Chapter Six

Hot Stuff

Wednesday, September 21

Mandy sat across from Ms. Chen, her special ed counselor. She played with the fringe on her purse as Ms. Chen scanned her revised essay. Ms. Chen frowned and cocked her head, her gestures increasing Mandy’s anxiety. After struggling over her topic sentence and first page last night, she’d decided to write what she wanted to, not what Mr. Spriggs expected. It was supposed to be a response to the book, so how could he penalize her for not having the same response as him. Right?

She wished she could sneak in her earbuds and listen to “Blinded by the Light,” this seventies song that was about ten minutes long, full of synthesizers and nonsense lyrics that always cheered her up. Unfortunately Ms. Chen had a strict no-cell rule while in her office. She sighed, resigned to sitting still. She was not a kindergartner on crack, no matter what Caleb said.

Ms. Chen cleared her throat and looked up from the paper. “Well, Mandy, this is certainly an unusual take on The Catcher in the Rye. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it.”

“Is that good or bad?” Mandy asked, anxiety streaking through her.

Ms. Chen frowned. “I’m not sure. I suspect it’s not what Mr. Spriggs is looking for.”

Mandy chewed her lip. “But it’s my honest response to the book.”

Ms. Chen sighed and leaned back in her chair. “This grade is important for you, Mandy. You need at least a C to maintain eligibility for the dance squad.”

Mandy nodded. “Yeah. But it doesn’t seem right for me to have to lie on a paper just to please a teacher.”

“It’s not lying, Mandy. It’s…meeting expectations to achieve your goals.”

I call BS, Mandy thought, but she kept her mouth shut. She squeezed her eyes shut and grasped for a mantra, but she couldn’t come up with anything that fit this situation. Lies are okay if you get what you need? No way. The universe would definitely not approve of that.

She squirmed uncomfortably as she thought of the big lie she and Caleb were attempting to pull off. Maybe the universe would give her a karmic pass on that, just this once?

“What about the, uh, mechanics? Grammar and stuff?” Mandy asked, pushing away worries about her karma. Writing papers was her biggest struggle in school. Usually J.T. helped her, but she hadn’t asked him for help on this since she knew he was busy with his own AP workload.

He and Caleb were in a lot of the same classes; J.T. always complained about how Caleb sat in the back and never participated, then aced everything. Mr. Spriggs taught AP English, too, and thought Caleb was a genius. At least that’s what J.T. said, usually sounding resentful. J.T. was a great writer, but according to him Spriggs only had eyes for the demon.

“You definitely need to clean up the mechanics,” Ms. Chen said. “Do you have a tutor?”

No way was she going to get assigned some random person. She’d beg J.T. for help again, bribe him somehow. Not like he ever expected payment. He was awesome sauce like that.

“Yeah,” Mandy said. “I do.”

“Well, I recommend working with your tutor to rework the essay so it’s more aligned with Mr. Spriggs’s expectations. Focus on the structure and mechanics. You have interesting ideas, Mandy, but they’re scattered all over the place. Try rewriting the paper so it’s more…favorable toward Holden Caulfield.”

Mandy sighed heavily. Holden Caulfield was a jackass. Kind of like Caleb. She sat up straight like a marionette yanked by a puppeteer. They were similar, now that she thought about it. Both rich, both moping around like they had terrible lives.

“What do you think, Mandy? Do you have time to rewrite this with all of the Spirit Week work you’re doing?”

Not to mention my job at Build-a-Buddy, Mandy thought, and taking care of Gran while Dad’s on the road. The universe never gives us more than we can handle. She forced a smile. She truly did believe that because she’d lived it, even when she’d thought she couldn’t make it one more day.

“Sure,” she said. “No problem.”

She’d figure out a way; she always did.

…

Caleb sat at his usual lunch table, glancing up in surprise as Mandy slid onto the bench across from him, her perfume filling his nose.

“Uh, hi?” he said, making it sound like a question.

“Hi, fake boyfriend. How’s your day going so far?” She flipped open her salad container and poured dressing on the wilted leaves.

“Okay,” he said, watching as she stabbed her salad like she wanted to kill it. “Better than yours, I’m guessing.” He tensed, telling himself he didn’t really care about whatever drama she was about to unload.

She glanced up at him, her eyes flashing. “Good guess, demon,” she chattered. “I met with Ms. Chen this morning and she says I have to completely rewrite my stupid Catcher in the Rye essay for Spriggs.” She shoved a bite of salad in her mouth, then spoke around it. “I hate that stupid book.”

Caleb forgot his vow to ignore her drama. “You hate Salinger?”

She nodded.

“We’re about to end the shortest fake relationship at Sky Ridge High.”

She stared at him, eyes widening in shock. “What? Why?”

“I can’t fake-date someone who doesn’t appreciate Salinger. Total deal breaker.”

She set her fork down. “Of course you think he’s a genius.”

“Anyone who appreciates literature thinks he’s a genius.”

“You’d really fake break up with me over that?” She looked worried, her crazy spider eyelashes fluttering.

“Maybe.” He took a drink of his soda, studying her. He wouldn’t, but Mandy didn’t need to know that yet. He liked messing with her.

She leaned forward and closed her hand over his, sending an expected jolt of heat through him. “Stalker sighting,” she whispered, glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t look. Just pretend you’re telling me how awesome my outfit is.”

He glanced down at their hands, noticing her nail polish for the first time. Every nail was a different color. He tried not to laugh. “Your manicure is…interesting,” he said, looking into her eyes like he was telling her he loved her, just in case Elle was getting closer. “Do you have different-colored underwear for every day of the week, too?”

Heat flooded her cheeks, and she started to pull her hand away, but he trapped her hand with his. “Is she still watching?”

Mandy swallowed and glanced over his shoulder again. “Y-yes.”

“Good. Keep your eyes on mine.” She refocused on him, and he gave her his sexiest grin. “Tell me about your undies. What color are they today? And when do I get to see them?”

“Caleb!” She gasped and turned an even deeper shade of pink, but he didn’t let go of her hand.

This was perfect. If Elle was watching, all she’d see was him obviously saying something suggestive based on Mandy’s reaction. Now he just had to reel her in so she didn’t smack him and ruin the effect. He leaned across the table.

“Work with me, Disco. Now you tell me how hot I look today.” He winked, hoping Elle was freaking out.

Mandy’s mouth opened like a fish, then she seemed to realize she needed to perform. She leaned forward, her curls falling over her shoulders.

“Smoking,” she said, her low voice matching his. “Black leather totally turns me on.” Her thumb rubbed the inside of his wrist, and Caleb swallowed.

“It does?” he asked, more hopefully than he should.

She leaned back, grinning, wrenching her hand out from underneath his. “It worked! She stormed out.” She sipped from her weird green juice. “And no, black leather doesn’t turn me on. Not even.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

He stared at her, keenly aware that he’d been played. By a crazy hippie. She took another bite of salad and winked at him.

Fuuckkk.

This was not how this was supposed to play out. He was running this game, not her. She was not supposed to impact him like—

“There you are!” Cammie slid onto the bench next to Mandy, and J.T. plopped down next to Caleb. “We looked in our regular spot, but of course you’re eating with your boyfriend.” Cammie shot him a warning glare full of implied castration threats.

J.T. reached over and stole one of his fries. “Yo, Red Ranger. How’s it hangin’?”

Caleb’s glare took in all three of them. “Does this look like the IHOP? Do I have a ‘welcome’ sign on my forehead I don’t know about?”

“I’m a package deal, Caleb. Date me, date my friends.” Mandy smiled again, and though her words pissed him off, there was something in her smile and the teasing lilt in her voice that made him want to laugh. And he didn’t do that very often.

“Hey, Gus,” J.T. said, and Mandy tensed, all the laughter disappearing from her eyes, replaced by something…swoony, misty. Completely unlike the fake sexy eyes she’d turned on him just a few minutes ago.

His gut tightened.

“Hey.” Gus hesitated at their table. He shot Caleb a curious look, then glanced at Mandy, and Caleb decided it was showtime again.

Caleb stretched out his denim-clad leg, moving it against Mandy’s bare leg under the table. She dropped her fork, heat flooding her cheeks again. He sent her a silent message with his eyes, reminding her they were onstage.

“So we’ll meet after school in the library, babe,” he said, casually reaching his hand across the table to cover hers again. “I’ll help you with your essay.”

“You will?” She sounded shocked.

He squeezed her hand. She needed to focus and get into her role, or else Gus was going to figure them out.

“Or you can come over to my place,” he said, working his thumb on her palm like he meant it. “But we both know we won’t get any studying done if you do.” He gave her a simmering look that could’ve melted ice.

“O-okay,” she stammered, her cheeks pink again.

He liked making her blush. A lot. He shot a glare at Gus. “You need something, dude?”

Gus’s eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to reply, but Kay suddenly appeared next to him, snaking her arm through his. “There you are! You keep disappearing on me.” She glared at everyone, then tugged Gus away.

“Wow,” J.T. said, stealing another of Caleb’s fries. “That whole scene was better than Teen Wolf.” He grinned at Caleb. “Do you howl at full moons?”

Mandy leaned forward, furious. “You weren’t supposed to scare him away!”

“Your real boyfriend would.” He glanced at J.T. and Cammie. “I assume you two know about our fake relationship, since the three of you share a brain or whatever.”

Mandy stood up in a huff, grabbing her lunch tray. “It’s called friendship, Caleb. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

Before he could respond, Mandy stormed away. Cammie jumped up to chase after her, pausing only long enough to shoot a glare at Caleb.

J.T. sighed, stealing another fry. “Girls,” he said, shrugging sympathetically. “Some days I’m so glad I’m gay.”