Page 87 of Exchange of Heart

Mum widened her eyes. ‘I had no idea you were her son. Vivienne is wonderful, always making sure the shelter has everything it needs. Honestly, I think it would fall apart without her.’

I smiled at her response, similar to Corey’s last night. He’d had no idea she was on the committee, assuming she cuddled animals and threw money at them when they needed it. Rowan and Oliver eyed Corey, whispering to each other like students at the back of the classroom. I narrowed my eyes at their scheming lips. A knot formed in my chest. Now we needed to juggle both our families without raising suspicions. I stacked the mental blocks in a messy tower to form a plan.

‘Nora?’ The nasally voice behind me managed to penetrate my ears with a pitch that could only be described as melted wax.

Corey’s face froze as though he’d shat his pants, then he sighed. ‘Not the cat lady.’

I nudged him until his face no longer resembled a scrunched ball of paper. ‘Her name’s Diane,’ I hissed.

Shit. Another person to juggle. Another block to balance.

‘Diane.’ Corey held his hand to her for a hi-five.

Diane stared at it confused, then held her hand out to me. ‘I’m Diane, I started work on the same day as Nora.’

I smiled at the memory. I’d been in the staffroom searching for coffee when Diane had stumbled into the room explaining it was her first time wearing high heels. She’d kicked the black shoes off and flopped onto the emerald sofa, groaning in satisfaction.

‘Corey, nice to meet you.’ I shook her slim hand.

‘Is this the reason you’ve been avoiding me lately?’ She spoke to Corey, but her gaze slid uncomfortably slow over my body, admiring my broad shoulders.

‘I, ah, what? I’m not dodging you.’ Corey shook his head in a way that meant he’d definitely been avoiding her.

Worry twisted inside of me, and I hoped he hadn’t been unkind. Diane wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but her kindness and honesty outweighed everything. I may get most of my advice from Hayley, but Diane’s comforting smile was invaluable.

‘We’ve been planning to hit the town and meet some people, but it looks like she already did,’ she explained to me.

‘Oh, we’re just—’

‘Seeing each other,’ Corey blurted.

My eyes widened at the exact moment my mother and brothers did. Like meerkats, our heads lifted as we looked back and forth. Corey grabbed my hand as though it was a bag of chips and held our tangled fingers up like a trophy.

‘Yep. Me and him. We’re a thing.’ Corey gave a quick nod, one of his black curls falling from its pin.

‘Well, that’s wonderful.’ Mum smiled as though I’d been announced Miss Universe.

This was not how I’d planned on telling my family I was in a fake relationship with my own body. My mental tower blocks started to wobble, and my confusion that my mum was happy to see me in a relationship only swayed them further.

‘How did you meet? Tell us all about this secret little relationship.’ Diane watched us in delight.

This secret relationship was an absolute shitshow of emotions. Going from hating him to wanting him, but him looking like me and me looking like him was a prickly ball that couldn’t be touched. It was off limits. We were off limits.

‘Corey,’ Ben barked from a nearby table.

‘Oh, shit,’ I muttered.

We were like The Brady Bunch gone wild. Our families and their problems colliding, us powerless to stop anything and everything from happening. Even Corey looked like he wanted to cower beneath the covers during the cyclone headed our way.

His whiskey sloshed over the side of his glass as he stopped next to us. His eyes narrowed until they were nothing more than an entrance to a dark tunnel. Unsure of whether he’d forgotten he looked like me, Corey took Ben’s glass and handed it to a nearby waiter.

‘Rumour has it you’re his girlfriend,’ Ben spat the word girlfriend, ‘but that doesn’t mean you can take my drink out of my hands.’

‘Well, I can either take the drink out of your hands, or security over there can take your body out of the hall.’ Corey pointed his beige fingernail to the corner of the room where stocky men in black suits spoke into walkie-talkies.

I marvelled at the confidence he exuded from my body, though I don’t know that he remembered he wasn’t himself. Ben snarled and turned away, his brain apparently unable to conjure another sentence.

‘You owe her an apology.’ Rowan shot daggers at Ben’s blonde hair.