Faking It

Chapter 42: This Was The Plan, Wasn't It?

"I'll have to warn you," I said, as he led the way to the library, "I didn't really get much done this weekend, being home and all."

He glanced down at me and I could've sworn his lip curled for the barest of moments. "Don't worry. I figured as much, once I heard about your weekend from Theo."

I frowned. I didn't like the way those words settled on my shoulders like a weight. Or maybe like a warning. I shook it off. "I appreciate the heads up about the outline. How'd you find out?"

William shrugged, holding the study room door for me. "I have my sources."

"And what—" I began, then suddenly was pressed up against the wall.

And William's lips were on mine. They were cold and wet and thoroughly unpleasant. Nothing like his brother's. Nothing like I'd imagined. I froze, rigid as a board, but he didn't seem to care. I was reaching up to shove him off when the audible snap of a phone camera sliced through the silence.

"What the hell!" I demanded, jerking away from him and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

But William wasn't looking at me. He was grinning darkly down at his phone and the unmistakable whoosh of a sent text message.

A chill bloomed in my chest, radiating all the way out to my fingers.

"What did you just do?" I charged over to him and lunged for his phone, but he held it away with a laugh that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

"Calm down, Ellie," he said, holding me at an arm's length. "It's all just part of the game."

"What did you do?" I demanded through my teeth. I knocked him into the study table and his phone fell, screen up.

"Just a little harmless, brotherly fun," William said as I seized the phone.

Beneath the picture of him kissing me were two texts. To Theo.

I told you she made a move on me at the gala.
Looks like she couldn't wait to try again.

My stomach plummeted. No. No.

I must've said it aloud because William's wicked grin widened. "No? What's wrong, Ellie? It's just a game, isn't it?"

I stared at him, gaping at the magnitude of what he'd done. Of the injury he'd just caused and laughed at like it was a joke.

"Wait...don't tell me you fell for him?" He laughed, a dark, mirthless thing. "Did you really think he'd actually date you, Ellie? For real?"

The words cut deep, echoing what his mother had said when she'd called him away—you can't really be serious. But even though I winced, I didn't back down.

"You almost did," I all but spat.

William tipped his head, but not as if he was considering it. His cruel smile proved as much. "Hook up with you, maybe. But you're not girlfriend material. You're a scholarship student, and not a great one at that."

My fists curled. I wanted to punch him. To smack that shit-eating grin off his face more than anything else in the world.

No, that wasn't true. More than anything, I wanted to get to Theo before he saw the picture. Desperate, I turned to the phone in my hand. If I could just type "I made her do it" or "She didn't want it," maybe that would be enough. But the screen had already gone dark. When I tried and failed to unlock it, William just laughed. With an angry scream full of mangled curses, I threw the phone at him and fled.

I ran for the soccer field, my laptop and history textbook bouncing uncomfortably around my backpack. My breath plumed out in front of me as I skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs. The boys were jogging in, towards their bags.

Theo was already at his.

I called his name. He glanced up, a hand already in his bag. The smile that lit his face threatened to break my heart. Halfway down the steps, I called out to him again, to stop him from digging deeper into his bag. He tilted his head, amused.

I was going to make it. The knot between my shoulders loosened as I hit the grass, still running.

But I wasn't quick enough.

His head dropped. To the phone in his hand.

It didn't matter that I was beside him now. I knew it from the moment his posture shifted. From the second he shoved his phone back into his bag and thrust the strap over his shoulder, with that damned armored smirk on his face.

"Why the rush, Emdubs?" he asked, turning on his heel and stalking away from his teammates.

"It's not real," I cried out, jogging to catch up to him.

When he said nothing, I reached for his arm. He threw me off with a dark, glacial smile that was far too reminiscent of his brother's.

"I know," he said, eyes raking mine. "It never was."

"That's not—"

"I don't know why you're so upset. This was the plan, wasn't it?"

The flat, emotionless tone stopped me in my tracks. He kept going though, walking backwards away from me, hands dug into his pockets, with that damned smirk on his face.

For a moment, I thought he'd played me. I thought it really had just been a game. That I was the one William had meant to hurt, not Theo.

But then I realized that the smirk didn't reach his eyes. It couldn't, because they were pinched in the very same, very heartbreaking way they'd been when he'd confessed to me about Madeleine.

His outline blurred against the fading green of the soccer pitch. "He caught me by surprise. I never wanted this, I swear!"

Theo stopped walking. He was at the corner, and I was still at the 18-yard line. "Yes, you did. I watched you go outside with him at the gala. You didn't even hesitate. It's pretty clear now that you've wanted him all a—"

"I want you, not him." The words bubbled up and burst out, but they were too late.

His face didn't soften. His jaw didn't unclench. Instead, his lips sliced into that knife's edge of a grin. "Excellent joke, Emdubs. You really had me there for a second."

And then he was stalking away, back turned, shoulders hunched. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop the sob that broke free in the wake of the secret I'd kept for far too long. I wanted to chase after him. To pester and hound him until he understood. But he wouldn't. Not when William had gotten to him first. Not after I'd watched the truth dawn on his face as he stared down at his phone, before he'd locked it away behind his arrogant mask.

Even though I hadn't wanted it, even though it wasn't my fault, I was just another Madeleine now. And there was nothing I could to fix it.

**A/N: Aaaand that's it for my least favorite chapter of this entire story 😔 but those of you who have been with me since The Season know I love a good, unhappy twist!
How do you think Ellie's going to turn this around? Or maybe Theo will? As always, if you enjoyed it, please take a moment to vote and comment!!**