Monica,
I still have that lingerie, and I still haven't worn it. Aren't I boring? My love life is almost as exciting as going to brunch with your mom.
Speaking of your mom, my mom was on the phone with her the other day. It was all 'You should just see how much weight Chloe has lost, her legs are practically twigs! I swear her dad didn't even feed her all summer! And still no boyfriend! Bad attitude! Yada yada yada'.
I'm wondering what your mom said about you.
Miss you,
Chlo
The cramped toilet stall I'd spent my morning free period in had upgraded to a deserted aisle of the library for lunch. Obeying William's instructions, I'd avoided the cafeteria all together, instead plonking onto one of the leather beanbags that dotted the third floor.
My eyes wandered over the titles of the books stacked in the shelves around me. I'd chosen to sit beside the mystery section, which was fitting considering all the digging I'd been doing around people recently. I pulled down the title nearest to be and opened up to an arbitrary page.
My classes had bored me all morning, and the people in them even more so. I wasn't close with any of them. Being the quietest in the class, I went by unnoticed.
When Monica was at Arlington, we were inseparable, and constantly talking or joking around together even in the most inappropriate of moments. When we'd had classes together the teachers had never been able to shut us up, and when we were on our own we were completely silent.
Mon grew out of that when we hit junior year, branching out and getting to know people and joining clubs around the school. I'd taken the 'nerdy' classes which mostly consisted of boys, and had never brought myself to form relationships with any of my peers, save for Jack, who I'd met through Monica anyway.
The first week had been unbearably lonely without Monica, and it made my heart lurch to think about her absence. That was why I needed distractions, and company, which was revealing itself perfectly in the form of my list. I needed to turn up the action, so it was a good thing William had a plan.
I pulled my lips into a knowing smile when his shadow crept over the pages of the novel in my hand, pushing it shut and placing it back in its position in the shelf.
"Good afternoon," I said.
Will didn't reply as he lowered himself onto the beanbag beside me. He looked tense, which instantly sparked my alertness.
"I've drawn suspicion alright," he said. "I was lucky to get away without the guys following me."
"That's a good thing, though, right?" I asked.
He gave me a neutral look. "You realize I have a hell of a lot more at stake here than you do, right?"
I rolled my eyes. "Which is why I'm doing the work. If we keep this act up for a week or so, or at least long enough for me to secure my position on their radar, then you can go back to doing whatever you do."
He didn't say anything for a moment, and I began to grow nervous that he was having second thoughts. "Look, if anything goes wrong you can just tell them I tricked you. That you had no idea I knew Monica."
"You thought I'd admit to it?" He raised a brow in sarcasm.
"Of course not. I'm just trying to be reassuring," I said with a clipped tone. He was starting to agitate me. I looked at him carefully, his eyes seemed a little hollower than they had yesterday, and they were carrying gray beneath them. "Is there something wrong?"
He looked at me for a few seconds, as if deciding whether to tell me or not. "I spent all damn night going through my dad's auditing data, trying to work out what went wrong."
So that was what this was about.
I sighed. "It's easily conned stuff, probably swept well under the mat. It's nothing he'd have evidence of available easily. Don't worry, I think your dirty work is relatively safe."
"So how did you find it then?" he asked urgently. I was reminded that what seemed like trivial blackmail to me was probably giving him stomach ulcers of stress.
"Let's just say I have connections."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, leaving it mussed. "I just want to understand what he's doing."
"I could show you," I said hesitantly. I didn't know how this arrangement was turning into me helping him.
He narrowed his eyes and I knew there was no way he believed my intentions were good enough to help him. So, instead he changed the subject to the text I'd sent earlier. "I don't know who Sophie is seeing, by the way."
So it wasn't public news.
"I think it's someone from Arlington, who isn't in your crowd," I explained. "And I need to find out who."
He shrugged. "I can't say I know. In fact, whenever I'm around the girls and they talk about boys I zone right out. Sophie's usually one to brag though."
"That's why it's unusual that I haven't found out yet," I grumbled.
"I'll keep an ear out. Anyway, I'm starving, and since I'm banished from the cafeteria in order for people to believe I'm on a hot date, I'm going to go for a drive and get a burger."
"Okay," I said, my mind still weighing up different possibilities of who the mystery man could be.
"Want to come?"
I didn't know if it was the idea of a calorie smothered burger or the idea of spending free time with William, but my internal voice cowered at the idea. "No thanks, I'll eat later."
"Suit yourself," he said, straightening from his crouched position. "Don't be seen. I'll meet you by the lockers after school to go to Jermaine's."
"Great," I said, and I wasn't sure if it was sarcasm weighing on my voice or the impending fear knotting my stomach at the idea of confronting the level one girls.
***
Just like he'd said, Will sought me out through the sea of students after the final bell. It was becoming tradition that by three-o'clock my feet had had enough of being confined in heels, and pain shot through my every step, making me crabby.
"Don't look so miserable to see me, Whittaker," he said. "This is the part you've been waiting for."
He was right. If I wanted this to work, I had to paint on my game face, and that couldn't be done without my fancy leather boots which had cost me a small fortune.
"So everyone just gravitates to this coffee shop on a Monday?" I clarified. "What makes it so special?"
"Oh, you'll see," he said casually. "Do you want to drop your car home first?"
I noticed a few students around us draw their attention to our direction. They were no doubt watching William, either swooning or desperately trying to squeeze out some gossip. Probably both.
"Sure."
I didn't miss the eyes that followed us as we navigated through the crowd. Our peers parted as we walked down the hallway side by side. It was exhilarating to have a dozen eyes follow my path. It wasn't often that I caught people's interest, but beside William I may as well have been a beacon for it.
My ears searched desperately to translate the babble of talk around us, catching only snippets.
"Who's that? Besides Will with the-"
"-I wonder where they're going? Did she arrive with him this morning?"
"Where did she get those boots?"
"I heard she hooked up with him at Li's, do you think they're an-"
And then we crossed the threshold from the echoing halls to the school's court yard, fresh air accompanying the diluted noise. We'd caught Arlington at a good moment, where students were concentrated in one area, our interaction for all to see.
"So did your plan at lunch time work?" I asked William as we strode across campus, still the focal point of several curious glances.
"It did actually. The others asked about it during history."
"What did they say?" I stopped myself from asking him why he took history in the first place. He didn't strike me as the historical type, his appearance coming across as all business and charm.
"Not much. Just wanted to know where I'd run off to."
"And what did you say?"
William shrugged. "That I was catching up with someone."
"You didn't mention me?" I asked. Wasn't the whole point of this to get my name into the mouths of level one?
"No," William said, frustration bordering on the edge of his tone. "That would make them suspicious in the wrong way. Like I've said before, permanent fixture. I need to bring you in slow. It would be weird if I automatically started dating someone and pulled them into our circle right away."
"Right."
"You still don't trust me?"
"This isn't about trust. It's about you keeping up your part of our deal," I reminded him.
"Right, I forgot it's all about pulling puppet strings for you. I'm wondering if you even have feelings."
I clamped my teeth against each other in a bid to stop myself from telling him to back off. We were just entering the parking lot, and I was thankful our cars were a fair distance away from one another. "I'll see you at my house."
As soon as I fell back into the leather of my car seat I let out a huff. Partly because I was pissed at William for making this more difficult than it needed to be, and partly because I really needed to take my shoes off. Divulging in the comfort of my own car, I unzipped the boots and tossed them to the passenger's side before speeding off home.
William was already there, he must have been going way over the speed limit if he'd managed to beat me. I pulled into the family garage and stepped inside quickly to grab a smaller purse.
"Let's get this over with," I muttered to myself. As much as this would be a huge peak in my plan, it was also going to take a lot of energy.
William revved into drive as soon as I had the door closed behind me.
"Okay, so we need to sort out these details, if you're so keen on doing this formally," William said. He may have looked tired and stressed earlier, but now he was looking like a pissed off wreck. "So to them, we're dating. I have the right to publicly dump you if you do anything to embarrass me or play any stupid games. I'm safe, remember?"
"Fine," I said. By the time I got to William, I wouldn't need the protection of my status with him anyway. "But it has to be really bad for you to resort to that."
"And if you really want to feed them this dating line properly, we need some level of PDA," he said next. His confidence was admirable. "What are your limits?"
I snorted. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to get with me, Bishop."
His knuckles whitened over the steering wheel. "You're really not my type."
"Whatever," I said, processing his previous words. "Hand holding is fine. I guess we could hug. But that's it. Nothing more."
"That should be fine for a few weeks. As long as we keep the act up well enough and people don't ask questions. How long is this going to last?"
I thought about it, the one thing my plan lacked was a solid timeline. "Maybe a few months."
His eyes flickered from the road to me. "You're saying I have to pretend to be dating you for months?"
"Well, yeah."
His sighed heavily as he hit the brake pedal for a red light.
"Is there a problem?"
"Loose ends more like."
"Oh, right." Suddenly it made sense. "I'll be cock-blocking you."
William didn't say anything, his jawbone pulsing.
"Well as long as people don't know you're cheating on me, its fine." That was how relationships worked for level one, wasn't it? It bothered a little that his hook-ups were more important than keeping up his end of our arrangement, considering what he was risking.
"I think you'll work out it's more complicated than that," he said.
"How so?"
He took a left, swinging into the parking lot besides a hidden building, decorated with overgrown pot plants in golden baskets. Across its front door was a wooden sign painted to spell Jermaine's.
Will inhaled deeply before killing the ignition. "You're probably about to work it out."