The Tables Have Turned

Chapter 31

“You did what?” I asked as my eyes widened.

It was Saturday, two weeks after Alex and I broke up and Paul had just come for a surprise visit.

Apparently, he had an argument with Alex earlier and it went a little bit like this:

“I like this girl and I don’t know what to do to get her to like me,” Paul told Alex.

“You like a girl?” Alex snorted disbelievingly.

“At least I’m not the one who broke the heart of one of the best girls I know,” Paul replied.

“If Hailey’s that amazing, then why don’t you ask her out,” Alex snapped.

“You know what? Maybe I will and maybe she’s the girl I like!” Paul replied.

Before any of you get weird ideas, Paul doesn’t like me. He actually likes Carson but when he told her that he likes her, she rejected him, saying that he can never be a good boyfriend because he was a player. He was devastated and has been trying to come up with something to get her to see that he’s not who she thinks he is.

I know that she likes him but she’s just scared of her feelings.

“Think about it, Hailey,” Paul said. “We could pretend that we’re going out so both Alex and Carson will be jealous!”

“No,” I said, scowling at him. “I just got out of a relationship and you expect me to go out with you? His best friend?”

“It won’t be real!” He argued.

“But only we know that it’s fake!” I replied. “It’s real to everyone else.”

He sighed and bowed his head.

“I just don’t know what to do,” he said. “I want her to notice me!”

“Can’t you try something else?” I asked.

“I already told her, twice, and got rejected both times. I even went to her house and gave her flowers!” He said and my eyes widened.

I never expected Paul to do something like that. It was so not Paul.

“You did that?” I asked, shocked.

“Yes,” he said. “I did things I never thought I would do for a girl and she’s still rejecting me. Even after Mariah talked to her, she was still going with the rejection. And the worst part is that I know that she likes me, even if it’s a bit.”

He was right. She did like him. I could see it too.

“That’s why I thought that fake dating could be the answer,” he said and I sighed, feeling guilty that I wasn’t helping him out. “Jealousy sometimes works.”

“Please?” He asked, giving me a puppy look.

“I…” I trailed off uncertainly.

“Please?” He said again, widening his eyes.

I knew that in this situation the only good thing would be that Paul gets Carson but me? Well I guess I’m going to start having haters because really, a girl doesn’t go out with her ex-boyfriend’s best friend. That’s just messed up.

But seeing Paul here, so desperate, made my heart squeeze. He likes her too much and as a friend I should help him out. I just wished there was something else we could do.

I finally sighed and reluctantly agreed. “Okay.”

Immediately, he jumped up and hugged me, making me fall backwards on the bed.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” He said and I smiled at how happy he looked.

“But there are a few conditions,” I said and his serious face returned.

“First, this fake relationship won’t last more than two weeks,” I said and he nodded.

“It won’t take longer,” he promised.

“Second, when the whole thing is over, you have to tell everyone that it was fake because I have a feeling that people won’t like us a lot,” I said, wincing.

“True,” he replied then he smirked at me. “Going out with your ex-boyfriend’s best friend? I didn’t know you were that kind of girl.”

“Going out with your best friend’s ex-girlfriend? I didn’t know you were that kind of guy,” I shot back.

“Touché,” he said and we both laughed.

“Anything else?” He asked.

“No PDA,” I said and his eyebrows raised a little.

“But that’s not possible. It won’t be believable,” he pointed out and I groaned.

“But it’s weird,” I said, blushing slightly at the thought of having to kiss Paul and act all lovey dovey with him.

“You’ll like it,” he said arrogantly, shooting me a smirk and I scowled.

“From what I’m seeing, you’re not very good with the ladies,” I said and his smirk disappeared.

“Ouch,” he said and I laughed at him.

“I’m kidding,” I said, giving him a hug.

“On a more serious level,” he said after a pause. “We don’t have to do a lot of kissing. We’ll try to keep it more hugging.”

“Fair enough,” I said then added, “Unlimited hugs and a maximum of three kisses per day and no tongue.”

He laughed and agreed with me.

This is going to be so awkward.

“Stop being so worried about this,” Paul said, noticing my expression. “I know you want to see Alex getting jealous too.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “He won’t get jealous. He doesn’t care.”

“Are you sure about that?” Paul questioned and I frowned at him.

“Is there something I don’t know?” I asked.

“Not really, but from what I’m observing, there’s still something,” He replied, confusing me even more.

“What? We’re not even talking,” I pointed out.

“He gave you his jacket, he is still tutoring you, and he looks at you a lot,” he explained.

“He gave me his jacket because he wasn’t cold and I was. It’s what any normal person does. He is still tutoring me because he is forced to and just so you know, during those tutoring sessions, all we talk about is math. And he does not look at me!”

“Yes he does,” Paul argued. “Sometimes when I’m talking to him he completely spaces out and looks elsewhere. When I see where he’s looking at, you’re always there.”

I frowned at that because I haven’t caught him staring at me in these two weeks.

“That’s just stupid,” I said, shaking my head. “He broke up with me because he doesn’t like me so stop over-analyzing.”

“Just wait and see,” Paul finally said. “He’s going to be so jealous on Monday.”

My heart fluttered a bit at the thought of Alex being jealous. I still loved him and it would be nice to know if he still felt something for me other than hate.

People will probably think that I’m the stupidest person, but I would take him back if he tells me that he still loves me.

I pushed those thoughts away, though, because I didn’t want to make myself believe something that is probably not true.

“Can we tell Chase and Emily about the plan?” I asked Paul.

He thought about it for a bit then nodded. “Yeah, we’ll tell them.”

So we went to the game room where Emily and Chase were watching a movie. We walked in right on time when the credits started to roll.

“Okay so we have a plan,” Paul started. “You know I like Carson but she won’t go out with me so Hailey agreed to pretend that we are dating so we could make Carson jealous.”

Emily and Chase were both shocked at the news.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Emily asked. “I mean this doesn’t always work like on the movies.”

“Plus Hailey you just got out of a relationship with Alex…” Chase trialed off.

I grimaced. “I know and I don’t like it either but he begged and I couldn’t say no.”

“It could work! I know Carson likes me and dating someone else is the only way to let her show it,” Paul said. “And Alex will be jealous too,” he added.

“He will not be jealous,” I argued again and Paul rolled his eyes at me.

“In that case I guess it could work,” Emily said and Chase nodded in agreement.

“You can’t tell anyone, okay?” Paul then told the siblings.

“Okay,” they said in unison but I knew they were still uncertain about the whole thing. I was too.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing video games or watching movies. Josh came over too and I couldn’t help but think of Alex who was missing. It really isn’t the same without him. They asked him to come and he said that he’ll try but he wasn’t sure.

It was around three in the afternoon now and I was craving a Twix bar. Chase and Paul were playing Call of Duty while Josh and Emily were sitting on the couch at the end of the room.

It was the perfect opportunity for me to sneak out of the room and get that chocolate bar.

I went to the kitchen and opened the familiar box that contained all the chocolates. I felt my mouth water when I saw the golden paper of the Twix bar.

I took it out and started munching on it as I walked back to the game room. Halfway there, I thought about whether I should go back to the kitchen and get a glass of water or continue to the game room and I’ll get the water later.

Of course my laziness won and I decided to get the water now so that I don’t have to go again later.

I stopped walking and as I was about to turn around and go back to the kitchen, someone bumped into me and I stumbled forward and a gasp escaped my lips.

Gasping in shock was not a good move because I started choking on the chocolate that I was eating.

I started coughing as my eyes watered. When I was finally able to regain my breathing, I spun around to see who the hell that was.

I froze when I saw Alex standing behind me looking amused and a bit worried?

“Why were you following me?” I asked when I overcame my shock.

“The front door was unlocked so I came in and I was going to the game room,” he said, shrugging.

“You could’ve said something! At least let me know you’re here,” I said.

“I didn’t feel like talking to you,” he answered. I was hurt by his words but he didn’t seem to care. All those stupid things that Paul said earlier flew out of my mind. Jealous, my ass.

“Next time, talk to yourself or to the wall if you don’t want to talk to me but don’t scare me like that,” I snapped and he smirked.

“It would be lovely to talk to that wall,” he said.

“I bet you do it all the time,” I joked.

“Choose a wall over you? Yeah, all the time,” he said and I pursed my lips at the second pang in my chest in only a few minutes.

I cleared my throat and decided to go to the kitchen now because I didn’t want another one of Alex’s hurtful remarks.

“It’s been nice talking to you, but if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go talk to my favorite glass of water now,” I said sarcastically and I didn’t miss the amused smile on his face as I made my way back to the kitchen.

I bit my lip as I thought of our conversation. At least we talked, I thought as I walked back to the game room.

“Twix!” Paul asked as soon as I entered the game room. “Give me!”

“No way,” I replied as I took another bite slowly to tease him. I pulled the chocolate and ended up with caramel on my mouth and chin. How do they do that on commercials? I though as I tried to lick the caramel off.

“I’ll lick it off for you,” Paul said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he winked and that’s when I noticed Alex sitting next to him. Did our fake relationship start now?

“Idiot,” I muttered as I wiped my mouth and chin with a tissue.

“But I’m your idiot,” Paul said making me laugh.

He then pulled my arm to sit down next to him.

“I know you just want to eat my chocolate,” I told him and he snickered.

“Maybe,” he said.

I finally sighed dramatically. “Just one bite,” I said and I saw the shock on Alex’s face. I never, never, share my Twix with anyone.

“But you never share your Twix,” Alex said.

A smirk tugged at Paul’s lips.

“She loves me too much,” Paul said.

“The things love makes us do,” I said, shaking my head.

I extended my arm and Paul took a bite of the Twix in my hand. When he swallowed, he surprised me by leaning down and kissing my cheek.

He pulled away slightly and whispered in my ear, “He’s going to die of jealousy.”

Paul sat back and smirked. I glanced at Alex and found him staring at us. He looked jealous but maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me.

I just hoped that the jealousy I saw in his blue eyes was real because that would mean that he still has feelings for me. And that thought alone made my heart beat faster than possible.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey! :)

So what do you think of the fake dating thing? Many of you wanted Paul and Hailey together so fake dating is....... Uh fake Paul and Hailey together? :P Hahaha it's still something for all the Paul and Hailey fans :P

Listen to the song to the right. It was suggested by xparamore13x so thanks! :)

And thank you 17Serenity for the banner :) --->

Happy Birthday to thealleemonster  xHopeless_Romanticx  epicfail123  BritneyMarie  ItsJazlina. Have a wonderful year! :)

Tomorrow's my report card! :O Yeah, I don't really care :P Hahaha it's summer and that report card is not going to ruin my mood :P

Next Upload: Sunday or Monday.

Aim for this Chapter: 750 votes [Look how tempting that 'vote' button is so how about you click it? ;)]

Have a wonderful day/night everyone! <3