Twenty Two
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"Mom, Brandon's giving me a ride to school!" I yelled to the kitchen where she and Trent were standing.
It was Monday morning and I was running a little late. I fluffed out my hair a little, letting it fall around my shoulders over my purple hoodie.
"Okay! I love you honey, be safe!" Mom hollered.
I rolled my eyes and slung my book bag over my shoulder, stepping out front.
My eyes went wide at what I saw; Tyler was standing in front of his car, sending a menacing glare to Brandon, who was leaning against his.
"What is he doing here?" Tyler asked in a rough, angry voice.
I gulped, "He's giving me a ride. So...um, I guess I'll see you later." I rushed over to Brandon and practically threw myself into the passenger seat of his little, old car.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust and groaned in frustration; I forgot how his car reeked of cinnamon.
A few seconds later, Brandon slid into the drivers seat and put the already idling car into gear.
After a few minutes of silent driving, he looked over at me. "So, remember the plan?" I asked.
"Yup". He nodded, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to an imaginary beat.
After my initial surprise when he confided in me about being gay, I had been struck with a wild idea. It had taken a little groveling (okay, a lot), but he'd finally given in and agreed to what I'd proposed.
The "plan" was for Brandon to be my fake boyfriend to see how, if at all, it affects Tyler... and it wouldn't be weird at all because he's gay.
Suddenly remembering something, I turned to Brandon, "Hey, when you asked me out, was that only so people would think you were straight?" He smiled at me sheepishly and nodded.
"Ouch," I held my heart in fake insult, soon letting out a laugh. "I'm just kidding, it's okay."
His sorry expression turned into a roll of his eyes and him turning up the radio, ending any conversation for the rest of the ride.
Brandon pulled into the car parking lot, and he turned the car off, the engine making a little sputtering noise before it finally died.
I stepped out of the car, brushing off the back of my black skinny jeans, and anxiety churned through my stomach.
What if Tyler didn't fall for our act? Or even worse, what if he didn't even care, and I was just imagining that he might actually have feelings for me?
These thoughts swirled through my mind as we walked towards the front entrance.
Walking through the hallway towards my locker, Brandon entwined his fingers with mine, and a jolt of excitement coursed through me. Not that I liked Brandon remotely in any way like that, but because it was fun having a boyfriend, even if it was only pretend.
I couldn't help but grin hugely at Audrey's flabbergasted expression, from where she was leaning against my locker.
I laughed out loud when we reached her, and she sputtered out, "Lauren I..But I... you two..wha?"
Pulling my hand free from Brandon's, I grabbed Audrey's shoulders, and forced her to look me in eye.
"Calm down before you go into cardiac arrest, Audrey."
She gave an uneasy laugh, playing with a curl of her blonde hair. "Then do you mind explaining, please?"
I bit my lip, weighing my options. I had two choices; one would be to explain everything to her, and admit my feelings towards Tyler, and the other would be to tell her that Brandon and I started dating.
Basing my choice on the fact that Audrey was a bit of a blabber mouth and could easily ruin the entire plan, I chose option two.
"Well you see, Brandon and I really like each other, so we decided to try out a relationship."
Understanding dawned on her, and her eyes lit up, "Aww really?! that's so cute! what's your name gonna be, oh I know, Laurdon".
I frowned at her, not comprehending, "What?"
"You know, your couple name? Duh."
"Oh yeah," I laughed.
"Yeah, but forget I just said that. It doesn't sound cute at all."
I laughed in agreement and Brandon pulled away from me. "I gotta go," he mumbled.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later," I smiled, and spun around to my locker, not wanting to kiss him, even if it was for the sake of a show.
After getting the appropriate books from my locker, I slammed it shut and walked to English with Audrey, her chattering about how cute my "relationship" was, the entire way.
...
By lunch, I was getting antsy because I hadn't seen Tyler anywhere; I usually would at least see him passing through in the hallways. Good god I sound like a stalker.
On my way to my lunch table, where Audrey and Lily were sitting, someone grabbed onto my elbow and yanked me aside, behind the broken vending machine.
Squinting because it was sort of dim, I made out Brandon's features.
"What are you doing, Brandon?"
"Lauren! do you want to do this or not, it was your idea!"
"Oh", I gulped. It was time to put our "relationship" on display for my friends, and hopefully someone else, to see.
He ran a hand through his messy, blond hair, before suddenly grabbing my hand, causing me to yelp in surprise.
Okay here goes nothing... We stepped out from behind the vending machine, hands entwined, and made our way to my table.
Stopping in front of my friends, Brandon said, "Okay babe I'll see you later," and kissed me.
It wasn't even bad, if I'm being honest here; he tasted salty, like a mix between McDonald's fries, and pretzels.
After a few seconds, I pulled away and smiled sweetly at him, before he walked away to his own lunch table.
I sat down and looked down at my sandwich for a few seconds, before sneaking a glance at where Tyler should be sitting.
Bingo.
He was staring right at me, a furious expression on his face, before he caught me looking and put on a calm face. I bit my lip to keep from smiling in victory.
I realized that my table was eerily silent, and I looked around to see all three girls staring at me.
Lily and Audrey both looked puzzled, while Carly had a knowing smirk on her face.
"Um...Hey, guys," I said.
Suddenly Lily let out a loud squeal, which made me jump in surprise, especially because Lily rarely even talked.
"That was so freaking cute!" Lily hollered.
I started laughing, and smiled at her, "Well if me getting a boyfriend is what it takes for you to come out of your shell, then so be it!"
She giggled, before looking down and taking a bite of her chicken salad, her long hair covering her face.
...
During P.E. the class was lined up in our role call lines, and preparing for warmups.
It was quite pathetic of me, but every few seconds I would keep sneaking glances over at the 'M' section, for a certain someone.
Tyler was stretching his arms above his head, and laughing at what some guy had said to him.
His P.E. shorts stopped at his knees, so they left a good amount of his legs exposed. His legs were long and lean, and had a nice bronze tan. Wow, he has really nice legs. Oh my god. What if I'm developing some weird leg fetish?! Great, lets add "Strange attraction to Tyler Morris' legs" to my list of problems.
"Blake! head out of the clouds, give me 15 push-ups for not paying attention!", Mr. Fishers voice boomed, snapping me back to reality.
"Sorry", I muttered, my cheeks heating up as I slid to the ground and began my push-ups.
After I was done, I flopped down onto the Gym floor, exhausted.
I got up, only because I knew I'd just have to do more if I stalled.
When we went out and started our laps around the track, my body went on autopilot, as my mind went into overdrive.
What was the point of even coming up with this elaborate hoax? For all I knew, Tyler could see right through me, and he already knows that I'm a pathetic liar. Shit, if he does, he probably pities me and just counts me in with the tons of other jealous girls pining after him.
Or he believes you, and he's jealous because he likes you, my subconscious whispered.
It's really stupid, honestly. I don't even know why I like Tyler so much. In fact, everything I know tells me I shouldn't; He's rude, cocky, and considers all girls just his "plaything of the night"
Except you.
"Arghh!" I groaned loudly, partly because of my frustration, but mostly because my side was starting to hurt from running for so long.
Gosh. P.E. is stupid. Running is stupid. Everything is stupid.
Boys are so stupid!
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