Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
Michael easily rose from his seat and sauntered into the coffee shop just as Ben Beaton came into sight.
“Phillips,” the blond boy greeted, dropping into the recently vacated seat with a grin. “Good to see you outside of practice for once.”
Sebastian shot him a tight smile, not quite in the mood to socialize, but he knew it was best to stay in his teammate’s good graces if he wanted to remain captain of the team. “Ben, how’ve you been, man?”
“I can’t really complain. You?”
“Pretty good,” he replied, actually meaning it. “Busy as always.”
“The new girlfriend got anything to do with that?” His teammate flashed a crooked grin. “I swear, that’s all the girls have been gossiping about since last week. Even my own girlfriend won’t shut up about it.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, trying to sound as disinterested as possible. Last thing he wanted was to give away how fake the entire thing was. “What have they been saying?”
“They’re saying you’re going out with Taliana Avilla.” Ben paused briefly, his smile dimming. He’d witnessed Taliana’s wrath back in sixth grade, so it was natural that he was suspicious. “Is that true?”
“Do? you think it’s true?”
As tempting as it was to just tell Ben that, yes, they were dating, he needed to know if anyone actually believed them so far. And there was no better way to gauge it than to ask someone who’d known them both since kindergarten.
Ben shifted, grimacing. “I mean, considering what happened with you guys in the past, it doesn’t seem all that likely, but someone told me they saw you two outside The Sultan’s Palace last night. I thought it was a load of bullshit when I first heard, honestly.” He lifted an eyebrow as he asked, “But is it true? Are you guys really dating?”
Deciding he might as well ease his teammate’s curiosity, he nodded. “Yeah, we are. Have been for the past week or so.”
Ben’s eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously? Dude, I wasn’t expecting it to be true.”
“That shocking?” Sebastian chuckled, running a hand through his hair. He hoped it came off as a relaxed gesture, but he was on the verge of tearing it out. If Ben hardly believed their act, then who actually was?
“Well,? yeah,” Ben admitted. “I didn’t think you two were ever going to get over your hatred for each other. Plus, I thought you were going to get back together with Bl-” Ben cut off suddenly, his cheeks flushing red. “Never mind.”
“No, go on,” Sebastian pressed. He already knew what Ben was going to say, but he actually wanted to hear it.
Ben looked down the street, unable to hold his gaze. “I just thought you and Blair were inseparable.” He meekly looked up again. “Everyone did. But after hearing the truth about what she did, clearly we were all stupid. Fuck her for doing that to you.”
“Nah, you’re not stupid,” he said easily, relieved that word of what Blair had truly done had finally gotten out. It seemed he could thank Taliana for that one. “At least we all know not to trust her now. I’m glad I have Talia.”
Ben chuckled. “I’m not sure which is more shocking: the fact that you and Blair didn’t last or that you’re dating Stick Girl.”
Yeah, you could say that again,? he wanted to mumble, but kept his lips tightly pressed together instead.
Before Ben could get in another word, Sebastian’s phone went off, alerting him to a new text.
“Excuse me for a moment,” he said as he grabbed the device from the table, and when Michael’s name flashed across the screen, he was quick to open the message.
Queen Bitch @ 12 o’clock. Run, Forrest, Run!
Sebastian frowned, but he glanced up nonetheless. It wasn’t until his eyes landed on Blair standing less than a block away that it finally clicked.
“Sorry, man, I’ve got to get going, got a couple more miles to do.” He flashed Ben a tight smile as he jumped to his feet, almost dropping his phone in the process. “Good seeing you!”
After giving him a friendly slap on the shoulder, Sebastian glanced once more toward a steadily approaching Blair before taking off in the opposite direction, not caring what it looked like to the countless people watching.
He’d never run so fast in his life.
21
Crime and Embarrassment
In the ten days that followed the disastrous dinner and sufficiently awkward slumber party, Taliana had finally developed some semblance of a friendship with Sebastian. Granted, they still weren’t the best of friends, but they could at least hold a conversation without it turning into an argument. Not fighting was a welcome change of pace, and the longer they could keep it up, the better. Besides, they had to do it if they were going to convince people they were a real couple.
Unfortunately, that was harder than it sounded.
Although they spent time together, Taliana had a feeling they didn’t exactly come off as a couple in love-or who even liked each other. Sure, they held hands when the situation called for it, and Taliana even worked up the courage to place a kiss on his cheek every so often, but the fact that they lacked a connection was palpable. They both knew they had to work on it, but for now, they were content keeping up what they had.
“I totally don’t understand any of this,” Taliana complained to Sebastian one morning before homeroom. They were sitting together in front of his locker, trying to finish the previous night’s Physics homework. “Why couldn’t I have taken Earth Science? Or hell, Environmental Science? I’m sure all they have to do is sit around and look at trees all day.”
Sebastian cracked a smile as he watched Taliana glare at her textbook. “Marcus took that class last year. Almost turned him into an eco-terrorist.”
Taliana snorted, sparing a glance at her notes before turning back to the worksheet they were supposed to complete. “I think I’ve gotten more than half of these wrong.”
“You did,” a voice from above her said, and Taliana looked up just as Jacob grabbed her paper. He quickly pressed it to the locker above her head and began frantically erasing. “I’ll fix it for you.”
Taliana’s jaw went slack as she watched him scribble down new-likely correct-answers before handing it back to her.
“All done,” he said with a dazed smile. “By the way, Seb, you got number four wrong.”
“Damn it,” Sebastian grumbled, erasing whatever he had written.
As Sebastian fixed his homework, Taliana stared gratefully up at Jacob. “You’re a lifesaver.”
Jacob grinned and rocked back on his heels, pleased with himself. “Glad to help. I’ll see you two in class.”
All Taliana could do was watch as he sauntered away, wondering how the hell someone who came off as a complete airhead could fix her physics homework without batting an eye.
“He plans to work for NASA one day,” Sebastian commented, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it either.
“I can totally see that,” she said, but that got her thinking. “What about you? Any career path you’re looking into?”