Fake It Til You Make It

15

Valentina got comfy in Esmeray's bed while Esmeray changed into comfier clothes.

Valentina replays the video on her phone, failing to hide her giddy smile. "So, remind me why this video is a bad thing?"

Esmeray glared at her. "Because I have a boyfriend, Val." It was hard to call Cameron her boyfriend, especially after how he treated her today but she expected nothing less from him.

"I might be sick," Val mocks Essy. "Girl, Ryan is in love with you. You never had to doubt it. Do you believe Cameron really likes you?"

"Would it be impossible?" Esmeray throws her arms out and she sounds hurt.

"This isn't about you, Esmeray. If he doesn't like you, that's not your fault. Cameron is incapable of liking and caring about anyone other than himself." Val tells her.

"Shut up." Esmeray cringed. "I know it's not my fault. Still, you don't have to remind me every day how unlikely it is that we're together."

"So what are you going to do about Ryan? You can't lead them on."

"I like Ryan. You can't tell anyone," Esmeray glared at Valentina and she mimicked zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key. "Last night, Ryan and I got very close to doing something we shouldn't have."

Val's eyes lit up and her mouth dropped open. "What? Why shouldn't you have done it? You should've done it. What did you do?"

"I stopped it before it got too far."

"What did you do?" Val repeated eagerly.

Esmeray was getting flustered just thinking about it. "It was just his hand... in my pants." Valentina jumped off the bed with a huge smile on her face.

"Essy!" she exclaimed. "Okay so, how do you feel?"

Esmeray gave a long, weary sigh. It didn't matter how she felt. She needed to put her family first, above everything else.

"I don't know. And honestly, I don't want to talk about it anymore. This is the last time we will talk about Cam or my dating life." she demands.

Valentina's shoulders drop. "But it's so entertaining."

"You're so annoying."

~~~

Cameron walked into the living room with cups and alcohol in his hands. He set it on the coffee table and his friends all grabbed cups and started pouring.

"Yo, Cam, you gotta tell us what's going on with you and Esmeray!" his friend exclaims. "We all thought y'all were a thing, but then we saw that video."

Cameron sat up against the back of the couch. "What video?"

His friend didn't hesitate to pull up the video of Esmeray going into the bathroom at the party. He knew not to react wildly in front of his friends.

"Yeah, we're chilling right now. It's nothing too serious, we're just on each other's radar." Cameron was beginning to think Esmeray forgot why they started fake dating. If it weren't for Cameron being a talented liar, their fake relationship would be a glass house. Doing this with Esmeray was beginning to make him question her character. He didn't have to do this with Esmeray.