Best Served Fake

fifty // unwilling ghost

A/N: sorry if you thought this would help

***

When I opened my bedroom door to admit Jameson Miller, I knew that my mother was a vicious traitor.

I didn't blame her exactly; Jamie was excellent at weaselling his way into anything with the mere force of his words and his smile. But Jameson's charm was far less endearing when it was used against me. And despite my clear instructions that I was too busy wallowing to descend into chit-chat, Jamie was standing in my doorway, wearing a beseeching expression and looking so pitying that I wanted to throw something at his face.

Cora was telling the truth then. All of our friends really did know. And maybe my desire to throw something at Jamie was really proxy violence for how much I wanted to hit Kai.

"Hi, Valerie," said Jameson cautiously. He held his hands slightly ahead of him, as if I were a feral dog on the verge of a breakdown.

The latter was vaguely true. I'd left school after first period, walking home with a theoretical cloud drooping over my head, occasionally shooting lightning that frazzled my nerves. I'd stormed past Mum in the living room, writing one of her saucy romance books, and told her that I was, respectfully, in no mood to talk. She was surprisingly okay with this. She even baked me a cake, which was nice, because I could fantasize about smashing Kai's face into it.

"Mother, you bitch!" I called downstairs. "What happened to allowing two to four business days where I can be pathetic and listen to sad Taylor Swift music before you allow any visitors?"

"He's such a nice boy, Valerie!" she yelled back. "He says so many pretty words, I had no defence!"

I made a sound of protest in the back of my throat, but at least Jameson just looked self-satisfied and arrogant now, revelling in the compliments bestowed by my mother. I'd take insufferable Jamie over sympathetic Jamie without question. I reluctantly shifted my door open, silently admitting Jameson into my sad cave.

I wasn't one for wallowing, so my room remained clean and bright, curtains drawn back and clothes neatly folded in the cupboard. It was, perhaps, the cleanest my room had ever been; I was messy by nature, but I enjoyed rage-cleaning. I refused to cry, so my mascara was still neatly applied, and I'd even done all my homework. The only accession to my current state of mourning was my all-black outfit; I didn't even like to wear black.

"How are you doing?" Jameson asked, casting an observer's glance over my seemingly put-together composure.

"Kai won't talk to me," I told Jamie, folding my hands across my chest.

Jameson didn't ask before situating himself cross-legged in the centre of my bed, patting the spot beside him in invitation. "He's an idiot."

"Yes, I know that. I just don't know why he won't talk to me. Or what the fuck is going on. He's acting like a child and I'm really confused. Do you know anything?"

Jamie shrugged. "All Kai told us last night was that you guys had concocted a scheme to get back at Clinton and Lewinski, and that we should look after you. He didn't say why he isn't talking to you."

What. Is. Going. On. I wanted to tear my hair out with confusion. Kai wasn't this guy. He wasn't the guy who hooked up with a girl in his brother's house and began ignoring her straight afterward.

I blinked. "That's so fucking dumb. He's so dumb."

"Kai isn't great at conflict resolution," Jameson said in his friend's defence. "He is conflict avoidant. If something is wrong, he will take any pains to avoid be involved. I was mad at him once—it's exhausting, you know, being mad at Kai, because he's such a good fucking guy that you just feel bad about it—and he skipped every class we had together for a week." Jameson shook his head, but with a certain level of fondness that I would usually have found endearing, but when I currently was in a hate-fest with its object, found sincerely annoying. "It's very unrelatable; I love conflict. It's the most fun any guy can have without taking his clothes off. That's why I'm not mad about your stupid plan with Kai."