Him:
I arrive at school and, as I'm parking my bike, I hear a voice call out my name. I would recognize that voice anywhere, Maya. My heart does a little jump when I see that she is approaching me, but it settles down when I see that Mika, her best friend, is practically dragging her.
"Hey." Mika says.
"Hey." I reply.
"Do you have a minute?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." I reply as my eyes flicker between an excited Mika and a quiet Maya.
"Go on." Mika demands as she gives Maya a soft push.
"I..." Maya starts. "Mika thinks that... well... we think... no, we know that... Okay, hear me out, wait. I was talking with Mika and..."
"You have to pretend to date her." Mika cuts her friend off as she does little jumps like a happy toddler.
My head stops functioning as the words register. I look at Maya with a puzzled expression "Pretend to...? Why is this...? What?" I ask as I try to process Mika's words. She wants me to date Maya?
"God, you're so dense." Maya murmurs.
"Be nice." Mika reminds her. "We came up with a plan to keep Dylan away from her."
Dylan.
A wave of anger and annoyance shoots through me as soon as I hear his damn name.
"I'm listening."
"Yay! Okay, if you pretend to be Maya's boyfriend, Dylan will be too scared to approach her." Mika explains excitedly.
My mind is a jumble of confusion and shock. It's an unbelievably stupid plan, but I'll be damned if it doesn't interest me. This could be my chance to get closer to Maya.
"Fine..." I say with a nod. "I'll do it."
Mika jumps up and down with excitement, I'm surprised to see how eager she is. I wish I could say the same about Maya; when my eyes move back to her, I see the uncertainty in her face. I wonder why she agreed to this.
"Can you at least try to hold your excitement?" Maya tells Mika as she rolls her eyes at her friend's behavior.
"No, you have no idea how many books I've read about this. I can't believe I'm seeing it happen in real life. This is so romantic, you will fall in love, get married, have kids and...
"God, please stop." Maya demands, and I can't stop the smile that appears on my face, this situation is very amusing.
"Okay, okay. I'll go." Mika says with her hands up as if she's claiming her innocence. "Have fun, love birds."
Mika gives her a quick hug before skipping again with a huge smile on her face. If sunshine was a person, it would be her.
"So, what are we supposed to do now?" I ask.
"First, let's set some rules." Maya replies.
"Okay, rules." I state. "Like what?"
"No touching, unless it's necessary."
"No touching." I repeat. "Got it. And what counts as necessary?"
My mind immediately conjures all kinds of scenarios as I think about where I'd be allowed to touch her, in necessary situations. I need to know how far this "necessary" rule goes.
"Just... when it's necessary." She replies.
"You're gonna have to be more specific, princesa. I wouldn't want to break one of your sacred rules." I say in a teasing tone.
