It's All Fake

8.

"Oh... It looks like it's throbbing." I said, cautiously.

Julian rolled his eyes. "You think?" He answered, wincing slightly.

"Sorry about that." I said sheepishly and took out an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a cloth before gently putting it on his nose.

The kitchen was mostly deserted, save from the both of us and a couple heavily making out by the doorway, though I'm not sure if that's still classified as "in the kitchen" cause most of their bodies were out in the hallway. I shuddered before focusing my attention to the boy seated in front of me.

"So... That was a pretty neat lie out there." I said in a low voice.

He smirked. "Tell me about it. We make a pretty good team, don't we?" He said, nudging me a bit.

There was a long pause before I said, "You don't mind telling my brother that, do you?"

He laughed, showing off his rare dimples. "Not at all."

~ o ~

The gossip regarding Julian and I's relationship spread like wildfire the week after the party. Everyone was talking about it everywhere. It was crazy. I could hear it in the bathroom (which was really awkward and weird), the cafeteria, in the middle of the hallway, during Math class, even in the library. It was terrifying how people are talking abut it.

But then again, it was high school.

"So, Jack cheats on you and suddenly you're the talk of the whole student body because you're supposedly dating the school's criminal? Tell me, how did that suddenly happen? I mean, it's... it's kind of unclear." Amanda said, once I sat down across from her. "Oh, and you went to a party last week and didn't tell me." She added.

Shit. Here comes the hard part! When I agreed to accept Julian's proposal, I never thought I'd have to do this. I don't want to lie to her. But I also can't tell her the truth! It'll mess everything up and I can't have that. It'll cause an uprising! World War III! And she'll probably lead it!

Okay, I'm totally exaggerating. But you get my point, right?

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." I said, slowly.

"I thought you hated him? What happened to 'the world's biggest d-bag' and 'his brain is smaller than a pea'?" She said using air quotes.

I sighed. "It was all part of the act... Can't exactly have everyone know that we have true feelings for each other besides hate." I mumbled.

"Yes, but I'm not everyone, Claire. I'm your best friend." She emphasized the word 'best friend' to prove her point. Then she stood up and looked down at me, immediately making me feel small. "I can't believe you'd stoop that low." She said and that immediately caused my heart to break even more.

I was about to explain everything to her, go down on my knees and beg for her forgiveness when she turned and walked away. I was already up on my feet and ready to run up to her and continue my original plan when someone took her place. It was Julian.

Ugh. Here we go.