The Girl in the Boys' Dorms

Chapter Ten: Pumpkins and zoo animals - what a wonderful couple we make.

The Girl in the Boys' Dorms - Chapter Ten: Pumpkins and zoo animals - what a wonderful couple we make.

Dear Google, could you please find some more helpful tips as to how I should behave while pretending to be the girlfriend of a guy who I can't stand, but have to deal with, because of the horrible girl I'm now trying to defeat in the beauty pageant at my school?

I stared at the screen of my computer, waiting impatiently for some suggestions to pop up. Unfortunately, after the two seconds it took to search the entire Internet, I was left with some weird Australian woman's blog, advising me about dating. Blowing a breath out between my teeth, I slammed my laptop shut, and rolled away from the desk in my spinning chair.

I could feel the floor crumbling underneath me as I sighed. There was no escape, was there? I was going to be stuck winging the whole thing, without even a clue as to what I was supposed to do. I mean, sure, Chase would do most of the work - meaning, he would act as though I was the perfect girlfriend for him, and I'd just have to go along with it - but he had told me that I would have to pull my own weight. Well, that would be fine, but the problem was, the weight on my side of this couple was much more than his, seeing as how he was the player, and I had absolutely no experience with relationships whatsoever.

Even Kathleen had warned me to back out while I still could, adding the small fact that, if either Lucie or Evelyn were to find out, they would have my throat. Though Lucie didn't show much interest in Chase, it was clear that she was very protective of her stepbrother - which meant no one but Evelyn Walker, the person she worshipped like a queen, was allowed to even interact with him. Well, luckily for the rest of us, Chase never listened to her, and did whatever he wanted - including shooting down Evelyn ever chance he got.

The only guaranteed outcome of this little charade, was that Alexa would get off my back about the whole date thing. She was still pestering me about getting her a night alone with Chase - yes, she had somehow managed to find my phone number, email address, and facebook account, all without the blink of an eye - and was relentless. Maybe if she saw him dating me - even though it would be a complete fraud, but she wouldn't have to know - she would stop asking me. That would mean losing a few votes, but hey, I couldn't walk around, handing out dates with my roommate.

And there was one more thing that was eating me from the inside out. If I was to prance around the school, hand in hand with Chase, Evan would be bound to notice sooner or later. That would throw him off of me for good, wouldn't it? As much as I wanted to win this stupid pageant, I didn't want to lose the minor chance I had with him. And making everyone think I was together with Chase would only drive Evan away.

He was kind and gentle and genuine, and I didn't want to give up on him. Granted, he hadn't showed any romantic inclination toward me - unless that awkward encounter we'd had during tutoring counted - but I felt like pretending to date Chase would be like some sort of bizarre cheating. I had never cheated on anyone - the main reason being, that to cheat on your boyfriend, you had to have a boyfriend to cheat on - but I knew the basic procedure - all thanks to my older sister, Bella, who liked to have as many boys as possible at one time.

I would be someone's girlfriend, and then see someone behind that person's back. Then, the original person would find out that I was hooking up with someone else too, and they would be upset. Once that person learned of my cheating, he would tell the other, and then I'd be stuck without a boyfriend.

You know, something along those lines. I wasn't one to take notes during her I'm-Cheating-On-My-Boyfriend-With-Six-Other-Guys sessions.

As I thought of this, I remembered the last conversation I'd had with her. She had explained to me that, no matter how much I wanted to be faithful to one boyfriend, it would be better and smarter to see a few others at the same time. Bella had been adamant on the advice that, if I could have more than one, I should. It was her motto - why stick to one, when you can have them all? And even when I had promised her that I would cheat on as many males as I could, she gave me a look that plainly said, I know you're lying.