[ C h a p t e r - T w e n t y - F i v e ]

Chapter 25

I stared at the school as teenagers entered the building; some were coupled up. It’s highly likely that they’re talking about the Valentine’s Day dance that’s in only two short weeks. Girls are going shopping and guys are buying roses and chocolates; well, not now at least; the chocolates would probably go bad and the roses would die. Anyway, it’s Monday, February 2nd. It’s only 11 days away from the Valentine’s dance, 12 days from Valentine’s Day, and 15 days until my birthday.

I got out of the car, taking my bag with me. I struggled to get through the hallways without bumping into couples. I also noticed Shaw exiting the office and I quickly decided to take the crowded stairwell because that’s what my logical mind was thinking. I made my way to my locker where Dana was waiting with a smile on her face.

“Hello, Dana,” I smiled widely as I opened my locker.

She waved at me. “Are you going to the Valentine’s Day dance?” she asked.

I laughed, shaking my head. “Why would I?”

“Jonah didn’t ask you?” Dana asked me curiously as we began walking to first period, a class we share.

I shook my head. “We are just friends, Dana.”

“You wish you were more though,” Dana giggled and I rolled my eyes. Dana had found out about my crush on Jonah when I accidentally let it slip. She said she suspected it since day one, like everybody else that knows.

“Wait…are you going to the Valentine’s Day dance?” I asked her.

She looked away sheepishly. “Yeah…I was asked.”

“What? By who?” I asked excitedly.

“You probably don’t know him, his name is Jacob,” she grinned girlishly. Jacob? As in Waverly’s friend Jacob?

“Lucky you, did you get your dress yet?” I asked her and she shrugged.

As we entered the classroom, she looked at me. “I have this red and pink dress that I never wore and I think it’s cute. I’ll text you a picture of it later.”

I nodded my head and walked to my assigned seat. I rested my head on the desk, letting the cold surface cool my face. Although it was cold outside, it’s hot inside. “Sleepyhead, get up, the teachers coming.”

I sat up with both of my eyebrows furrowed, expecting to see Jonah, I was surprised when I saw Caleb. I felt my blood run cold. I’m supposed to show him my (fake) boyfriend, today! I was so stressed about it on Saturday that I tried and succeeded at erasing it from my mind. It’s not like you were going to ask Jonah anyway. I groaned inwardly.

“Hey…Caleb,” I put on a smile.

He smiled back at me. “I’m excited to meet the lucky guy that stole you from me. Curse the vacation!”

He laughed and I pressed a laugh out of myself. “You’ll meet him at lunch time.”

“Or whenever I see you two together, I mean, it’d be cool to just hang out, right?” he asked and I nodded my head, silently screaming. Call it off. Call it off! Just as I was about to take my own advice, the teacher began talking and I slumped in my seat. What am I going to do?

~~~

“I’ll walk you to second period,” Jonah smiled at me as I rushed out of the classroom in hopes of ditching Caleb who had to hand in his over-vacation work. I nodded my head, grabbing Jonah’s arm and running in the opposite direction of my next class. “Where are you going? Don’t you have Algebra 2?”

I nodded. “Let’s take a detour, shall we?” I asked as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Caleb’s head poke out of the classroom. He looked around the crowded hallway and I squealed, yanking Jonah around the corner to the stairwell.

“Are we seriously going all the way around?” he asked me, attempting to look behind himself but almost falling down the stairs. I nodded again. “Who are you avoiding?”

“Someone,” I replied as we reached the second floor. The sophomores were parting their ways and I noticed someone at the end of the hallway: someone big, someone who was on the football team.

Shaw.

“Shaw!” I hissed as Jonah and I came to a halt. “He’s right there!”

“Where?” Jonah asked as he looked around. I didn’t understand how I could see him and I’m the same height as the sophomores while Jonah towered over them like a skyscraper.

“Right there,” I replied, standing on my tiptoes and turning his face in Shaw’s direction. I turned around and went back to the way we came. Jonah was right in tow. As we ran back up the stairs, someone’s voice entered my hearing range. Caleb.

I attempted to turn around but I bumped into Jonah who just pushed us further into the junior hallway which was mostly empty. “Savannah?”

I coughed and turned to see Caleb who had a confused look on his face. “Caleb!” I exclaimed as if I hadn’t ran from him two minutes ago.

“Is this-?” I cut him off midsentence.

I nodded my head. “Yes. Jonah - Caleb, Caleb - Jonah.”

Jonah smiled at Caleb and shook his hand while giving me a confused look. “It’s good to finally meet Savannah’s-,” I cut him off again.

“Friend, one of Savannah’s friends is what Caleb was about to say,” I nodded my head again.

Caleb gave me a confused look. “No I was about to say boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Jonah furrowed his eyebrows. I felt my face redden as I nodded again. I might as well play the part. I wrapped both of my arms around his torso in a bear hug.

“Yes, boyfriend, right Jo-Bro? Of course I’m right!” I pinched his side and glared up at Jonah which must’ve looked like a loving look from Caleb’s point of view, or so I hoped.

Jonah grinned through the pain and nodded his head. “Anyway, Caleb, we’ll see you at lunch. We can’t be late to class!” I nervously giggled as I let go of Jonah and grabbed his arm, running down the hallway. Once we were out of earshot, Jonah looked at me.

“What just happened?” he asked me and I sighed.

I pointed in the direction where Jonah and I had that awkward, uncomfortable encounter with Caleb. “That boy asked me out on a date and I’m not, nor will I ever be, interested. Being the super smart girl that I am told him that I have a boyfriend rather than saying that I’m not interested. I flirted with him for the first twenty minutes or so at that Christmas Eve party before he had to leave. It was fun at the time but now it’s not so fun. He asked to meet my boyfriend and I didn’t have time to order one on rent-a-boyfriend.com so I just winged it.”

“So you played that boy?” Jonah asked with a smirk.

I thought about it for a moment. “Unintentionally, yes.”

“So now I’m your boyfriend?” Jonah asked and I felt my face redden. Please don’t notice, please don’t notice. His smirk widened and I’m guessing he noticed.

“Only until Caleb’s convinced; this should take a day. We’re going to sit with him at lunch and talk all about our two week relationship,” I explained as the late bell rang.

Jonah nodded his head, the smirk still clear on his lips. “I really hope you’re a good actor, Davis," I told him.

“I am…girlfriend,” Jonah replied which caused my stomach to erupt in butterflies. I nodded before rushing off to Algebra 2. That went better than I expected.

~~~

Lunch time came around quickly and I was still working out the details of me and Jonah’s short relationship. We’ve been a couple for two weeks. We made it official at the bakery downtown. We’re waiting to have our first kiss on our one month anniversary. Jonah told me that saying that would seem a bit weird; he thought that a month was a bit late for a first kiss; I told him that in the movies, they always ask to see the couple kiss, which I'm not sure if that happens in real life, but I just want to make sure that no lip action happens here.

As I rehearsed my lines, I searched for Jonah. I waited outside of his classroom and when he walked out whistling, I yanked on his arm. I guess I surprised him because he started choking on his spit. Instead of helping him, I said the first thing that came to my mind. “How unattractive, boyfriend.”

My statement caused a few people to look at us, well more at me since Jonah was choking on his own spit. I patted his back and he finally stopped. “You scared me," he muttered once he regained the ability to breathe. He was hunched over with his hands on his knees as he inhaled sweet oxygen, something he’d been missing out on for the past 2 minutes.

I leaned down and whispered in his ear. “I think the rumor is going to spread that we’re dating,” I murmured and he shrugged as he stood up.

“The more people that believe and can confirm it, the better, right?” Jonah asked as he took my hand in his own and walked us down to lunch while swinging our hands. He talked casually about his day. I didn’t bother to reply; my voice was gone and I was just sitting upon cloud nine. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be in a healthy relationship.

When we reached lunch, we sat down next to Dana who raised both of her eyebrows. Her face was as readable as a book. She was asking if we were together without using words. She finally decided to ask. “You two are together?”

While I was looking around, in search of Caleb to see if he would hear my short and sweet explanation, Jonah answered instead. “Yes.”

“Finally, I thought it’d never happen,” I urged Dana not to say anything with my eyes and she seemed to get the message. I turned to see Jonah staring at me with a small smile on his face.

Once Caleb arrived with his food, Jonah excused himself to order our food. When I reached for my money, he put his hand on my forearm and shook his head. I’m going to pay him back later.

“You guys seem happy together,” Caleb stated and I nodded. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I read the text message. ‘Any information I should know?’ I looked up to see Jonah standing in line while he looked at me.

I quickly typed a response. Though we went over it earlier, it won't hurt to refresh his memory: ‘We’ve been a couple for two weeks. We made it official at the bakery downtown. We’re waiting to have our first kiss on our one month anniversary.’

Not even a moment later, my phone vibrated again and I checked the text message. ‘Why a bakery?’ was his stupid response. He always has to have questions.

‘I like muffins. That’s why,’ I replied.

'I still think we should say we've already had our first kiss,' he told me.

'No one cares what you think,' I replied before putting my phone away.

Caleb was patiently waiting while Dana gave me a confused look. She knew something was up. When Jonah finally came back, he handed me my plate which consisted of a chocolate chip muffin and a bottle of cherry cola. I smiled at it. “Thanks.”

He just nodded his head before looking at Caleb. “So…why are you so curious about our relationship?”

He was blunt, blunter than I could’ve been. Caleb also was surprised by his frankness. “Well…I asked Savannah out on a date and said she couldn’t make it because she had a boyfriend. I assumed it was Francis by what my friends told me; you probably know the rumors that went around. They also told me how you guys stopped talking. I didn’t think it was you but it seems as if you guys made up and are the best of friends.”

“Yeah, well, the feelings were always there," Jonah stated simply. I held back from squealing by taking a large bite of my muffin. I silently reminded myself that this isn’t a real relationship and I shouldn’t get so worked up about it. Caleb looked to me for confirmation and I just nodded my head.

“How long have you guys been dating?” Caleb nosily inquired. Dana was listening perceptively. From the looks I was sending her and she’d been returning, she knows it’s fake.

I trusted myself to answer this question. I sipped my soda. “We’ve been dating for two weeks.”

Dana, knowing that I like Jonah, decided to speak up. “Kiss.”

My head snapped in her direction and I glared at her. “We would but we’re waiting for our one month mark to have our first kiss." See? This is exactly why I said that detail! If I hadn't thought of that, we'd probably we staring at each other awkwardly.

“Sure, our first kiss,” Jonah chuckled. I turned to look at Jonah, a confused look on my face as I looked up at him. He glanced down at me and flashed me a smile. What’s that supposed to mean?

“That’s a stupid rule,” Dana grumbled and I stuffed my face with more of the muffin, which was almost gone. I need to learn how to ration better.

Jonah sighed. “She came up with it,” he blamed. I felt my face redden as I continued chewing the muffin.

“You guys seem like you have a good relationship,” Caleb stated as the bell rang and I sighed in relief.

“Just one teeny kiss?” Dana asked and before I could deny her request, I felt Jonah’s lips peck my cheek. My face was red and my body felt like it was on fire due to the fact that his lips touched my face. I turned my gaze to the floor and allowed Jonah to walk me to class as he swung our hands together.

~~~

“You guys are dating?!” Mere squealed and I tried to calm her down. She was scaring some of the customers.

I grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. Like a doll, her eyes rolled around a bit more before they focused on me. “No, Mere, we’re only ‘dating’ so we can convince Caleb that I’m in a relationship so he’ll stop bothering me.”

Mere stared at me. “So? Who cares? You’re in a relationship with Jonah!”

“A fake relationship, Mere, it’s not the same,” I replied as I rubbed my temples. I looked up to see Ms. Antoinette standing in the doorway of the employee lounge. She pointed behind her, an amused look on her face.

“Savannah, your locker is ringing," I tilted my head back and let out a frustrated groan, earning the attention of more customers. I looked at Mere and she nodded, mentally agreeing to work the register until I get back. I stomped to the employee lounge and opened my locker, allowing the door of the locker to crash into the one beside it.

I looked at the calls. They were a mixture Sabrina, Waverly, and Jonah. I have no clue why Sabrina’s calling but it might be her trying to tell me to answer my phone for Jonah so he’d stop complaining.

I know exactly why Waverly’s calling; it might have something to do with the fact that I almost ran her over while backing out of the parking lot. It’s not my fault she ran full speed at my car, demanding I explain why the rumor that Jonah and I are dating was floating around. It also wasn’t helping that Jonah openly held my hand and walked me to my car. He even went as far as to peck my cheek…again.

I sighed and called Jonah. The phone didn’t even ring; Jonah’s voice was the first thing I heard: “Savannah.”

He sounded panicked and I furrowed my eyebrows. “Jonah," I mimicked.

“I-I don’t know what to do. It’s Sierra; she’s crying and she doesn’t want anybody to go near her. She locked Sabrina out of their room and she’s threatening us if we try and go into the room. I don’t know why she’s doing this!” Jonah explained and I sat down in a chair beside the vending machine.

I thought for a moment. “Does it have something to do with Blake?”

Jonah was quiet. “I’ll murder him.”

“Calm down and ask her, Jo-Bro,” I replied and I heard a knock.

I heard a loud, muffled cry and I winced. “Does this whole shenanigan have something to do with Blake?”

“Don’t say his name!” I exclaimed and Jonah groaned.

“Does this have something to do with he who shall not be named?” Jonah asked and I snorted.

“Since when is she in a relationship with Lord Voldemort?” I asked.

“Lord Voldemort?” a quiet voice asked. I could tell that it was Sierra.

“No…Blake,” Jonah replied and Sierra started sobbing again. “Savannah,” he drawled tiredly.

“Yeah?” I asked and he groaned.

“What do I do?” he inquired.

I thought for a moment. “Can you try and get her on the phone?”

"That requires her opening the door," he told me.

“Can you try?” I asked. I tapped on the vending machine rhythmically. “Please?”

He sighed before knocking on the door. “Sierra…Savannah wants to talk to you.”

I heard a door opening and slamming shut. I heard shuffling as I patiently waited. “Hello?”

“Sierra?” I asked. She sounded tired, like she’d been crying…a lot. I frowned.

“Yeah," she confirmed and I frowned deeper.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her. I was greeted with the response of silence. “Sierra.”

“Why are boys so stupid?” Sierra replied and I sighed.

“I wish I knew; trust me,” I muttered.

“You have it easy; you like my brother and he likes you- you just don’t realize it. I have to put up with a sister who’s prettier than me and who constantly gets called the better looking twin when we’re identical! You’re not commonly mistaken for a guy because of the way you dress! You’re pretty! You don’t understand!” Sierra exclaimed.

“Sierra, what happened?” I asked her.

She sobbed. “Blake was talking to other girls.”

“Were you guys dating?” I asked her and she sobbed again.

“Yeah, he cheated on me with Ann the Man,” I heard the hatred in her voice as she talked about Annabel Manhattan, a sophomore who is nicknamed ‘Ann the Man’ because she’s always around guys.

“I was cheated on before,” I admitted. Sierra was silent.

“You were?” she questioned.

I made a sound of confirmation. “By a guy named Arthur; I thought he was the best person ever. He was athletic, smart, and hot.” She laughed halfheartedly at that. “It turns out that he wasn’t really into me; it was a prank. He didn’t like me. He never did. He cheated on me with my worst enemy and my ex-best friend.”

“But… you seem okay?” Sierra responded.

I made another sound of verification. “Yeah, I am. And you will be, too. And don’t listen to whoever says that Sabrina is prettier than you because you guys are identical; you just have different styles and personalities. You’re two different people who happen to look exactly alike,” I replied.

“We are, aren’t we?” she asked me.

“You are. Forget about Blake; he’s stupid," I responded.

She was quiet. “He really was; he was taking a seventh grade class because he failed it three years in a row.”

“And he’s a sophomore?” I asked.

“Yeah," she replied.

“You can do way better than that, Sierra. Just wait,” I told her.

“I will,” she replied. “Thanks.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For listening,” I smiled at the familiar words before hanging up the phone. Now to call Waverly because if I don't, she'll blow up my phone…okay, that can wait until later.