Page 3

Evan

“ I can’t believe you’re actually going through with this for me,” James says as he opens his front door.

I roll my eyes. “You’re my best friend. Besides, you said it’s to help Mia. What kind of Godfather would I be if I said no? It’s not like we’re committing fraud by telling some snobby old bird that we love each other.”

Hell, it’s not even a lie. I do love my best friend, just not in a romantic way. People have legitimately gotten married under less auspicious circumstances, and all we’re doing is pretending to be engaged for a quick school interview.

“Oh!” I add, pulling a ring box from my pocket, “Here.” I shove it towards my best friend, who looks delightfully bewildered. “I thought this might help sell it.” I waggle my left finger where a particularly bawdy silver ring, studded with cubic zirconia diamantes, is taking up prime real estate. “I’ve got one, too.”

James is looking at the matching ring in the box with palpable scepticism. “These are very…”

“Shiny?” I offer.

“Cheap.”

I gasp and press my ring-clad hand to my chest dramatically. “I’ll have you know; I spent fifty on the pair of them.”

“You were robbed.”

“I was on a time-crunch.”

“Evvy!” Mia appears from around the corner and flings herself at me. I catch her and squeeze her tightly. She’s the only person who gets away with destroying my already short-enough name. It was adorable when she was a toddler, and it’s still sweet now.

“Hey, princess,” I greet her, then set her back on her feet. She looks so adult in her school uniform that a pang of something undefinable goes through my chest. She’s a young woman now, not a little kid. Not that I’ll ever treat her as anything less than my favourite little buddy. “You know, if you wanted me to be your dad, you just had to ask. We didn’t have to go through this whole charade.”

James rolls his eyes. “Ev…” he says warningly.

“Jay…” I turn it back on him.

Mia giggles and gives me another squeeze. “You guys have got this in the bag,” she declares. “You already argue like an old married couple.”

“We’re not old, Mimi,” I huff. “We’re not even twenty years older than you.”

She scrunches her nose. “Thanks for reminding me what Dad got up to in his teens.”

James groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I liked it better when you didn’t know what sex was.”

“Ew,” she protests, cringing for real, “please don’t say the word.” I open my mouth and she points her index finger at my nose. “You either.”

“Spoilsport,” I sigh.

“Anyway,” Mia gives herself a shake and then grins as she looks back and forth between me and her dad, “as I was saying. You’ve got this.”

***

Mia was right. We do got this. Have this? Whatever. The older woman with the stick lodged firmly up her butt is eating our fake relationship up.

As suspected, it’s not hard to pretend to be dating —or engaged to— James. We don’t even need to lie when she casually probes us with questions about how we met or, in my case, how long I’ve been in Mia’s life. I don’t actually believe she has a right to ask any of these questions, but it’s no hardship to play along for Mia’s sake. She has enough decorum not to ask us when we went from best friends to falling in love, so I almost feel like we don’t need to lie at all.

“And when’s the wedding?” Bronwyn asks brightly, right as I’m considering nudging the conversation back towards Mia, considering my fake soon-to-be stepdaughter is the actual applicant on the enrolment papers.

James and I exchange sideways glances, and I squeeze his knee before answering, “We haven’t set a date. The engagement itself is still relatively new.”

Still. Not. Lying.

“Well, we’d love it if you’d consider our on-campus function centre as an option for the event.” She leans over the desk and winks. “We do considerably lower our rates for alumni and their families.”

“Oh, well, we—” James starts, his tone already dismissive and when I squeeze his knee again, I’m a little more forceful.

“ Love that,” I cut him off. “I mean, obviously, we need to talk dates, and consider all our options, but—”

“There’s actually been an opening in November. I know that’s almost an entire year away, but our venue is highly sought after. The grounds make a stunning backdrop for professional wedding photos, and our usual decorators have won awards for their work three years running now.” She pulls a couple of folders out from her desk drawer and slides them across the shiny tabletop towards us. “We can finalise Mia’s enrolment at the same time as booking your wedding in.”

James’ expression darkens. “You’re not suggesting that you’ll only enrol Mia if— oof! ” His head swivels between Mia on his left and me on his right. It looks like we both kicked him at the same time.

Sure, the implication that they’ll only take Mia in exchange for us selling our souls to them is actually illegal (to be honest, the whole setup of discriminately selecting students based on their families’ backgrounds is illegal, if it can be proven) but we are not ruining Mia’s chance to get into her dream school. We’re just not. No matter how evil said dream school might be.

“Of course Ms. Michaels isn’t suggesting that, babe,” I chime in before feathers can be ruffled. “She’s just saying that we can do both things right now if we want to. I’m sure we can still arrange Mia’s enrolment right now and then get back to her, or the lovely reception team, once we’ve had a chance to discuss dates.” I shoot the now pinch-faced principal my most endearing smile. “Right?”

***

“Evvy, you are the actual best!” Mia crows when we’re safely inside the confines of my car. She’s slid herself into the middle spot in the backseat so she can lean between James and me as I drive. “Did you see her face?”

“I bet she’ll be re-wording her trap for the next couple,” James mutters darkly. “The nerve!” He turns in his seat to look at his daughter. I catch him frowning from the corner of my eye. “Are you sure you want to attend a school like this? One so clearly…” he rolls his wrist, searching for the right adjective.

“Evil?” I suggest. “Ethically unsound? Morally corrupt? Snooty? ”

Mia rolls her eyes. “This is why I didn’t feel bad asking you to lie to them,” she justifies. “I need to get into NIDA, guys. This is my best shot at that.”

“I think our acting was NIDA worthy,” I decide. James snorts.

“Well, it’s not like you had to do anything outside of our usual. Other than hold my hand or squeeze my knee, I guess.”

“I would’ve kissed you,” I shrug. “As far as men go, you’re attractive enough.”

Mia bursts into hysterics as James scoffs and flatly replies, “Gee, thanks.”

Mia begins to babble about her plans for next year, whipping out her phone to text her friends to tell them that she got into the prestigious school, and James and I share an indulgent smile over the centre console before I focus on getting us safely back to his house.