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  Just Pretending

  Dana Burkey

  Copyright © 2014 Dana Burkey

  All rights reserved.

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  Table of Contents

  JUST PRETENDING

  Note from the Author

  Preview of Book Two in the Hearts to Follow series: CHANGED

  JUST PRETENDING

  "Are you okay?" Josh asked as he watched my face.

  I nodded my head a little, trying to release the breath I was holding. My eyes followed Nick until he left the coffee shop.

  "Do you know him?" Josh had turned and was watching Nick leave hand in hand with a girl in a green summer dress.

  I nodded my head again as I took a sip of my iced coffee. Although my throat was suddenly dry, the drink was more to buy me some time. Setting my cup on the table, I knew it was time to do some talking.

  "That's Nick. From last summer."

  Thankfully that was enough for Josh to catch somewhat up to speed.

  Last summer was the best and worst summer of my life. After moving to a brand new town in time for school to end before I could make a single friend, I was shocked to find out the neighbors at my family’s new duplex not only had a kid my age living there, but that kid was the most attractive guy I had ever met! Nick was a foot taller than me and built like the baseball player he was. His skin was tan from being outside all baseball season, his blond hair bleached from the sun. The best, however, was his dark blue eyes. They were almost navy, reminding me of cooling summer water I wanted to dive into so much after feeling my pulse race after the first time I met him.

  Nick was staying at his dad’s place for the summer while his mom was off enjoying the Caribbean with her new husband. He was just as new to town as I was, with just as many friends. This was all it took for us to start spending every second together. As an only child with parents trying to settle in a new town, I was desperate for time outside the house, and if it was with someone as amazing as Nick, all the better.

  We spent every day of summer together. We went to the lake, wandered around the mall, and even made a few friends that would invite us to fun camp fires or pool parties. By the end of the summer, I was certain Nick was going to ask me to be his girlfriend, even if he was headed back to his mom's place over a 5-hour drive away. I could not have been more wrong.

  Nick was sad when he left, so I assumed it was because he shared the feelings I sent his way each day. But, just a month after leaving I watched with tears as his relationship status online changed to "in a relationship". I had a few friends at school at the time, but none of them really got to know Nick, so I was left to mend my broken heart alone, not sure if I would ever even see him again.

  "So, when did he get back in town?" Josh leaned in closer, knowing it was not easy for me to talk about.

  "I ran into him this morning," I sighed. "He is at his dad’s again this summer, but brought his girlfriend along for company."

  I was trying my hardest to push down the tears that threatened to spring up and spill over. Josh had seen me cry many times over Nick; most of the kids at my new school had. But I was proud of the fact that the last time had been over four months ago, when Nick didn't even message me on my 16th birthday. Since then Josh and my close friends did their best to keep my mind off of him. It was working great until he walked into my life toting the girl that was apparently better than me.

  "That sucks, Cam," Josh reached across the table and took my hand. Since my birthday, he was my biggest supporter, something I needed more than ever this summer. My two best friends Riley and Jen were off at summer camp until school started back up. Trying not to dwell on that fact, I gave his hand a squeeze.

  "It's okay-" My voice caught before I could continue.

  "Hey, you want to go see a movie?" Josh smiled. "It's new release day!"

  A smile played on my lips immediately. Seeing the new movies each week was our favorite way to start the weekend. Technically we were only there every few weeks, but it was still a routine form of fun for my group of friends.

  "My mom even said I can use the car when she's off work, so we can ride in style." Josh released my hand to down the rest of his coffee. I did the same before gathering my purse to head out. Hopefully, the day could still be salvaged.

  *****

  "Cammy?"

  Pushing down the emotions rising up quickly, I turned to see Nick and his green-dress wearing girl walk up to the concession stand. So much for a movie helping me relax and have some fun.

  "Hey Nicky." I tried my best to smile.

  "Nicky?" The girl next to him giggled.

  "Yeah, our little joke from last summer," he shrugged. "Oh! Cam, this is Gina. Gina, this is Cam."

  I gave a little wave, not sure how it felt to have a name to put to this girl that stole the role I wanted so bad to fill in Nick's life.

  "Nice to meet you! You live next to Nick, right?" Her green eyes lit up when I nodded. "So cool! He told me about you after last summer. Said you were his first friend here."

  "Yup, my first friend too." I tried not to compare myself to her but was losing the fight.

  She was about the same height as me, but her skin was tan like Nick’s. Her curly brown hair was flawless despite the humidity in the air. As for her clothes, up close I could see the label on the front of the dress stitched in matching green thread. The logo was one I had seen from a store window and on a rack; never in my closet thanks to "crazy high prices" as my mom deemed it.

  I glanced down at my cut off jean shorts and white graphic t-shirt. My hair was blond, but not the pretty shade girls went to the salon to get. Someone once called it dishwater blond. I cried for a solid hour that day, threatening to cut my hair off if my mom didn't let me dye it red. I settled for red highlights that had long since faded and grown out. The only good thing I had going for me were my eyes. My eyes were a brown that drew attention all the time. They were the first thing people noticed about me, leaving my hair hidden from view that much longer.

  "Are you going to the 7:40 showing?" Nick asked, bringing me back to the present.

  "Yup, we most certainly are!"

  I jumped a little as I felt Josh wrap an arm around my shoulder and pull me into his body. Glancing up I was happy to see Josh, back from buying our tickets while I stood in line for popcorn.

  "Hi, I'm Josh!" He introduced himself to Nick and Gina, complete with handshakes, all the while keeping an arm around me.

  "Well, I guess we will see you in there," Josh smiled as he led me to the now open concession counter. I almost fell as I stumbled along with him, his arm keeping me upright.

  I gave one last glance back to Nick who was giving Josh a look I had not seen before. Could it be annoyance? Anger? As we got our popcorn loaded with butter from the movie theater worker I focused on walking so I did not ruin our snack. I could worry about Nick later.

  *****

  "So what was that all about?" I asked Josh once we chose our seats in the theater. There were open seats near us, so I spoke quickly in case Nick and Gina chose a pair of them.

  "Sorry," Josh sighed. "I just saw the look on your face when you were talking to Nick and Gina and had a feeling you needed some help."

  "Yeah, but with your arm around me it almost looked like we were here on a date..." I was still trying to wrap my head around everything that had just happened.

  "Oh. Sorry." Josh scooted away from me a little as the mov
ie lights dimmed for the previews.

  Just when I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Nick walked over and sat right next to me, making our movie night a group event. Never one for respecting personal space, Nick's arm shared my armrest, his arm touching mine ever so slightly.

  "You okay?" Josh asked, leaning in close once again to keep his voice low as I pretended to focus on the screen in front of me.

  "I should be. I just hope I can sit here like this for the whole movie," I whispered back with a sigh.

  Josh covered my hand with his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Next to me, I could hear Nick take in a sharp breath. Glancing over he was staring ahead, his arm no longer on the armrest between us.

  Squeezing the hand on top of mine in return, I did my best to focus on the movie that was finally starting, blocking out the world around me. Thankfully it was a movie I had been looking forward to for a while, so the next two hours passed quickly and painlessly. Josh kept his hand on mine any time he was not passing me popcorn, allowing me to squeeze it anytime the action in the movie or the old crush next to me got too intense.

  "Well, that was....great..." Gina announced as the theater lights rose at the end of the credits.

  "So good!" Nick and I agreed in unison. Despite the tension, I joined Nick in laughing at the shared statement.

  "I don't usually watch movies like that," Gina shrugged, picking up her designer purse from its spot on the floor.

  In my head, I counted this as a point for me. Nick and I learned last summer that our taste in movies was almost identical. We both had no patience for romance or horror movies; it was all about action flicks.

  "Only a year until the second one comes out." Until he spoke I almost forgot Josh was standing next to me, checking his phone for missed calls during the movie.

  "So what are you two up to next?" Gina asked as we all headed to the theater lobby.

  "We're going for ice cream." This was news to me, but I just smiled as Josh put his arm around my shoulder once again. The look on Nick’s face was back and looking more like anger than anything else.

  "Well, have fun. Maybe we will see you around." Nick quickly took Gina's hand and started heading to his car. As they walked away it sounded like Gina was talking about ice cream, but they were out of earshot before I could be sure.

  "So, ice cream?" I asked, turning to Josh. "You're buying." Leaving the reach of his arm, I turned and headed toward his car.

  *****

  "Well, that went great!" Josh smiled as we took a seat on the patio with our twin chocolate sundaes.

  "Okay, what is with you tonight?" After thinking it over on the short drive from the movie I was even more certain now that Josh was up to something.

  "Did you see the look he gave me?"

  "Nick?"

  "Yup, did you see it?"

  Thinking back over the night, I remembered the look I had not seen before. I nodded my head to Josh, my mouth busy with the ice cream.

  "He was jealous of me." Josh shrugged as if that answered all my concerns.

  "...and?" I demanded, giving him a light punch on the arm.

  "Okay, okay," he laughed, scooting away from me. "I didn't mean for it to happen, but I saw the way Nick acted when we were in line for popcorn. So, I kept an eye on him when we left the theater and sure enough he was shooting me daggers for putting my arm around you."

  "So what does that mean?" If Josh kept this up he might have to buy me more ice cream to make up for my growing annoyance.

  "Don't you get it?" He turned to look me in the eyes, no longer focused on his sundae. "He was thinking I was your boyfriend, and he was jealous."

  I immediately wanted to tell Josh just how wrong he was, but thinking it over it made sense. Nick was not his usual happy and fun self once Josh was a little more hands on. Not to mention the fact he all but dragged Gina out of the theater to get away from us.

  "Told you," Josh laughed, seeing the realization dawning on my face.

  "So what does that mean?" I asked, not sure if I liked this new revelation.

  "I think it's time you got a summer love of your own until lover boy sees he needs to ditch Gina."

  I almost spit the ice cream out of my mouth. Coughing, I set my ice cream down and took in big breaths as Josh patted me gently on the back.

  "Okay," I tried again once I caught my breath. "So if Nick even was jealous, not that I am saying he is, then why did you keep messing with him?"

  The pause that followed was palpable. Josh took a long time to take a bite of his ice cream, clearly letting it melt completely before swallowing it down and answering me.

  “It was not fun to see how hurt you were in September and then again at your birthday.” He refused to make eye contact, looking instead at his ice cream spoon as if the cure for cancer were printed on its handle. “I just want you to be happy. And if it means getting Nick to see that Gina was not the right choice, then I’m more than happy to play the part of your fake summer boyfriend.”

  “Be my summer boyfriend?” I repeated, not sure I had heard him right.

  “Yeah,” Josh shrugged, finally making eye contact with me. "Maybe seeing you happy with me will make him wish he was the one with you instead."

  I took some time to think, taking our now empty ice cream dishes to the trash near the door of the shop. Running my hands through my hair I let out a sigh as I returned to my seat. The plan was simple enough I guess. Josh could pretend to be my boyfriend for a little while until Nick figured out that he liked me as more than a friend, and before too long I could pretend to break up with Josh and date Nick. Gina would just have to hit the road, maybe literally, and deal with the fact that I was the right choice for Nick. It sounded kind of harsh, but at the same time, last summer and the heartbreak that followed were more harsh than this could ever be.

  "So, what do we do?" I turned and put a smile on my face, trying to hide any doubt I was still working through.

  "Well, I guess we just start by hanging out all the time like we were going to do anyway," he added with a grin. "But we might want to add some hand holding and stuff, in case we run into Nick. Then when we do run into them we make sure to plan some group activities so he can spend more time seeing just how happy with me you are."

  "Sounds easy enough." I shrugged as we both stood up.

  "Ready to go?" Josh held his hand out between us, clearly ready to start the facade now.

  "Sure." I laughed, placing my hand into his. We walked to his car as our fingers intertwined. I was not sure this was the best idea, but it was better than sitting by and watching the guy I liked so much with a girl he thought was better than me.

  *****

  The next two days proved to be less productive than I imagined. First Josh and I spent the day at the mall, holding hands as we walked from shop to shop. I spotted a few friends from school giving us a second glance, but no one seemed too concerned with our new PDA. Then, we headed to the lake and took a canoe out for a picnic on the water. It felt like it always did when I was with Josh, just with more hugging, hand holding, and flirty laughter. Sadly, Nick and Gina were nowhere to be seen, or rather nowhere to see us.

  "I don't know if this is working," I sighed to Josh on the phone after another night of no Nick spottings.

  "Why don't you just ask him to hang out with us?" Josh sounded tired after rowing all day, but was doing his best to hold up his end of the conversation.

  "Like, go to his house?" I asked, pacing my room.

  "Sure. Or send him a message. Is he online?"

  Quickly loading up my laptop I was pleased to see his name at the top of my contacts. He was online, and only one click away.

  "What should I say?" I pulled up a chat window, my fingers hovering over the keys.

  "Ask him if he and Gina want to go hiking tomorrow." Josh paused to let out a big yawn. "We can go on the trails over by school. I'll even pack us another picnic."

  "Okay," I paused. "How about I call you in the morning and
let you know if they are joining us. You need to get some sleep, and he might not answer right away."

  "Good idea," he yawned once again.

  After hanging up, I watched the minutes on the clock tick by. How was I going to ask without sounding desperate and annoying? Finally, I typed out the safest message I could: "HEY NEIGHBOR."

  Not wanting to see the reply I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I returned, there was his response. "HEY! LONG TIME NO SEE."

  This was good. It was perfectly casual and simple.

  Our conversation stayed that way for a little while, chatting about what he and Gina were up to while I was off playing girlfriend to Josh. Apparently they were visiting Gina's older sister who lived across town. Gina does not visit too often, so they were taking the time for Nick to get to know the family. I could feel my teeth grinding while I read his words.

  "SO WHAT ARE YOU UP TO TOMORROW?"

  I typed the question and hit send before I could change my mind. Any more news about Nick getting to play family with Gina and I might shatter a tooth.

  Thankfully, their free schedule played right into our plan. With just a few more comments, I was off to bed knowing tomorrow would be my chance to help Nick see just how much he passed on when he chose Gina over me. Lying in bed I began planning my outfit, knowing it was important to make a good impression. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

  *****

  "Are we there yet?" I whined the words before I could stop myself. It was the third time in less than an hour.

  "Just this last little hill and we will be there." Josh, our fearless trail guide, was going strong despite the rest of us struggling along. Thankfully, Gina appeared to be doing even worse than I was.

  I had only hiked this trail once before, as part of PE last year. It was raining that day so we quit half way along the path thanks to muddy conditions. Today in the blinding sun, however, the two mile trail felt more like fifty.

  "I forgot how much the elevation affects the air," Nick mumbled. Although he was athletic, the hike and heat were getting to him for sure.

  "Here we are!"

  Josh's announcement could not have come any sooner. Reaching the lookout point I tossed my backpack on the group and slumped down next to it. Although flattering, my black t-shirt was not the best choice for the trip.