If We Were a Movie Page 9

  I was amazed and totally flattered that he was willing to give me a second chance, even if it was unnecessary. It looked like I owed my brothers once again. “Thanks, Mr. Treager. I really appreciate it, but I actually won’t need an extension. I found someone last night who was able to recover the files from my hard drive. I’ve got my project on a flash drive, and I had him burn it to a CD too since I didn’t know how you’d have us present them today.”

  “Oh.” He blinked a minute as he processed this information, and then flashed me a big smile. “Well, great. Using your flash drive is perfect. Just find someone to sit by who won’t mind letting you share their computer today, and you’ll be all set. I can’t wait to hear what you’ve put together.”

  Mr. Treager looked so impressed that I’d taken care of my problem without needing his intervention that I couldn’t help seeing this as yet another silver lining to the whole coffee fiasco. My laptop was gone, but it had resulted in a great new apartment and impressing my teacher. “Thanks, Mr. Treager.”

  “No problem.” He smiled once more at Chris and Tyler. “It was good meeting you guys, but if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few things I need to do before class starts. Don’t forget to stop by the main office if you’re seriously considering pursuing the arts. We’ve got an excellent program, and it’s a lot more fun than your business classes. I promise.”

  He excused himself, and I was left standing there with my brothers. I still had a few minutes before class, and I owed my brothers a thank-you, so I walked with them down to the office. “You got your files back?” Chris asked as we left the classroom.

  “Yeah. Actually, turns out you guys did the right thing after all, and saved my hard drive from any damage.”

  The admission earned me a smirk from them both, and Chris nudged me with his elbow. “Told you we had it under control.”

  “We also talked to Dad. He said he’d wire you some money to replace your laptop.”

  Before I could tell them not to worry about that, Chris said something that shocked me. “So, that song you wrote, was it something Triple Threat could use? Because it would be awesome for us to start rocking original stuff instead of just doing covers all the time, don’t you think?”

  When I didn’t answer right away, they both stopped walking and looked at me expectantly. “I…well, that song wouldn’t work for us, but I’m sure we could come up with some good stuff if you guys really want to.”

  “That would be awesome,” Tyler said, and Chris nodded.

  They looked serious—excited, even—and it made me get excited, too. This was what I’d always really wanted. I’d been the one to start the band when we were in middle school. My mom had taught me guitar as a kid, and it took me a few years to talk my brothers into learning instruments so that we could play together. They didn’t agree to it until sixth grade when I sang and played the guitar for the middle school talent show. It had made me an instant sensation with the entire school, and suddenly Chris and Tyler agreed it would be awesome to have our own band.

  They learned how to play, and both have a lot of Mom’s musical talent, like me, but they’d never taken it seriously the way I did. The band was a way to be popular, a means to get girls. They enjoyed it, but they weren’t passionate about it, I didn’t think. If I could show them there’s so much more to music than just getting women—if I could get them to take it seriously—we could be amazing. “Yeah, okay, let’s do it.”

  We’d reached the main lobby, and instead of going outside, Chris and Tyler stopped in front of the doors and pushed their fists together. When they both held a fist out to me, I rolled my eyes at them but met each of their fists with one of my own, completing the circle. “Triple Threat!” we chimed together, the way we always did before a show. Then, of course, as they always did, they each punched me in the shoulder hard enough to leave bruises before I could twist out of the way. They claimed it was good luck. I think they just liked to gang up on me.

  “Jerks.”

  They laughed and moved to either side of me, each throwing an arm over my shoulders. “You love it,” Tyler said.

  “I really don’t.”

  They ignored me, of course, and pushed us through the front door of the building out onto the sidewalk. “We’re sorry about your computer,” Chris said. “Let’s go after class today and get you a new one so we can get to work. You’ve got to show us your skills, dude. Will Treager was talking you up, which means you’ve been holding out on us. You’ve got to write us something sweet, because I know a guy that could get us a gig in this sick bar. We could be real rock stars.”

  I laughed. My brothers annoyed me most of the time, but there was no way I could ever live without them. They were just best in small doses. “Sounds good, but I can’t today. I’m going with Sophie to get a new phone and computer this afternoon, and then I’m taking her over to meet Jordan and to see my new place. We’ll stop by the dorm after dinner to get my stuff. Jordan has a car, so we can probably get it all in one trip.”

  Their arms slid off my shoulders and they left my sides to stand in front of me. Once again it was them against me, and this time they were really mad. “You were serious about that?” Chris asked.

  “Of course I was.”

  “We thought you were just mad and trying to get back at us,” Tyler said. “And it worked. You freaked us out when you didn’t come home last night.”

  “I told you where I was going.”

  “We didn’t think you’d actually bail on us.”

  “How can you just ditch us?” Chris added.

  So much for the brotherly camaraderie we’d just accomplished. They weren’t just mad; they were hurt. Their expressions screamed betrayal. “You guys, I’m not ditching you. We’ll write the songs. I just can’t room with you. I need some space.”

  “Do you know what we had to go through to get a room for all three of us?” Tyler asked. “It was a huge pain.”

  “Which you didn’t ask me if I wanted to do before you just went and made my plans for me.”

  Chris threw his arms up in the air while Tyler folded his over his chest and glared at me. “We wanted to surprise you,” Chris said.

  Ty followed this with, “We did it for you. We were trying to look out for you.”

  I barely managed not to laugh in his face. “Look out for me? Why would you guys need to look out for me?”

  I may have held back my laugh, but my brothers didn’t bother. “You’re kidding, right?” Tyler asked.

  Chris shook his head. “Runt, dude, you know how you are.”

  What was that supposed to mean? “No, I don’t. How am I?”

  “You know…” Chris let his voice trail off, because apparently he couldn’t think of a nice enough word.

  Tyler had no such problem with his own conscience. “You’re kind of a geek, dude. We were the ones who made you popular in high school. Without us you wouldn’t have had any friends, or any fun.”

  I scoffed. “Seriously?”

  Chris tried to step in and play middleman. “Runt, look, he’s not trying to be rude. We want you to have a good time in college. We want you to live a little. Explore your options. Without us, you’d breeze through college not having any fun, and by the time you graduated you’d be married to your uptight girlfriend, with some lame job that she made you get, doing everything she tells you. We’re just trying to look out for you.”

  “Forget that,” Tyler said. “We’re trying to save you.”

  Their rescue attempts were severely misguided. It was no wonder I’d dreamed of them as my kidnappers and Jordan as my rescuer. They weren’t saving me; it was more like they had me trapped. We’d been having this same fight our whole lives, and I was so sick of it.

  There was no point in arguing. They were never going to understand. But knowing that didn’t stop me from losing my temper. “The only thing I need saving from is you. You’re the ones ruining my life. I’m not like you guys. I don’t want the same kind of life you
do, and I can manage just fine without you guys babying me. Bullying me. I’m not a loser. I’m not some bumbling little idiot who needs my brothers to look out for me. I’ll get along better without you.”

  Chris started to say something, but Tyler stopped him. “Fine. If that’s how you want it. Leave. Ditch us. We’re sick of you tagging along cramping our style anyway.” He smacked Chris’s arm. “Come on, dude. We don’t need him.”

  With a couple last parting glares, they stormed off down the street and I went to class, fuming.

  Jordan’s the movie buff, not me, but after all her endless references and talk of parallelism, I spent the day thinking back on all the movies I’d seen, wondering if one of them had the answer to my Sophie problem. I knew I’d have my work cut out for me trying to convince her it was okay for me to room with Jordan.

  Clearly I’m not as good with the references as Jordan—she’d probably be able to come up with my exact situation—but the movie that kept coming to my mind was The Usual Suspects, starring Kevin Spacey. I didn’t have an exact favorite movie, but if I had to come up with a list, The Usual Suspects would be somewhere near the top. It’s genius and subtle—two things I was going to have to be if I wanted to keep both my new apartment and my girlfriend. It’s all about manipulation.

  I knew Sophie. Knew her weaknesses, and how I could use them against her if I had to. Not that I wanted to manipulate Sophie, but I really couldn’t see another way. I felt confident I could make this work. I just had to play my cards right. I had to convince her without her realizing that’s what I was doing. I needed to be subtle.

  First things first. I needed her to be in a good mood, so when I went to see her after class, I pulled her straight into my arms and kissed her without even bothering to say hello. “What was that for?” she asked breathlessly, once I finally released her. Well, I released her lips, anyway. I was still holding her in my arms. She didn’t seem to mind.

  I grinned down at her. “I don’t know. It’s been a crazy twenty-four hours, and I need my girlfriend.” Her face lit up and I kissed her again. “How did your study group go?”

  She groaned. “Long. We were there forever. But it was good. I needed it. I think I did well on my test. I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you last night.”

  “It’s all right. I know you’ve been stressed about that class.”

  “So stressed. We are going to celebrate when this semester is over. But enough about me. How did it go for you last night? How was the apartment? Did you get it?”

  “Yup. I signed the rental agreement last night.”

  “Really?” She squeaked the word out, as if she were holding back a squeal of excitement. “You’re really going to move out?”

  “Yeah, you were right. I really need to get a little distance from my brothers. The place is fantastic, and Jordan is cool. I had no idea I was so suffocated until I agreed to move in, and I suddenly felt so much better.”

  Sophie grinned. “I knew you’d be happy. See? You should listen to me more often. So when do I get to see this fantastic place? When do you get to move in?”

  “This evening, actually. Come shopping with me, and then I’ll take you over there.”

  By the time we got to the electronics store, I’d told Sophie all about the laptop fiasco and how Jordan had bribed a friend with tickets to a soccer game to help me with my computer. The only detail I left out was the fact that Jordan is a girl. I figured it was best to get Sophie so excited about the idea of me moving that it would be much harder for her to throw a fit once she found out the bad news.

  Okay, I also left out the part about my brothers pinning me down and letting some drunken girl kiss me because, really, some things are just better left unsaid.

  Sophie was as shocked as I had been to learn that my brothers had saved my hard drive with their insane antics. She wasn’t as forgiving as I was, though. “They wouldn’t have had to save it, if they hadn’t been idiots and wrecked it in the first place. You still have to replace your computer. They should have to buy you another one.”

  We were standing in front of a row of laptops. I was checking out the new features on the latest MacBook Pro, and Sophie was checking out all the price tags. “Do you have to get a Mac? They’re so much more expensive.”

  “And they’re so much better for running the programs I use in all of my classes.” When she frowned, I rolled my eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I have the money from the second scholarship—”

  “Just because you have the money doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be smart with it. You’ve got rent to pay now too, don’t forget.”

  “I know. I already figured it out, and I’m fine. Plus, my dad insisted on wiring me some money to help out. Chris and Tyler told him what happened, and he felt pretty bad.”

  “Great.” Sophie moved over to a row of cheaper computers and pointed to one that was listed on sale. “So get one of these, and you won’t have to use any of your own money.”

  I waved down a sales guy and pointed to the Mac. “I need one of these, and a new phone, too.”

  “The new iPhone?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Nate!”

  Laughing, I pulled Sophie to me and kissed her forehead. “You’re going to make a great accountant.”

  “And you’d make a great rock star.”

  She was complaining about my spending habits, but I only grinned at her. “That’s the idea.”

  She groaned and pulled away from me. “That’s not funny.”

  “I’m being serious.” I took her hand and dragged her over to the counter where the sales guy was busy ringing up my purchases and activating my new phone. “Soph, I know you think I’m crazy, but have a little faith in me.”

  She rolled her eyes, but cracked a smile and kissed my cheek. “You know I think you’re a musical genius. I really hope you make all your dreams come true, but at least, if you don’t, you’ll have me to take care of you. Come on, let’s go see your new place.”

  . . . . .

  I breathed a sigh of relief when we got to the apartment and Jordan wasn’t home. Sophie meeting her was inevitable, but that didn’t mean I was looking forward to it. It also helped that Sophie was in love with the place before we even got inside. When she saw my bedroom, she gasped. “Nate! Just your bedroom is bigger than the dorm. This is amazing.”

  “It is. And you know the best part?”

  She grinned. “No brothers?”

  I nodded, matching her smile. “No brothers.”

  Sophie was as excited about that as me because when I pulled her to me, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed me backward until we fell onto the bed together. A few minutes later, when our kisses started to get really intense, I took a deep breath. “We should stop. Jordan’s going to be here any minute.”

  Sophie rolled off of me and sighed. “I love this new arrangement. Whoever that weird Chinese woman was, I wish we could send her a thank-you card.”

  I chuckled. “How about you settle for a thank-you from me? You were right. I needed this.”

  “We both needed this.” Sophie rolled back on top of me one more time. “Now say it again.”

  I squeezed her tightly and kissed her again. “Thank you.”

  Sophie shook her head, her sultry smile warming my blood. “Hm-mm. Tell me I was right.”

  She expected me to argue, but since I was trying to keep her happy, and I was also now completely in a kissing mood, I appeased her. I moved my mouth to her neck to the soft spot behind her ear that I knew was ticklish. “You were right, baby, as usual. Thank you.”

  She giggled and squirmed beneath my lips. I loved it when she did that. “Maybe I should thank you properly.”

  I rolled her over and took control of the kiss. She let me tangle our tongues together, but put a stop to things quickly. “You just said Jordan was going to be here any minute.”

  I no longer cared. “That’s the beauty of having my own room. It doesn’t matter.”

  Bef
ore I could kiss her again, Jordan’s voice rang out through the room. “Nate? You here?”

  Colin’s voice rang out next. “We’ve got mu shu pork!”

  “And ice cream instead of fortune cookies! I promise!”

  “We’re back here!” I called, caging my girlfriend in my arms so she couldn’t get up. “Just breaking in the new room!”

  Sophie gasped and smacked my arm. “Nate!”

  Laughing, I stole one last kiss and then let Sophie sit up. We found Jordan and Colin in the kitchen, grabbing plates and cups. Two of the biggest, bulging bags of takeout I’ve ever seen sat on the counter. “What’d you guys do? Order the whole menu?”

  Colin pointed an accusing finger at Jordan, laughing. “Close.”

  Jordan kicked his foot. “We didn’t know what either of you liked.”

  Her eyes flashed to me with a question in them. I gave her a subtle shake of the head and sucked in a breath. No time like the present. Taking a lesson from The Usual Suspects, I decided acting innocent was the best way to go, and that meant playing dumb. I needed to be so innocent and naïve that Sophie couldn’t get mad at me.

  With an easy smile on my face that made me wonder if I should have gone into acting instead of music, I pulled Sophie to my side and introduced her to Jordan, pretending nothing about this situation was unusual. “Sophie, this is Jordan Kramer. Jordan this is my girlfriend, Sophie Farnsworth.”

  Jordan didn’t bat an eye, playing off my lead like a pro. Of course, she wasn’t acting. She really did think there was nothing wrong with us rooming together. “Sophie!” She grabbed Sophie into a light hug instead of a handshake. “I feel like I already know you. Nate has talked about nothing but you since he showed up yesterday.”

  Sophie instinctively returned Jordan’s hug, but pulled away from her, frowning. “He has?” She blinked and glanced back and forth between Jordan and Colin. After shooting me a confused look, she turned back to Jordan. “You’re Jordan?”

  “Yup. And that’s Colin.”

  Sophie’s eyes flicked to Colin. “Your boyfriend?”