Glaiza groaned loudly when she heard continuous loud knocks on her door.
"Cha! Cha! Hey wake up!" Her father shouted to which Glaiza just ignored it and rolled to her stomach and put a pillow on the back of her head, ready to go back to her dream land.
"Cha, you better be getting ready, 'cause you only have 10 minutes before your class starts!" With that que, Glaiza bolted upwards and put on the first clothes her eyes land on and opened the door, surprising her dad.
"See, I'm already up." Glaiza past her dad and walked briskly downstairs all the while spraying perfume on her body with her dad behind her. She saw Chloe already eating scrambled egg with rice. As much as Glaiza wanted that, she hasn't much time, so instead, she took an apple and grab her bag.
"Wait, you're not eating?" Her dad asked.
"No, but I got this," She raised her apple. "I'm heading out now, love you both!"
Glaiza ran outside while she frantically comb her short messy hair with her right hand, while she chew her apple on her left hand. Good thing their house was just a couple blocks away from her school.
As soon as she step foot on the school premises, she immediately knew that she was doomed. There wasn't a single student outside. So before she could catch her breath, she pushed herself and ran inside the hallway. What's worst was, she has to climb two flights of stairs to reach her destination.
And when she indeed reach her class, she burst through the doors, making all eyes turn towards her.
"Ms. De Castro, glad you could finally join us." Mr. Sanchez sarcastically said.
"Sorry." Glaiza mumbled before walking to her seat next to Rhian.
"You didn't pass by my house." Rhian said, making Glaiza mentally facepalmed herself, sighing guiltily.
"I know, I'm sorry, I woke up late-"
"You left me alone this morning to deal with Jason and his annoying questions on why the both of us didn't arrive together in school. Good thing I made up a fast excuse to cover your mess up. Remember Glaiza, this proposal of ours doesn't just benefits me, I could help you get a job. That's what you want right?" Rhian whispered with her eyes still focused on the discussion.
I wouldn't be asking for a job from you, if you didn't ruin it for me.
Glaiza wanted to say, but bit her tongue. It would only make it worse. And because partly, it was Glaiza's fault. If she didn't binge watch 5 episodes of Riverdale on Netflix, Rhian wouldn't be mad. So she settled on an apologetic look.
"Yes, of course! I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Glaiza said then silence took over. Rhian didn't reply so she figured that the conversation was over. So she focus instead on the discussion in front of her.
It wasn't long until the bell rings, signalling for the second class. Glaiza gathered her things and bag and went to her next classroom where she instantly saw Benjamin. When his eyes met hers, he smiled.
Glaiza could feel a flutter in her stomach.
Without a word, she made her way to her seat beside him and lean her head against her shoulders.
"You alright?" Benjamin asked
"Mhm, just a little sleepy." Glaiza mumbled.
"Binge watching netflix again?"
Glaiza nodded, making the guy beside her chuckle. She was really feeling sleepy. In fact, she's been digging her fingernails onto her palm to keep her from closing her eyes and dissapointing Rhian.
Benjamin wrapped his arms around her and started caressing her hair. Glaiza sighed in content and let her eyes close for a moment until she was whisked away to dream land again.
She was shook from her sleep when she heard loud shuffling and noises. She opened her eyes and it dawn on her that she just slept throughout the second period.
"Don't worry about it, professor only made us watch Titanic and make a critic essay about it that is due on Wednesday." Benjamin answered her unspoken question.
"Why didn't you woke me up when professor walked in?"
"And miss the chance of staring at your pretty and peaceful face? No way..." Glaiza's face warmed. "Besides, I don't have the guts to ruin your beauty sleep."
Grabbing their belongings, the two walked together to the cafeteria where they meet up with Glaiza's friends.
"Hey Glaiza, trip to Boracay, wanna come?" Kat asked as she took a bite from her cheeseburger.
"Depends. Does your clingy boyfriend, Brian, be coming with us?" Glaiza asked as the group started to snicker.
Kat rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Brian is not my boyfriend. Okay? He's only my neighbor who just happens to have a major crush on me since junior high. And no, he's not coming. I'll make sure of that."
"Oh I don't know..." Paul dragged on. "The two of your were pretty close that night. What, with how you guys were hugging so intimately."
"It wasn't an intentional hug, you guys. It just so happens that after that crazy dance Brian pulled off, he passed out in front of me."
"Really? Then are you not swayed by his sexy dance moves? Personally, his Chicken Dance really was the highlight of the night and was probably the hottest dance move I've seen in my life." Chynna added sarcastically.
"I hate you guys." Kat groaned and covered her face with both hands.
The group laughed, remembering Brian's clumsy dance. He even attempted to do the Worm Dance which also earned a lot of cheering and laughter. The teasing continued on, when suddenly people are surrounding their table and began tugging and pushing Glaiza away from her seat, while cheering her name.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?!" Benjamin was alarmed and stood up from his seat to retrieve Glaiza but was pulled back by three laughing boys.
"Dude, don't. This is going to be fun." A boy with pierced ears said, as he held Ben's shoulder.
"I'm going to film this. Who knows what the both of their reaction will be." The other guy with a cut by his left eyebrow fished out his phone.
"Yeah, go on. Whatever the outcome is, I bet it'll be going viral." A short guy said.
Ignoring the three guys, Benjamin focused on the situation in front.
People still kept pulling and pushing Glaiza until she was infront of Rhian, who was standing on their table. Glaiza's confused face probably registered to Rhian, but the latter only gave her a blank look.
"So? What now Rhian? Aren't you gonna ask her?" Jason asked his arms crossed on his chest.
"I already told you, we're official. What more do you want?" Rhian said shooting glares at him.
"Oh I know that. But do they..." He pointed at Rhian's friends... " and they..." Then pointed to all the people watching."... know that? If what you're saying is true, there's nothing to hide, right? So why don't you tell them what you and miss De Castro are. Huh?" He stared at Rhian intensely. "I dare you."
Rhian looked back at Glaiza for back-up, but the short-haired girl is still looking at her with confused look. It didn't cross her mind about telling other people about her relationship with Glaiza. She thought that they would keep it a secret, and would only act as a couple whenever Jason is around. Now, as much Rhian wanted to make an excuse, she knows that he would stop at nothing to sabotage her. So she has to think quickly.
Rhian gave a long sigh and ready herself.
Well, I hope this works.
"As of most of you know, Glaiza and I were not really the best of friends. She and I dislikes each other to the point that we would do anything just to annoy the other person. We can't stand each other and really have nothing to agree on. But... recently..." She glance at Glaiza. "despite her hatred for me, she did something that made me think that... there's still goodness in her heart. And from that, she gave me a chance. A chance to start over. Little by little, I realized that I was starting to fall for her..." Glaiza froze, blinking in shock. "Look Glaiza, I know that we've done this before, but just to let everyone know... will you be girlfriend?"
A series of shock was heard and the whispering began. Glaiza didn't know what to say. She was very aware of Benjamin's presence behind her, whom she's sort-of-dating, and now Rhian, who is now asking her to be her fake girlfriend. Her mouth close and open, struggling to find the words she's looking for. But seeing Rhian's pleading eyes and also the pressure she's feeling, had got her saying what Rhian wants her to say.
"Yes" Glaiza answered. Everyone started cheering and whooping. Jason groaned, not satisfied on how the events turned out. He cursed loudly and stormed off.
Rhian smiled widely and got off the table and hug her. Instinctly, Glaiza's arms rest on Rhian's waist, with still a blank look.
"I'm really sorry." Rhian whispered on Glaiza's shoulder. "Jason gave me a hard time, and I didn't know what to do."
Glaiza sighed, thanking Rhian's long hair for covering her face, before speaking, "Sure. You just surprised me, that's all."
Truthfully though, Glaiza's stomach sank, feeling nauseated and worried. She didn't know how to explain things to her friends, or worse, to Benjamin. She felt like she just cheated on him, and she couldn't voice this out to Rhian because it would only raise suspicions.
Suddenly, the bell rang, signalling the end of recess. The cheering stopped, and instead the students began scrambling, throwing their trashes and grabbing their things, afraid of being late to their next class.
Rhian pulled away from the hug and said in a whisper, "Thank you for going with the flow and I really am sorry."
Glaiza put on a tight smile before Rhian grab her wrist and they started walking to the door to their next class. But before they could even began walking, Benjamin stopped by Glaiza's side and grab her arm.
"Glaiza? What is going on?" Benjamin asked.
"I... uh..." Glaiza wanted badly to explain everything to him, but not now, there's still students who were still watching them, and she can't risk it. So instead she said, "We'll talk later."
She slowly pulled away from his grip and tug on Rhian's wrist and brisk walk outside the cafeteria. The look on Benjamin's face was something Glaiza couldn't handle it.
As they approach the classroom, Glaiza and Rhian are immediately surrounded by their classmates bombarding with a lot of questions and comments
"When did your relationship started?"
"OMG! You guys make a cute couple!"
"Who was the first one to confess their feelings?"
"I thought I had a chance!"
"Are you really a thing now?"
"Benjamin deserves better."
That last comment stung Glaiza and was suddenly feeling dizzy with all the questions. It was all to much. To her relief, Rhian seems to understand and led her away from them and onto their seats. Unfortunately, the students didn't disperse, and followed them. By now, Rhian was telling them that they'll be answering their questions later all the while pushing them to back off.
Thankfully, before Rhian snapped, the professor walked in and settle the class down. Glaiza didn't really pay much attention to the discussion and instead formulated an explanation she wanted to say to Benjamin, but was stuck on scolding herself.
How could I be so stupid?! Instead of watching netflix, I should have explained everything last night! Now he's probably thinking that I played him! Or that I wasn't taking our relationship seriously! God, I'm the worse! Maybe they were right-
"Hey, you okay?" Rhian interrupted and put her hand on hers to stop the shaking, which Glaiza didn't notice until now.
Glaiza looked at her and replied, "Y-Yeah, I was, I uhm, I-I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff at home."
Rhian decided not to mind Glaiza's lie and offered her a thin-lipped smile.
For the rest of the period, Rhian's hand didn't leave the short-haired girl, to which Glaiza was thankful. For some reason, it lessened the anxious feeling inside of her.
The next period went by quickly, and then lunch was up. The couple walked hand-in-hand towards the cafeteria which earned a lot of stares from the students. Sure her popularity matched with Rhian, but at this moment, Glaiza felt uncomfortable with all the stares and the whispers.
Upon reaching the cafeteria, Glaiza stopped. She didn't know whether to sit with Rhian or sit with her friends. Gladly, Rhian noticed her struggle.
"Go on." Rhian whispered before letting go her hand and heading to her own table.
Even from when she's approaching, Glaiza could see the strange looks her friends been giving her, which only increases her nervousness.
"Can we talk?" Glaiza said to Benjamin. She didn't want to face the questions she knows her friends have. Clarifying things to Benjamin is her main task here.
"Excuse me? Are you just gonna ignore us and I don't know, not tell us what the fuck happened earlier?!" Katrina snapped.
This earned a couple of head turns making Glaiza squirm uncomfortably under Kat's intense glare.
Before Glaiza could reply, Benjamin jumped in. "Hey, calm down. I'm sure she has her reasons. Chynna, can you please?"
Chynna seems to understand and talked to Kat which seems to relax the latter a bit.
Glaiza led Benjamin in an open field, located at the back exit of the cafeteria. It was quiet for a while, the two staring at the wide vast of the greenery landscape.
"Look," Glaiza started. "I need you to understand that what you witnessed earlier was nonsense. Believe me, it was all just for show. I mean that is the main goal of our deal, anyway."
Benjamin looked at her. "Deal?"
"Yes, before all of that, Rhian proposed that I am to be her fake girlfriend for an important reason. And lets just say, that it will also benefit me. I know that I should've told you sooner, but I didn't, and I'm already feeling terrible at it. I'm really sorry! Now I messed up! God! I'm so stupid! Its just that I-I-I need to process things! Its not that I'm okay this, but Rhian was desperate and I felt bad so I gave in... This is all because of her father! And now I'm involved in their problem! But I also need the money, and if I don't, I wouldn't be able to pay dad's medical expenses and then we wouldn't have enough money for Chloe's education and who knows! Maybe we'll even end up having scarce food and before you knew it, we're already beggars! Oh my gosh, I should really make this work! Make it all believable and-"
"Okay okay, hey, calm down okay?" Benjamin hold Glaiza's shoulders to stop her from rambling on. "I get it. You don't need to explain further and apologize. I understand now."
Glaiza stopped and glance at him. "You do? And you're okay with it?"
"Well I must say that I'm uncomfortable with it, but I understand you're intention, so I wouldn't stand in your way." Benjamin says.
Glaiza smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you! I'm glad and relieved that you're not mad. God, I don't deserve you. You're the best boyfriend ever!"
Realization hit Glaiza as soon as she said those last words. She pulled away instantly.
"Friend! What I meant was friend... its not like you're my boyfriend or anything... I mean not as of now... Of course I want to you to be my boyfriend... but uh... you're just my friend... I mean my suitor... and I uh... I'm not ready... not that I don't want to be with you... b-believe me I want to... its just that... you're a great guy... and I uh... uhm... what I'm trying to say is-"
Benjamin chuckled and pinch her cheek softly. "I get your point. I mean we're eventually getting there are we?"
Glaiza smiled shyly and nodded. As the two were walking back, the short-haired girl asked Benjamin if he would do the favor of telling her friends about her situation and to keep it a secret between themselves, to which Benjamin nodded.
As soon as they were nearing the cafeteria, the bell rang. As usual, the students began to scram.
"Hey Glaiza! Your lover wanted you to have this. Said that she didn't want you to starve yourself" A girl said handing her a sandwich.
"Really? Thank Ben for me, will you?"
"Huh? I was talking about Rhian, your girlfriend." The girl reminded with confusion on her face.
Glaiza's eyes widened at the realization. "Oh! Of course! Yeah, that's what I said."
The girl looked at her weirdly and shook her head before she left.
Glaiza let out a long breath before she walked to her next class, eating her sandwich on the way.
This is going to be a lot harder than I though it would be.