Faking It

Chapter 23: The Speed Bump or the Nuclear Option

**A/N sorry readers, no access to my laptop right now with the text graphic chapter headings. I'll update it as soon as I can!**
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Text from: Jake Morris-Whittaker, 6:17 am

Ellie's Daily Reminder 31/180: When in doubt, trust your gut

My gut is hungry

Your gut is always hungry

Sooo do I trust it or not???

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
You're impossible

~*~

After English class, Theo disappeared before I could corner him about the plan. He only reappeared, via text, when I was studying in the library with Audra and Gyeong-Ja.

We have two choices. The speed bump or the nuclear option.

Neither of those sound particularly fun, I replied.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Let's try the speed bump first.

Sounds good.
What do I need to do?

Ignore me.

Maybe this won't be so hard after all.

Very funny.

I didn't realize what the speed bump plan really meant until dinner. Audra let out a low whistle when Theo didn't so much as look at me when we entered the dining hall.

"What happened?" Gyeong-Ja whispered while we filled our trays.

"Nothing," I replied with a shrug. With the way we'd been all over each other for weeks, though, Theo's sudden cold shoulder was a drastic change of pace, and Audra and Gyeong-Ja weren't the only ones who had noticed. When I caught the girls at Theo's table watching me over Audra's shoulder, they all looked away, giggling. Theo hadn't acknowledged me at all, deep in some seemingly engrossing, hilarious conversation with Connor and his girlfriend. It was only when I stood up to drop off my empty tray that Theo made a move—dragging a giggling Emma onto his lap.

"Sorry, mate," Audra said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Looks like your time's up."

I did my best to shrug and seem disappointed, though I staunchly refused to play the part of jilted ex. Theo hadn't exactly apprised me of the plan, and there was no way I was going to act all desperate unless I absolutely had to. Frankly, I had better things to do.

Gyeong-Ja and Audra were chatting weekend plans on the way back to the dorm when my phone buzzed with a text. I kind of hated how quickly I checked it, but the relief that loosened my shoulders was worth it.

Excellent work, MW
The plan's in motion 😉

And so it went for the rest of the week. Theo ignored me, and I focused on soccer practice and homework. It was a blessed reprieve from all the PDA and plotting, but I could've done without the snickers that perpetually followed in my wake. They got worse on Wednesday evening, when Theo and Emma made a big show of being all snuggly together on the common room couches. When Gyeong-Ja suggested we take our math study session to the library instead, I told her that I didn't care what Theo got up to. All that earned me was a sympathetic smile—one that eroded my relief into something that felt a lot more like frustration.

Theo hadn't bothered to fill me in on this new plan at all, and I was stubborn enough that I wasn't going to chase after him about it. But waiting on his text was, annoyingly, the reason I'd chewed my cuticles raw and checked my phone way more often than I'd care to admit. All I wanted was some clarification. It had nothing to do with the way Emma gushed openly about Theo whenever I was around, and everything to do with whether the fact I'd turned into exactly what I hadn't wanted to become—the naive little scholarship student, used and dumped by Kingsbridge royalty—was going to be worth it.