Page 22 of My Fake Relationship With the Popular Boy (Port Lane Romances #1)

fourteen

Jaxon, Eli, and Sabrina wanted to go off on their own for the morning, leaving Madison and I to hang out by ourselves.

“This all works out pretty well, actually,” Madison said as we left the hotel.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ve been wanting to spend some one-on-one time with you,” she said. She linked her arm through mine. “I feel like since you and Jaxon started dating, we haven’t really gotten the chance.”

I flushed, feeling bad. I must have been the worst friend in the world, abandoning her for a relationship that wasn’t even real.

“I guess I have,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mind,” Madison said, with a small shake of her head. “I’ve done it to you enough times, haven’t I?”

Every time Madison got a new boyfriend, she tended to fall head over heels for him.

The relationships never lasted long, she didn’t want them to, but for the time that they did, she almost forgot about me.

But then two weeks later, when she inevitably broke his heart, I was always there to welcome her with open arms.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I admitted.

“So, I’m thinking we should get a mani-pedi,” Madison said. “I know we have to go again soon anyway because of prom but I really feel like it today.”

“I’d love nothing more,” I said in relief. I was exhausted. It was a little ridiculous, considering the fact that we’d only been on the grad trip for a few days, but I guess pretending to date Jaxon Andrews took a lot of energy out of me. A pedicure was all I wanted.

It didn’t take us long to find a nail parlour that had availability. It was probably a benefit to us that we were there in the morning on a Friday, when most people were still at work. The workers pointed us to the back wall, where they had all their nail polishes on display.

“What colour are you thinking?” I asked Madison.

“Not sure,” she said. “Probably something light purple. You?”

“Dunno,” I said. My eyes drifted over to the blues.

I picked up a light blue shade that was almost the exact same colour as the romper that Jaxon had complimented me on the other day.

I bit my lip and turned it over in my hand.

A weird warm and fuzzy feeling spread through me — one that I previously never would have associated with Jaxon Andrews of all people.

“Is that the colour you’re thinking of getting for your toes?” Madison asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “My nails too, probably.”

“Really?” she asked in surprise.

“Yeah, why?” I suddenly felt self-conscious about my choice. “Don’t you like it?”

“I do,” Madison said. “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you get something other than a French manicure.”

I loved French manicures because I knew they would never clash with my hair. Being a ginger was rough when it came to wearing colours. But I knew this shade of blue looked good on me already, so I wasn’t too worried.

“Well, Jaxon likes this colour on me and I trust his taste,” I said.

Madison rolled her eyes but she had a big smile on her face. “You guys are too cute.”

I blushed and looked down at the nail polish bottle.

“It’s not a big deal,” I murmured.

Honestly, I was a little embarrassed that Jaxon liking the colour made such a difference to me. I shouldn’t have cared what he thought. It wasn’t like he was really my boyfriend or anything.

“Sure, it’s not,” Madison said breezily. She picked up a lilac nail polish bottle. “Come on.”

We were seated at tables next to each other while we got our manicures, which was perfect as far as Madison was concerned, because she really wanted to talk to me.

“Okay, so,” Madison said, once we were settled in. “You need to tell me everything.”

“About what?”

“About Jaxon!” she exclaimed. “We’ve barely been alone since you guys stared dating so I haven’t had the chance to ask.

How did this start? What’s it like dating him?

Is he nice to you? He’s been acting weirdly nice when we’re together in a group but I want to make sure he’s like that all the time because if he’s not, I’ll kick his ass. ”

She stared at me expectantly but all I did was stare back with wide eyes. I was extremely overwhelmed by the number of questions she had just asked and had no idea how to answer.

“Um…” I managed to get out.

“Okay, okay, too many questions,” she said. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Got it. So just answer this: how the heck did this start?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. I giggled a little, more out of awkwardness than anything else. “It just sort of happened out of nowhere.”

“I need you to give me a little more than that, Vi.”

“I don’t know what there is to say.” I shrugged helplessly with one shoulder. “He waited for me in the janitor’s closet one day and?—”

Madison’s nose wrinkled. “The janitor’s closet? Why?”

“It’s the spot at the end of the passageway by my locker,” I said.

The moment played out in my mind as I explained it to her.

Had that really been less than two weeks ago?

It felt like it had been forever. “It was nice. Like the one private place in the whole school. And then he just… asked me out.”

“I guess that is sweet,” Madison admitted. She tilted her head. “Though, I’m a little surprised you said yes.”

“You’re the one who said it was about time I started dating him!”

“Well, yeah, everyone could see what a great couple you two would make,” Madison said.

I wasn’t even going to touch that can of worms. I didn’t know how I could ask about that without making it obvious that I wasn’t really dating him.

“So, why are you surprised then?” I asked.

“Because everyone could see it but you, Violet!” she said. “I thought you hated him.”

“I didn’t hate him,” I said. “I just wouldn’t have considered us friends, necessarily.”

“Even if you didn’t hate him, you didn’t like him much,” Madison said. “I thought it was going to take a couple more years for you to finally realize that you wanted to be with him.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, well… It’s not like this is a serious relationship, anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Madison asked.

“It’s more of a fling than anything,” I said. I desperately hoped that I was remaining accurate to what I had told Eli because he definitely told Sabrina, and I wouldn’t put it past Madison and Sabrina to compare notes. “Just for the summer, you know?”

“Well, you better watch out,” Madison said. “It may start out as a fling, but it’s so easy for feelings to get a little too strong. And then, the next thing you know, you can’t bring yourself to end it.”

I obviously knew that wouldn’t be an issue, but I couldn’t tell her that. At least, not with my real reasoning.

“I’m not too worried about that,” I said. “Jaxon and I aren’t going to the same university and I’m not interested in a long-distance relationship, so it will have to end.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Madison asked, her eyes squinting in confusion.

“Well, I know it doesn’t guarantee that feelings won’t be involved but I have to do what’s best for me and?—”

“No, no, not that,” Madison said. “The first part. Aren’t you going to Queen’s University?”

“Yes,” I said slowly. Why would she be confused about that? We’d accepted our offers there together.

“Jaxon is going there too,” Madison said. It was my turn to frown in confusion.

“What? Of course he isn’t,” I said. “He’s going to the University of Ottawa. He made a whole post about it when he got his offer.”

Madison shook her head. “No, Violet, he changed his mind at the last second. He decided he didn’t want to move so far away from his family. Didn’t he tell you?”

“It must have slipped his mind with the grad trip and everything,” I stumbled out.

Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised he didn’t tell me.

It wasn’t like I was his real girlfriend or anything.

He didn’t owe me information about his life.

“I mean, the deadline was only a few days ago, so it makes sense. How did you find out?”

I held my breath as I waited for her answer, just praying that she wouldn’t say Jaxon told her. I had no idea how I would go about explaining why Jaxon had told her that information but not me.

“Yeah, I guess we’ve been pretty busy since then,” Madison said dismissively. “I only know because Sabrina told me the other day. She was excited because it means all of her friends are going to university together. Isn’t that great?”

“Brilliant,” I said, though my voice probably lacked enthusiasm. I was too shocked to even fake it or try to mirror the giant smile on Madison’s face right at that moment.

“You can move over to the pedicure seats,” my nail tech said.

I got up and walked the short length of the store, my thoughts in turmoil as I did so.

Jaxon going to the same university as me changed everything about our arrangement.

I thought I would be able to just escape this weird ruse once high school ended, but with Jaxon around for the next four years, it would keep going in some form.

We’d have to pretend to be exes, right? I didn’t know how to do that!

And what if our friends expected us to hate each other even more after we broke up than we did before?

From what I could tell from TV shows, that was expected.

Would Eli feel weird being in the middle of all that?

Madison sat down in the spot next to me a moment later and immediately started fawning over the massage chairs. I had to admit, they were pretty cool, but I was having trouble fully appreciating it right then.

The door jingled as somebody walked into the store. I didn’t pay it any mind until an all too familiar voice broke through the room.

“How are you lovely ladies doing today?” Jaxon asked. He came over to my chair and kissed my cheek, while Sabrina and Eli walked by us to look at nail polish colours. “Hi,” he said sweetly.

He had a couple of big shopping bags in his hand but I couldn’t tell exactly what they were. I guess that was what was so important that he did that morning.