre went totally dark and the movie started. Lexie began to

  wonder what to do with her hands. Should she rest them on her knees? Or on the

  armrest? Or fold them in front of her? Or cross her arms? Was Jake thinking about

  holding her hand? She slid her eyes sideways without moving her head and saw

  that Sally and Ian were holding hands. Would Sally notice if she and Jake didn’t?

  Should she do something, or wait for Jake to do something, or –

  Jake reached over and took her hand, resting it on top of his on the

  armrest.

  Okay. That answered that question. Of course, he’d been on dates like this

  before. He knew the right thing to do. Lexie glanced sideways again and saw that

  Ian and Sally were kissing. (!!!) And the movie had barely started! Surely they

  wouldn’t expect her and Jake to do that. Would they?

  An unfamiliar sensation brushed across her hand, and she nearly jumped

  out of her seat. Jake was slowly running his thumb back and forth over her

  knuckles. It felt like a secret code vibrating through her skin. Almost as if he were

  saying, “Don’t worry, I’m here,” and, “You’re beautiful,” and, “I can’t resist you.”

  Why was he doing that? What did it mean? Should she do something, too?

  Lexie knew she was being crazy, but her heart was ignoring her brain and

  had sped up to a million beats and hour. She could barely concentrate on the

  movie. Luckily it was a pretty short one because by the end she didn’t think her

  heart could take any more.

  “Wasn’t that great?” Sally enthused as the crowd spilled out into the street.

  “I knew it would be great. It was so great!”

  Lexie wondered how Sally could have enjoyed the movie when she seemed

  to have spent so
much of it kissing Ian. Then Sally stopped in her tracks, and Ian

  had to drag her out of the way of the people behind her.

  “Oh, no,” Sally moaned. “What is she doing here?”

  Bree was standing outside the movie theatre, arms folded. She looked long

  and slim and elegant, as always, although the angry expression made her much

  less pretty.

  “Sally!” she hissed.

  “Hey, Bree,” Sally said nervously. “Look who we ran into.”

  “After all I’ve done for you,” Bree said, her voice as cold as ice. “I made you

  popular. I got you a boyfriend. Don’t you know I can take it all away like that?”

  She snapped her fingers.

  Lexie found herself unconsciously leaning into Jake, away from Bree, and he

  put one arm around her in a protective way that she liked. Was this an act? Bree

  seemed genuinely mad. Maybe Sally really had been keeping it a secret from her.

  But then how did Bree know to show up there?

  A suspicion struck her. Could Bree have weaseled the information out of

  Riley?

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Sally said. “Don’t be a drama queen, Bree. I just

  wanted to go to the movies. You’re not the be-all and end-all of my social life.”

  “You’ll be lucky to have a social life after this,” Bree said. “Ian, come with me.” She turned regally, swinging her hair back from her forehead.

  “Please,” Sally scoffed. “He’s my boyfriend.”

  “Not if I don’t want him to be,” Bree said. “Come along, Ian.”

  Ian hesitated, looking back and forth between them. Sally’s mouth dropped

  open. “For real?” she said. “Ian!”

  “I can get you Amy Sorrento,” Bree said to him.

  “Okay,” Ian said with a shrug. “Maybe she won’t fuss at me like this one

  does.”

  Jake snorted.

  “You kiss like a wet fish, anyways!” Sally called as Ian trailed after Bree.

  “Troglodyte!”

  Jake and Lexie exchanged uncomfortable glances. Lexie wasn’t sure what

  they were supposed to do. Sally wasn’t exactly her friend, but they couldn’t just

  walk away from her after that.

  “Oh my God,” Sally huffed, blowing strands of hair out of her face. “What a

  waste of three months that was. I’m sorry, you guys, we totally ruined your date.”

  “It’s okay,” Lexie said. Especially since it’s not even a real date.

  “I guess you guys should go to dinner without me,” Sally said. “I’ll just go

  home and start cutting Ian out of my photographs or something.”

  “That sounds terrible, Sally,” Lexie said. “You should come with us.”

  Besides, she had no idea what she and Jake would talk about for an entire dinner

  by themselves. Would they still act like it was a date? As long as Sally was there,

  she could keep pretending it really was.

  “Yeah,” Jake said halfheartedly.

  “Oh, sure,” Sally said. “Third wheel on your one-week anniversary. I’m sure

  that’s exactly what you want.”

  “We could call Colin,” Lexie said. “I’m sure he’d be happy to come join us.

  And then you wouldn’t feel like a third wheel.”

  Sally brightened a little. “Really? Wouldn’t that be weird?”

  “He won’t mind,” Lexie said. “Right, Jake?”

  “Sure,” Jake said. “I guess I can share you this once.” He took her hand and

  squeezed it. She wondered what that meant.

  Sally loaned Lexie her cell phone, and although he grumbled a bit in his

  Colin way about being in the middle of filming, he managed to make it to the

  diner in record time. He slid into the booth, next to Sally before they’d even had a

  chance to order.

  “Hey, Colin,” Sally said. “Sorry to drag you out into the world on a Friday

  night. You’ll never believe how I got ditched.”

  As she launched into the story of Ian and Bree, Jake leaned sideways and

  tapped on the back of Lexie’s hand. She jumped.

  “Want to share fries?” he said.

  “Sure, okay,” Lexie answered. She thought it was interesting to watch Sally

  transform her whole three-month relationship with Ian into a funny story. It was

  as if Sally’s life could be a TV show in her own mind – something hilarious that

  happen to someone else. The way she described it to Colin, it really did seem very

  funny. But Lexie couldn’t imagine doing that herself. When Jake went off to date

  someone else, she wouldn’t be able to tell sidesplitting stories about pretending

  to be his girlfriend. She would just be sad.

  After dinner, they went back to Colin and Lexie’s house and baked cookies,

  filming themselves with Colin’s camera, until their mother finally announced that

  it was time for Sally and Jake to go home. Lexie realized that she hadn’t been

  worrying about how to act on the date for at least a couple of hours. It had been

  like any other night when Jake came over, except that Sally was there, too.

  And there was one other difference. Lexie walked Sally and Jake to the

  door, where Sally’s mom was waiting outside in the car. Sally started down the

  porch steps, but Jake hesitated in the doorway.

  Oh my God, Lexie thought. It’s the end of the date. Don’t real couples kiss at the end of the date? Will Sally think it’s weird if we don’t? Does it matter, if she’s not friends with Bree anymore?

  Jake looked into her eyes, and Lexie held her breath. On one hand, she

  wanted him to. Of course she wanted him to; she’d been wanting Jake to kiss her

  for almost three years. But if this was her first kiss... she wanted it to be real. She wanted it to be important to the guy as well as to her. She wanted Jake to kiss her

  because he wanted to, not because he was playing a role.

  “Um, good night,” she said quickly, stepping forward to hug him good-bye.

  Maybe that would let him know that he didn’t have to do anything else.

  His arms tightened around her and it seemed for a moment like time

  slowed down, and she could have stood there forever, pressed against him. She

  breathed in the smell of his hair and felt the warmth of the face right next to hers.

  Finally her let go and stepped back, and she did, too, trying to act casual,

  like that had been a perfectly ordinary hug.

  “Okay. Good night,” he said. He ducked his head, kissed her quickly on the

  cheek, and then turned, jumping down the steps. Within moments, he had

  vanished into the night.

  And that was the end of Lexie’s first date.

  Chapter 8

  Lexie spent most of Saturday in a hammock in her backyard, reading library books

  while Thorn snoozed on her stomach. Colin shut himself in his room and didn’t

  come out until dinnertime, and then he wouldn’t tell her what he’d been doing.

  Fine then, Lexie though. You keep your secrets and I’ll keep mine.

  Sunday morning at breakfast, her dad announced that he wanted them to

  wash the car. Colin groaned and smacked his head onto the table.

  “Come on, champ,” Mr. Willis said, clapping his son on the shoulder. “It’ll

  be fun, right, Lexie? Oh, you guys might want to wear your bathing suits.”

  Lexie giggled. Last time they’d been given this shore, she and Colin had

  wound up wetter than the car in the end. He hated it, but she thought it was kind

  of fun. Especially when it was hot and sun
ny outside, like it was that day.

  Her dad pulled the car out of the garage into the driveway and got buckets

  and sponges while Lexie and Colin changed. Lexie put on her flip-flops and clipped

  her hair up out of the way with a large silver butterfly clip. When she went

  downstairs, her mother looked disappointed.

  “I was hoping I’d finally get to see the bikini I bought for you,” Mrs. Willis

  said.

  “Sorry, Mom,” Lexie said, feeling guilty. “I figured since I’d be getting

  messy, this one was better.” She hurried through the screen door before her

  mother could argue with her.

  Colin was already inside the car, vacuuming between and under the seats.

  Lexie changed the pine0scented tree that hung in the front window, and then she

  wiped down all the hard surfaces. As soon as Colin was finished, she ran to get the

  hose.

  “Stand back,” she warned, and he jumped out of the way. Lexie turned on

  the hose, and her dog Alanna immediately came running over to throw herself

  under the spray.

  “Alanna!” Lexie protested, trying to point the hose away. The pug woofed

  and chased the water across the driveway, running frantically around the car to

  get to it. Lexie started laughing, so she didn’t see the person standing at the

  bottom of the driveway until she whirled around and sprayed water all over him.

  “Hey!”

  “Oops!” Lexie shut off the hose immediately, but it was too late. Riley was

  thoroughly drenched. And, as he had been the first time she’d seen him, he was

  wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, which weren’t likely to dry fast.

  “Oh, no! I’m sorry!” Lexie cried. “I didn’t see you there.”

  “Dude, you totally soaked me,” Riley said. He didn’t sound happy.

  “Who’s he?” Colin asked. Lexie shoved the hose into his hands.

  “Wait here,” she called to Riley. She ran inside, grabbed a towel from the

  linen closet, and ran back out. By then Riley had pulled off his dripping shirt and

  wringing it out.

  “Here,” she said, handing him the towel. “I’m really sorry. What are you

  doing here?”

  “I thought I’d stop by and say hey,” Riley said, rubbing his hair with the

  towel. “I didn’t know your driveway was a water hazard.”

  “How’d you know where I live?” she asked.