Faking Love (Complete)

Chapter 16 - Ramping Things Up

"I mean, I'm PLANNING to get back together with him, but I don't know," Caitlyn told me with a shrug. "I guess plans could change if the right guy came along and changed my mind. You know?" she asked with a hint of a smile.

"So Colton Crawford is your back-up plan if somebody better doesn't come along?" I asked in a questioning tone, with a raised eyebrow. It sounded crazy to even say that out loud. The thought of Colton being anyone's backup plan was unimaginable.

Sure Caitlyn was pretty and popular, but this was Colton Crawford we were talking about here. Every girl in our school would give up their left arm just for a chance to go out with the guy, and here Caitlyn was, treating him like a last resort.

"Yeah, I guess you could say he's my back-up plan, but don't tell anybody I said that, ESPECIALLY not Colton. Okay? Love ya!" she said in a super sweet, high-pitched voice before leaning in and giving me a tight hug. Then she made a kiss sound as she pressed her left cheek to mine and then her right one, before flipping her long blonde hair in my face as she turned around, opening the bathroom door and walking out.

I just stood there dumbfounded, shaking my head in disbelief. Caitlyn had no idea how bad she was screwing things up with Colton and I knew she was gonna regret it later, but I also knew she was stubborn and wouldn't listen to me even if I tried to tell her.

I followed Caitlyn back out to our table and the rest of our lunch was pretty uneventful. Pretty soon me and Colton were back in his Jeep, driving across town.

"Caitlyn says we need to ramp things up since we only have three weeks left," I told him. "I haven't made much progress with Takashi so she wants us to find an excuse to hang out with him besides doing homework. Do you know of any parties coming up that he's going to?"

Colton laughed under his breath and nodded. "Ummm, yeah. I do actually know of one. It's this weekend."

"Seriously? Whose party is it?"

"Really?" Colton laughed, shaking his head. "You're the only person I know that could forget their own eighteenth birthday party."

My eyes widened. "Oh shoot! That is this weekend isn't it?" I said, slouching down in the seat and tilting my head back, closing my eyes. "Ugh, I was trying to forget," I groaned.

"I forgot how much you hate birthday parties," he laughed.

"I don't hate ALL birthday parties. Just my own," I sighed.

"But why? It never made sense to me. I mean, who doesn't like eating tons of cake and ice cream and getting presents and money?"

I let out an exhale and said, "Yeah, well they sound nice, but I'm always stressed out and scared that nobody's gonna show up, or that my Mom's gonna be wasted and embarrass me in front of my friends. Plus I hate being the center of attention. Birthday parties are literally the worst thing ever invented."

"Yeah, well you better not skip out on your birthday party this weekend or Jasmine will kill you. She's been planning it for like two months. Caitlyn's been complaining that it's all she talks about," he laughed.

"I wouldn't do that to Jasmine. I'll be there, even if it's pure torture," I said reluctantly. "Oh, I almost forgot!" I shouted, sitting up straight and grabbing out my phone. "I need to talk to Takashi's sister. She's supposed to be giving me a makeover before my birthday party. I need to make sure she's still available."

As I texted her, Colton asked, "Why are you getting a makeover? There's nothing wrong with the way you look."

I scoffed, laughing. "Yeah, maybe for being Takashi's friend and lab partner, but if I wanna be his girlfriend, I'm gonna have to make some major changes. Right now, he doesn't even look at me like a potential girlfriend. He hardly even notices me at all. I barely exist to him, but a really good makeover might just change that."