(This chapter has been edited)

Aaron's POV:

I make it into the school just as the warning bell rings. Gosh I'm late – really late.

I push my glasses firmly up on my nose and walk to my locker.

So far, I've had quite the night. I spent half of my time wondering how to tell Kayla that I actually have feelings for her. How do I tell her? What words do I use? A song? A poem? Something historic? Something artistic?

Most of all, how will she respond? Will she like me back or not?

I slam my locker door shut.

"Well, someone is in an unpleasant temper today.", I hear a British accent from beside me.

I turn around to see Keon, munching on an apple. As usual, he is looking impeccably dressed, not a strand of hair out of place, glasses set at the edge of his nose.

"I'm just thinking about something", I reply, running my hands through my hair.

"Thinking you say?", Keon says raising up an eyebrow. "Maybe you have been too preoccupied with thinking to tell your best friend that you and your ex got back together?"

If I had been drinking a cup of coffee, I would have spat it out.

"What did you say?"

"Aaron please. I get that you might have been considering keeping it a secret but half the school knows already. Alicia's Instagram story was a picture of both of you kissing and she wrote 'back after a long break'. Someone took a screenshot of it and now everyone has seen it. Quinn forwarded it to me a short while ago, and I must express my disappointment that you did not apprise me of this development earlier."

I groan and push my glasses up my nose in frustration.

"Alicia and I..."

"Are back together"

We both turn to see Alicia smiling at us.

"Excuse us for a bit Keon. Aaron and I have some business to talk about."

Keon glares at Alicia, who gives him a slight hand wave and blows him a kiss. He storms off without looking at either me or her.

"You better start explaining Alicia", I bark out. I am not in the mood for her games.

She pouts at me. "That's not a way to talk to a lady, Aaron. Especially if she is your girlfriend."

"Start. Explaining." I bite out each word, and she rolls her eyes.

"Fine", she loses her pouty expression which is quickly replaced by a professional mask of business. "When I kissed you yesterday, I got one of the cheerleaders to take a picture, and I posted it on my Instagram story and since practically the whole school follows me, I guess everyone knows that we are back together."

"Except you're wrong", I interrupt her. I've been listening, but when she mentions that the whole school might have seen it, my heart drops. Kayla. She might have seen it. "We aren't back together and you are going to announce that during lunch."

"Calm down Aaron, you haven't heard me out yet.", she pleads, holding her hands up in a gesture for silence. "You are going to be my boyfriend or else there will be consequences."

I open my mouth to speak but she holds up her hand again. Was she always this annoying or was I just too blind to see it before.

"I'm not going to involve you in the consequences Aaron", she gives me a cute smile. "I love you too much for that. No. Instead, I'm going to go for her."

Kayla

"What are you going to do?", it comes out as a frenzied statement.

"Your darling bad girl has entered an art competition, and whoever wins will have huge rewards, including an almost guaranteed position at Brown University. However, the artworks have to be originals."

I nod, trying to understand where she is going with all this. I didn't know that Kayla was in an art competition, but I am sure she will win because all her artwork is amazing and genuine.

Alicia continues, "I happen to know two out of the three judges. A little hint that Kayla's work is plagiarized may ruin her chances forever."

My head whirls. There is no question in Alicia's voice. I know that she will not hesitate to ruin Kayla's chance for admission.

"What do you want?", I whisper defeatedly. Because that is how I feel. Defeated.

"I just want a month Aaron", she whispers, stepping closer to me. "A month to convince you that I am the right choice.", her hands are like snakes, slithering around my body, choking my neck. "Just a chance"

If not for the fact that she could ruin Kayla's life, I would have pushed her away. But she does have the ability to ruin Kayla's life.

"Do we have a deal?", she asks, stepping away, her smile victorious.

I manage to choke out. "Deal"

As if resigning me to my fate, the final bell rings. Alicia looks up and cocks her head to the side.

"Off to class darling", she says, leaning forward to give me a peck on my cheek. "See you during lunch"

And with that she skips away cheerfully, leaving me with nothing but a film of lip gloss where she kissed me.

🏈🏈🏈

I stagger from one class to another in a zombie-like trance. Because that is how I feel – dead inside, but a corpse forced to live. Teachers give me odd looks, but they say nothing. Students on the other hand are not so restrained. Some give me knowing smiles, cheering as I walk past, but others glare at me. Steph is one of such people, giving me open hostility with her gaze.

I don't blame her.

When the bell finally rings for lunch, I feel even worse. What was supposed to be a moment of anxiety due to a love confession has become a moment of dread.

I pack up my books, avoiding the students shuffling around me. Keon gives me a look before turning away. He's still angry at me for not telling him about Alicia, but I can't bring myself to explain anything without bringing out the whole story of the fake dating and personally, I know he will disapprove.

I'll give him a few more days to calm down.

Outside, Alicia is waiting for me. She hooks her hand possessively through mine and pulls me towards the cafeteria.

As soon as we make our way through the doors, I feel all eyes on us. All the whispers and chattering that are normally heard die down as everyone turns to catch a glimps of us. The scrutiny I am going through is painful, almost unbearable, bit Alicia is almost oblivious as she drags me along with her to the elite table.

But as we pass the table for rulebreakers, Kayla catches my eyes.

"Stop", I tell Alicia. I hear her take in a deep breath, but I continue. "I need to end things properly. I owe her the decency of a proper break up."

She rolls her eyes as if decency means nothing to her.

Then again, it probably does.

"Five minutes", she says and flounces off to her table by herself.

I am left standing in front of Kayla's table.

Nervously, I walk towards her. Everyone is staring at me except Kayla. I run my hands through my hair and I am shocked that they are sweaty – my palms not my hair.

I feel like I walk a mile before I finally reach Kayla's seat. She is munching on a French fry and she is giving it her full attention. Steph and Quinn are by her side, Steph glaring at me while Quinn looks like she wants to disappear.

I clear my throat and she looks up, eyebrow cocked.

"Yes?"

"I feel like I owe you an apology."

"Oh you feel like apologizing now?", Steph begins but Kayla shushes her.

Awkwardly, I continue. "It was just a fake relationship but now it has achieved its end goal, so I think it would be best if we just parted ways." I am such a liar.

"Parted ways", Kayla repeats.

"Look, we had a deal and now it's over so maybe we can to back to being whatever we were before?"

Kayla laughs. It startles me, that laugh, not like the normal laughter I hear from her. This one is sharp and short.

"Of course, rulebook", she drawls out. "It was a fun game while it lasted wasn't it. I'm glad you and your girlfriend are back together of course. Just the rewards of a successful deal, am I right?"

Her words slap me in the face. This was all a game to her. I was a deal. Nothing more. I am dating Alicia for her, for her future, and she never even cared about me in the first place.

"You're right", I say, setting my jaw. Maybe it is a good thing I didn't confess my feelings. She would probably have treated them just like this anyway. "Well, I just wanted to thank you for a successful deal. It was good while it lasted."

Those were probably the only true words I spoke this afternoon. If I was a horrible person, I would have ended the deal with Alicia just to get revenge. But I still love her, even though she doesn't feel the same, so I stomp to the elite table taking my seat next to Alicia who gives me a peck on the cheek.

Through the cheers from the elites, I hear a chair scraping and turn around to see Kayla storming out of the hall, Steph and Quinn behind her.

In that moment, I would give anything to be able to follow.

Kayla's POV:

I rush off to the bathroom in a furious rage. Steph and Quinn follow behind me but I ignore them.

I rush into a bathroom stall and slam the door shut.

I am Kayla Barnes. I don't cry over a breakup.

So it comes as a shock to me. when. I see two tears drop down my cheeks.

A/N: Wow this chapter made me nearly cry. Alicia is such a horrible person to try and destroy what could have been a perfect relationship between these two.

What are your thoughts on this chapter. Please don't forget to comment and vote. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Also I am finally done with my tests (yayy🎉🎉🎉)

See you in the next chapter loves 💋💋💋