FAUX REAL

4

"Rosé, don't even start with me!" I exclaim, rushing past my best friend.

I can't believe I just kissed that low-life! This is not happening. This is a dream. No! This is a freaking nightmare. I've clearly been possessed. Maybe my dad was right... I should go to church more often.

Rosé grabs my hand and tugs me backward. "Dude! What the fuck was that?! I thought you were going to go talk to her, not make-out with her!"

"We didn't make-out! It was-uh, just a peck," I stutter, full-blown anxiety coursing through my veins. "Can we talk about this later? We have to go do campus tours. We can't leave the freshman to fend for themselves." I try to pull away but her grip is ironclad.

She crosses her arms, her eyes ridiculously assertive. "Screw the tours! Explain yourself, woman!"

Grunting with deep-seated frustration, I drop my face into my hands. "I was just telling her to move her motorcycle and then we started arguing and then I saw taeyong with seulgi, and I just...snapped." I jerk my head up. "Wait, you saw us kissing, right? Do you think he saw?"

It blows my mind that Taeyong, after years of telling how much Seulgi annoys him, is dating her! I shouldn't be this surprised though, I guess with her he knows he'll get some. Every other guy in our class has. They don't call her The Joint for nothing. Puff Puff Pass.

"Dude, everyone within a thirty-yard radius saw you two kissing. You were arguing pretty fucking loud." She pulls out her phone. "I even got a video!"

My face pales. "You were recording us?! Rosie! That's so creepy! Why?" This is horrible. She has physical evidence of my momentary insanity. "You didn't post it anywhere...right?" If she did, my life is over.

She smirks, forcing my heart to drop into my stomach. "Oh relax, lisa," she laughs. "I didn't post it. I just wanted to document the wildest thing I've ever seen in my life. Imagine witnessing Santa Claus smoke crack- same energy."

I blink. Her analogies have never been on point but this one...kind of makes sense. "God, why did I do that?" I whine. "So stupid."

She pats me on the shoulder. "Hmm...let's see...spite, jealousy, hormones, a not yet fully developed frontal lobe. Or! Maybe because you thought she was hot? Hmm?"

"She is not hot!" I scoff. "She is the rudest, most infuriating person I have ever met! If she didn't have an accent, I wouldn't be able to list any positive qualities, like at all!"

She springs up, her eyes gleaming with intrigue. "She has an accent?"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, she's British or something," I mutter, her annoying voice ringing in my head. "She called me an idiot, rosie! Me!"

Rosé starts laughing, looping her arm through mine. "Why did she call you an idiot?" she probes in an overly sweet tone.

I suck in a sharp breath and give her a play-by-play of our conversation as we make our way to the group of lost freshmen.

Jennie better be in a grade below us. I refuse to breathe the same air as that asshole.

After twenty-minutes of showing all the skittish and nervous fourteen-year-olds around the campus, Rosé and I scurry off to Building C for Homeroom with Mrs. Patella.

"Okay, remember what we talked about, right?" Rosé whispers in my ear. "Don't stare at him. It'll make you look desperate and creepy and we don't want that. Just ignore him. Pretend he doesn't exist. Okay?"