Chapter Twenty-One
“You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal.”
Elizabeth Taylor
Ivy
“Um . . . Ivy, can I see you in the kitchen?”
Paige grabbed my hand and didn’t wait for a response as she dragged me out of the room.
“Hey, Jack and I are up next to get our pictures taken,” I protested.
Actually—where was Jack? He seemed to have disappeared.
“Yeah, well . . . you might want to hold off on that,” Paige muttered, her tone closer to a growl than a suggestion.
“Why?”
Although maybe this was a good thing. Did I need to get all cozy with him in front of the camera? Something weird was going on between Jack and me. It was like we were both cheating on our friendship now. What did that mean for us?
Paige said not a word, just marched us forward until we were alone in the kitchen. She set me down on a kitchen chair, a vein pulsing in her neck.
This couldn’t be good.
“Is everything all right? Did Jack promise Emma a puppy for Christmas? I told him not to.”
Granted, I was tempted to buy her one. It was her dimples and those big eyes of hers. They got me every time.
“He better not have. I’m already this close to testing whether Coke really can dissolve bones.”
“Whoa, whoa. That’s a little much, even for you. He can’t have done anything that bad.”
Paige let out a huge breath. Then, with the dramatic flourish of someone unveiling a state secret, she reached into her bra and pulled out her phone.
I had to say, it impressed me she could conceal a phone in there.
“Baby sister . . . ,” she said, almost gently. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but . . . well . . .” She turned the screen toward me. “I’ll let the photo speak for itself.”
And it did.
Loud and painfully clear.
Jack kissing Sienna at The Market smacked me in the face like a ton of bricks. The hit was so hard I couldn’t breathe. But somehow, I managed with trembling hands to grab the phone. I needed a closer look to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
Why would Jack do this to me?
No wonder he’d been acting so strange the night before when he got back from the store and had been constantly checking his phone today.
And here I thought he was being so sweet, rushing off to get my favorite cookies and ice cream and even a heating pad.
Turns out it’d just been a cover. A convenient excuse to cozy up with his ex.
And ugh, I had kissed those lips that had just been on Sienna’s. I wanted to vomit.
If the photo weren’t awful enough, the caption by none other than Tae Cho twisted the knife Jack had shoved in my back. Jack’s own words were ringing in my head: Tae didn’t manufacture situations or manipulate photos.
Well, well, well . . . look who’s getting festive at The Market. Mr. Holiday and Sienna Davenport caught looking very merry and bright. Sorry, Ivy—guess some traditions die hard. #HolidayHeat #ReboundOrRematch
I slammed the phone down on the table, hot tears rolling down my cheeks. Waves of humiliation crashed over me.
If Jack had wanted to end our fake relationship, he could have just told me so. I would have been more than happy to. Instead, he’d made me feel things I never should have. And there I’d been, kissing him every chance I got.
Paige took the chair next to me and grabbed my hand. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head, unable to speak. I’d just lost my best friend in the whole wide world.
To make matters more fun, Mom walked in.
“Hey, honey, Cami’s ready for you and—” She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes locking on my tear-streaked face. “Oh, Ivy, what’s wrong?”
I opened my mouth, but all that came out were squeaks and a sob.
Paige, never one to hold back, jumped in for me. She yanked her phone up like it was Exhibit A.
“This happened. Jack is a cheating bastard.”
Mom’s eyebrows flew up. “Now, Paige, we’ve had this discussion before. We don’t use language like that with children around.”
“Then maybe you should cover their ears,” Paige snapped, her tone unrepentant. “Because I haven’t even started yet.”
Mom snatched the phone and stared at the screen. Her face flushed so fast, she looked like a red Christmas ornament about to combust.
“Someone bring me the Grinch hat of shame!”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Especially when the entire family, including Cami, came running in. Apparently, no one could resist finding out who’d earned themselves a turn in the Grinch hat.
“Forget the hat. He deserves a Christmas sweater with a big fat scarlet A stitched on it,” Paige snarled.
“That’s an excellent idea, Paige,” Mom agreed. “Someone fire up my embroidery machine.”
Oh, jeez. This was getting ridiculous. If I could speak, I’d have tried to put a stop to the madness. We didn’t need any adultery sweaters for Christmas. I just needed to kick Jack out and go hibernate in a hole full of fleece blankets, snacks, and Netflix.
After this, I wasn’t going to be able to show my face in public ever again. All the regular girls who had cheered us on were going to be so disappointed. And I was going to go down in tabloid history as a naive loser.
Why had I agreed to be his stupid fake girlfriend?
Jack had promised he would keep us safe.
He’d lied.
And worse . . . I had too.
To my family.
To the world.
To myself.
And just when I thought I might dissolve into tears, or scream, or both, Dad kneeled in front of me. The one man I’d always been able to count on. His strong, steady hand landed on my cheek. I leaned into it, wishing he could make it all better.
Dad didn’t get a chance to say anything. Everyone in the kitchen went silent when Jack walked in, save Cami, who said, “Let me know if I should crop this one out.”
She pointed at Jack as she walked out of the room, muttering to herself, “It never fails. Put a boyfriend in a family picture and nine times out of ten, people regret it.”
Cami’s last words hit hard. I so regretted ever bringing Jack home. This Mr. Holiday Show was getting two thumbs down. Zero stars. Would not recommend. Actually, I was ready to cancel the entire season while we were at it. Jack and Mr. Holiday were dead to me.
Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Can I please speak to Ivy?”
“Please. We would all love to hear what you have to say for yourself,” Paige dared as the room fell into a collective stare.
Even little Emma, who probably had no idea what was going on, gave him the stink eye like he’d just told her Santa wasn’t real.
“I was hoping to speak to her alone,” Jack had the audacity to say.
Dad stood quietly, but lethally, never raising his voice. “You owe us all an explanation.”
Jack caught my eye, silently asking me to jump in. Not happening. Whatever he had to say, he could say it in front of my family. Then I was kicking him out.
Never one to back down, Jack steeled himself, strode farther into the kitchen, and took up the spot my dad had just vacated, kneeling in front of me, tenderly taking my hands, which I immediately yanked away.
I didn’t want his touch. I especially didn’t want the way it made me feel. Hot shame consumed me for crossing lines I never should have.
Unfortunately, I got caught in the trap of his gaze, and it only made me cry harder. How could he so carelessly not only use our friendship, but then just throw it away? For Sienna, of all people.
Seven beautiful years down the drain.
“I guess I really was just a publicity stunt to you,” I wailed.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Ivy, you know that’s not the truth. How could you ever think that? I would never do anything to hurt you. Just let me explain.”
“What’s there to explain? I saw the picture. You’re a best friend/fake girlfriend cheater.” Crap, had I just said that out loud? In hindsight, maybe I should have just let Jack have a moment alone with me.
“Oh, hell,” Jack murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Fake girlfriend?” several members of my family echoed in unison.
Yep. I guess I’d said it out loud. It was like hitting “Reply All” on a sensitive email.
“Wait—this whole thing was fake? You’re fakers?” Paige looked a little murderous. And a whole lot betrayed.
I made a mental note to keep Coke far, far away from her before I found out whether it actually could dissolve bone.
Jack was still pinching the bridge of his nose when Mom shoved him aside.
He hit the floor with a thud.
Apparently she turned into She-Hulk when properly provoked.
I hadn’t seen her this upset since . . . well, ever.
“Young lady,” she said, her voice sharp as a new ice-skate blade. “Are you telling me that you and Jack are not actually boyfriend and girlfriend?”
I buried my head in my hands, so ashamed.
“We’re not,” I whispered, waiting for the relief to come after finally telling the truth.
But it didn’t. I felt heavier and worse than ever. Like Jack had said, sometimes in his world, a lie is better than the truth. I’d truly crossed over to the dark side.
“Somebody explain,” Dad demanded. “Why would you lie about something like this?”
I lowered my hands, ready to spill the whole sordid affair. But Jack was already back on his feet, commanding the room like always.
“I’ll tell you why. It’s because I’m in love with Ivy.”
Uh . . . say what?
The room went dead silent.
Every eye was on Jack—even mine.
But he had eyes only for me.
He sighed, exasperated, and threw up his hands. “I love you, Ivy. I’ve loved you since the day you fixed my orange hair and swore we’d never be anything more than friends. I told you I’d prove you wrong about men and women being just friends.”
He took a step closer.
“This is me saying, ‘I told you so.’”
My ears were ringing, my brain barely keeping up with all the mind-numbing words falling out of Jack’s mouth.
“I’m so confused,” Mom articulated my exact thoughts. “Are you or are you not faking this relationship? And why were you kissing Sienna?” Mom swatted Jack’s arm.
I concentrated on that last part, unable to properly deal with the other thing at the moment. The love thing.
“Ivy, I didn’t kiss her, I swear. She kissed me and must have had Tae on standby to capture it.”
“But you said Tae never bends the truth,” I reminded him.
Jack took a slow breath and ran both hands through his hair like he was trying to keep his head from exploding.
“Ivy, I swear to you, I’m telling the truth.”
“You also told me I was right about men and women being able to just be friends. So what should I believe?” My voice hitched, cracking like my confused heart.
“I’ll have my lie detector shipped here,” Paige offered. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Why didn’t it surprise me that my sister had her own lie detector?
I wrinkled my nose. “That won’t be necessary.” I was afraid of the truth now more than ever.
“Well, I don’t know what in the h-e-l-l is going on,” Mom spelled out like none of the kids could read or write.
The big kids all snickered. Honestly, I almost did too, but nothing was funny about this.
“And until we figure it out, Jack and Ivy are wearing the Grinch hats of shame.” Mom pointed between Jack and me. “And fakers don’t get to share a bunk bed or a room.” She fumed and stormed out of the kitchen.
Each member of my family filed out after her, shooting glares at Jack and me like we’d just turned Mary and Joseph away from the inn and it was all our fault that baby Jesus had to be born in a stable.
I’d never felt lower in my entire life.
As soon as the last footsteps faded, Jack dropped into the seat beside me like he couldn’t stand one more second of distance.
“Ivy.” He said my name like it was meant to belong to him.
“Don’t.” I stood, my voice barely above a whisper. “Just . . . don’t, Jack. Or should I say, Mr. Holiday?”
Jack’s eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed like I’d just slapped him.
“You promised we’d be safe. You lied.”