Page 21 of My Fake Date With My Childhood Friend (Port Lane Romances #3)

fourteen

Since it was getting so close to the holiday break, a lot of our teachers had more or less given up on teaching and were just giving us free time in class.

In my last class on Wednesday, our teacher told us we could sit anywhere we wanted and work on homework since most of us had big assignments due on Friday, right before the break.

Alexander and I sat down on the floor in the back corner of the room, away from everyone else, and decided to each work on our homework.

At first, I really tried to focus so I wouldn’t have anything to do that night, but it took exactly five minutes for me to get bored of that. I managed one question from my French homework before I threw down my pencil and groaned.

“What's the matter?” Alexander asked.

“French.”

He grinned. “The language as a whole?”

“Yes, I think it should just stop existing,” I said with a nod.

“I'll get on that.” He sighed and flipped through the pages of the book he was holding. “Though, honestly, I'd take French over English any day.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “Why?”

He shrugged. “It's easier. French is just basic conjugating and stuff. I have to write essays in English, which takes way too long.”

“Let's trade.”

“What?”

“I'll write your essay for you, and you do my French homework for me,” I said.

His brows pulled together. “We can’t just trade homework, Penny.”

“Why not?” I asked. I leaned over and flipped his book over so I could see the cover. “Your essay’s on Macbeth? Easy.”

“You’ve read Macbeth?”

“I did it last year,” I said. I tossed my notebook onto his lap and grabbed the book. “Come on, everyone wins.”

Alexander sighed, but he handed over his open laptop. I took it happily, willing to do anything to avoid my French homework. Luckily, Alexander already had his whole essay planned out, so all I had to do was actually write it out. It took me no time to get into it.

Unfortunately, our assignments weren’t evenly matched. While Alexander finished my work in no time, it was taking a while for me to do his essay, and he wasn’t helping by tapping his foot against mine every two seconds.

“Do you need something?” I asked finally.

“I do, actually,” he said with a grin. He moved to sit beside me instead of facing me. “Do you want to go out after school?”

“I have to buy a dress for the formal,” I said.

I wasn’t in the best mood about it. Nikki and I had planned to go dress shopping together, but we hadn’t gotten the chance before everything had fallen apart between us.

I’d been putting off going after that, especially since I hadn’t known if I was going to go before making this deal with Alexander, but it was getting to the point that I didn’t really have a choice now. “Why?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to do something together,” he said. “But, um… I could go dress shopping with you if you want.”

I was surprised by the offer. Hanging out outside of school wasn’t really part of our deal since nobody would ever see us.

But it wasn’t like I had many other friends to go with.

I supposed I could ask Liv to come with me, but it wasn’t like she and I were extremely close friends — I was sure that once Alexander and I “broke up,” she would go back to just being the person who silently sat next to me in class.

Still, I didn’t want Alexander to feel obligated to come with me.

“You don’t have to do that,” I said awkwardly. “Most boyfriends don’t help their girlfriends pick out dresses for the formal.”

Fake boyfriends definitely didn’t.

“No, I want to,” Alexander said. He grazed my shoulder with his fingers, brushing my hair back. “You’re not going with anyone else, right?”

It was easy for me to read between the lines of that comment and see that he meant that he knew I didn’t have any friends other than me.

I felt like I should have been offended — I would have been offended if anyone else said it — but I was mostly just grateful that Alexander was concerned enough about me being alone while dress shopping that he was offering this.

He was a genuinely nice person, and I knew he meant well.

“No, I’m not,” I admitted. “And I guess having a second opinion would be nice.”

“Perfect,” he said with a wide smile. “Meet me by the front doors after school.”

The shop was tall and elegant, decorated with the black and white colour scheme of the style.

It was more than the usual small boutique; it was a fashionista’s dream made real.

The air in the store was tinted with the sweetness of lavender and the essence of vanilla.

The scent of flowers formed a bouquet of recognition, a confection of happiness, a familiar perfume.

I wasn't surprised it was so nice; there were only a few dress shops in our entire town, but this was the one that I'd been recommended time and time again.

There were quite a number of girls in the shop, some with their moms, teenagers with their friends, and young women with their friends.

A group of teenage girls were ogling Alexander.

They kept looking at him and whispering among themselves.

I was annoyed that they were being so blatant about it.

It didn't matter if Alexander and I weren't actually together, because as far as they knew we were, and they were smiling flirtatiously at him anyway.

Surprisingly, though, Alexander seemed oblivious to them. From the moment we stepped inside the shop, his attention was entirely on the dresses. He walked around, looking at each one closely, and I could tell that he was considering each one.

“Penny, come look at these,” he said. I followed his gaze, and my eyes widened. The dresses were amazing. They were all different cool coloured shades, and they all had a beautiful lace overlay. I could see myself wearing one of them. “Do you like any of these?”

I looked at the dresses and then back at him. I couldn't believe it when I finally found my voice.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly, “I absolutely love them.”

“You should try them on,” he said.

As if on cue, a worker appeared beside us.

“Can I start a dressing room for you?” She asked brightly.

“Yes, please,” Alexander answered for me. He gestured to two of the dresses. “I think these would be good, right Penny?”

“Yeah,” I said. “They're great.”

“Perfect.” She took the dresses off of the rack. “I'll go put them in a dressing room for you. Feel free to keep looking around and come over when ready to try them on.”

Within fifteen minutes, I had a pile of dresses in my dressing room. Alexander was taking the whole thing more seriously than I anticipated. I figured I would pick the first dress that I liked and be done with it, but Alexander was insistent that we find the perfect dress.

“What do you think about this dress?” I said, coming out with the third one.

We had already vetoed a loose blue dress and a purple dress that I liked, but Alexander thought it wasn't quite right for this formal.

This one was a tight red dress that landed just above my knees.

I stared at the mirror, and it seemed okay to me.

“I don't think it's right,” he said, shaking his head.

“You really think it's that bad?” I asked. I spun around so he could see the whole thing. “I think it looks good.”

Alexander leaned forward, resting his forearms on the tops of his legs.

“It's good,” he said, pressing the tips of his fingers together. “But it's not perfect.”

I rolled my eyes. “I'm not looking for a wedding dress here. It's just a stupid formal.”

Even though we couldn't have been here for that long, it felt like it had been hours. I was tired of this.

“The formal is as important as your wedding day,” he said in a dramatic voice, “and I expect you to treat it as such!”

Despite my annoyance at this whole situation, I burst into laughter, and he quickly followed suit, unable to hold the serious expression on his face.

“Seriously, though,” he said, “If you're going to be spending this much money on a dress, it should be one that you like.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. He was right, and I knew it. I would have just said that we should stop and come back another day, but I had left this for so long that I desperately needed to get the dress today. “Whatever, let’s get this over with.”

I came out next, wearing a puffy pink dress. And while Alexander's opinion wasn't the be-all, end-all for me deciding my dress, I decided right then and there that I would never wear something that my boyfriend couldn't hold back his laughter at seeing.

“Thanks, Alexander,” I said sarcastically. I didn't even make it all the way out of the room to show him. I just turned on my heel and went back inside.

“I'm sorry!” He called after me. “It was just a little too puffy!”

I was starting to regret letting him tag along. I felt like I was on an episode of Say Yes to the Dress.

The process continued on for nearly two hours. I tried on so many dresses I should be on the cover of Teen Vogue or something. My legs were tired, and I was physically and mentally exhausted.

As I pulled on a dark purple, one-strap mini dress that I was pretty sure was dangerously close to breaking dress code rules.

I decided that this was going to be the last dress I tried on today.

I would just have to pick from one of the many, many other dresses I'd already worn because I was totally over this.

All my annoyance and exhaustion were completely forgotten, though, when I looked at myself in the mirror.

The dress fit like a glove, hugging my body and showing off my curves in all the best ways.

The colour complimented my skin tone and dark brown hair perfectly too.

I couldn't believe how good it looked, and I knew that this was the dress I would be wearing for my formal.

And when I walked out and saw the look on Alexander's face, I knew he thought the dress was perfect too.

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” I said this while staring at the mirror and smiling. “Yes, this is the perfect dress.”

He stood up and grabbed my hand, twirling me around. “You look gorgeous.”

I giggled in happiness. “Thank you.”

For the first time in a while, I was actually starting to look forward to this formal.

After changing back into my clothes and getting the dress, we walked back out onto the street.

I groaned. “I forgot we still have to walk home,” I said. “My legs hurt from standing so much.”

“Okay, easy fix,” Alexander said. He took the shopping bag from my hand and then crouched down. “Climb on. I'll give you a piggyback ride.”

“Oh, no, you don't have to do that!” I'd feel bad asking him to; it was still a long walk back to our houses.

“Yes, I do,” he said, nodding his head. “I went a little overboard, making you change so many times. The least I can do is give you a ride home.”

“Alexander—”

“I'm not leaving here until you agree, Penny,” he said. He looked at me seriously. “Come on.”

I sighed. He was too stubborn — there was no way I was going to win this argument.

Even if I somehow managed, it would take another two hours of us being here, and that wasn't worth it to me.

I hoisted myself on his back and wrapped my legs around him.

He stood up and adjusted himself with me on his back.

“Let’s go, clumsy, Penny!” He laughed.

I was in a really weird period of my life right now, but I was glad that Alexander was by my side, helping me with everything.

He was a gem, and I definitely couldn’t have done this without him.

For the first time in a long time, I really thought about him and how much I liked him.

He was cute, but that was just the beginning of it.

I liked him because he was different. He was interesting, smart, and funny, too.

He didn't care what other people thought about him, which was something I admired.

“You really like the dress?” I asked him as we turned onto our street.

“I do,” he said. “It looked fantastic. And as a bonus, you'll make Joseph rue the day he ever cheated on you.”

I sighed and rested my chin on his shoulder. “Somehow, I don't think that will ever happen.”

“I don't know how,” Alexander said in a raspy voice. “If I was him... there wouldn't be a moment that went by that I didn't regret it. It would be the biggest mistake of my life.”