Fake Boyfriend - Kate Brian Read Online Free PDF Page A

and it hadn't worked in the slightest.

    "Don't go, Iz," Vivi said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to attack you. I j... I don't want you to go backward. I mean, you're gonna be at Stanford next year. It's gonna be a whole new world, you know? New people, new guys.... Why would you want to go backward?"

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    Isabelle's eyes watered as she shrugged. "I love him. I'm sorry I can't just turn that off."

    She took a step past Vivi and grabbed her pink Nine West raincoat and Kate Spade overnight bag off the floor. "Thanks for trying, guys. I do appreciate it. I just kind of want my own bed right now, you know?"

    Vivi and Lane exchanged a defeated look. "We know."

    They walked Isabelle upstairs, and Vivi gave her a hug before sending her off to her car. When Vivi closed the door, her shoulders sagged.

    "How are we ever going to get her over him if she doesn't want to?" she asked.

    Lane shook her head. "I don't know."

    Vivi stared at the tiled floor of the foyer. "Y know, I could have a long relationship if I wanted one. It's just that the guys at school can't handle me."

    ou

    "I know."

    Lane put her arm around Vivi's back and Vivi rested the side of her head atop Lane's. Together they shuffled toward the kitchen with its 1970's avocado countertops and yellow Formica table. Vivi's mother loved kitch, and therefore hadn't changed one thing in their kitchen since buying the house from an elderly couple when Vivi was still in kindergarten. Vivi yanked open the ancient freezer and took out a few pints of ice cream while Lane went for spoons and bowls and toppings. Within two minutes they had put together a pair of towering sundaes. Vivi took a huge bite, dripping chocolate sauce down over her hand. She grabbed a napkin from the ceramic cow holder at the center of the kitchen table and sighed.

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    "All right. That's it," she said, sitting up straight.

    "What's it?" Lane asked warily, nearly losing some of her ice cream out the side of her mouth.

    "We are going to come up with a way to keep Isabelle away from Sluttig," Vivi said, determined.

    "Like what? Kidnapping?" Lane asked.

    Vivi narrowed her eyes, imagining Shawn tied up in a rat-infested basement somewhere, wearing nothing but dirty rags and begging for mercy. "Nothing that drastic," she said. She grabbed her bowl and spoon and a few more napkins. "Come on. Let's go up to my room and brainstorm."

    "But what about the movie?" Lane asked, stalling.

    "Screw the movie," Vivi said, shoving another huge wad of ice cream into her mouth. "This is much more important. We have to save Izzy."

    ***

    "Maybe we could find her a therapist, you know?" Vivi babbled, pacing back and forth behind Lane, who was sitting at the computer in Vivi's bedroom. She had to step over the piles of clothes, books, and random crap all over the floor, and she kept kicking stuff out of her way. "Or a hypnotist! Someone who could deprogram her. Google that!"

    "Y eah, sure. I'm on it," Lane lied, typing her password into the MySpace login page.

    "Not that she'd go, because apparently she doesn't see this

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    whole thing as a problem, which is totally OOC," Vivi said, looking at the ceiling.

    Lane smirked. "Y sound like Curtis."

    ou

    "Oh, crap! I do," Vivi said, holding her head. "Y little love bug has totally infiltrated my brain," she teased.

    our

    "He is not my love bug," Lane said, pulling her ponytail over her shoulder to toy with it.

    "Whatever you say," Vivi replied, sitting down on the edge of her unmade bed. She crossed her legs and bounced the top leg around as if she were stirring something. "I don't know why you don't just ask him to the prom already. I mean, you're just as bad as Isabelle except you can't get up the guts to get the guy and she can't get up the guts to lose the guy. Why won't you just ask him to the prom? What's the worst that could happen?"

    "Umm ... he could run screaming in the other direction and never speak to me again, which would break up our entire group