Fake It

(01) fresh start fever

"May I speak to somebody who doesn't have their head up their ass?" Tay, a popular cheerleader, half-yelled down her phone - angry with whoever it was that was on the other end of the line.

"Check out who is back from spring break looking all... Pretty and shit" Parker smirked to himself, waving at Tay.

"Parker, on behalf of every normal guy in this school, please shut up" Ben shook his head, knowing Parker's comment wouldn't go down well with Tay - who was already angry.

"Excuse me, boys, but I'm extremely busy. I've got zilch time to chat" Tay shrugged, continuing on walking as she sighed down the phone.

Parker and Ben were hanging out in the front of their school, waiting for Josh to hurry up already and meet them.

Josh was just about to approach his two friends when he spot a girl who he assumed was a friend of Tay's nearby. "Hey, you girls seen Tay around anywhere?"

"Uh... No" Holly arched an eyebrow, biting her lip. When she realised what Josh had just asked her, the girl tilted her head. "Wait... What?"

Parker and Ben had spot Josh standing with a girl, and decided to head over to the pair to find out what was holding up Josh.

"Tay, my girlfriend" Josh sighed, shaking his head as the girl looked confused.

"She's tall and yells at everyone" Parker added his two-cents, joking around. "You'd know her."

"Oh, right, yeah" Holly nodded. "Well, no. How come?"

"How come? I dunno" Josh shrugged, tapping his chin. "Maybe because l haven't spoken to her since you and your cheerleader buddies left for that vacation?"

"Excuse me" Tay yelled, pushing people out of the way as she approached Josh and his friends. "Hey geeks."

"Hi Tay" Josh grinned, feeling excited to see the brunette again.

Leaning in for a kiss with his girlfriend, it had felt like a long time coming for Josh. The ski trip may have only have been a week but it felt like an eternity.

Pushing Josh away, Tay simply shrugged. "Total veggie juice mouth going on" she explained, looking around. "Does anybody have any gum? That juice was totes gross."

Hearing her friends - Holly, Amber and another girl who'd been hanging around answering 'I got it', 'me too', 'I have some!' all at once, Tay took all three pieces and put them all into her mouth as the bell rang.

Turning around, Tay faced Josh who was walking behind her with his mates. The girl simply sighed and shook her head.

"Listen, baby. I've thought long, long and hard... I'm sorry but this just hasn't been working out for me anymore" Tay smiled, shrugging as she blew on the bubble gum.

- - -

"So you show up after a week on holiday with... with a tattoo?!" Josh exclaimed, looking at her back. "And all of a sudden, you want to end things? What the hell was going on on that ski trip?"

"Look, if you wanna torture yourself-" Tay began, looking into her compact mirror and smiling at her reflection. Noticing that Josh looked upset, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Do you actually want to know the story?"

"Yeah, I 'actually' do" Josh nodded as he mocked Tay. Folding his arms, the male continued. "Spill."

"So we're at this club one night and Jess gets drunk. Like, totally drunk. Next minute, she's making out with some random guy. Turns out that random guy is actually my cousin - you know, the dancer" Tay began to start her story, before Josh interrupted her.

"Isn't he, like, really gay?" Josh asked, as Tay rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Whatev. So anyway, he gives us these totes cool VIP passes to a cabin party and of course we went, I mean hello! It's free booze and it's a toasty cabin with tonnes of other teenagers! The next thing l know - I, Taylor Jardine, am picked by the host of this really awesome party to ski on my own, outside, for MTV!" Tay explained, smiling as she closed her eyes and thought back to the previous week.

"This is all really fascinating, Tay, but could you perhaps fast forward to the part where either this story has a point, or where you decide to fuck me over?" Josh raised an eyebrow, standing up from the bench as he looked down at Tay.

"Hold on a minute, would you? I'm getting there" Tay frowned, shrugging it off. "So there I was, skiing for maybe a few minutes, and next minute I nearly fall on my ass! I would have died of embarrassment - the party being played live on MTV and all."

"Yeah, you mentioned MTV already" Josh rolled his eyes, scoffing at the girl's bragging.

"Anyway, I turn around, wanting to see what I hit, and that's when it happened. I meet an incredible guy named Alexander Gaskarth-" Tay continued, before Josh cut her off once again - at this point, she was growing frustrated.

"What kind of name is 'Alexander Gaskarth'?" Josh furrowed his eyebrows, trying to sound cool. He really didn't.

"And what kind of name is Josh, huh?" Tay arched her eyebrow, shaking her head. "So anyway, Alex is from The Sweet Life."

"What - of Zack and Cody?" Josh asked, growing bored. Tay's story seemed to go on and on and on.

"No, the reality TV show. The Sweet Life. Fourteenth season, episodes five and on... Duh" Tay rolled her eyes, as if what she was saying was that obvious.

Josh sat and thought for a moment, before nodding. "Are you talking about that guy who has coloured hair? The same guy who wears punk clothes? The same one who got kicked out of the house? The same one who thinks he can sing but is actually beyond tone deaf?"

Josh almost scared himself once he'd realised he knew so much about this Gaskarth guy. Tay didn't think anything of it - to her, Alex was a superstar.

Ignoring her ex-boyfriend, Tay closed her eyes once more and thought of Alex and herself. "So the next two and a half days happened pretty quickly. It was as if we had known each other for years. He knew exactly what l was thinking, feeling... So l didn't even have to say a word-"

"Or tell him boring stories that don't even sound the slightest bit interesting?" Josh suggested, as Tay stood up and folded her arms.

"I did warn you that this would torture you... But now that I've got this far, I'll finish" Tay raised an eyebrow as she sighed. "Right before I left, Alex surprised me with this tattoo as a reminder of our first days as passionate soul mates together."

"So that's it? After all that yacking on all you had to say was that you hooked up with that thing and you're leaving me?" Josh asked, running a hand through his hair. "For that... Thing?"

"Don't worry, Joshy. Of course I'll still go to the prom with you. Well you know it makes sense, seeing as we're gonna be elected for king and queen. It's only right that we go together" Tay smiled, placing her arms either side of her body.

"I-I honestly do not have words for what you've done" Josh frowned, biting his lip. He couldn't believe this.

"Ha! You see, there is nothing to say, silly. It was great, but seriously - did you think I was going to go to university and still go out with you?" Tay laughed, but realised Josh didn't answer. Placing a hand on the guy's cheek, she smiled. "Oh my gosh, you totes did. That's cute!"

Flinching and moving his face away from Tay's touch, Josh shrugged and still didn't answer. He felt empty and hurt. What was he going to do now?

"Do you believe this thing still freakin' hurts like all hell?" Tay sighed, turning around. "Laters!"

Looking around, Josh realised everyone on the benches and on the grass area were watching the pair's conversation, trying to listen in.

People were quick to look back down and create chatter but Josh was embarrassed regardless, and knew full well they'd heard what was going on.