Hidden Within

I anxiously nibble my bottom lip, staring down at my feet as the four of us continue on our trek to the park. Lynn and Zacky are too busy talking and paying attention to each other that it seems that it’s completely slipped their minds that Brian and I are here with them, but I should have figured that’d happen seeing as how the date pretty much went the same way. I stuff my hands in my pockets and keep walking, picking up my pace just a little bit and hoping that Brian isn’t able to catch up with me again.

“So, how are you doing today, Sunshine?” Brian asks me; I turn my head slightly and notice that he’s managed to fall into step with me once again. It really isn’t fair; he’s got the advantage of having longer legs than me.

“I’m okay. You?” I mumble, hoping that if I talk to him now then he’ll leave me alone once we’re at the park.

“I’m doing good.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Yeah, it is…” he says, his voice trailing off and leading us into silence. But silence is good. Silence is what I want. I’d rather be stuck in an uncomfortable silence than forced to continue on with an even more uncomfortable conversation, but maybe that’s just me. “You look nice today,” he comments, clearly trying to breathe life back into our dying dialogue, and I raise a skeptical eyebrow at him.

I realize that he’s trying to keep this little chat of ours going, but I didn’t think he’d be desperate enough to lie. But then again, why does he even want to talk to me in the first place? It’s not like we’re best buds or anything of the sort, so what the hell is wrong with him?

“You do know that this doesn’t count as a date, right? We don’t have to act like we’re a couple, or friends, or whatever it is that we’re supposed to be.”

“I know that… I just thought I’d say something nice,” he mumbles.

“Okay…” I trail off, hoping and praying that he’ll stop trying to revive it and just let the conversation just die already.

“So, when we’re around our friends we just act like we always do?” he queries, and I bite my lip.

It’s a good question. I mean, we know how to act when we’re around our families, we know how to be when we’re with Zacky and Lynn on one of our ‘dates’, we know how we’re going to have to act at school tomorrow, but what we don’t know is how we’re supposed to act when it’s just us and our friends.

“Well, I don’t see why we can’t be how we usually are,” I reply, a tinge of uncertainty in my voice.

“But if we do that, don’t you think it’ll be weird for them to see us acting like we’re dating when we’re at school?” he points out.

“Well, yeah, they’d probably think it’s a little weird at first, but if we tell them what’s going on, then I’m sure that they’ll understand and get over it.”

“I dunno…” he says with a sigh. “I kinda think it’d be best if we just kept acting like we’re a couple even when it’s just the nine of us. I mean, what’ll happen if one of them accidentally lets it slip that we aren’t really dating? It’s better to stay in character as much as we can. Besides, they’ll probably be relieved when we’re not constantly snapping at each other.”

“I don’t know if we’d be able to do that without going insane, Haner. I mean, acting civil towards you when we’re around them I can handle, but I don’t know if I can pretend like I’m your girlfriend all the time without losing my sanity,” I say with an uneasy chuckle.

“It’s not like we’ll have to do this for the rest of our lives. I mean, Zacky and Lynn can’t make us keep this up for more than a couple of months. I think we can make it that long without going crazy.”

“Our friends aren’t stupid, Haner. They’ll know something’s up as soon as they see us acting all coupley and stuff.”

“Then we can ease them into it,” he suggests. “We can start today by being nice to each other and build up from there.”

“We have to be a couple in front of everyone at school tomorrow,” I remind him. “I don’t think that little plan of yours is gonna work. We’re just gonna have to tell them and hope that they don’t let the truth slip out.”

“Or we can just ask Lynn and Zack what we should do. It’s their little idea, after all.”

I cast another confused glance in his direction. Seriously, what is wrong with him today? First he compliments me for no reason and wants to have a conversation, and now he’s pushing for us to be in couple-mode all the time? Honestly, what is up with him? Did he whack his head on something when he got home from our date late night?

“What?” he asks; returning my puzzled expression.

“I just don’t get why you are so adamant about us pretending to be a couple in front of the others. They’re our friends; we shouldn’t have to lie to them.”

“We shouldn’t have to lie to our families and yet we are,” he quickly retorts. “It’s not as if I want to be all coupley with you all the time, Fray. I just think that it’d be best for this little charade of ours if we just stayed in character.”

“Well, I don’t think that it’s necessary to do so. I mean, if we tell them, then they know what to expect when we’re at school tomorrow and it isn’t a huge shock to them. Going in there today acting like a couple is only going to confuse the shit out of all of them.”

“I dunno, maybe it won’t confuse them,” he says with a tiny shrug, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

“You’re kidding me, right? Why on earth wouldn’t they be confused if we go from snapping at each other one day to suddenly being a couple?”

“Well, I mean, they weren’t too confused when Zacky and Lynn started dating,” he mumbles, scratching the back of his neck as he looks down at his feet.

“I was confused when I found out that Lynn’s dating Zacky. I mean, he did nothing but pick on her and suddenly he likes her? It just doesn’t make any sense. But I guess he wasn’t that bad to her. At least he never called her a fat ass,” I retort, shooting him a cold glance, and I notice his jaw clench.

“I apologized for that, Lana. You know that,” he replies, sounding genuinely hurt by my jab at him. “I never thought that you would have taken me so seriously.”

“You know, not everything I do is because of you, Haner. It’s not like my world revolves around you. In fact, I would prefer it if you weren’t in my life at all,” I huff, storming away from him.

“Wait, Lana,” he calls out and he quickly catches onto my arm, causing me to stop in my tracks and my body to tense up a little bit. “Look,” he starts, letting go of my arm. “I was just saying that I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings when I would say shit like that. I mean, I’ve picked on you for how many years now? I thought that you pretty much ignored everything that I say to you. I already apologized for what I had said to you and I thought you were willing to forgive me.”

I look up into his eyes and sigh in defeat. He makes it so fucking difficult to be mad at him when he seems so damn sincere. “I did forgive you,” I mumble and I glance behind him and see that Zacky and Lynn are starting to catch up with us. “I shouldn’t have taken that jab at you; it wasn’t fair to bring it back up after you’ve apologized, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Lana,” he replies, a tiny smile faintly playing on his lips, and my stomach ties up in knots at the sight of that smile. “So, we’re okay?”

“Yeah, we’re okay,” I answer, starting to walk again to avoid having Zack and Lynn catch up with us and wonder what’s going on.

“Are you sure we’re okay? Because you’re walking away from me pretty fast,” he comments as he hurries to catch up with me.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I just,” I take a quick look over my shoulder to see that the two lovebirds are now out of earshot. “I don’t want Lynn to think we’re fighting or anything.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah…” I trail off, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. “She really wants this whole thing to go smoothly. I guess she picked the wrong people to pretend to be dating if that’s what she wanted, huh?”

“Not necessarily,” Brian answers with a small chuckle. “I mean, we didn’t think we’d make it past me meeting your family and we go through that just fine. We even got through a date without killing each other.”

“Yeah, but it’s only been like two days; we have several more days and possibly weeks ahead of us. Do you really think that we can make it that long without wanting to maim or seriously injure the other?” I ask him, my eyes flickering up to his.

“I really do.”

“Even if we’re forced to act like we like each other all the time? Because that is going to be a lot of pressure on both of us and we could end up cracking under all that pressure.”

“I think we’d be alright. I mean, it’s not like we won’t ever have a chance to talk to each other without anyone else around.”

“But can we really get everyone else to believe that we’ve gone from you picking on me incessantly to being my boyfriend? I don’t know if we can get them to believe that when just the other day we practically hated each other.”

“For all they know, I just picked on you because I like you or something. Lots of guys do that shit.”

“Well, guys should realize that just because you like a girl, doesn’t mean you should be an ass to her.”

“Hey, negative attention from the girl that you like is a hell of a lot better than no attention at all.”

“I still think it’s immature and stupid.”

“Well, we’re guys. Sometimes we’re immature and stupid,” he says with a shrug.

I shake my head and sigh. “I still don’t think we should lie to our friends about this. It’s bad that we’re lying to our families; I don’t wanna add any more stress and pressure from this stupid little favor that we’re doing for Lynn and Zacky.”

“Then we’ll tell them what we’re doing for Zack and Lynn.”

“What?” I ask, making sure that I didn’t just mishear what he had said.

“We’ll tell them that we have to act like we’re dating when we’re at school and stuff,” he replies simply. “I doubt that Lynn would want this whole thing stressing you out and everything, so we’ll just make it easy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said that we should just not tell them,” he replies as he rubs the back of his neck. “You’re right, they’re our friends and they should know what’s going on. We shouldn’t have to lie to them when we’re already lying to our families.”

“Thanks for understanding, Ha-- Brian,” I tell him with a small smile playing on my lips.

“Not a problem, Lana. So, um, your dad wasn’t mad at me last night, right? I got you home on time and everything?”

“Yes, you got me home on time. But, to tell you the truth, I think Henry probably wouldn’t have minded if you had me home a minute or two late. And even if he did have a problem with it, my mom would have just told him that it wasn’t a big deal. They both like you a lot.”

“Really? Both of them?”

“Yes, both of them. You made quite the impression the other day.”

“Well, I’m glad I did; that makes this whole thing a little easier for us,” he grins.

“Yeah, it does, until we break up.”

His smile disappears and he lets out a nervous sounding chuckle. “Let’s not talk about that for now, Sunshine.”

“Fine… But it’s going to happen sooner or later. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do. It wasn’t like I thought we’d be stuck with each other forever,” he mumbles. “I just think that we should focus on what’s going on now instead of what is going to happen in a few months.”

“Okay… So, since you know what my parents think about you, what do your parents think about me? I mean, I think that they liked me, but I don’t know if they were just acting like they did or something.”

“You have no reason to be worried, Lana. They adore you,” he beams. “Suzy thinks that you’re precious; she really likes you. And my dad thinks that you’re great. He said that I’m really lucky to have such a pretty and sweet girlfriend, and he is still saying that he doesn’t know what you see in me. You’ve set a high standard; I don’t think that they’re going to approve of any other girl I date.”

“I’m sure that they’ll like whoever you end up really dating, Brian,” I assure him as I tuck my hair behind my ear. “I’m not that special.”

“But you are special, Lana,” he replies, causing my brow to furrow in confusion.

“You think I’m special?”

“I meant to my dad and Suzy. You’re special to them,” he quickly amends, and I nod my head.

“Oh, right… Well, I’m sure that they’ll still like whoever you really date. If they love your fake girlfriend, then they’re bound to love your real one, right?”

“Right… I guess…”

“Yeah… So, um, what--”

“Hey, guys!” a familiar voice calls out.

I tear my gaze away from Brian to see Matt and Laney and I give them a tiny smile as they approach us. Laney smiles back at me before letting her eyes flicker to Brian and she narrows her eyes a little bit.

“What?” he asks; noticing the look that she is giving him.

“Are you being nice?” she queries in a fashion similar to how a mother would ask her son if he’s been behaving himself.

“Yes, Laney, I’m being nice,” he answers with a slight sigh in his voice. “Did you see us fighting?”

“No, but just because it doesn’t look like you’re fighting doesn’t mean that you’re being nice,” she replies simply as she rests her head against Matt’s arm, and Matt chuckles at her.

“So, what are you two doing walking together?” Matt asks us.

“Yeah, what are you guys doing walking together?”

“Um, well, I was gonna walk with Zacky and Lynn,” I start, gesturing back to the couple a little ways behind us as I try to figure out the best way to explain why the two of us are walking to the park together. “And it turns out that they had told Brian that he could walk with us since we live close to each other.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that you guys lived near each other.”

“Yeah, we didn’t know until the other day,” Brian says. “Turns out I moved into the house across the street from hers.”

“That’s where you moved to, man? Why don’t you ride the bus with me and Jimmy?” Matt asks him, and Brian shrugs his shoulders.

“I guess I didn’t realize that your bus goes by my neighborhood. I’ve just been walking home. You’re sure it goes by my place?”

“Yeah, Lana and her sister ride it, so if you guys live right across the street from each other, it definitely goes by your place,” he answers with a grin.

“I’ll have to talk to Dad about it later, then.”

Oh, joy… Brian’s going to start riding my bus, which only means that I’m going to have to end up sitting with him. Sandi’s going to insist that I sit with my boyfriend. And then that means I’ll have to walk home with him. And if he walks me home, Mom is going to invite him to stay for a little bit or invite him to dinner. I’m never going to be rid of him. I should have never let Lynn talk me into this stupid thing.

“So, how has your weekend been so far?” Laney asks us as the four of us continue our walk to the park, which isn’t too far away now.

“It’s been alright,” Brian and I answer together, and I notice a tiny smile pull at Laney’s lips.

“That’s cool. Did you do anything fun?”

“Nope,” I quickly reply with a shake of my head.

“Not really…” Brian mumbles as he looks down at his feet. “What about you guys?”

“Just the usual stuff,” Matt answers. “Today’s probably going to be the highlight of the weekend for us.”

“Yeah, the weekend’s been kinda slow and uneventful. But we’re all gonna be hanging out today, it’s sure to make the weekend a lot better; even if you guys are gonna be drunk off your asses,” Laney comments with a chuckle.

I nervously bite the inside of my lip. It had completely slipped my mind that everyone’s going to be drinking. It should have clicked when Brian had asked Zacky if Jimmy was able to grab some drinks, but I had only assumed that he was talking about sodas or something like that. I don’t wanna go to the park if everyone’s just going to be getting drunk.

“That’s if Jimmy’s successful in getting some drinks,” Brian reminds her.

“Dude, when has Jimmy ever been unsuccessful?” Matt points out.

“That’s true.”

“So, we’re gonna be drinking?” I ask apprehensively, my gaze flickering between Brian, Matt, and Laney.

“Oh, don’t worry, Alana. You don’t have to drink. I’m usually the only one that doesn’t drink, so it’ll be nice to have someone else that’s not drinking,” Laney assures me with a smile. “We’d never force you to drink. I’d punch anyone that tried.”

A wave of relief washes over me and I give her a tiny, appreciative smile. At least I won’t have to worry about that. I’ll do a lot of shit for Lynn, but getting drunk with a bunch of people that I don’t know very well is not one of them. I refuse to let myself become completely vulnerable around a group of guys I hardly know, no matter how nice they may seem to be.

“About damn time you guys showed up!” someone exclaims, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I look up to see that Johnny and Danni have been sitting on the grass, waiting for us.

“How long have you two been waiting here?” Brian asks them as they get up to their feet.

“Ages!” Johnny cries out, and Danni simply shakes her head.

“We’ve only been waiting five, ten minutes at the most,” she informs us with a smile.

“Leave it to Short Shit to exaggerate. So, Jimmy not here yet?” Matt asks them.

“No, not yet,” Johnny answers.

“But he was supposed to get the drinks, so he could have gotten held up for a little bit; it can’t be all that easy to sneak them out of the house. I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” Danni reasons with a tiny smile. “So, what do you guys wanna do for now? Should we just hang out here for a little while longer, or just wait for the others?”

“The others? I thought we were just waiting for Jimmy,” Brian replies blankly.

“Did Lynn and Zacky decide they weren’t coming, then?” Danni queries with a rather confused expression on her face.

“No, they’re coming. They were right behind us,” I pipe up, glancing back in the direction we came from, and I frown at the realization that Zacky and Lynn are nowhere to be seen. “Well, at least they were…”

“They’re on their way over,” Brian tells them. “We were walking with them, but they must have gotten a little distracted. Just give them a few more minutes, they should be here by then, and then we can all meet Jimmy over at the spot.”

“Alright,” Johnny says with a nod of his head.

“So, how has your weekend been?” Danni asks us.

“Eh, it’s been kinda dull,” Laney replies with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “But it could have been worse. What about you?”

“About the same,” she says with a small sigh. “What about you, Alana?”

“Oh, um… It’s been pretty dull for me, too,” I mumble as I look down at my feet. “Guess it’s just one of those weekends.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But at least we’re all together today! It’s going to be a blast! You should see the guys when they drink, they all get so silly.”

“Especially Brian!” Laney tacks on with a laugh.

“Oh, that’s cool…” I trail off, not feeling any better about this whole thing.

I don’t really care if they’re funny as hell; I don’t care if they become fucking poets; I don’t even care if they become pure geniuses when they’re drunk, I still don’t really wanna be around them when they’re drunk off their asses. And even though he’s supposed to be so funny when he’s drinking, I don’t think seeing Drunk Brian is going to make me like him.

“Hey, guys!” Lynn calls out, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“It’s about damn time that you two caught up with us,” Matt tells them with a slight chuckle in his voice. “We were starting to think that you two bailed on us.”

“Sorry, we didn’t realize that we had fallen so far behind you guys,” Zacky replies, his arm still casually draped around Lynn’s shoulders.

“It’s alright,” Brian says with a smile. “We’re still waiting for Jimmy to show up. He should be here any minute now.”

“Alright,” Zacky nods. “So, what’s going on now?”

“Nothing really,” Johnny sighs. “We’re just waiting on Jimmy now.”

“Do you think it’d be okay if we just head over to the spot now and hope that he figures out that we’re there?” Matt asks.

“I don’t know,” Laney replies with a tiny shrug of her shoulders. “I mean, he’d probably figure out that that’s where we are.”

“But we waited here for everyone else, we should just wait for him,” Danni finishes, and Laney nods her head.

“Alright; then I guess we’ll wait a few more minutes for him. I think that we’re still a little early anyway,” Matt comments as he runs his fingers through his hair.

Everyone else nods their heads in agreement, and one by one, everyone falls into their own conversations. Well, everyone but me. Instead, I stand off to the side, stuffing my hands into my pockets I walk away and let my eyes wander around the park.

I’m a little surprised to see that the place is pretty empty on a weekend. I had assumed that there’d be a bunch of kids here enjoying the end of their weekend, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Aside from us, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else here. The swings are abandoned; the teeter-totter has no one on it; and the jungle gym is vacant. It’s completely desolate.

I let out a sigh and glance back towards my friends. Well, I guess they’re my friends. I know that Lynn’s my friend; she’s been my best friend since we were little kids. And I suppose that now that she and Zacky are together, his friends have become her friends and they have now become my friends by default or something like that. I guess it’s not too bad; Danni and Laney seem really nice. If only I didn’t feel so awkward around everyone…

My gaze falls on Brian and a heavy sigh passes from my lips. I just wish that he wasn’t one of the default friends. I could definitely do without him in my life right now. At the end of the school year, I thought that I was finally going to be rid of him. And now here I am, living across the street from him, forced to hang out with him and even worse, pretending that I’m dating him.

“Hey there, Alana,” a familiar voice greets me, startling me for a moment.

I turn my head to see Jimmy standing behind me with a smile on his face and a couple of paper bags containing what I assume are the drinks that everyone else has been waiting for.

“Oh, hi, Jimmy,” I greet him with a tiny smile in return.

“What are you doing over here by yourself?”

“Oh, I just wanted to walk around for a bit. No one else wanted to,” I fib, shrugging my shoulders a little.

“Oh, so everyone else is already here?”

“Yeah, we’ve just been waiting for you to get here. And it looks like you were able to get the drinks,” I comment, taking note of the bags that he’s carrying.

“Yeah, I’ve got the beer in this bag and a few sodas in this one since Laney doesn’t drink,” he replies.

“Oh, that’s nice of you.”

“I try,” he grins proudly. “So, you wanna go back and join the others? Finally see the spot?”

“Sure,” I answer with a tiny nod.

“Great! Come on!” he beams, jerking his head a little and motioning for me to follow him.

I do as he wishes and return to the people that I had wandered away from just a few moments ago. Everyone is still wrapped up in their own little conversations; everyone but Brian. I don’t know when he stopped talking to everyone else, but it’s clear that his focus seems to have shifted away from the others for quite some time. And he thinks that I space out too much… That’s like the pot calling the kettle black.

“Hey, guys!” Jimmy calls out.

Matt, Johnny, Zacky, Laney, Danni, and Lynn stop talking and bring their attention to Jimmy. They all smile and warmly greet their friend while Brian just gives him a small smile. I guess he’s still off in space. I wonder what he’s thinking about… Not that I care or anything. I’m just a little curious.

“So, now that Jimmy’s here, I guess we can all head over to the spot now,” Johnny says with a smile as he puts his arm around Danni.

“Yeah, we can head over there now. Lana can finally see the spot,” Matt replies with a chuckle.

“That’s right, she hasn’t been there before!” Danni exclaims. “You’re going to have so much fun.”

“It’ll be just what you need to brighten up your dull weekend,” Laney smiles as Matt and Jimmy lead the way.

“Dull weekend?” Lynn whispers to me. “You didn’t have fun last night?”

“Lynn…” I sigh, shaking my head a little bit. “We haven’t told anyone about us yet, okay?”

“And are you going to tell them?”

“Yeah, we have to tell them. I mean, it’s not exactly something we can keep secret from them if the whole school is going to know,” I mumble, nervously running my fingers through my hair.

“Well, are you going to tell them everything? Like, everything or are you just going to say that you’re dating?”

“We’re telling them everything,” I inform her. “It’s bad enough that we’re lying to our families and everyone at school, we don’t to lie to our friends.”

“Right, makes sense,” she says, nodding her head in agreement. “So, when are you guys gonna make the big announcement?”

“I don’t really know… I guess when the right moment comes. I kinda hope that Brian will do it, because I wouldn’t even know how to start.”

“Brian? When did you start calling him Brian?”

“When you told me that I needed to stop calling him by his last name all the time, remember? I’m doing this all because you’re my best friend,” I reply, glancing over at her for a moment.

A smile tugs at her lips. “And you’re my best friend, too. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”

“I try.”

“So, did you really not have a good time last night? Because it kinda looked like you did.”

“And when would you have even seen me having a good time? You were too busy sucking on Zacky’s face the whole time,” I softly remind her with a light chuckle.

“Like when you guys threw the popcorn at us. You both clearly enjoyed that. And I know that I heard you giggle a couple of times at something he said. Plus, you even told me that you had a good last night, remember?”

“Yes, I do recall saying that, and then he spilled water all over me. And I did not giggle at him; a half-chuckle, maybe, but not a giggle.”

“Right, of course that’s what it was,” she smirks. “You just don’t wanna admit that you’re starting to like him.”

I scoff at her ridiculous comment. “Yeah, right; sorry, Lynn, but I’m never going to like him. I can tolerate him now, but it’ll never go past that.”

“Sure, Lana, whatever you say,” she says before pulling ahead of me to catch up with Zacky, and I cross my arms over my chest as I continue to follow everyone through the park.

I watch Lynn as she hangs off of Zacky’s arm, smiling up at him adoringly as he says something to her. My gaze flickers over to Brian and I softly shake my head. I don’t know what she’s talking about. As if I could ever like Brian. Sure, I don’t think that he’s quite so bad anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I am starting to like him. One night of him being nice to me doesn’t make up for all the years that he has tormented me.

“And here we are!” Jimmy’s voice announces, slicking through my thoughts and bringing me back to reality. “This is the spot! What do you think, Alana?”

“It’s nice,” I reply, not really sure what else I can say about the place. I mean, it’s not really all that different from the rest of the park. It’s just secluded enough that we’ve got plenty of privacy and it’s not likely that anyone could find us, which is probably a good thing considering all the drinking that’s going to be going on here.

Everyone sits down on the ground, the drinks are getting distributed around the circle, and I bite my lip as I try to figure out if I can manage to squeeze my way in between Lynn and Danni. I don’t think Danni would mind if I asked her to scoot over just a little bit so I can sit beside my best friend. I’m pretty sure she’d understand. I begin to head over to where they’re seated, silently praying that things will go smoothly.

“Alana, there’s a spot for ya right here!” Jimmy calls out, patting the space between him and Brian.

“Oh, alright,” I say with a tiny, feeble smile on my face as I head towards them and sit down.

Jimmy grins at me as he opens up his drink, and I gulp hard as the scent of alcohol finds its way into my nose. Why of all the things we could do here do we have to drink? Is it really that necessary to having a good time?

“Here ya go, Lana,” Brian says, and I feel something cold against my arm.

“Oh, no thanks, I don’t d--” I stop midsentence as I look down at the can resting against my skin.

“I know you don’t drink,” he replies with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Thanks,” I whisper as I take the can of soda from his hand.

“You’re welcome.”

“Whoa, did that really just happen, or did I just step into some crazy alternate universe?” Laney asks, rather suddenly, forcing everyone’s attention to her.

“Did what really just happen, babe?” Matt queries.

“First, we see Brian and Alana peacefully walking to the park together, and now he’s getting her something to drink and she’s not making some comment about how she can get her own damn drink. Why have they suddenly gone from bickering all the time to getting along? Is there something going on that we don’t know about?” she questions, raising an eyebrow at me and Brian.

“There’s nothing going on,” I mumble, opening the can of Coke and taking a long sip.

“Yeah, you’re not exactly being very convincing, Alana,” Danni chuckles.

“So, what’s going on between you two?” Laney presses.

“We’re dating,” Brian replies simply, causing me to practically choke on my drink.

“You’re what!?” Jimmy exclaims in surprise; his mouth hanging open just a little bit as he stares at us.

“You’re shitting us, right?” Matt says, eying the two of us carefully. “This is some kind of joke.”

“Yeah, you can’t be telling the truth,” Danni agrees as she shakes her head slightly.

“I don’t know, guys, I mean, they haven’t been fighting… Maybe they are…” Johnny points out with uncertainty lacing his voice.

“No, Johnny, it’s not what you think, guys,” I assure them.

“We aren’t really dating,” Brian clarifies, earning confused looks from everyone, aside from Lynn and Zacky.

“But you just said that you are,” Laney retorts. “You can’t be dating and not dating at the same time.”

“Yes, we can. It’s because we’re ‘dating,’” he replies, using air-quotes as he says the word dating.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Jimmy asks with a laugh in his voice. Well, at least someone finds this humorous.

“It means that to our families and the school, we’re a couple, but in reality, we aren’t,” I answer him, hoping that I didn’t just further confuse everyone.

“But why are you guys a couple to those people?” Danni queries as she draws her brows together, still a little puzzled by the whole situation.

“Because we’re suckers that’ll do anything for our best friends,” Brian says, his gaze briefly flickering to Zacky and Lynn. “Lynn’s mom is super strict and won’t let her go out on dates with Zacky unless they are double dates.”

“And in her panic, she said that she and Zacky could go on double dates with me and my boyfriend, Brian,” I finish with a sigh.

“So that is why we are dating, but not dating at the same time.”

Laney, Matt, Danni, Johnny, and Jimmy stare at us blankly, almost as if they’re all waiting for the punchline.

“No, really, what is going on with you two?” Laney presses, and I let out a defeated, frustrated sigh.

“They’re telling the truth, guys,” Lynn pipes up. “They’re doing this for us because my mom’s being ridiculous and won’t let me go on dates with Zack.”

“But why, of all people, would you say that she’s dating Brian?” Danni asks.

“Yeah, why didn’t you say that she was dating someone that she can actually stand?” Jimmy questions.

“Because I panicked or something, I don’t really know,” Lynn softly admits. “Brian was the first person that came to mind, so I just said his name. My mom’s met him and thinks he’s a nice guy and everything, I figured that she couldn’t say no to me and Zack going out with them because she adores them both. I didn’t really think about how they can’t stand each other until after I said it.”

“Okay, but if this is all so your mom will let you and Zack go out, why does that mean that they have to pretend to be a couple in front of their families?” Johnny inquires.

“Because Lynn decided to tell my family that I have a boyfriend so that I would get the guts to ask if I could go out on this ‘double date’ of theirs. That and my mom and Lynn’s mom talk. It would be weird if on the off-chance her mom asks mine about me and my boyfriend.”

“And the school?” Matt asks.

“Because of my step-sister,” I answer. “You met Sandi on the bus the other day. She goes to school with us and thinks that I’m dating Brian. She’s bound to tell her friends, who will in turn tell everyone else, and it’ll be all over the school. So we have to keep up appearances. We decided to tell you the truth since we figured it’d be a bit hard to believe that we went from hating each other to dating in like forty-eight hours.”

“So, how long are you guys gonna be doing this?” Jimmy asks us.

“I don’t know,” Brian and I reply together.

“It’ll only be until my mom gets the stick out of her ass and lets me and Zack go on dates that don’t involve four people or more.”

“And with the way her mom is, that’s probably going to be a few more months now,” Zacky chuckles, earning a smack on the arm from his girlfriend.

Great… That’s exactly what I wanted, to be stuck pretending to be Brian’s girlfriend for months. I really hope that this doesn’t end up lasting that long. I don’t think it’s possible for me to keep the act going for that long. It’s already hard enough to do it now, and we’ve only been “dating” for a couple of days. This is going to be worse than I thought…

“Anyway, enough about me and Lana pretending to date,” Brian suggests as he opens the can in his hand. “Let’s do what we came here to do, have a good time.”

“Hell yeah!” Johnny and Jimmy cheer together.

Everyone begins to fall into their own conversations, casually sipping their drinks. I nervously bite my bottom lip before lifting my Coke to my mouth and taking a sip. I really hope that this goes well, because I’d hate to think that I’m even faking my friendships now…

~

Okay, so the girls were right about the guys when they get drunk. They’ve proven to be even more entertaining than usual, especially Jimmy and Johnny. I don’t think I’ve laughed this much in months, which is a nice change for me since I’ve been less than stellar since the summer. The only one that hasn’t lived up to what the girls said has been Brian, and I don’t really know why he hasn’t been the entertaining drunk that people claim he is.

“Hey, Lana, why aren’t ya drinking?” Jimmy asks me, his speech slightly slurred.

“Oh, I don’t drink,” I reply with a tiny smile.

“Why not? Have you ever tried it before?”

“No, I’ve never tried it before; I never really had the desire to try,” I answer honestly with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Try some,” he encourages, lifting his beer up to me.

“No, thanks, Jimmy,” I politely decline, pushing the can away from me.

“Aww, please?”

I shake my head. “No, that’s alright.”

“Just one--”

“She said no, Jimmy, so just leave her alone,” Brian practically barks at him, catching everyone by surprise.

“Whoa, dude, I was just joking around with her. I wasn’t going to make her drink. You know I wouldn’t do that,” Jimmy says as he sets his beer back down. “What’s up with you today? You’re acting like you’ve got a stick shoved up your ass.”

“Nothing is wrong with me today. I knew that you were joking around; it just didn’t look like she knew. I figured I’d stop you before she started thinking you’re an ass.”

“Did you know I was joking around?” Jimmy asks me, his speech still slurred, but his tone more serious than before.

I look up at him, my eyes meeting his crystal blue gaze, and I give him a tiny shrug. “I don’t really know… I’m sure I would have figured it out, but I didn’t really know at first… But it’s alright, Jimmy. I don’t think you’re an ass at all. I still think you’re pretty awesome,” I tell him with a smile, earning a grin from him in return.

“You’re pretty awesome, too.”

I chuckle at him and turn my attention to Brian, chewing nervously on the inside of my bottom lip for a moment as I look up to meet his gaze. “And thanks for sticking up for me, Brian. You didn’t have to do that,” I tell him softly, hoping that no one hears me and decides to cause a fuss.

“You’re welcome, Sunshine,” he replies softly with a hint of a smile playing on his lips, and I give him a tiny smile in return.

“Hey! You know what we should do?” Lynn suddenly exclaims, causing me to jump a little.

“What should we do, babe?” Zacky replies as he lazily runs his fingers through her hair.

“We should totally play Truth or Dare! It’ll be so much fucking fun!”

“Fuck, yeah!” Jimmy cheers.

“I dunno, guys,” I mumble, nervously combing my fingers through my hair.

I’ve never been a fan of the game. To be honest, every time I play, I always pick truth. I just can never bring myself to take a dare. I’m always worried that the person daring me would make me do something so embarrassing that I would wanna go hide under a rock for the rest of my life.

“It’ll be so much fun, Lana,” Laney says in hopes that I’ll change my mind.

“Yeah, it’ll be fucking great!” Jimmy beams. “Come on. Just play a couple rounds?”

“Fine,” I sigh in defeat. “I suppose that I can play a couple of rounds, but I have to go home in a little while.”

“Alright! We’ve got Lana to play! The rest of you guys in?” he asks as he looks around the circle, and everyone nods their heads.

“So, who should we have go first?” Matt queries, his eyes scanning the circle for a volunteer.

“Lynn should go first, because she’s the one that suggested we start playing,” Danni replies.

“Alright,” Lynn says with a grin, turning her head to look at her boyfriend. “So, Zack, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he replies.

“Okay, I dare you to stand in the middle of the circle and… sing a song that you’ve made up, and it has to be completely original,” she giggles.

“Challenge accepted,” he says as he gets up from the ground and walks into the center of the circle.

He clears his throat, and very loudly, begins to sing one of the most random songs I think I’ll ever hear in my life. Everyone erupts into a fit of giggles and laughs. He pauses for a moment, trying to figure out how to start the chorus before belting it out. A few moments go by and he finally finishes his ridiculous song, bowing as we all applaud him. He takes his seat next to Lynn, puts his arm around her, and begins to look around for his victim. He settles on Johnny.

Several minutes go by and only three people haven’t gone; Jimmy, Brian, and me. I anxiously chew on my lip, hoping and praying that some sort of miracle happens and I don’t have to take a turn.

“Brian, truth or dare?” Danni asks as she sets her drink down in front of her.

“Truth.”

“Alright… Why haven’t you been drinking today?”

I turn my head to look at the drink in his hands and I realize that she’s right. He hasn’t been drinking beer. He’s completely sober.

“I don’t wanna risk running into Lana’s dad with alcohol on my breath. Can’t screw up around my fake girlfriend’s parents,” he replies, and everyone chuckles at his answer.

“Good enough for me,” Danni giggles. “Go ahead and choose your victim, Brian.”

He goes on to pick Jimmy and dares him to walk out into the park and chase the first thing he sees. Jimmy pulls himself up onto his feet and we all follow him out towards the playground that we had met up at. He suddenly darts after something, running drunkenly after a large bird, resulting in everyone breaking out into a fit of laughter.

“What is he running after?” I query, fighting back a laugh as he shouts something at the bird.

“I think it’s a fucking duck!” Johnny replies with a laugh as Jimmy skids to a halt, the duck nowhere to be seen.

“He fucking got away!” Jimmy cries out, panting a little bit as he makes his way towards us.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lynn says as she wipes away tears from her eyes. “That was fucking hilarious!”

“Yeah, it was!” Laney agrees as her bout of laughter begins to die down. “Now, come on, let’s get back to the game!”

We all return to the spot and sit down in our spots. Unfortunately, I’m still stuck sitting between Brian and Jimmy. Everyone gets settled in their places, and Jimmy clears his throat.

“So, Alana, you are the only one left to go. So what’ll it be?”

“Truth,” Lynn answers for me. “She always picks truth.”

“Yeah, truth,” I timidly answer.

“Alright, so, Lana, if Brian were the only guy left on Earth, would you date him for real?”

“Oh… Umm…” I glance over at Brian to see his gaze trained on me, as if he’s actually interested to hear my answer, as if he’s hoping that I’ll say yes. “I don’t think so.”

“Ouch!” Matt exclaims.

“Damn, that’s harsh!” Johnny says, shaking his head.

“Wow, Brian, how does it feel to know that Lana wouldn’t even date you if you were the last guy left?” Zacky laughs.

Brian doesn’t reply, he just bites his lip and stays quiet, acting like he is hurt by my answer, which in turn makes me feel bad for what I said. But I had to be truthful…

“Okay, Lana, now, you get to ask Lynn,” Jimmy says, motioning for me to go on and let the game continue.

I go ahead and ask Lynn, and she picks truth. Since I’m not good at games like these, I just ask her what who her first kiss was. The game keeps going, and eventually, it’s Brian’s turn again. Like last time, he’s Danni’s victim.

“So, Brian, what will it be this time?”

“Um… dare, I guess,” he answers with a shrug, probably because he knows that if he picked truth, he would be asked how he feels about the answer I gave earlier.

“Oh… Okay. Then, I dare you to…kiss Alana.”

“What?” he asks blankly as if he didn’t hear her properly.

“I dare you to kiss Alana, the girl pretty girl sitting between you and Jimmy. Figure you should practice now that you two are dating,” she replies with a bright smile. “Maybe you can change her mind about how she answered that question earlier.”

“Right… Okay, then,” he mumbles as he turns to face me.

Why, why did she have to dare him to do this? Not only has my first kiss been screwed up, but now my second kiss, the one I could always say was my first kiss, is going to be the result of some silly dare.

“Oh, and it has to be a real kiss. No getting out of it with just pecking her cheek,” Danni quickly adds on.

“She can’t tack that on last minute, can she?” Brian asks everyone, and Lynn simply nods her head.

“Technically, she can because you haven’t completed the dare yet.”

“Of course,” he mutters as he returns his attention to me. He sighs and looks down at me, his brown eyes meeting mine. “Alright, Sunshine, are you ready?”

I simply nod my head, knowing that I can’t get out of this. He lifts his hand and gently places it on my cheek. Just like last night, my heart races at his touch. He begins to lean in, and my eyes fall shut, waiting for the inevitable.

But to my surprise, he misses my lips. Instead, he places his lips right beside mine. If they touched anything, they touched the corner of my mouth. He plants two more soft kisses in the same spot and slowly pulls away from me. My eyes flutter open and a smile tugs at my lips as the tip of his nose brushes over my skin. He rests his lips on my cheek, and an unexpected giggle passes from my lips as my face begins to heat up. I lower my head a bit just in case I’ve started blushing and my fingers lightly run across the spot by my mouth that his lips touched.

I certainly wasn’t expecting that…

“Lana? Lana?”

“Huh?” I ask, shaking my head a little bit.

“God, you’re totally out of it,” Jimmy chuckles. “I asked you to pick truth or dare.”

“Oh… Truth,” I reply, still in somewhat of a daze.

“Okay. Um… What is your favorite color?” he asks me, which certainly isn’t the question I was expecting.

“Purple.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s always been purple,” I tell him before moving on to Lynn.

We go through several more rounds when I notice the sun beginning to set. I need to get home before Henry decides to send out a search party for me. I wasn’t planning on staying out this late, but I guess I just lost track of time. Aside from the awkward questions that I had to answer, I did have a good time playing, which is definitely a first for me and Truth or Dare.

“Sorry to do this, guys, but I’ve gotta head home before my step-dad has a heart attack,” I announce to everyone as I begin to stand up.

“Awww, can’t you stay a little longer?” Jimmy pouts, and I shake my head.

“Sorry, Jimmy, but I can’t risk having him freak out. If he does, I can’t hang out again for a very, very long time.”

“Well, we’ll see you tomorrow,” Danni says with a wide smile.

“Of course. I’ll see you guys later, thanks for inviting me.”

“We’re glad you could make it,” Matt and Laney chime together.

“Do you want us to walk with you?” Lynn asks me.

“Nah, that’s alright. It’s not too far away and it’s not dark yet. I’ll be fine,” I assure her with a smile. “Bye!”

“Bye!” they all call out after me, and I begin on my way back home.

I stuff my hands in my pockets as I walk across the grass, glancing over at the previously deserted playground. There’s a little girl digging a hole in the sand with a plastic shovel and pail, like one you would take to the beach. She’s cute, but I wonder why she isn’t here with her friends. I look around and notice two women sitting on a bench, one of them telling something to a little boy with messy, sandy blonde hair. The little boy nods his head and runs off to join the little girl.

“Hey, I was hoping I’d catch you,” someone says from behind me.

I turn my head to see Brian standing there. He looks a tad out of breath, as if he just sprinted across the park. “Um, why did you want to catch up with me?” I ask confusedly.

“Well, I just… I didn’t think that you should walk home by yourself. I mean, it’s getting dark, and what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t walk you home to make sure you get there safe?”

“We’re not really dating, Brian.”

“I know, but your family thinks we are, and I don’t wanna get on Henry’s bad side because I let you go home by yourself.”

“Fine, you can walk me home, then,” I sigh, letting my gaze return to the little boy and girl on the playground just in time to see him kick the pail full of sand over and all the sand trickles back into the hole. “Why do boys do shit like that?” I mumble, shaking my head as I resume walking.

“Why do boys do what?” Brian asks, falling into step with me.

“Be mean and do things like kick sand into a hole a girl’s been digging, or pull her hair. Stupid stuff like that.”

“It’s like I said earlier, some guys are just mean,” he replies with a shrug. “And others just don’t know how to tell a girl that they like her and will do anything to get her attention, even if it’s negative, because at least then she knows who he is.”

“I’m never going to understand that. Your gender is stupid,” I inform him as I fold my arms across my chest.

“I’m sorry that we aren’t as mature as you girls,” he chuckles. “But just because you don’t understand us doesn’t mean that what we do doesn’t make sense.”

“Whatever you say,” I mumble as we leave the park and fall into silence.

“So, did you have a good time?” he asks me after a couple of minutes go by.

“Yeah, I actually did.”

“That’s good…” he trails off, biting his bottom lip for a moment.

I don’t know why, but I almost feel compelled to keep the conversation going. Too bad I can’t think of anything to talk about. So we just fall into another moment of silence where neither of us knows what to say to the other. But it’s not like we really have a lot to talk about; it’s not like we have anything in common outside of the friends that we now share. And it isn’t like I can ask him about his guitar playing without letting him know that I’m a creep that watches him through my bedroom window every night. We simply have nothing to talk about.

I look at the houses as we pass by them, watching as lights begin to turn on behind closed blinds. A breeze rolls through and I rub my hands over my arms to get rid of the chill that’s running through my body.

“Are you okay, Sunshine?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you’re okay. Are you?” he repeats, his eyes briefly locking onto mine.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little cold, that’s all,” I answer with a dismissive shrug.

“Here, wear this,” he says as he unzips his hoodie and takes it off.

“You sure you won’t be cold?”

“I’m sure. Take it.”

“Thanks,” I tell him with a slight smile as I take the hoodie from him. I slip on the oversized sweatshirt and zip it up, pushing up the sleeves a little bit so my hands aren’t hidden. “Why did you wear this today? It was really warm.”

“Oh, Suzy made me wear it before I left. She figured it’d get chilly by the time I started walking back home. I guess it’s just a mom thing,” he shrugs.

“Well, thanks. And you’re sure you’re not cold?” I ask him, looking down at his arms to see if there are any goosebumps on his skin.

“I’m sure,” he chuckles. “You know, for someone who wouldn’t date me if I was the last guy on Earth, you almost sound like you care.”

“I’m sorry about that, Brian.”

“Why? Did you lie?”

“No, no, I didn’t lie… It’s just that it came out kinda harsh. I mean, you aren’t all that bad. You seem like you’d be a good boyfriend and all, I just…don’t see myself actually ever dating you.”

“Um, thanks? I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not…”

“Look, you’re a lot nicer than I thought you were, but that’s not going to erase the fact that you terrorized me for years. I just don’t think I could ever date someone that has been that mean to me.”

“Oh… So that kiss didn’t change your mind?” he queries, and I laugh.

“Sorry, I don’t think it did. But I do have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Why didn’t you do the dare like you were supposed to? Why didn’t you kiss me?”

“Well, when we started this thing, we agreed on hand holding, hugging, pecks on the cheek, stuff like that. Kissing wasn’t on the list,” he replies simply.

“But how were you able to get them to believe that you really kissed me?”

“Remember how I put my hand on your cheek?”

“Yeah,” I reply with a nod.

“It blocked their view of our lips, so as far as they know, I really did kiss you. You really helped sell it, though. I wasn’t expecting you to…react the way you did, but it really helped them believe that we kissed.”

“Right, well, I had to do something so they’d think it was real. They probably wouldn’t have believed it if I just acted as if nothing happened…”

“Yeah… But I kinda hoped that with that reaction you would have at least changed your answer to the whole last guy alive question.”

“Sorry, but you’ll have to fake kiss me better than that,” I joke as we begin to walk up my driveway.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind, then. But I doubt they’re going to dare us to kiss again. All the fun’s been taken out of it.”

“Oh, well, I guess you’re never going to get the chance to change my mind, then.”

“I guess not…”

“So… Um, thanks for walking me home and everything,” I say as we make our way onto the porch.

“Yeah, it’s not a problem at all. You’re on my way home and all,” he smiles, and I softly laugh at the comment.

“Yeah… So, I’ll see you at school?”

“Yeah, definitely,” he nods.

“Great… Oh, I should give you this back. Don’t want Suzy to freak out that you aren’t wearing it,” I mention to him as I begin to unzip the hoodie.

“Nah, it’s alright, I’m sure she’ll be fine if I just say I let you wear it.”

“You sure? Because it’s not a problem--”

“I’m sure. Besides, it looks good on you…kinda.”

“What can I say? Baggy clothes suit me.”

“You do wear them a lot… I was surprised to see you in that outfit last night. I knew that you’d look nice and all, but it wasn’t exactly something you’d normally wear.”

“Yeah, that was Sandi’s idea to get me all pretty and stuff. If I had picked out what I wore last night, I would have probably ended up looking like this.”

“Nice,” he chuckles.

“Yeah…”

“Well, you looked beautiful last night. Really, you did.”

“Thanks…” I mumble; and I can feel my cheeks begin to warm up again.

“So… Um, have a good night.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

“Thanks.”

“Goodnight, Brian.”

I wait for him to say something back or move, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just stands there and looks at me. I swallow hard, not really sure what I should do. Is he waiting for me to go inside before he leaves? Am I supposed to say something else to him? I don’t know what is going on.

He inches forward, his eyes focused on mine, and I nervously lick my lips as I stare up into his brown orbs. I don’t know why I never realized this before, but he does have pretty eyes. I always thought that they were small and beady, but they aren’t. They’re warm, they’re deep, they’re even kind of…beautiful. He brings his hand up to my face, gently resting it on my cheek, and I can hear my pulse begin to pound in my ears. He starts to lower his head, closing the space between us, and my eyes instinctively fall shut.