CHAPTER FIVE;
ARTIFICIAL AFFECTIONS.

one pretty brunette, adorning her favorite light pink babydoll dress beneath a bulky jean jacket, was perched on the top of a picnic table in the desolate school courtyard, clutching a book in her hand. her young and unreliable spanish teacher decided not to show up for class this friday, giving her an extra free period.

unlike her classmates, she had decided to spend her 50 minutes of freedom reading.

she frowned as the scene of her book began to fade from her mind, for it to quickly be polluted with thoughts of guilt.

this was becoming quite a common (and frustrating) occurrence as of late.

as previously mentioned, el never lied. well, she never lied up until now -- seeing as her entire life is practically a lie at this point. at least, that's how she and her heavy conscious feel.

she'd been fake dating mike wheeler for only five days, and she was ready to throw in the towel already. not because mike was a bad fake boyfriend. to be honest, she'd somehow developed a tolerance for the lanky smart-ass.

based on the opinion she had formed when he was only her brother's closest friend, she was expecting a narcissistic brat. and though he was sort of a brat and had narcissistic tendencies, he was also kind and compassionate. it puzzled her what he saw in someone as superficial as brooke carters.

but with mike's newfound presence in her life, she noticed will's absence.

when their parents got married, they quickly became attached at the hip. they shared a bond she could have never had with shelly, nor did she want to. it was like a real brother and sister type of bond, and the fact that he was ignoring her hurt much more than she was allowing herself to believe.

she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, shaking away the haunting thoughts. she elicited a soft sigh, flipping back in her book to the spot where she had earlier zoned out at because she had absolutely no idea what the last four paragraphs she read said.

she slightly jumped when a voice asks, "whatcha' reading?"

her hazel eyes peek over the top of her book to see the object of her artificial affections. "brave new world," she simply responds before returning to her reading.

unbothered by her sharp tone, he takes the seat beside her on the table. knowing he had no intention of going away, she rolls her eyes and succumbs before folding the corner of her book. with the book now resting in her lap, she looks over to find a seemingly bored mike.

"did you want something?" she quips, making sure she sounded sassy rather than annoyed — though she was. he glances to her before shaking his head with a smirk. her brows furrow, "then why are you sitting with me? wait, why aren't you in class?"

"first, i'm sitting with you because you're fun to annoy," she rolls her eyes, again. "and second, this is my free period. wait, why aren't you in class? don't tell me you skipped to read a book because that's a new level of path—"

"i'm not skipping," she corrects, "but my spanish teacher is," she corrects. noticing a smirk draw at his plump lips, she quips "what?"

he shakes his head, "never mind, you wouldn't do it."

she cocks her head, offended. "i wouldn't do what?"

"skip school," he replies, almost challengingly.

she scoffs before conceding, "you're absolutely correct, i wouldn't." she reaches for her book, no longer interested in continuing this conversation.

"oh, c'mon! it's friday, and there's only two more classes left. we could go get some fries," he pressures, suddenly craving the diner's french fries.

"you're wasting your breath, mike. i accepted a long time ago that i'm not a rebellious teenager, you should, too."

being a melodramatic prick, he scowls. "don't you ever get tired of being a goody-two-shoes?" she ignored him, trying to focus on the words on the page. "why couldn't i have ended up with a cool fake girlfriend?" he whines.

without tearing her gaze from the page, she muses, "i know what you're doing, and it's not going to work."

"i'm not doing anything." when she doesn't reply, he continues, "all i'm saying is, you're young. live a little. i mean, would you rather regret what you did do when your were young or what you didn't?"

she giggles at his misconstrued attempt to persuade her. "i'd rather regret what i didn't do. it's much safer," she answers.

he groans. "god, you're so boring, el! you're going to be, like, 30 years old and think 'damn, i really should've skipped school with that really hot guy back in senior year!'"

"hm, i highly doubt that will ever happen."

an exasperated sigh escapes his lips. "but it will, i promise. it will haunt you forever, too," he pressures.

she had never skipped school. matter of fact, her attendance was nearly perfect aside from last winter when she got the flu and had no choice but to stay home with a 102 degree fever.

with this all in mind, she looked away from her book to find the devil's advocate staring at her with his pleading, dark eyes.

was she really this easy to persuade? it's only two classes, actually one for her taking her free period into account. she sighed, disappointed in the words fighting to escape her lips.

"you're paying for the fries," she heaves, grabbing her bag from behind her a tucking her book inside.

he was shocked. "wait, seriously?"

she nods, sliding off the picnic table and looking back at him, waiting for him to also get down.

"you're also driving, i rode with max today," she explained.

he shakes away his surprise, and nods enthusiastically, "yeah, let's go!"

/ / /

"i've never seen this place so ... not full of teenagers," el voices, looking around at the nearly empty diner.

mike chuckles, "well, yeah, everyone's at school so, it makes sense that they aren't here." she rolls her eyes at his smart-ass remark.

"here's your order of fries," chirps a waitresses with a large grin plastered on as she set the basket in front of the teens. they smiled, both quietly thanking her.

his nose scrunches when he sees her reach for the ketchup. noticing his disgust, she quips, "what?"

"you like that shit?"

her eyes widen, "you don't like ketchup?" he shakes his head. "it's a good thing this," she gestured between them, "is fake." with a cheeky smirk, she squirts the ketchup on the side of the fries.

"so, you never told me," he begins, snatching a fry from the side opposite of the red sauce, "how exactly did will react to you telling him about us?" he uses air quotes around 'us.'

she softly sighs, "well, he wasn't thrilled, but he promised not to say anything to our parents so, that's good, i guess." she dips a fry, "did he say anything to you about me?"

the boy across from her shakes his head. "i think he's avoiding me," he admits.

el was relieved to know it wasn't just her getting the cold shoulder treatment. "yeah, me too. he leaves for school before me, so i can't ride with him anymore. he said it's so he can tutor that jenny stevens girl, but i know it's not," she explains, trying to hide her sadness.

feeling bad for the girl, mike purses his lips. "you know, if you ever need a ride, i could pick you up. it's practically on my way, so," he trails off.

the brunette waves him off, "it's fine. i ride with max or just ride my bike, no biggie."

he nods, deciding not to press. a silence settles over the fake couple as they munch on their fries.

reluctantly, mike breaks it. "okay, you don't have to answer this question because it's probably a touchy subject, but i'm curious," she kinks a brow, her attention caught. "how did someone like you end up with troy harrington?"

she inhales deeply, shifting slightly. "shelly dragged me along to some football party and i accidentally spilt my drink on him. i felt bad so i offered to help him clean up, and i guess it just happened. he asked me out, and shelly practically forced me to say yes. it's all kind of twisted now that i think about it." her ex best friend was the reason they got together — and the reason they no longer were. "funny how that works, yeah?"

he nods. "yeah."

"what about you?" she returns, trying to forget about her ex best friend.

he squints, "what about me?"

"you and brooke, how'd you two end up together?" she curiously asks, popping one of the salty french fries between her lips. he shrugs, reluctant to disclose the details. "what? touchy subject?"

he smirks, "no, i'm just not sure you want to know."

she hums, "what do you mean? i asked didn't i?"

he laughs before revealing, "well, like you and troy, we were at a party. we were drunk, and it just happened. after that, she came up to me the next monday at school and it was kind of just decided that we were together."

el's neat brows lift, "oh, how romantic."

"i'm not romantic, sweetheart," he assures, grabbing a napkin to wipe the bit of salt and grease that had clung to his fingertips.

she licks her lips, "yeah, guys normally aren't, i guess."

mike fakes surprise, "what, you mean to tell me the quarterback never swept you off your feet after winning a big game?"

she giggles. "more like he told me to wait by his car so we could make out before he dropped me off and he went to some party," she mutters just loud enough for him to hear.

his pillowy lips form a small frown. "he's always been a dick, el. even when we were younger."

"you guys knew one another?" she questioned.

"kind of. his brother dated my sister when they were younger than us. he came over for a few dinners. we were eleven, and he fucking broke my death star. it took like four weeks for lucas and i to put it together, too," he recalls, spite laced in his words.

eleanor can't help but bust into a fit of laughter, remembering the nerd he was when they were younger. "i forgot how geeky you were."

"i wasn't geeky," he objects.

she scoffs, "sure, you weren't. remind me, how many days did you guys spend in your basement playing dungeons and dragons? it was five days straight, right?"

"we planned that campaign for weeks, i'll have you know," he claims, not appreciating her making fun of him.

she giggled again, finding it refreshing to see him in another light. maybe he hadn't changed as much as people thought.

"it's weird how people think you're such a bad guy," she comments, swirling a fry in her ketchup.

he swallows. "stuff happened two years ago, and people just don't know how to forget about it," he dismissed with a shrug.

she lifts her gaze to his. "i know what happened," she reveals, pulling her lips in tight line. "i'm the chief's daughter, after all. i tend to overhear phone calls i'm not supposed to." he averts his state as if he's ashamed. "my dad knows it wasn't your fault, mike. you were just with the wrong people."

when they were all in ninth grade, mike took it upon himself to make some new friends that summer. lucas was busy with his new girlfriend, max, and dustin and will had both gotten caddy jobs at the county club. that left him out, and eventually he found a new and temporary crowd.

they were all two years older than him, and he felt the pressure to impress them. then, one night ryan cooper felt the same pressure — only they had no intention of befriending him. there was an initiation of sorts, and it ended with ryan jumping off the quarry into the lake.

he broke a whopping total of 13 bones, and mike's 'friends' dipped as soon as ryan floated to the top of the water. mike got help, and that also meant mike got the blame.

he spent the night in jail, and would've gotten worse had it not been for ryan's parents dropping the charges. the cooper's moved away that summer, and never looked back.

and mike got a brand new reputation with it.

el noticed his discomfort with the subject and decided to change it. "well, i'm full," she declares, pushing away the few fries that remained in the basket.

he agrees, "i'll get the check, and then we'll go." she nods with a small smile as he slides out of their booth.

...

a/n: so, we're going to try this again!! i unpublished bc of lack of inspiration, and i haven't exactly found it but i love this story and i really wanna write it again !! thanks for reading thotties!! x

word count: 2189