CHAPTER 3

It was five o’clock already and I was in my room staring at my phone when I heard the knock on the dorm door. I glanced at the time again and it was 5:01 p.m., which meant she was exactly on time. I had expected Lily to be late because she looked like the kind of person who would spend ten minutes checking her notes before leaving the house, but apparently I had judged her wrong.

I heard my roommate Tyler get up from his bed and say,

“I got it.”

I immediately sat up because absolutely not, Tyler could not be the one to open that door. I jumped off my bed and rushed past him just as he was reaching for the handle, and I told him quickly,

“I've got it.”

Tyler frowned at me and said,

“You've got what?”

“The door.”

“I can see that.”

“I mean I'll open it.”

He stared at me for a few seconds before moving aside with his arms folded while saying,

“Okay, weird.”

I tried to act normal as I opened the door because I did not want him asking who was coming to see me and I definitely did not want him meeting Lily without an explanation.

Lily stood outside in the hallway wearing a simple sweater with a pair of jeans, her hair was pulled back and her glasses were sitting perfectly on her nose, and she had two books pressed against her chest with a small bag hanging from her shoulder.

She looked at me and said,

“Hi.”

And I replied,

“Hi.”

She looked past me into the dorm and asked,

“Is that your roommate?”

I glanced behind me and said,

“Yes, that's Tyler.”

She smiled politely and said,

“Hello.”

Tyler replied with a grin and said,

“Hi, are you a friend of Logan's?”

I nearly choked at that moment. Lily and I looked at each other without saying anything, then I quickly stepped aside and said,

“She is here for school.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow and said,

“For school? In his dorm room?”

And I said,

“Yes.”

“What schoolwork are you doing in here?”

“Tyler, I'll explain later.”

He looked between Lily and me again and said,

“Alright, have fun with your schoolwork, lovebirds.”

Before grabbing his jacket and headphones and walking out. I waited until his footsteps faded down the hallway before locking the door.

Lily looked at me and said,

“He seems nice.”

And I told her,

“He is actually very annoying.”

“You were acting suspicious.”

“I wasn't.”

“You rushed to the door like the place was on fire.”

“I didn't want him disturbing us.”

“Right.”

I picked up her bag and told her,

“Come on in.”

She followed me inside and I closed the door behind us. She stopped almost immediately and said,

“Whoa.”

I leaned against the door and said,

“What?”

“Your dorm is big.”

I looked around and realized it was a standard double room but my side was covered with hockey stuff, my hockey sticks were lined up beside the closet, there were a few framed photographs from games hanging above my desk, my jerseys were displayed in frames, and there was a small shelf filled with trophies and medals.

She walked closer to one of them and said,

“You have a lot of trophies.”

“I know.”

“You could say thank you.”

“Okay.”

“You're welcome.”

I dropped her bag on the chair. She immediately started taking out books and said,

“I brought some things for the lessons.”

I looked at the pile and said,

“That's a lot.”

“I don't know exactly what you need help with yet. I brought some of my notes too.”

“You actually carry all these around?”

“Most of the time.”

“No wonder your bag is always huge.”

“Can we focus?”

“We will.”

She sat on the edge of the chair and began arranging the books. I watched her for a moment and then I said,

“Wait, we have another problem.”

Her face became suspicious and she said,

“What problem?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“What did I do?”

“We can't start this contract looking like this.”

“What is wrong with how I look?”

“Nothing is wrong with it.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“People know you as the nerdy girl.”

“I am a nerd.”

“I know.”

“Then?”

“If we're going to pretend to date each other then I can't suddenly start walking around school with you looking exactly the same.”

“So you want me to change?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“We change your look.”

“What?”

“Yes.”

“Logan, trust me?”

“I don't understand why I have to change anything.”

“Because we're trying to make people believe we're dating. People need to notice the difference.”

She still looked unconvinced, so I continued and said,

“You don't have to stop being smart. You don't have to stop reading your books. You don't even have to stop being a nerd if that's what you want.”

“Then what's the point?”

“The point is that you don't have to look and act like the stereotypical nerd everyone expects you to be.”

She remained quiet for a while. I reached toward her glasses and said,

“First this.”

She immediately pulled away and shouted,

“No, no, I can't see without those!”

I froze and said,

“Oh, sorry.”

“You almost made me blind!”

“I didn't know.”

“You could have asked.”

“Fine, we'll keep them.”

“Thank you.”

“But we can do something else.”

“Like what?”

“My sister.”

“Your sister?”

“Yes, she's also in this school and I already paid her to come help with makeup.”

“You paid her before even asking me?”

“Yes, because I knew you'd say no.”

A few minutes later my dorm door opened and my sister walked inside. Her name was Mia Carter. She looked at Lily first and then looked at me and said,

“Who is she?”

“This is Lily, the one I told you about.”

Mia looked at Lily again and said,

“Your new girlfriend?”

Lily nearly fell off the chair and said,

“No!”

I coughed awkwardly and said,

“Not exactly, it's complicated.”

Mia's eyebrows went up and she said,

“Interesting. Why would you date a nerd, Logan? You never liked that type.”

Lily looked embarrassed. I quickly told my sister,

“Just help her with the makeup, I already paid you.”

Mia dropped her makeup bag on the desk and said,

“I'm surprised my brother is dating someone like you. He usually goes for a completely different type of girl.”

She kept wondering out loud why I would choose a quiet bookish girl, but she said she would do her best since I already paid in full.

Lily looked nervous. I told her,

“You don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with.”

And she nodded and said,

“Okay, I'll try.”

Mia started working on her face. I sat on my bed and watched. At first Lily kept looking at herself in the small mirror Mia had given her and she seemed unsure about everything. But I knew Lily was changing. She was not turning into someone else and she still looked like herself, there was just something different about her face. Her eyes looked brighter and her features stood out much more.

When Mia finally stepped back I looked at Lily properly. Lily looked at herself in the mirror and her mouth fell open and she whispered,

“Wow.”

I smiled and said,

“Yeah.”

She turned toward me and said,

“I look beautiful.”

And I responded too quickly and said,

“Yes, you do.”

Then I cleared my throat awkwardly and said,

“I mean, yes, you look nice.”

She smiled and said,

“No, yes, I really do.”

Mia laughed while packing her bag. I looked at my sister and said,

“Thank you.”

She zipped her bag and said,

“Pleasure doing business with you. He paid in full already, so we're good.”

She walked toward the door and Lily called her and said,

“Wait, thank you!”

Mia turned around and said,

“You're welcome. I'm happy to see my brother finally brought a nice girl around, even if I'm surprised by his choice.”

After Mia left I looked at Lily again and she was still staring at herself in the mirror. I told her,

“Tomorrow we go shopping.”

“What?”

“Clothes.”

“Why?”

“Because if we're going to convince people we're dating then we need to make it believable.”

“What's wrong with this?”

“Nothing, but tomorrow you're going shopping with me anyway.”

“Fine.”

“Good. So what next?”

“Now we study.”

“Finally.”

I reached for one of the books and said,

“Before we start I need you to understand something.”

“What?”

“I don't need you to make me the smartest guy in school.”

“I figured.”

“I just need to graduate.”

“Then you're going to have to listen to me.”

“I will.”

She pulled out a notebook and opened it and I sat across from her at the desk. For the first time that day I felt like maybe things were finally going to work out. I had Lily helping me with my grades, I had a plan to make Cameron notice her, and tomorrow we'd start making our fake relationship believable.

It sounded simple, almost too simple. But as Lily began explaining the first topic I had completely failed to understand in class I realized something important. This girl was very serious about academics. And if I wanted to graduate I was going to have to be just as serious as she was. Because this was not just about pretending to date Lily Parker anymore, it was about getting my entire future back on track.