“On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it if I pretend I didn’t see this call?” I sigh, taking the phone from Lukas. As if she knows I’m suddenly stressed out, Princess comes slinking into the living room where she leaps up onto the arm of the couch and presses her fuzzy little head into my arm. I smile and pet her.
“Well.” Lukas starts, his tone neutral.
“I can’t exactly judge someone for having a poor relationship with their mother…” He trails off, clearly holding back something more.
“But?” I prompt, narrowing my eyes.
“But we know someone in your family is involved in this whole necromancer business, and your mother is suddenly calling you out of the blue.” He raises an eyebrow, his meaning clear. I groan, letting the phone ring two more times, desperately hoping she’ll give up. She doesn’t. With great reluctance, I finally answer.
“Hey, Mum.” I force out in my brightest, most cheerful tone.
“Hey, baby! How are you?” She replies, her voice unusually affectionate. My suspicion immediately spikes.
“I’m fine… How are you?” I respond automatically, my tone cautious.
“Oh, I’m just fine.” She says lightly, before a long, awkward pause settles between us. We both realise, simultaneously, that neither of us has much else to say. The formalities are out of the way, and now there’s only silence.
“So… Anyway…” She begins, her voice shifting into something too casual to be genuine.
“What are you doing for lunch tomorrow? I was thinking of having a nice family meal. It’s been so long since we’ve all been together. I’ve invited your aunt and uncle, and your brother is coming of course.” She says dotingly. My eyebrows shoot up, and Lukas leans in closer, his hand resting on my knee as he listens in. He looks just as skeptical as I feel.
“You’re inviting me to lunch?” I say, the doubt thick in my voice.
“Of course, honey! I haven’t seen you in ages. It’ll be just so nice to catch up.” She replies, her tone overly cheerful. I glance at Lukas and mentally groan.
*She wants something. I don’t know what, but she definitely wants something.* I send the thought to Lukas, who gives me a sympathetic nod in return.
“Maybe you should go.” Lukas whispers, his voice soft but insistent.
“See if you can learn something.” He reasons. I frown deeply, not at all thrilled by the idea. Before I can respond, my mother interrupts.
“Clare, is someone there with you? I thought I heard someone.” She says, her tone shifting slightly.
“Oh, uh… Yeah. I have a… Friend staying with me for a few days.” I answer awkwardly. Not really sure how to explain Lukas.
“A friend? You should bring him along! It’ll be lovely to meet him. Twelve o’clock tomorrow, okay? I’ll see you both then. Bye, dear!” She says quickly, barely giving me a chance to respond before hanging up. What even just happened?
“She knows something.” Lukas says immediately, his tone serious.
“What makes you so sure?” I ask, crossing my arms. More out of stubborn argumentativeness than because I actually disagree with him.
“She said, ‘you should bring him along.’ You didn’t tell her I was a guy, and I doubt she could hear me well enough to be certain.” Lukas points out. I groan audibly, my frustration mounting.
“Do you seriously want to go? It will probably be totally miserable.” I point out, dread creeping into my voice.
“That depends.” Lukas says, his expression unreadable.
“How likely are your parents to try locking me in a basement?” He cracks a slight smile, although I feel like his question has the tiniest hint of seriousness to it. I roll my eyes.
“If they did, it’d probably be with me.” I reply with a heavy sigh.
“Why’s that?” Lukas asks, frowning slightly.
“My family has this weird obsession with mind readers. Something about how they think it would improve our ‘bloodline.’ They think our family has too many elemental magic users and too much focus on physical magic. They want to diversify or something and include more psychic skills. They wanted to pair you off with my cousin Laura. When she declined, they didn’t even bother asking me. I’m pretty much their last resort. Actually, not even that since they didn’t even consider me as an option.” I explain bitterly. I don’t WANT them to try to pair me off or meddle in my life like that. But it stings a little that they don’t even care enough to try.
“Everyone wants a mind reader.” Lukas mutters, his voice tinged with frustration.
“But no one wants to deal with the consequences.” He complains, likely referring to how awkwardly people behave around him.
“At least they want you around. I usually just get ignored completely.” I point out with a sigh. Lukas is quiet for a moment, clearly considering something.
“You know how at lunch today we sort of… Acted couple-y for Eli?” Lukas asks eventually. I nod slowly, unsure where he’s going with this.
“Yeah…” I wait for him to continue.
“We should do that again for your parents.” He suggests casually.
I blink at him, baffled by his insane suggestion. I force a calm tone then ask for his reasoning.
“You want to act like we like each other? For my parents’ sake? Why?” I question.
“For your sake.” He corrects.
“It would force them to give you their approval which would be incredibly satisfying. Plus, it’d explain why I’m hanging around.” He adds. I frown.
“They’d never believe we’re an actual couple. It wouldn’t work.” I say firmly.
“Why not?” He challenges.
“We barely get along. We’re completely different. And I’m pretty sure my family thinks I’m incapable of bringing home anyone they’d approve of. When Aunt Daisy wanted someone to ‘go seduce the mind reader’ she asked Laura. When Laura… Refused, they didn’t even consider me. They just kept pestering her.” I explain, scowling.
“All the more reason to rub it in their faces.” Lukas says with a shrug.
“Besides, they’ll believe it.” He says with complete confidence.
“How do you know that?” I demand.
“What if they’re already suspicious because they know we’re investigating the necromancer?” I point out.
“Because people believe a lie for one of two reasons.” Lukas says calmly.
“Either they want it to be true, or they’re afraid it’s true. In this case, either one works. If they think we’re together, it justifies us spending time together without raising more questions.” I shiver slightly at his words, especially when he looks me dead in the eye for his next question.
“If I thought my family was in trouble, doesn’t it make sense I’d confide in my girlfriend?” It feels like a challenge, and I can’t bring myself to back down.
“Fine. We’ll play happy couple at lunch tomorrow.” I grumble, already dreading it. Lukas grins like he’s just won a game.
“Great! You know, maybe we should practice a little. We could pretend tonight is date night, watch a movie, curl up on the couch, and then later, I could kiss you goodnight.” He says with a smirk. I roll my eyes, trying not to let his teasing get to me.
“How about no.” I say flatly.
“Fair enough.” He responds, his expression relaxed.
“But someday, I’ll kiss you goodnight. Tonight, I’ll just have to dream about it.” He says without even a hint of a smile. Completely flustered, I make a show of yawning and rubbing at my eyes.
“I’m so tired.” I mumble awkwardly, then I get up and retreat to my bedroom unwilling to let him see just how much he’s getting to me.