The Anatomy of a Broken Heart //Completed//

18. Santana

Maria got out of the car so fast, I didn't have time to tell her to wait for me. She was probably already creating fantasies in her mind about me and Caleb falling in love and getting married and living happily ever after. The heat was already rising in my face as I struggled to get out of the car without him coming to open the door. But when I looked his way, he wasn't looking at me. It looked more like he was scouring the parking lot for something. Or someone. I spotted her before he did.

"There." I pointed.

His hand went up to his chest unconsciously and I could see his face twist into a grimace, before he looked over at me and dropped his hand quickly. His mouth opened to say something, but I couldn't hear him over the sudden rumble of the busses that came in like a herd of mechanical beasts, unloading the hundreds of students they carried. Belatedly, after I'd decided I was going to run away and hide among the stampede of kids making their way into the building, did I realize this was part of what I'd signed up for. Caleb and I had to do this now, for I didn't know how long, to make others believe we were together. If I couldn't handle being seen standing next to him, I wouldn't be able to make it through whatever we needed to do to convince people we were actually dating.

Gathering my thoughts, I turned to Caleb, but he was gone. Then a voice in my ear made me jump out of my skin.

"Shit," I breathed and I heard him snort with laughter. The scare made adrenaline surge through me making me lightheaded, and I laughed nervously along with him.

"I'm sorry." He was still chuckling a little while I tried to force my heart to calm down.

"What were you saying?"

"I said, I think we need to have a little chat before school starts. About the whole..." he gestured back and forth between us with his finger.

I nodded and together we walked up the steps and into the school, where he led me through a few halls and finally stopped in front of an empty classroom that had old desks stacked against the far wall.

"So," he began, without a prelude, "I've thought of a few things I think we should discuss before we try to do anything."

"You don't waste time, do you?"

"I just want to make sure this works."

"Right. Well, shoot." I sat down on the old teacher's desk by the door, crossing my legs like a pretzel. Caleb began pacing the empty room, pulling out a piece of paper from his checkered shorts. He was wearing those stupid loafers again.

"For starters, I think we should establish some rules for this deal."

"Business transactions," I corrected sarcastically. He didn't catch it.

"Exactly. We both need to benefit from this in order for this to be a success, so I've written out an outline I think could come in handy."

"Sounds riveting." He caught that. He stopped mid pace and crossed his arms over his chest.

"If you're not going to take this seriously, we might as well just stop right now."

"Who said I wasn't! Come on pretty boy, just read your damn rules."

Scrutinizing my face, he looked at me for a long moment. Instead of saying anything, he handed me the worn piece of paper in his hand. It was run through with so many cross-outs, it was difficult to understand at first. Like solving a puzzle, but I managed to get it.

"'Condition number one: both parties shall engage in the pretense...' you're such a nerd. What are you a lawyer?"

"Just keep reading."

"Okay, okay. '...pretense of dating for the next one to two months.' Two months!? That seems a bit excessive doesn't it?"

"It's just a ball park. We can cut it short once they come round." His face was dead serious, and I was starting to worry about his mental abilities. Was there a helmet I wasn't aware of him needing to wear?

"Read on," he insisted.

My mouth was suddenly dry. "'Condition number two: neither party can see anyone else during the pretense.' Not exactly the point when you're trying to win your ex back, is it?"

"It's precautionary." For me, I supposed.

"'Conditions number three'-how many of these are there...nine! Caleb this is ridiculous!" My eyes widened as I looked at his still serious face. Shaking my head I continued. "'Condition number three: if object is obtained for one party before the other and before the time allotted is up, one party must still help the other.' 'Objects' being Jasper and Ginger."

"Yes, Junkie and Farrah." he bit back, making me laugh.

"Fair enough. 'Condition number four: No kissing.' Perfect. 'Condition number five: hand holding left to a minimum and necessity.' I'll allow it. 'Condition number six: respect other party at all times.' Definitely going to have some trouble with that one. 'Condition number seven: must be seen together in public frequently in order to convince others of relationship. Not counting school.' How frequently is frequently?" I was already embarrassed just thinking about me being seen with those loafers walking next to me.

"Every weekend." He said it with conviction, daring me to protest. "At parties and places I know Farrah will be."

"And places Jasper will be."

"Yeah. Sure."

I looked back down at the list and almost fell off the desk at the next condition. "'Condition number eight: can't fall for the other party.' Like I would!"

"I'm quite charming, it's not that hard." He smirked, clearly joking. "So you can't fall for me because that could jeopardize the whole mission."

"This goes both ways, pretty boy."

"Right. Should be easy enough." Ha! Dick.

"'Final condition: others cannot know about this being fake or word will spread and objects made aware.' Agreed."

"So, what do you think?" He looked at me eagerly, his face open and sincere. He looked like a little boy waiting for candy.

"I think this is fine. We can modify as we go." And I can modify as I see how Ginger reacts.

"Cool. Cool."

He started pacing again and I wanted to throw my boot at him. "Relax, dude. This is all fake remember? It'll be fine."

He looked at me and nodded. "Yeah, no, yeah. It'll be fine."

"So, are you ready to face the big bad world of high school gossip?" I wasn't as confident as I was trying to sound. This was definitely a bizarre situation, but as I thought more about it, it couldn't really hurt to try. Once Jasper found out, it was only a matter of time for him to react and that was what had me most nervous. If he didn't do anything, then my efforts were wasted. If he did, then I'd be forever indebted to Caleb and his ridiculous plan.

"Screw it. Let's go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me off the desk and into the hallway which had suddenly filled with students. Students who turned their eyes on us, and looked at our interlocked hand with wide eyes. Having just come out of a dark empty classroom holding hands and slightly winded was a hell of a way to get the ball rolling.