Marlowe

Why did he have to be a hockey player? And maybe even the better question: Why did he have to be a hockey player that was now enrolled in my school?

Two years ago, I thought I had it all figured out.

I was sick of boys flirting with me. None of them wanted to date me because they liked me, they all just seemed to develop an interest in me when I joined the cheerleading team. Especially the jocks. And leading them? The hockey players.

I caved and said yes to a couple, but neither of them could hold an engaging conversation with me and yet they still both assumed I would drop my pants for them.

And then, something happened.

A hockey player was staying at my Uncle Jack's house for his second year on the Icedogs. He caught wind that I wouldn't put out for anyone and decided to approach me.

At first, I thought he was just like every other horny hockey player that I had dealt with. He also had already graduated high school, which made me think he was kind of creepy for trying to get with me. But then he presented me with an idea.

He told me I could claim I was dating him and that way every other guy would leave me alone.

When I asked him what he got out of it, he said that he was doing it as a favour for my Uncle Jack. He didn't elaborate, but he told me that he owed him one, and he knew he'd never be able to personally repay him so he wanted to do something for his niece instead.

Of course, Uncle Jack knew nothing about it. I doubt he would have approved of the plan if he did know! But Chris was able to feel like he had somehow made things a little even, and I was able to get through the year with a fake, older boyfriend to claim as my own.

No one dared to hit on me anymore. I was free to focus on schoolwork and cheering. It was the perfect solution.

But then Chris got traded. My fake boyfriend moved away and I started my junior year as once again an open target for all the jocks at my school. Only now, I was the girl who dated an Icedogs player, which I guess made the chase even more appealing.

I found myself wishing that another Chris-type would step in to play pretend, but I knew the odds of that happening were extremely low. So I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I went to a house party with my cheer squad-similar to the one I'm at now- and scouted out the hockey players that showed up. The criteria were simple: attractive, to make it believable and to keep up with appearances, not looking for a serious relationship, because I didn't want to have to actually date someone, and preferably someone who was older or who at least didn't go to my school... that way I could avoid having to hang out with them during the day without raising suspicions.

It should have been simple. And when I found Damian, it seemed as though it would be.

But Damian was not a Chris-type.

He played the friendly gentleman until he got me alone in a room and then he got handsy. I got him to back off long enough to ask him my favour, to which he readily agreed. Only, he hadn't quite understood what I was asking, and he wasn't ready to pretend to date me without getting something in return.

I refused. I momentarily thought I could find somebody else, and then decided to just kibosh the whole plan altogether. I hadn't counted on how humiliating it would be to ask someone who wasn't willing, and I didn't want to have to go through that again

I apologized to Damian for wasting his time and tried to leave the room, but he wasn't ready to let me go.

With his hand wrapped around my wrist, he kept me from making it to the door and proposed his suggestion: He'd pretend to be my boyfriend, but first I'd have to get on my knees for him.

I told him to forget it and tried to pull my wrist free, but he tightened his hold and told me that wasn't an option. He insisted I do what he wanted, otherwise, he would tell everyone that I had lied last year about dating Chris and that I thought they were all a bunch of idiots for believing me.

I wish I could say that I told him to go ahead; that I realized social suicide was a far better fate than becoming Damian's toy, but that's not what happened...

I panicked. I caved. I got on my knees.

The boys at school stayed away from me for another year, but unfortunately, Damian didn't. He continued to blackmail me throughout the season whenever he had a rare weekend night free.

I let a hockey player ruin me, just as my mom had done sixteen years prior.

When Chris had been traded, I had been a little sad. When Damian was traded, I couldn't have been happier.

I wasn't going to make the same mistakes again. I would deal with the boys flirting with me and I would stay away from hockey players. I promised myself.

But now, here I am. Alone with a hockey player in a bedroom at a party, putting myself in the exact situation that got me twisted up with the likes of Damian last year.

Only, Puck was no Damian.

Sure, he was a hockey player, but he was also a big ol' nerd and a softy. He had proved it to me at Fan Expo. So when Devon sent me up here for his welcoming, I decided I was willing to try to make a Chris-deal with him. Another year without boys biting at my heels sounded too good to give up without at least an attempt to secure a fake boyfriend for myself.

And if Puck wasn't what he seemed?

Well, I wasn't the same Marlowe anymore. I was older, wiser... and I had a bottle of pepper spray in my back pocket.

Puck wouldn't get the upper hand on me, and if he threatened to give away my secret about fake dating hockey players, then I would give away his secret about dressing up in tights and playing Batman-which okay, was actually pretty hot, but other girls in our high school wouldn't think so and neither would the hockey team.

Revealing his nerdship would also put mine in the spotlight but if it came down to that I was ready for it. This was my senior of high school, after all. If I ended up a social pariah, I'd be okay... It's just too bad I hadn't believed that last year.

Puck still hasn't replied to my proposition. He looked at the door a few times and then stared at me with wide eyes, but he's yet to say a word.

I put my hands on my hips and tap my foot impatiently, but when he finally decides to speak, the words that come out of his mouth are not what I expected.

"So, what, you don't sleep with hockey players, you just suck them off?"

I take a step back toward the door and reach for the pepper spray in my pocket. "Where did you hear that?" I manage to croak out.

Puck shrugs his shoulders. "I have friends with friends. Was told when I got drafted that there'd be some cheerleader here who'd make me an offer I couldn't refuse... And now, here you are after I was sent up here for some welcome gift... So, you're the cheerleader, aren't you?"

Oh shit, shit, shit. Did I get him wrong?

I somehow manage to mask my panic and ask in a deadly calm voice, "Is that what you want, Puck? You want me to get on my knees for you?"

"N-no!" he answers quickly, and this time he's the one taking a step back. "I mean, no offence, I'm sure you're... I mean, look at you... But uh, no?" He frowns slightly and repeats his answer, this time with more conviction, "No. I don't want you to do that."

Phew.

"But um," he awkwardly continues, "could you maybe not tell anyone that I said no?"

Well, isn't this interesting?

"And why's that?" I question. I release the hold I have on the pepper spray in my back pocket.

Puck shrugs and sits on the edge of the bed in the room. "I don't know... This probably sounds stupid, but I don't want the guys razzing me for saying no to a sure thing, you know?" He looks at the wall when he speaks, then looks over at me. "And I hope you don't take any offence! You're gorgeous, really, Marlowe. I'm just not interested in getting involved with someone right now. I have things to focus on, so I can't get caught up with a girl, and I don't do the one-night stand thing..."

Well, this just got a hundred times better.

"I won't tell anyone that you said no, and I can even do you one better," I explain with a grin.

Puck raises his eyebrows. "What are you suggesting?"

"Well, Puck, I know exactly what you mean about having other things to focus on, and I don't have time for boys either. Unfortunately, a lot of boys at school don't understand that, and I'm sure you'll deal with the same thing when it comes to the girls. So how about we come to an agreement and pretend that we're dating?"

Puck frowns but doesn't immediately reject the idea. He seems to be mulling it over in his head. He leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees and runs a hand through his tousled hair. "How exactly would that work?"

I've got him. Operation fake boyfriend is a go!

Author's Note: Help me pick apart this chapter!

Do Marlowe's motives and reasoning make sense, or do they seem too out there?
(Keep in mind she's a teenager, because who makes the best decisions while in high school?)

I've had this idea of them fake dating for a while but trying to write it out in a chapter proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Some revisions may be desperately needed!