All Chapters of Filling in the Boyfriend spot: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

“I don’t know that I have any must-haves.”He opened the door. “Then we better find you some.”“Get me Corn Nuts and Twix,” Bec said loudly, not seeming to realize we could hear her just fine. “And get Nate licorice.”Hayden pulled out one of her earbuds. “I’m not your personal shopper and I thought Nate wasn’t coming.”His comment produced a long-suffering sigh from her. “He just texted me. He’s coming now.”I thought she’d get out of the car and follow us in but she didn’t.“Is she coming inside?” I asked.“No, she knows I’ll feel guilty and get them for her.”I laughed. “She has you conditioned, huh?”“She really does.” He opened the door for me and it announced our arrival into the store with a beep.“So Nate’s coming?”“Is that okay?”“Of course. Y

When we arrived at the car, Bec had moved to the back, probably because her boyfriend was now coming.“Boring people in front.” She was all stretched out on the backseat. “Now give me my treats.”“I told you I’m not your personal shopper. I didn’t get them.”She didn’t say a word, just held her hand, palm up, between the seats.Hayden shook his head and handed her the items she’d requested. “One day I won’t get those.”“One day I’ll join the cheer squad and go by Becky.”“Wasn’t that last year?” Hayden asked.“Oh yeah. Guess that wasn’t a good comparison, then.”“You were a cheerleader?” I asked, not sure if they were kidding or not.“She was. A pretty good one too.”I remembered how Hayden had said at the party that she liked to put up a front so that people didn’t get too close. I won

He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel a few times and then he said, “Got it.”I turned back to Nate and Bec. “We’ll take turns asking him questions about it, first one to guess wins. If it takes us more than twenty questions, he wins.”“I’m not playing your dumb game.”“Let’s play,” Nate said.“Fine,” Bec agreed without another argument.“I’ll start,” I said. “Is it bigger than a bread box?”Hayden opened then shut his mouth. “Really? That’s your first question? Do people even have bread boxes anymore? Are you eighty years old?”“I play this game with my parents. That’s actually a very smart question. Because if the answer is no, I can automatically rule out a person or a place without having to waste two questions. If the answer is yes, I can rule out insects, rodents, and anything else that might fit in a backpack without having

I backed up several steps and held up my phone. “Okay, hmm, Nate step a little closer to Bec. That’s better. Actually a little closer. Good, now put your arm around her like Hayden is doing. It will look better.” Bec’s cheeks went a little pink and Hayden’s annoyed look at having to take a picture turned into a smile.“Say, ‘UCLA.’”After getting something to eat, we arrived at the theater about ten minutes early, but I didn’t see my brother anywhere. “Should I call him?”“It would be fun for him to see you in the audience,” Bec said. “Then we can talk to him afterward.”“Okay. Sounds good.” It mostly sounded good because I was nervous. He’d asked me not to come and I was worried I was about to ruin his special night by being here. I shook off the feeling. He’d be happy. I knew I would’ve been if our places were reversed, if I’d seen him in the audience the day I’d given my campaign spe

“Real original,” Bec muttered.Now Drew was in the kitchen, where my mom was on the computer probably checking out real estate and my dad was on his phone probably playing a game to relax. Next Drew held his phone in front of the camera, where it showed a text from my mom that said, Come down for dinner.“Did you text me about dinner, Mom?”She looked up and smiled uncomfortably at his camera. “Yes, it’s ready. Go get your sister.”I didn’t want him to get me because I knew what happened next. I was hoping this was a time, like in all the other films we’d seen tonight, that it stopped in the middle of a scene. But I wasn’t so lucky. My on-screen self was now in my room.“Dinner, T,” Drew said. This time I was on my laptop. I had been doing homework but he didn’t show that part. “How many likes now?”“Forty likes, five retweets.”“So tha

When I opened my eyes, the car was still. Bright overhead lights made me squint and blink a few times. I sat up and stretched.Bec cleared her throat. “You’re awake.”“Where is Hayden?”She pointed out the window where Hayden and Nate stood at a gas pump.“Oh. Gas.” I reached to the floor, picked up my purse, and dug for my wallet. Pulling out a couple of twenties, I stuck them in the cup holder in the center console.Bec stared at them for a moment then said, “I’m going to tell you something and I’m mostly telling you because I feel sorry for you after what happened tonight but I’m also telling you because it’s true.”“Okay,” I said, wary. That didn’t seem like the kind of lead-in that would result in something I wanted to hear.“You said that the reason you were so upset is because you are that person, the one your brother was railing

“Not as much as you’d think a person with a porch swing should.”“I don’t know that I’ve ever analyzed how much a person with a porch swing should use it.”“Well, I have and it’s underused.”I smiled. “Is it a surfboard?”He paused for a moment as if confused then nodded. “Yes.”“Seventeen questions.”“That was eighteen.”“No, because you didn’t answer the sport competition one. You just analyzed it.”“True.”I brought my knees up onto the swing with me. “Do you like to surf?”“I do.”“I was just surfing the other day.”“I know. Bec said she saw you out there.”Bec had told him she saw me out there. I wondered if she told him how badly my friends had treated her. How badly I had treated her. I had been so proud of myself that day over n

I gave her a half smile and climbed out of the car. “Thank you so much for the ride.”My parents greeted me when I walked in the house.“How was it?” my dad asked, his face hopeful. I wanted to do exactly what Mrs. Reynolds suggested and tell my parents everything. But I wanted to give Drew a chance to explain first. Because I didn’t want to hurt my parents and hoped beyond anything that maybe I had just seen the worst part of the video, that maybe I’d go online and see that really his piece wasn’t mocking his entire family in one fell swoop.“It was okay. Can we talk about it tomorrow? All that driving made me tired.”“Of course. I’m so happy you got to be there for your brother,” my mom said. “I’m regretting now that we didn’t go.”“No. It was probably better that you didn’t. He was busy.” I paused while staring at my mom. “You’re still wearing your makeup.

“Yes, the last pharaoh of Egypt. She was a powerful woman who was ruthless a lot of times. Even refused to share power with her own brother.”“Yes. That. Where?”“Let me show you.”I was forty pages in when I got a text from Hayden.You okay?Did you know that Cleopatra had to marry her own brother?! Marry him!Um . . .It was customary. But gross, right? She hated him. Mainly because she didn’t want to share power with him. I’m sure he didn’t make a “documentary” starring her, though, so really, I don’t know what her beef was. I’m sure I’ll find out soon.Did you just use the word “beef” in a sentence?Do you have a problem with that?I might. Where are you?I’m finding depth.Are you okay?I showed my parents the video.

“Yes.”I nodded. “What’s your story?”“What?”“I mean, what do you like to do? Are you into sports?”“I run track.”“Cool.”The door opened accompanied by a beeping noise and I turned toward it with a relieved breath.Hayden greeted me with his easy smile. He had on glasses that I had almost forgotten he wore. He looked cute in them. How had I ever thought guys wearing glasses weren’t my type? I had a feeling anything Hayden wore at this point would become my type. “Hey.”He didn’t even take in my outfit like I thought he would. He just walked to my side and peered in at the flavors along with me.“What’s good?” he asked Blake.“I don’t know. I’m not really an ice cream fan.”“What?” Hayden asked, his voice incredulous. “How does a guy who doesn’t like ice cream end up