Professor Rice

Chapter 10

Veronica's POV

I had never been the kind of friend who neglected everyone else when she got a boyfriend, but my current situation kind of made me do it this time.

However, a couple of hours after the match, Jo and I were on our way to meet Maddie and some other friends at a small party, and I was looking forward to spending some time with them.

When I said hi to Maddison, I noticed she looked sad.

"You ok, Maddie?" I asked, worried. I hadn't been spending as much time with her as usual. What if something major had happened and I missed it?

"Yes, I guess. Just sad that one of my best friends feels like she can't trust me. When were you going to tell me about it, Nica? At the wedding?"

I felt like I could faint right here right now. "What?" I whispered. "What do you mean?"

"I just found out who your real boyfriend is, Veronica. Everyone has and... I just don't get why you felt like you couldn't trust me with that information. I wasn't going to tell anybody to profit from it, you know?"

"Everyone...everyone knows?" But how?

I was about to crumble, but thankfully Jo got there quickly enough to save the day.

"Maddie, it's not what it looks like, ok? The press likes to make a big deal out of the most innocent picture, but nothing is going on between them."

The press? Does the press know about Declan and me?

Before I could mess up, Jo showed me an article from the Daily Mail. My hands were shaking but I still managed to read the headline: "Mason Mount cosying up with mystery redhead after guiding Chelsea to a 5th consecutive win".

So, some photographer (or maybe a fan?) had taken a picture of Mason hugging me and decided to make up some story about us... as if I didn't have enough drama in my life at the moment. Now people think I'm dating a footballer.

I noticed everyone watching me and I just wanted to disappear. Jo could see how overwhelmed I felt so she took my hand to guide me outside of the house, where we called a taxi to take us back home.

How did I get myself in this mess?

Declan's POV

"Um... Dec? I think there is something you need to see."

"What is it?" I said looking up from my laptop.

"Well, you know, um... people think I'm dating your girlfriend."

"What?"

I walked to the sofa and sat down next to him to read the article on his phone. Great, this is just great.

"But, how?" I asked. "How did this happen? They can't just make up a story because of one photo. What if that was your sister?"

"Well, that'd be gross" Mason grimaced. "But you know how this works. And actually, we can use it to our advantage."

If looks could kill, my best friend would be dead right now. "How can we use this to our advantage, Mason? People think you are dating my girlfriend. There are probably fan pages about you two already even though no one knows her name."

Mason got up and paced around the room for a minute before he turned to me again. "Look, I don't talk about my personal life with the media, so nobody is going to be surprised to see I don't confirm or deny the rumours. But while it's there, no one is going to see anything weird in your relationship with Veronica. If anything, you two being a little too close would make sense. You are my best friend after all."

I didn't want his theory to actually have merit, but it might have some.

"But..." I started. "The only times I get to hang out with her in public are because of you, Mase. If I take her to a match now, there will be dozens of cameras looking for her. And I can tell you she won't want to be involved in any of this."

"Ahhhhh" Mason said, covering his face with his hands. "Why does this have to be so complicated all of a sudden?"

"All of a sudden?" I joked. "Yeah, the whole thing has been pretty stress-free for me so far. And," I used this as an excuse to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while "you don't even talk about your dating life with me anymore. How's that going?"

Somehow, that simple question made him uncomfortable. "Nothing is going on" he sighed. "I don't have time for dating anyways."

"Yeah, you're busy but there is always time for romance, Mase. Besides, if you got a girlfriend, you'd leave me alone every once in a while" I said laughing, but he didn't laugh back at my joke.

"It's just..." he started. "Nothing, forget it. Let's concentrate on your problem. We'll find a solution for it, Dec. Don't worry about it."

I hope he is right.