CHAPTER 1
1200 Words
Rina Hale wakes up to war.
Her phone lights up before the sun does, a violent buzz against her pillow. She groans, rolls over, and squints at the screen, then freezes.
128 new notifications.
Her pulse kicks, a hard, painful thump.
For one hopeful second, she prays it’s some kind of glitch.
Then the first message loads.
Rina… are you okay?
Why is your name everywhere??
She sits up so fast her blankets tangle around her legs.
Her heart is already racing, dread curling into her spine.
Another message arrives.
I’m so sorry.
Have you seen the video?
The same one from last night.
The one that turned her into a rumor she didn’t ask for.
She swallows hard, trying to steady her breathing, but the phone keeps vibrating, group chats, mentions, DM requests from strangers she’s never met.
Her stomach twists.
She forces herself out of bed and heads to the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face. The mirror shows a girl with tired eyes, tangled hair, and a panic she can’t hide.
Invisible Rina is gone.
Overnight, she became a scandal.
A knock sounds at her door quick, frantically.
“Rina? Babe, open up!”
Only one person sounds that dramatic before 8 a.m.
Rina pulls open the door, and Bree practically falls inside.
Bree’s red curls are wild, her pajamas mismatched, her expression a blend of shock and outrage only Bree can pull off first thing in the morning.
“Oh my God.” She grabs Rina’s shoulders. “Tell me everything right now before I combust.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Rina says faintly. “It’s not me.”
“I KNOW it’s not you,” Bree hisses, pacing the small room. “But the entire campus is losing its mind. They think you’re…”
“Jace Ezan’s secret hookup,” Rina finishes, voice flat.
Bree stops pacing. Her eyes soften.
“Are you okay?”
Rina wants to say yes.
Wants to pretend she’s unaffected.
Wants to be the version of herself that stays unbothered because caring only leads to pain.
But she can’t lie… not to Bree.
“No,” she whispers. “I’m not.”
Bree’s face crumples. She pulls Rina into a hug so tight it knocks the air from her lungs.
“You don’t deserve this,” Bree murmurs. “You didn’t even TALK to that boy.”
Rina sighs. “He called me last night.”
Bree jerks back. “He WHAT”
Before she can launch into her next dramatic spiral, both of their phones light up at the same time, illuminating the entire room in white.
A new post.
A new caption.
A new wave of chaos.
@HalecrestSpy:
BREAKING: JACE EZAN SEEN ON CAMPUS SEARCHING FOR “THE MYSTERY GIRL.”
Is the rumor true after all?! 👀🔥
Bree gasps. “Oh, hell no. Why is he LOOKING for you?”
Rina’s heart slams against her ribs.
Because he wants her to agree.
Because he asked her for something no sane person would consider.
Because he wants her to pretend.
Her mind flashes back to last night,
Jace in the shadows, eyes intense, voice low as he said:
“Be my girlfriend. Three months. Public, not private. Control the story.”
She still can’t believe that conversation happened.
She can’t believe Jace Ezan even knows her name, let alone wants her to become part of his world even for a lie.
“Rina… what did he say to you?” Bree asks slowly, narrowing her eyes.
Rina hesitates.
This is the moment she could tell Bree everything.
Dump the entire disaster into her friend’s hands.
Cry. Panic. Ask for advice.
But the words stick in her throat.
“Nothing important,” she lies softly.
Bree watches her too closely, but Rina is saved by a sudden, furious knocking on the door.
Louder. Sharper.
Demanding.
Bree’s eyes widened. “Who the hell…”
Rina already knows.
Her heart whispers his name before her brain does.
She opens the door.
Jace Ezan stands in the hallway, hoodie up, jaw tight, chest rising and falling like he ran all the way here.
He looks like trouble and chaos.
He looks like every part of the rumor that’s destroying her.
But when his eyes lock with hers, his entire expression softens, sharpens, focuses.
“Rina,” he says, voice low. “We need to talk.”
Bree’s jaw drops.
“Oh my GOD.”
Jace barely acknowledges her. His attention is completely fixed on Rina, like she’s the only person in the hallway, maybe on the entire campus.
“I gave you time to think,” he says, gripping the edge of his hoodie. “But we don’t have time anymore.”
Rina’s pulse starts a painful sprint. “Why? What happened?”
He steps closer, lowering his voice.
“My coach called me in. The athletic board is reviewing the video. They think I broke conduct rules.”
Her breath catches. “But you didn’t.”
“They don’t care.” His jaw tenses. “The rumor is enough.”
Her room suddenly feels too small for the three of them.
The walls are shrinking.
Her choices are shrinking with them.
Bree steps forward, glaring at him. “Are you trying to blame her for this? She didn’t do anything…”
“I know,” Jace snaps. “Which is why we need a solution that protects her too.”
Rina forces her heartbeat to steady. “What solution?”
Jace takes a breath of deep, heavy, final.
“The contract,” he says. “We go public today.”
Her pulse stutters. “Today?”
“Yes. Before the board meets. Before the story gets uglier. Before they ruin both of us.”
The room goes silent.
Bree stares at Rina like she’s waiting for her to wake up from a dream.
Rina stares at Jace like she’s trying to understand how her quiet, carefully curated life has turned into this.
A fake relationship.
With Halecrest’s golden boy.
To save both their reputations.
Bree whispers, “You’re not actually considering this… right?”
She should say no.
She should slam the door in Jace’s too-perfect face.
She should refuse to let her life be consumed by a spotlight she never asked for.
But her name is already being dragged everywhere.
Her world is already collapsing.
And Jace…
God help her.
Jace looks at her like she’s the only person who can save him.
Her voice comes out soft. Terrified. Unsteady.
“What would I have to do?”
Jace meets her gaze, steady and unflinching.
“Just let them believe we chose each other.”
Her heart stops.
Choose each other.
Pretend.
Lie.
Control the story.
Her world shifts on its axis.
And Rina Hale realizes something she didn’t want to admit:
Saying yes might ruin her.
But saying no might ruin her even faster.
“Okay,” she whispers.
Jace exhales like he’s been drowning.
Bree drops onto the bed in shock.
And in that tiny dorm room, with tension thick enough to choke on, Rina Hale steps into the lie that will change her life.
- Writer
