The Game Changer

Chapter 7

Say hi to Ian! Look at the boop-lee-boo at the side. :D 

CHAPTER 7

Tick tock

"Five minutes, Miss Montgomery," my professor reminded me. I was pretty confident about this test and everything was going smoothly. I was down to the last sentence of my last test on the last few minutes of my last semester for this school year. A part of me was excited to bask in the summer sun, to get a tan, to be a bum around the house. I got up from my seat the moment the bell rang and walked over to Professor Lancaster's table to hand in my exam sheet.

He smiled at me as he reached for my paper. "So, Miss Montgomery, how are you going to spend your summer? I hope my best student was planning on doing some advanced reading?" he said, making the last sentence sound like a question. I smiled and was bitterly reminded of the summer I had ahead of me.

"Doing new things, sir. Exploring new territory, I guess," I replied. He gave me a bemused look before waving his hand, as if dismissing me.

"Have a good one, Miss Montgomery," he said.

"I hope so. Have a good one, too!" I nodded and spun around. I walked slowly to the parking lot, trying to make a game plan for my summer with the Radke's and birthmom search in my head. So far, I came up with 5:

1) Smile. A lot;

2) Be flexible;

3) Look for her as fast as I can;

4) Don't lose myself; and

5) Remember that this is all an act.

I seemed to have been too deep in thought because I suddenly found myself in front of my car. Someone was leaning on it, arms folded across the chest, staring at an object that could have been a million miles away.

"Ian? Wha- what are you doing here?" I asked. I consciously tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.

"You do that a lot when you're nervous," he said matter-of-factly.

"Do what?" I asked defensively.

"This," he said. He reached for a lock of hair and gently tucked it behind my ear, his finger lingering there.

"How do you even know that?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper.

"I like to pay attention," he said matching the volume of my voice.

"What are you doing here?" I managed to ask, snapping out of it.

"Oh, that. We're leaving tomorrow, remember? Just wanted to make sure you were all ready."

"Well, yeah. I'm all packed and everything," I replied. I noticed that their was a folder on the roof of my car. "What's that?" 

"Oh, yeah, which reminds me: Olivia Moore was from a high school in town. I don't know how he did it, but we now have a list. Five Olivia Moores, all about a 4-hour drive away. That's pretty convenient, considering that our place is relatively close to these locations."

"Wow. That's a lot to take in. And fast," I replied. It was definitely a lot to process and everything was going really fast.

"I'm willing to be your personal driver," he said with a warm smile. I smiled a little.

"Hey," he said, rubbing one of my shoulders. "It's going to be fine. We're a team, alright?"

"Thanks, Ian. And you're...efficient," I said.

"I keep my promises," he replied confidently.

"Don't worry, I'm going to be the best pretend girlfriend anyone has ever seen," I reassured him.