Best of Me

Chapter Three

Hello again! Here's the next update! I'm sorry it's a little slow to start, but I promise we'll be diving in soon.

Enjoy!

Chapter Three:

It's not that I thought finding a fake girlfriend would be easy, I just didn't think it would be difficult to get a friend to agree to it. I asked the few friends that I had if they would be willing, but each one came up with a different excuse.

Alex said she couldn't miss Christmas with her parents.

Kim laughed at the idea and told me it would never work.

Melanie, well, she said she wouldn't play a convincing enough lesbian to make it believable.

And I-I was out of options and running out of days.

I have three days to find a fake girlfriend. I'm starting to think that this is impossible. A part of me wants to come clean and tell my family that it was all an elaborate lie. Maybe they'd understand, forgive me, and our holiday wouldn't be ruined. But I know better than that.

The time CoCo lied to our mom about having a boyfriend while she was in high school. CoCo swore up and down that she wasn't dating anyone, especially Jack Hillerman-local rebel and petty criminal. But, of course, CoCo was dating Jack. When my mom found out through the complex grapevine that is small towns, it became World War III in our house. My mom was livid yelling about respect and honesty leaving my sister cowering from the fiery glare being shot her way. After the fallout of the fight CoCo and my mom didn't speak for weeks. My dad played his usual part of the jester and tried to lighten the tension in the house. Asa, Christopher, and I tried to stay out of it the best we could. We didn't agree with CoCo dating Jack, but she was happy and who were we to tell her she shouldn't be? I know I'm speaking for my siblings when I say we love each other fiercely and loyally, there isn't anything we wouldn't do for each other. Except fight against our mom's word; in our house, her word is law.

That's not to say that our mom is a heartless dictator. Quite the opposite, actually. She is loving, kind, incredibly sassy, but she can be strict with us. Raising four kids with a jokester doctor as a husband can be hard. We were a handful, and she did her best to keep up with us. However, we didn't dare get on her bad side. To upset our mom was to upset the whole family; it was a delicate balance, one I didn't want to disrupt with this huge fucking lie I've been keeping up with for a year.

I got a video call from my family the other day. My mom, CoCo, and Asa were sitting squished together on the couch in my parent's home.

"When are you and Riley able to come down?" My mom asked.

"Oh, Wednesday seems to be the best for her," I responded. I had given myself a timeline to follow and if I wasn't successful by that time, I would have to own up to my actions.

"Perfect, we miss you around here," My mom said.

"Izzy can't wait to see you," CoCo said referring to her five-year-old daughter. She's a little diva, but absolutely adores me. We spend a lot of time drawing together.

"And Natasha has been asking about you," Asa said. "She wants your opinion on some things for our wedding."

"I will be there as soon as I can, I promise," I roll my eyes with a smile. "Where is Chris?"

"Oh, you know, Christopher, always late to the party," My mom sighed. "Anyway, we can't wait to see you!"

"And finally meet Riley," My brother added.