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the coffee table.
    “Here, Mom made snacks. It’s basically peanut butter on celery, but cut into slices
    so it’s prettier and harder to eat. Have you ever noticed that she’s weird?”
    “Colin, come on,” Lexie said, flopping down on the couch. “What were you
    hiding when I came in?”
    “Nothing,” he said. “Where’s Jake?”
    Lexie was hurt. Colin never kept anything from her. What could it be?
    “Jake decided not to come in,” she said. “But he says hi.” She waiting for a
    minute, but Colin kept moving the celery around the plate without saying
    anything.
    “So...did you have fun today?” she tried. “Tennis was so lame. I’m a total
    menace with a tennis racket. What did you do?”
    “Nothing,” he said again.
    “I’ll bet,” she said, reaching for the remote control and flipping the TV to
    their favourite game. To her surprise, none of the scores had changed. Either he
    hadn’t played very well that day, or he hadn’t played at all.
    “Was Bree there?” Colin asked.
    “Of course,” Lexie said. “She’s so scary. And now she seriously hates me.”
    “But she’s really hot,” Colin said. “I don’t get why Jake wouldn’t just date
    her. I would, if I weren’t too stupid and boring for her to like me. It sounds a lot
    easier than pretending to date you.”
    “Oh, thanks!” Lexie said, pushing herself off the couch. She headed for the
    door in a huff, but he didn’t stop her. In the doorway, she turned and glanced
    back. He was staring down at the table, rolling a pencil absentmindedly back and
    forth along the carpet.
    Her mom was coming down the stairs as Lexie went up.
    “Oh, Lexie!” Mrs. Willis said happily. “How was Summerlodge? Did you
    have such a lovely time? It wasn’t so bad without your brother was it?”
    “It was terrible, like I thought it would be,” Lexie said. “And I think
    something’s wrong with Colin. I’m going to take a shower.”
    Her mom looked disappointed, but she stepped aside without pressing for
    more tennis details. At least she didn’t ask about the bikini, safely hidden under
    Lexie’s bed.
    In her room, Lexie lay down on her bed, feeling tired. It was kind of
    exhausting being a pretend girlfriend. First there were Bree and Sally; then there
    was all the complicated Jake stuff, plus that guy Riley; and now Colin was acting
    strange and keeping secrets. She felt all mixed up, with no one to talk about it.
    And it starts all over again tomorrow.

Chapter 5
    The next day was even stranger than Lexie had expected, mainly because there
    was a surprise newcomer to her tennis class. He was leaning against the fence of
    the tennis courts as she walked up, swinging a racket in one hand.
    “Hey, Lexie!” Riley said enthusiastically. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
    Lexie nearly said, “Who?” but remembered in time. “He’s in the Advanced
    class,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
    “Well, you made these tennis lessons sound so fun,” he said with his
    crooked smile. “I figured I’ll sign up and join in.”
    “I did?” Lexie tried to remember anything she had said that might possibly
    have been misunderstood as “tennis is fun.”
    “Sure,” Riley said. “And maybe if you’re as bad as I am, we can be
    partners.”
    “I’ll be pretty impressed if you’re as bad as I am,” Lexie said.
    Sally was on the court already, bouncing a ball off her racket into the ait.
    Lexie wasn’t sure, but she got the feeling Sally was watching her and Riley.
    “Don’t you need to change?” Lexie said as Riley started to follow her
    through the fence. He was wearing jeans again, although at least he’d switched to
    a T-shirt.
    “I already got the lecture from Sergeant Shorts over there,” Riley said,
    jerking his thumb at Mr. Giambi, the instructor. “But what’s he doing to do? This
    is how I am.”
    “There’s a lot of running around,” Lexie said worriedly. “Especially when
    you play with me.”
    “Don’t