Deal: Fake Dating The Badboy

Chapter 5

My Mother is Still Seventeen

I woke up wrapped in a blanket on the couch. I rubbed my eyes, still a little groggy. "You awake sweetie?" My mom asked from the kitchen.

"Um yeah," I couldn't quite remember what happened.

It finally dawned on me. Damien, panic attack, park. I must have fallen asleep in the car, but how had I gotten on the couch? Had Damien told my mom about the panic attack? I hope not. I didn't want to worry her. "What happened?"

My mom grabbed out a cutting board before speaking, "Well this lovely boy—" she paused—"I believe he said his name was Damien, well anyway, he knocked on the door while holding you. He asked if he could come in. He set you on the couch and tucked you in and then left. He was a very charming young man."

Hearing my mom call Damien a 'charming young man,' was a bit disturbing. It seemed like he hadn't told my mom about the panic attack, thankfully. "So," my mom smirked at me before continuing, "is he your boyfriend?"

Are moms even allowed to smirk? "Umm."

"You're blushing!"

"Okay, maybe."

I picked up a pillow and buried my face in it. My mom set down the knife and ran over to the couch. She was acting like a teenage girl. "Tell me everything!"

I lifted my head up. Mom smiled from ear to ear. "His name is Damien, he's in my grade."

"How did he ask you out? Have you guys kissed? Was it all romantic?" Her questions were coming out a mile a minute.

I laughed. "Well, actually, I'm not sure who asked who out, it was a bit weird." Her smile morphed into a look of confusion and so I continued, "I went to one of his games and told him how I felt and he, um uh, kissed me?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.

She squealed. "Oh, that's so romantic, was that the night when you came home soaking wet?"

I didn't know that she saw me that night. "Maybe."

Mom's smile widened, which didn't seem possible. We heard a knock on the door and she got up to see who it was. I heard Aris's voice come from the other room, "Hello Malinda."

"Hello, Aris, Hannah is in the other room."

"Thank you."

She ran into the living room and grabbed my arm. "We need to talk now."

"Uh oh."

She dragged me up the stairs to my room. She plopped me down on my bed and grabbed my spinning desk chair, rolling it to my bed. She sat down, sitting backward in the chair her legs dangling down. "It's about Damien," she finally said.

Sheer terror spread through me. I felt my heartbeat speed up in my chest. Does she know? She couldn't know that we were fake dating. Could she? I sat there waiting for her to speak again. "This whole double date was meant to see if he truly cared for you." Her face showed no emotion.

"Well, just let me ex—"

She cut me off, "No, let me finish. As I was saying, this whole thing was essentially a test. The date seemed to be going normal and I had high hopes for him until Tina walked in. His hand visibly tightened around you. He even glared at her. She then responded by kissing her date. This was a giant red flag. I could see your discomfort in the situation and I presume that's why you went to the bathroom. After you did I saw Tina follow you in. So did Damien. I don't think he took his eye off the bathroom the entire time we were waiting. I wasn't quite sure if he was waiting for you, or Tina. He wasn't doing well, but I'm glad he passed the test."

I stared at her in confusion. What? "But you just pointed out a bunch of things that as you said were 'red flags'."

"Ye,s but, we could hear her screaming at you in that bathroom." I cowered a bit in my seat. I knew they could hear me. "Damien grew more worried by the second. When you ran out of the bathroom he was up faster than me. You could tell he really cared for you. His face showed it. Plus, I followed you out of the restaurant to the park and saw him calm you down and hold you. So yes, he passed the test."

She finally finished and I just stared at her in shock. Was Damien really worried about me or was that just all part of the act? My face flamed as her last few sentences finally sunk in, "How long were you watching us?" I panicked.

"Not too long. I gotta say though, that was cute he must have been holding you for so long"

"Please tell me you didn't just stand there and watch us?"

She laughed. "No, I didn't but I had Damien text me when you were okay, I figured you guys were still hugging and that's why he didn't text me sooner."

I groaned flopping down on my bed. The quotes all over my wall all seemed to pop. I painted quotes all over my room. If I liked a quote I wrote it on a canvas and hung it on my wall, that or I just painted it straight onto my wall. "So, how did it feel?" She questioned me.

"How did what feel?"

"Being with Damien."

"It was—" I sighed—"amazing. Did you know he smells like vanilla and spice? His shirt is so soft too. And when he's holding you, you can feel his chest rumble when he laughs. And for some reason, his breath always smells like mint, like I don't know how he does it." Aris just stared at me in disbelief. "What?" I questioned.

"I have never seen you get so excited over a boy."

She was right. No, no I can't be letting him get close to me. He was just going to leave me. Even if we became friends Tina would never let him talk to me once they got back together. I couldn't let him in. I couldn't get hurt, again. "You know it's a good thing that you're finally getting flustered over a boy."

"No, it's not! He just gonna leave, just like everyone else he'll leave. Sooner or later he'll realize his mistake in liking me and leave."

"Not every boy is like Leo or your dad."

"Aris, every boy who has ever cared for me has left me."

The sudden overwhelming feeling of sorrow hit me. I didn't even have feelings for Damien. It was in the contract. Rule number two, no feelings. I definitely didn't like him and I never would. I couldn't.

"I have a good feeling about Damien, he'll stay."

"And what if he doesn't?"

"Then screw him! If he leaves you then he's the one missing out because the Hannah I know is amazing! And anyone would be lucky to date her."

I smiled. "Thanks, Aris."

"I'm only stating the truth."

She laid down next to me on the bed. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

I glance down at my watch checking the time. It was almost eight o'clock. "That sounds great."

I went downstairs to make popcorn while Aris picked out a movie. I had hundreds of movies. Aris and I used to save our money up to buy more movies for movie night and eventually, we had over a hundred. The popcorn finished pooping and I grabbed it out of the microwave, pouring it into the bowl. I went back upstairs to meet Aris. She already had the movie in and we plopped on the couch. I grabbed the blankets and we made a small fort out of them to sit in. Sometimes we acted just like little kids. We watched movies for the rest of the night before we both fell asleep.