Chapter six: "For Show, Right?"
It was after school, the courtyard humming with leftover energy. Students milled about, some hanging around longer than usual — probably hoping to catch another moment between them.
Jay and Keifer.
The fake couple that had somehow become everyone's favorite gossip.
Jay hated it.
She found Keifer waiting near the old vending machines, the setting sun casting long shadows across the tiles. He looked too comfortable there — like he knew he was being watched. Like he was playing a role he'd perfected.
"You said we needed to talk," she said, crossing her arms, clutching her phone a little too tight.
Keifer didn't smile. He just gave a small nod and looked over her shoulder.
Jay followed his gaze — students lingering, pretending not to stare. And then Ella.
Standing with her group, arms folded, face unreadable. Watching.
Jay's jaw clenched. She turned back to Keifer. "You want to do this here?"
"Why not?" he said smoothly. "It'll sell the story."
Jay hated how her heart fluttered when he said story like that. Like this whole thing wasn't burning her alive from the inside out.
Keifer stepped closer — just enough to lower his voice. "You don't have to look so uncomfortable, Jay. This is what we agreed to."
"Right," she said, trying to sound casual. "Fake dating. Drama. Jealousy. All part of the plan."
He raised a brow. "Jealousy?"
Jay regretted the word instantly. "You know what I meant."
Keifer smiled, the kind that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Do I?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she took a step back, giving herself space to think, to breathe — and bumped into the side wall behind her.
He followed, slowly. The air between them thick with something she couldn't name.
"Jay," he said, softer this time.
She looked up, ready to shut it all down — but her breath caught.
His eyes weren't teasing.
They weren't mocking.
For a second, it didn't feel fake. For a second, none of it did.
Jay's heart thudded too loud in her ears. She tore her gaze away, reaching for anything to ground herself. "They're watching."
Keifer leaned in just slightly, like they were in on a secret. "Then maybe you should smile."
Jay forced one — tight, plastic, practiced. "Convincing enough?"
His lips twitched. "Almost."
He reached out, brushing something from her hair — a leaf, maybe. Or maybe nothing at all. Her skin buzzed where his fingers had been.
And then he stepped back, the moment broken.
Jay walked away before she could ask herself why her chest felt so hollow.
Why pretending with him was starting to feel more dangerous than real.