“I wouldn’t do that.”

“You did that with Gustavo!”

She’s right, of course. Gustavo was my first date freshman year, back when I was still trying to convince myself that maybe I could be a girl if I just tried hard enough. We went to a movie, and I bought him popcorn, which he refused to share with me. Then he shushed me the whole movie and ditched me at the theater, so I had to call my mom to pick me up. And sure, I would’ve gone out with him again if Becca hadn’t stepped in and burned that bridge, but Drew’s not like that. He’s been nothing but kind to me. And I’m different now too. I know who I am. It’s fine.

“I just don’t want you to get so caught up in your fairy tales that you ignore what’s right in front of your face,” she says.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I say. “I don’t need you to look out for me anymore, okay? If you can handle your love life, I can handle mine.”

Brian knocks on the door, peeking his head in long enough to say, “Hey, Maggie just left if you wanna catch me up on things.”

I smile at him. “Yeah, just a sec.”

He closes the door, and I tell Becca I should actually go hang out with him for a bit.

“Yeah, go,” she says. “Your fifteen minutes are pretty much up anyway.”

“I’ll update you tomorrow. Oh, and don’t forget to check the Diary.”

Brian waits for me in the living room, a small plate of pastelitos on the couch. I plop down next to him and ask, “Is this my share?”

“If you want it.”

But I’m not sure I do knowing that Maggie’s been all over it. Actually, Brian’s got a bit of a lipstick mark on his cheek, which tells me that not only have they been all over each other, but Maggie doesn’t even buy smudge-proof lipstick. Wow.

“Anyway,” Brian says, kicking his feet up on the little coffee table. It’s got a bunch of table books, including an old-ass Jell-O recipe book that I’m pretty sure he’s never even opened. “How was the date? Good?”

I push the thought of Maggie slithering her way into our lives out of my head and think about Drew instead, a smile creeping over my face. “Yeah, it was pretty great.” Brian doesn’t need to know that it was a fake date, and considering we’re on track to be the perfect end-game couple, it only makes sense that Brian thinks we’re already together.

“Good, I’m glad. When do I get to meet him?”

I cringe, though I probably shouldn’t feel so strongly about it. Drew’s great, and Brian will probably love him, but our relationship is too new. The last thing I need is for Brian to chase Drew away with his weird sports talk and occasionally edible cooking.

Just for good measure, I say, “Probably never.”