I stared at Ethan like he had completely lost his mind.
"…Fine."
The word left my mouth before my brain could stop it.
For a moment, Ethan looked slightly surprised.
Then his smirk returned.
"I knew you'd say yes."
"Don't get the wrong idea," I snapped quickly. "I'm only doing this for the competition."
"Of course," he said calmly.
Around us, students were still whispering and watching.
The rumor had already spread through half the school.
"This is ridiculous," I muttered.
Ethan glanced at the crowd.
"Then let's make it believable."
Before I could ask what he meant, he suddenly reached out and gently grabbed my wrist.
My brain stopped working.
"What are you doing?!" I hissed.
"Relax," he whispered. "They're watching."
Sure enough, several students nearby were staring at us with wide eyes.
Ethan leaned slightly closer and spoke loud enough for them to hear.
"See you after school, Lena."
My heart skipped at the sound of my name.
He never called me that before.
It was always Carter.
I quickly pulled my hand away.
"You're enjoying this way too much."
"Maybe," he said.
Then he walked past me like nothing had happened.
Leaving me standing there with half the school staring.
By lunchtime, the rumor had turned into a full story.
According to the school gossip:
Ethan and I had been secretly dating for months
We had been hiding it because we were rivals
Yesterday's photo had "exposed" us
I dropped my head on the cafeteria table.
"This is a nightmare."
My best friend Maya sat across from me, staring with wide eyes.
"You're dating Ethan Blake?!"
"No!"
"But everyone says—"
"It's fake!"
Maya leaned forward.
"Wait… fake?"
I sighed.
"We're pretending so the rumors calm down."
Maya blinked.
"You're fake dating the most popular boy in school."
When she said it like that, it sounded even worse.
Before I could respond, the cafeteria suddenly got quieter.
I looked up.
Ethan had just walked in.
And of course, every girl in the room noticed.
He scanned the cafeteria… then started walking directly toward my table.
"Oh my gosh," Maya whispered. "He's coming here."
"I can see that."
Ethan stopped beside us.
"Mind if I sit?"
"Yes," I said immediately.
He sat down anyway.
Maya looked like she was watching a celebrity.
"So it's true?" she asked excitedly.
Ethan smiled slightly.
"Depends what you heard."
"That you and Lena are dating!"
I kicked him under the table before he could answer.
Hard.
He barely reacted.
Then he casually said,
"Something like that."
My face turned red.
"You're supposed to say it's fake!"
He shrugged.
"If we say that, the rumor gets bigger."
…He had a point.
Unfortunately.
Ethan looked at me.
"After school. Library."
"What for?"
"Practice for the competition."
Right.
The national academic competition.
The reason I had agreed to this stupid plan.
"Fine," I said.
He stood up.
Then he did something completely unnecessary.
He lightly tapped my head before leaving.
My brain short-circuited.
The entire cafeteria exploded into whispers.
"Did you see that?!"
"They're definitely dating!"
Maya stared at me with a huge grin.
"Well," she said.
"This is going to be interesting."
I groaned.
This fake relationship was already a disaster.
And it had only been one day.