Something Complicated

Chapter Four: Let's go pretend

My pretend relationship with Stefan Manzano has its perks, by the way. Instead of taking the bus to school, I am sitting comfortably in the passenger's seat of his car. He decided to pick me up at the breakfast joint near the bus station, and thanks to him, I still look like a decent human being and not like I just got out of hell. It's pretty hot even this early, so I am really grateful for this ride.

Stefan's class is at 9:00 a.m. because of training off-day, but he thought it's best to come early to show me off to his peers. The hope is for them to buzz about us and then eventually, Aubrey (and Brandon) get to hear. Well, that kind of freaked me out a little because 1) Stefan's the Troy Bolton of the track team (well, if that makes sense since Troy played basketball in High School Musical), which makes him popular to girls and even to guys, and 2) that would mean total change in my social status in campus. Add to that that PDA is never my thing. Okay, not that I am expecting Stefan to kiss me in front of everybody. That's not part of the contract, and that is like an invasion of my personal space. But I'd seen him and Aubrey make-out before, and if he wanted to make her believe this pretend relationship is true, he has to somehow show to everyone that he owns me. And that's not totally cool to me.

Well, note to self: Open that "kiss" issue with Stefan and clear that out as soon as possible.

Since it's early, there are only a few cars parked in front of the gymnasium. Being part of the varsity though, parking space has never been a problem for Stefan. He can come late in the morning and there will always be a parking space waiting for him. I've also heard that in some cases, the school would even pay for their gas. Sometimes, they would even give one player a car each year. Talk about WOW. But that's something I have yet to confirm. It will be weird to suddenly ask Stefan questions like "Hey, does the school pay for your gas?" or "Is this car from the school president?" Na-ah. Nope.

So we're now walking hand-in-hand on our way to our building, which is three blocks away. Yes, take note, hand-in-hand. You know, because someone might see us and we need to look believable.

"So, here's what we're going to do," Stefan speaks in a hushed tone, because hello, someone might show up and hear him talk about our devious plan. That would mean total failure in bold red. "I'll drop you off in class, which is just beside Aubrey's. But I won't leave. I'll pretend that I'm watching you listen to your teacher."

"How did you know that Aubrey takes classes on the 3rd floor?"

"Because she's my ex-girlfriend, remember?"

"But how did you know that my classroom is just beside hers?"

"Because we're not total strangers, Jen."

Well, he's right. We're not total strangers. Stefan and I formally met last summer when he took the summer community service program. He said he wanted to try something different, so he chose to join a community service group. The teacher grouped us together with eighteen other students, and we were assigned to do volunteer work in a town just thirty minutes away from school. That's when we started to become close—or so I thought.

We shared lunch, laughed at each other's jokes, rode the bus together, and talked about anything under the sun. One day, while some of our group mates were busy preparing for our "charity ball" project, he took my hand and asked me to follow him. We went to the back of the stage, and right then and there, he kissed me. The kiss lasted for what it felt like a lifetime, and I knew that I wanted more. So when we came back to campus, we had this unspoken agreement to go to his car and make out. And we did that for every single day since then. But here's the catch, we never let anyone see us, and to be honest, that added to the thrill. He's single at that time, and I was single, too, but we both have different social groups at school, so we decided it's best to keep it a secret. Brandon was the only one who knew about it. I told him because he's my best friend. He reacted negatively, but he knew that I'd never listen so he let me be. Then during the awarding ceremony for the summer community service program, Stefan showed up with his parents and Aubrey. Apparently, they started dating and he has never talked to me since then. To be honest, I was heartbroken, and Brandon scolded me. A lot. But I got over it, and eventually, removed Stefan's number from my contacts.