Fake Skating

Dani and Alec exchange flirty texts before he meets her in the library during lunch. She makes a book recommendation for Stephen King’s Billy Summers (2021), and as soon as he begins reading, he likes it. They discuss how to make their fake relationship “visible” without overexaggerating the point. They agree to meet at her locker after school. Alec has an idea to make the game more fun, so he texts his mom’s cousin, who works at the school.

Dani discovers that Alec has planted a bag of gummy bears inside her locker, along with a note saying that he remembered she once loved them and that he can’t stop thinking about her perfume. Dani’s first thought is, “This is so thoughtful. This is an act” (180). Dani explains to Cassie that she and Alec are just friends who are getting to know one another again. At the end of the day, Alec meets Dani at her locker and flirts ostentatiously by calling her “Danigirl,” helping her with her scarf, and making serious eye contact that makes Dani feel giddy. She wishes him luck at his game and asks him to call her later.