Page 42 of Scarlett and the Fake Boyfriend (Scarlett #2)

How the heck did he know anything about the consequences of skeet in the eyes? He was too young for that. Everyone was too young to experience that. Seriously, who were these people I associated with?!

Jacob put his arm around my shoulders. “I am so sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s fine. I’m the one that needs to apologize to everyone. What if my dad found out about the cameras?”

“First things first,” RJ said. “We need to take them down.”

Sophie sighed. “I hate that for me. I’ve gotten used to falling asleep to the footage. ”

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah I replay it every night before bed.”

“Why?”

“To look for clues.”

Sure. Yeah, this whole thing had gotten out of control. We probably deserved to be arrested. “Good plan, RJ. Do you need a distraction?” I asked.

“No, Liam and I’ve got this, baby doll. Right, Liam?”

“I don’t know, I feel really nauseous right now. Did you guys really need to talk about Jacob skeeting on Scarlett?”

I hit his arm. “You’re fine.”

“So freaking gross,” he said. “Who would want to cum on your face?”

“Me,” Jacob said.

I laughed and looked up at him.

“You two are the cutest fake couple I’ve ever seen,” Sophie said. “So cute it doesn’t seem fake at all.”

I felt my cheeks turning red.

“But do you all know the plan for homecoming?” Sophie asked.

“Yeah, we’re riding in your limo,” Liam said.

“Not the limo coordination,” Sophie said.

“I’m talking about the kiss thief plan. Scarlett is going to dance with the remaining four guys.

Plus Mr. Halifax and Axel. She’ll pay attention to height and cologne and all that.

And then she’s going to make out with the kiss thief and compare.

We should be able to unmask him by the end of the night. ”

I was very aware of Jacob’s thigh pressed against mine.

“Love it,” RJ said. “But don’t we need a bit...more? ”

“Agreed,” Jacob said. “We need to take turns keeping eyes on Scarlett all night.”

“I think my dad will have that covered,” I said.

“No, Jacob is right,” Liam said. “The four of us need to take turns so that if someone pulls her into a dark closet, we can beat the shit out of the guy right away.”

“No one is beating anyone up,” I said.

“It’s a good plan,” Soph said.

“Soph!”

“Minus the beating up the guy thing.”

“And I have the perfect operation name,” RJ said. “Operation All Eyes on Baby Doll.”

I sighed. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m not going to be going to homecoming. I’m going to be grounded for the rest of my life.”

“I really don’t think Dad can hack your phone,” Liam said.

“Maybe not.”

“For all we know, the Hunter Tech emergency really was something unrelated to us,” RJ said. “Because my dad hightailed it out of the apartment early this morning too.”

“Or maybe they’re both hacking it,” Soph said.

My stomach was in knots either way.

***

I peered into my dad’s classroom between every class. But he wasn’t here today. And that just made my nerves worse.

RJ and Liam let us know at lunch that the cameras in the men’s locker room had successfully been taken down. Much to Sophie’ s dismay.

“I wonder if Mr. Halifax will be subbing for your dad again today,” Sophie said.

I groaned.

“He’s not your kiss thief, Scarlett.”

“He texted me last night saying he wanted to marry me. And that I’d be 18 soon enough.” I sighed. “Only an adult would be thinking about marriage.” I hated everything I’d just said.

And Sophie didn’t seem to have a rebuttal for that.

“I’m definitely sexting an adult, Soph.”

“Not necessarily.”

I just stared at her.

“It could just be a very faithful and committed senior.”

“No senior has ever been described that way,” I said.

“Maybe it’s a different teacher?” she offered. “Maybe it’s Mr. Hill.”

I dry heaved in the hall.

“Don’t do that,” Soph said. “It reminds me of when I almost hurled because of all those sexual things I said about your dad. Before I realized he was our new teacher.”

Yeah, I’d never forget that. I dry heaved again.

She slapped me on the back. “I’m sorry I mentioned Mr. Hill. It’s not him. He hates you. Unless it’s like a love-hate situation.”

“Stop talking.”

She looped her arm through mine and pulled me into our last class of the day.

And to my horror, my dad was standing in front of the chalkboard. He looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes. And he was sipping a cup of coffee even though the school day was almost over.

The bell hadn’t rung yet. And I couldn’t just sit here for an hour while I slowly died waiting to hear what was going on. I walked right up to him. “Dad, is everything okay?”

He took a slow sip of his coffee. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Mom said there was a Hunter Tech emergency?”

He took another sip of coffee and then placed the cup down on his desk. “Right. Rob is handling it from here.”

Okay... “I know you were busy, but did you happen to fix my phone yet?”

“Rob is handling that.”

Did that mean the Hunter Tech emergency was about my Hunter Tech phone?!

“Actually, if you want to head to Sophie’s after school today, Rob can give it to you then. I need some time alone with your mother.”

Ew, what?

The bell rang.

“Take a seat, pumpkin. Class has started.” He turned away from me.

I didn’t understand what was happening. But my dad was acting so weird. I hurried to my seat.

Axel leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “So...did he hack your phone?”

I just shrugged. Because I had no freaking clue. And I swear I didn’t hear a single thing in class. My heart was beating so loudly I could hear it in my eardrums.

And I didn’t get a chance to ask my dad anything else, because as soon as class ended, he walked out of the room.

I turned around in my seat. “Guys, did he seem off to you?”

“Definitely,” Sophie said.

Jacob slowly nodded.

“Eh. He always acts that way around me,” Axel said. He somehow managed to make me laugh.

“Did he mention...anything?” Sophie asked. She was being vague because she couldn’t talk about the cameras in front of Axel.

“He just said to get a ride home with you,” I said to Soph. “And that your dad will give me my phone back.”

“Huh. Maybe your dad just can’t even look at you right now.”

I groaned. “Not helping.” At least hanging out at Sophie’s would ensure I wouldn’t be grounded until at least tonight. I slowly got up. “Well it was nice knowing you guys.”

Jacob slid his hand into mine as I retreated to my locker. “It’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that. I hope you have a backup date to homecoming.”

He laughed, but he didn’t say that he didn’t have a backup date. “I told you to stop texting stuff to that creep.”

“Well, I can’t undo it now,” I said. But I would certainly be more careful going forward.

“Ready?” Sophie said as she closed her locker.

I nodded.

“Wait,” Jacob said. “How did Axel know about your phone? ”

“Hm?” My voice came out squeaky and weird.

“He clearly knew that your dad had your phone.”

“Oh. Right.” We hadn’t mentioned any of this as soon as Axel sat down with us at lunch. And obviously Axel hadn’t been in the car with us on the way to school. “I told him earlier,” I said.

“When?”

“This morning.”

Jacob gave me a weird look.

“I mean last night. Because he came to dinner. To work on our project.”

“Oh.” Jacob nodded. “Right, I forgot about that.”

Why the heck had I panicked and said this morning?! “My dad took my phone last night while Axel was there,” I said, adding to the weirdness. Even though I was pretty sure I’d already fixed it? I needed to stop talking.

“Sorry to cut in, but we really gotta get going,” Sophie said. “I’m dying to see what my dad has to say. See you tomorrow, lover boy.” She pulled me away from Jacob. “Have you seriously not told him that Axel is spending the night yet?” she whispered.

I shook my head.

“Why?”

“I...I don’t know.”

“I do. Because you’re worried he’ll call off the fake dating thing if he knows you and Axel are actually dating?”

“I’m not dating Axel.”

“He sleeps over every night, Scar.”

“As a friend.”

“You’re blind. Axel is obsessed with you. Operation Too Hot to Handle worked. And now it’s like...reversing. Because Jacob is getting jealous too. And so is your kiss thief if he’s proposing. You gotta make a choice soon.”

“I can’t even think about this right now.”

She nodded. “Right, because we still need to unmask your kiss thief. You can make your choice at homecoming then, I guess.”

There was no way I was going to be allowed to go to homecoming. And the thought of having to make a choice when I liked all three guys made me feel sick to my stomach. “No, I meant I can’t think about it because I’m worried about my phone being hacked. And the cameras in the locker room.”

“What cameras in the locker room?” She winked at me. Her phone buzzed. She looked down at it and smiled.

“What?” I asked.

She laughed and then slid her phone back into her blazer pocket. “Nothing. Come on, let’s go prod my dad for information about this Hunter Tech emergency.”

And we didn’t have long to wait to talk to him. Because he was waiting for us in Sophie’s kitchen.

He was sitting at the kitchen island with his elbows on the counter and his fingertips steepled together. There was a phone in front of him. And he looked more serious than I’d ever seen him.

“Hey, Dad,” Sophie said, like she didn’t see how serious he looked.

“Daughter,” Uncle Rob said slowly. “Neice. Please take a seat. We need to talk.”

Sophie laughed.

“Now,” Uncle Rob said .

Sophie looked at me. She actually looked a little worried.

We both took a seat opposite him.

He kept his fingers steepled and leaned in a little bit. “Do you have any idea what kind of day I’ve had?”

Sophie shrugged. “You said there was a Hunter Tech emergency?”

Uncle Rob lowered his eyebrows as he stared at her. “Don’t play games with me.”

I had no idea what to say. Uncle Rob loved games. I’d never seen this side of him. I always said he was cooler than my dad, but he did not seem cooler right now. And I was worried he had the capability of grounding me too.