fake dating buckley - ronance

chapter 1

Really, Nancy was dreading the upcoming week. Christmas with her parents, obviously, and the Byer’s too; Joyce and her sons Will and Jonathan spent it with the Wheelers every year – since Joyce's husband passed away – and every year, every goddamn year, Nancy’s mother seemed intent on marrying her off to Jonathan.

It was surprising, really. Nancy loved her mother – and her father, of course – and she wanted to make them happy, but the idea of Nancy and Jonathan fitting together like a perfect couple didn’t sit well with her. In truth, Jonathan was one of her best friends. They’d been through school together, and were in separate colleges, but they stayed in touch where they could and made the effort to see each other. But Nancy had never felt any kind of pull towards him.

He’d taken her to prom and, sure, they’d shared a kiss. But it was agreed upon pretty much right away that Nancy and Jonathan were much more like brother and sister than anything else. She wanted him in her life, just not like that. She'd already told her Mom that she was bisexual and that Jonathan was like a brother to her.

Her parents, and Joyce for that matter, didn’t much care for that. Her mother accepted her being bi but still thought there was a spark with Jonathan.

"They’re convinced me and him going to wind up together," Nancy said, huffing as she fell backwards on to her roommate’s bed. She folded her hands over her stomach and peered over to where Barb was tinkering with her computer at the desk.

"Maybe you will," said Barb absently. She’d pulled off the hard case of her laptop and was fiddling with what looked like a credit card, all green and covered in tiny golden specs. Nancy thought Barb called it a hard board, or a memory drive or something like that.

"We won’t," Nancy muttered defiantly. "Doesn’t make a difference either way; I’m still going to be spending the holidays keeping them and their silly remarks at bay. And the looks they give us – ugh!"

Nancy grabbed a pillow and attempted to smother herself. She stopped upon feeling someone pat her stomach. A weight dropped next to her on the bed, and she cast the pillow aside to reveal Max, their third roommate, who she hadn’t heard come in. She laid down next to Nancy at the foot of Barb’s double bed, kicking off her shoes.

"You’re so glad your day wasn’t my day," she said, taking the pillow Nancy had put down and setting it under her head. Nancy moved up to rest her own on it, too.

"What happened?" Barb asked, still not looking up from her project.  Her tone was dry; she and Max got on well enough, but now and then they had very little patience for each other. Barb didn’t like it when Max complained – she claimed she did it too much – and Max would always call Barb out on acting high and mighty.

"You’ve got a hell of a brain, Barb. Why not try using it for something other than being a bitch?"

Nancy recalled the first time she’d introduced the two of them and winced. Thankfully, Dustin and Lucas had been around to intervene. They were friends, even if sometimes they were loathed to admit it, and Nancy knew that one without the other wouldn’t last all that long. A smile touched her lips, just briefly, before she was brought back to the present by a cushion being flung across the room and landing in her lap.

"Hey!" she called to Barb, who had set her computer aside and was smirking at her.

"Sorry, I was aiming for numskull over there."

"Shut up," Max said, and she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, like I was saying. I got in a fight with Robin again. She’s been so touchy lately."

"Maybe someone pushed the stick even further up her ass," Nancy grumbled, and Barb snorted. "What?" Nancy asked when Max turned to stare at her with that look. "Sorry, you know she gets to me."