Conveniently Inspired

Chapter Seven

"Oh. So... so I have to go?"

"I'm not going to force you or anything. It's still not until next month, so if you plan on ditching then just let me know in advance."

"Okay."

Kaden then added, Rule #5: Nobody can know the truth

Skylar frowned at him. "But don't your friends at the park already know that this is fake?"

"Who cares? Once they see us hanging out more often, they'll eventually believe it. I can't risk them blabbing the truth to Summer. The second word gets out, I'm screwed."

He then tapped the marker on rule number three. "How long are you agreeing to this?"

Skylar shrugged. "How long do you need me to?"

"As long as it takes until Summer takes the hint and moves in."

Judging by the death glares Summer shot that day, it'd seem like decades before that happened. "Alright. And I assume this affair starts today."

"Let's narrow it down and say it starts as soon as we walk back into the classroom."

"That's a good idea." She went to clip the Rules page back inside her binder before taking out the assignment sheet. "In the meantime, we can work on these questions-"

Kaden yanked the paper from her. She froze, her hands still paralyzed in mid-air. "Um-"

"Hey, forget about the stupid assignment for a second. We still got like half an hour before class ends. What's the rush? Come on, we need to work on our backstory. If Summer or anybody else asks how we met, what should we tell them?"

He was looking at her, his body a couple inches closer than before, that she felt slightly suffocated. As subtle as possible, she scooted further away. "We could go the honest route and tell them we got close after being paired together for English. That way, the truth is still embedded in there and I technically won't be lying."

"Right. Okay, yeah. Smart. We both know you're terrible at lying." He gave her a teasing grin causing her cheeks to flush. She looked away. "Hey, so if I'm going to be your pretend boyfriend, I should at least know some things about you."

Skylar gulped. She knew where this was headed. The dreaded, "What do you like to do for fun?" question, mixed with the "Tell me something interesting about yourself." Classic ice breakers that nobody actually enjoys answering.

"What do you want to know?" she asked cautiously. Her finger found a loose thread by her jeans, twirling it round and round.

"Well, we could start with the basics. You got any siblings?"

Phew. Okay, these questions she could do. That's because they were black and white. Easy one worded answers that required no overthinking. "Yes" she practically sighed with relief. "One brother and one sister. What about you?"

"Lucky. I'm an only child."

Skylar tilted her head. "That must be lonely."

"Yeah. I've always wanted another person around the house. You're lucky you've got two of them."

"You can take one of them. I won't mind." Kaden laughed. A strange flutter erupted in her chest.

"What other classes do you have this semester?"

"I can just show you my schedule." She flipped to the front cover of her binder where the timetable was on display behind the plastic cover. To her bewilderment, he took out his phone and snapped a photo of it. She squeezed her eyes shut at the glare of the flash. "Did you just take a picture of my schedule?"