Page 13 of My Fake Date With My Childhood Friend (Port Lane Romances #3)

eight

The next day, there was no teacher in my math class.

Our teacher left sick partway through the day, so we had an hour free.

One of the other teachers passed by the room every fifteen minutes or so to make sure we hadn’t burned the room down or anything, but other than that, we were left to our own devices.

Technically, we were supposed to be doing the silent reading, but almost nobody was listening to that instruction.

Personally, I was just scrolling through my phone, but other people were talking with their friends or listening to music.

This was the class Alexander, and I sat next to each of during, but he’d gone off early in the period to talk about something. Just as I was getting bored of Instagram, Alexander came back to sit with me.

“What are you doing after school on Friday?” He asked. He sounded oddly chipper.

“Nothing.”

“Want to go to my friend’s place with me tonight? He’s having a small Christmas party before he leaves on vacation.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Part of me was excited at the prospect, but there was also a part of me that didn’t want to go.

A Christmas party didn't sound like something I particularly wanted to go to right now, but I'd been having so much fun eating lunch every day with Alexander's friends, so it would be fun to hang out with them even more.

“How Christmas-y is it?” I asked hesitantly.

“Nothing too crazy,” Alexander said with a shrug. “I think there will be Christmas cookies and eggnog and stuff, but it's really just a party.”

I guess that wouldn't be any more Christmas-y than my own house was at this point, to be fair. And it was probably good for me to go with Alexander so we could continue to sell our fake relationship.

“Sure,” I said. “Sounds like fun.”

“Great, I'll pick you up around seven,” he said with a grin. “And are we still on for tonight?”

“For sure,” I said. Alexander was coming over to my house after school, and we were going to formally tell my family that we were together.

While it wasn’t a big deal for my side of the bargain, it did matter a lot for his — he had yet to find a way to subtly drop the news to his parents that we were together, so he thought telling my mom would mean that she would tell his mom for him. It was the perfect plan.

The bell rang. We both quickly packed up our things — not that we had much out anyway — and headed out into the crowded hall.

As soon as I stepped out of the classroom, the scent of baked goods wafted through the air, a sweet smell of fresh cinnamon and gingerbread, a smell that made my mouth water.

I breathed in deeply. The scent was warm and even comforting for a moment until I came crashing back down to reality.

“I think the cooking class is selling the food they made today,” Alexander said. Even though he was pretty tall, to begin with, he was up on his tiptoes to see above the crowd.

“That explains the smell.” Normally, they kept the door to the kitchen closed, so you would only smell the remnants of the food as you walked past the room.

But on special days like today, when they made something particularly good, they left the door open and set up an unfolded table to sell the food.

“I think it's gingerbread cookies!” Alexander said excitedly. He pushed himself even further up on his toes, putting his hand on his shoulder for support. “And hot chocolate! We should get some.”

“You can,” I said as he dropped back down to flat feet. “I'm fine.”

“Oh, come on!” Alexander said. “Get in the Christmas spirit, Penny.”

“I'm afraid it's going to take a lot more than some gingerbread to do that.”

“Since when do you hate Christmas so much?” Alexander asked. “I swear you used to like it. You would beg your parents to leave our Christmas Eve party early because they told you that he wouldn’t come until you were asleep.”

“Yeah, well,” I sighed, “I was a kid. I don’t believe in Santa anymore.”

“It’s not just about Santa, and you know it,” Alexander said. “It’s everything to do with Christmas. Like you suddenly hate it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Alexander.”

“Yes, you do,” he said. He bumped his shoulder into mine. “You just don’t want to admit it.”

“What are you, my therapist?”

“Come on, Penny!” He said. “I’m your boyfriend. You should be able to tell me anything.”

Fake boyfriend, I corrected in my mind. Did that come with the same terms and conditions as a real boyfriend? Did I have to share things with him? Well, I knew I didn’t need to — but maybe it would help me if I did.

“Joseph cheated on me a month before Christmas,” I said.

“I mean, we were supposed to go to the Christmas Market the day I found them. And now he’s taking Nikki there and parading her around to all of his friends as if she was the girl he wanted all along.

I lost my two best friends in one day, and that hasn’t really made me want to celebrate. ”

“Oh.” He had that same uncomfortable look on his face that everyone had whenever I mentioned Joseph.

“Sorry,” I said. Joseph would have been mortified if I ranted like that in public, even in a crowd like this where nobody was listening to us. “I don’t know what got into me.”

“Don’t ever apologize for your emotions,” he said seriously. “I know you said that it hasn’t put you in the mood to celebrate, but I think it’s all the more reason to try to get into the holiday spirit! Don't let that jerk steal even more from you.”

I couldn't help but smile at that. Alexander always seemed so determined to make things right, and he was always so optimistic. It was a nice change of pace from my recent mindset.

“And how do you suggest I do that?”

“Well, it's going to be a long process,” Alexander said with a forlorn shake of his head, “but I think the first step is right in front of us.”

He gestured to the crowded hallway. Between the baked good, the large Christmas tree, and everyone's cheery faces, it was obvious everyone was in the Christmas spirit. Alexander took my hand and led me through the slowly thinning crowd to the food table.

“Hey, Penn!” Liv said. She was one of the three people behind the table. “Oh, and Alexander.”

“Why do I feel like you're more excited to see my girlfriend than me?” Alexander asked.

“Because I am,” Liv said, sticking her tongue out at him. She came around the side of the table and pulled me into a hug. “I'm so glad you guys came by! What can I get you?”

“I think I'll just get a gingerbread cookie,” I said. I could feel the warmth of her smile against my cheek.

“Done!” she said. She put two gingerbread cookies onto a napkin and handed it to me. “And for you, Alexander?”

“Gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate, please,” Alexander said.

“Peppermint and whipped cream?”

“Yeah, thanks.” He glanced at me. “You sure you don't want a hot chocolate? Because if we walk away and you want mine?—”

“You would give it to me,” I teased. I wouldn't actually expect him to, but I thought it was something a girlfriend would say.

Granted, I couldn't say for certain because Joseph had never been one to share anything with me.

He said that if he always shared his things with me, then I would never learn to be 'independent,' whatever that meant.

Maybe he was just preparing me for the break-up.

He probably shared everything with Nikki.

He probably bought her everything she wanted.

“Yeah, you're right,” Alexander sighed.

“I'll give you one just in case, Penny,” Liv said. “If you don't drink it, I'm sure Alexander would be more than happy to take it off your hands.”

“Hey!” Alexander said though he sounded more joking than angry. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Liv said innocently, but when Alexander looked away, she winked at me. She put extra whipped cream on top and handed the drink to me.

“Thanks, Liv,” I said, taking it carefully. I didn't want to spill it everywhere. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing!” she said happily. “It's all free.”

“No, you guys worked hard,” I said. I tried to dig my wallet out of my bag, but it was too hard to reach with only one hand. “Let me give you something.”

“Don't bother,” Alexander said. “She won't take it. You have to sneak her the money somehow.”

“Sneak her the money?”

“Yeah, like, put it into her wallet when she's not looking or something,” Alexander said. “Trust me, she won't accept it otherwise.”

“Oh,” I said. I guess that made sense, though I wasn't used to it.

Nikki and I never kept track of how much we owed each other; we just traded off paying for each other, which inevitably evened out.

And Joseph was always very on top of how much we owed each other, going as far as to give me an itemized list at the end of each week.

“We'll find a way to pay her back at the Christmas party or something,” Alexander whispered in my ear. I laughed.

“What was that?” Liv asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing,” I said quickly.

“We were just talking about what we're going to do now,” Alexander said. “I'm thinking we go back to Penny's place and watch some Christmas movies.”

“Sounds like fun,” Liv said with a smile. “I'll see you guys tomorrow.”

We said goodbye and headed out. After a quick trip to our lockers to get all of our stuff, we started walking back to my house.

“Are we actually going to watch a Christmas movie?” I asked. I dunked my last gingerbread cookie in my hot chocolate and took a bite.

“Of course,” Alexander said. “I refuse to let you wallow in this Christmas hate. I'm going to redeem it for you.”

“I don't hate Christmas,” I said. “It's just... different after everything with Joseph.”

“I know,” Alexander said. “But it's still Christmas, and you deserve to enjoy it.”