The next morning, Anna was sitting on the front steps, tracing shape the dew with her sneaker, when Jake’s motorbike appeared at the end of the block. She jumped up and checked for the tenth time whether her tennis racket was securely fastened on the back of her moped.
“Bye,” Andy said from the doorway. One of their pugs, Thorn, pressed his face against the screen door next to him and made a sad noise. “Have fun.”
“Yeah right,” she said. “You’re the one who’s going to have fun. I wish I could stay home all day, too.”
He nodded, looking down at the ground. Mrs. Fisher came up behind him and swung open the screen door. Thorn trotted out and nosed Anna’s ankle.
“Are you wearing enough sunscreen, Anna?” her mother said anxiously. “Did you bring extra?”
“Yes, Mom,” Anna said. “I’m wearing enough sunscreen to cover the entire population of Australia. I think I’ll survive the sun; it’s the pain and humiliation of tennis you should be worried about.”
“Hey, Fisher Family,” Jake said, skidding to a stop in the driveway. “Ready to go, Anna?” She was glad he didn’t make a girlfriend joke in front of her mom. That would have been tough to explain.
“Sure.” She swung onto her moped. “Bye, Andy.”
“Bye.” He went back into the house. Mrs. Fisher stayed on the porch, waving, until Anna and Jake were halfway up the block and couldn’t see her through the trees anymore.
Anna had hardly been able to sleep all night. What was going to happen that day? What did being a pretend girlfriend mean? What would she have to do? Who would Jake tell? What would people think? She had no idea how to act around a real boyfriend, let alone a pretend one.
The wind whipped her hair back from her face as they coasted down the hill to the stop sign. Anna could feel Jake glancing over at her, and she wondered whether she looked like a sweaty mess already. As they paused at the corner, waiting for a car to pass, suddenly he leaned over and put one hand over hers on the handles. Anna forze. She wanted him to leave it there, but she didn’t want to seem obvious about wanting him to leave it there.
“Anna,” he said. She loved the way he said her name.
“Yeah?”
“Are you ok? You look nervous.”
“Well,” she said, “you know, tennis. Me and sports, a bad combination.” Wow, could I sound like a bigger dork?
“You don’t have to do this,” he said. “If you don’t want to. It’s okay. I can find another way to get rid of Stacey.”
“Oh, that?” She said with a nervous laugh. “I’m not worried about that. Seriously. Um. It’s the tennis. Nerve-wracking tennis.” Oh, and maybe the fact that I’m alone with Jake. No Andy, No Lily. Just me and Jake.
"If you're sure," he said, taking his handback to his own Handles. Anna took a deep breath.
"Besides, didn't you e-mail her already?" she said. "We wouldn't want her to think I got sick of you that fast." She tried t smile.
"True," he said with a grin. "Okay, but just remember I really appreciate this." He lifted up and zoomed ahead, and it took her a minute to recover to follow him.
Spotlight was down a winding road through palm trees. The camp had a pool, basketball and tennis courts, sports feilds and a large barn for activitys when it rained. A couple of different summer programs used the camp, but the one Anna and Jake were doing was Tennis for Teens.
YOU ARE READING
Rules of Attraction
Teen Fiction"Okay, here are the rules of Pretend Dating Anna," she said. "You need to stop comparing me to a giant gorilla." "What are the other rules?" Jake asked. "That's the only one," she said. Was her voice shaking? Could he tell? "So far. I'll...
