MY PRETEND BOYFRIEND

Chapter 20

The weekend is over, and the life of Sophia Laurel is still the same. She's just living a peaceful life with her 'Male Leads', playing guitar in a music club, and attending or skipping classes. Adrian is still the same, always disturbing her life like a leech. He even tells everyone that she's pleased with what he bought for her.

What the hell?

The most important thing for Sophia now is her relationship with Benjamin, that handsome guy from medical school. They talk almost every night, but it's always brief—not because he’s asleep or saving phone bills, but because of David! He calls her every night to interrupt their conversations.

And instead of going on a simple date on Friday, like taking a boy to buy ice cream or watch movies to build the seeds of love, Sophia's sweet dreams were destroyed by the members of the music club. She should be helping them set up for the Music Festival, 'Alma Mater Fair', this Sunday. Benjamin is also here, but not for long, as he needs to do some activities at the Medicine building. So, Sophia can only sit in a moody position with... Adrian.

"Hey, Sophia, what if we make a show..." His loud voice was incredibly annoying.

"What the hell is your show? No!" She tried to pull away from his strong grip.

"Show them our love. People will realize the power of love."

"Please don’t joke like that today. I'm not in the mood."

"When will you change your mind?"

"So, when will you stop being so stubborn?"

"That's difficult."

"Whatever."

"Come on. Don’t get pissed off."

"..."

"What about David? He’s just your friend, right?"

Where is David when I need him? Damn! David Horan, help me!

"Not your business."

"I saw that David follows only you on i********:. But... between you guys, there’s nothing, right?"

"He is flirting with me."

"Don’t lie to me. You’ve told everyone that you’re just friends."

Referring to the hot guy who caused a scene on i********:, after he followed Sophia, her followers increased rapidly. It was also followed by tons of direct messages asking why she was followed by David.

The only answer she copied and pasted was 'We’re just friends.'

Looks like Adrian found out about this gossip, so he knows everything now. Sophia doesn’t know what to do next. She had a fake flirt, a fake date, or acted like she didn’t care about him, but none of these efforts made him leave her alone.

"Tinawag ko kayo dito para ayusin ang mga gamit, hindi para mag-usap. Adrian, kumuha ka ng drum. At ikaw, Sophia, tulungan mo ang iba sa paggawa ng mga booth."

Heaven-sent Kim, the annoying guy, sent them to separate from Adrian. They immediately followed the order, fearing they might get kicked out of the club.

The Music Festival of their club is the biggest event of the year, held in the outdoor stadium. Their club coordinated with the Faculty of Music. It’s called the 'Alter Matter Fair' and features alternative rock from the 80s and 90s.

Sophia went to the front stage, which was being decorated by a group of first and second-year students. Straw blocks were used instead of chairs, so her task was to place those blocks on the ground.

"Help me choose a song." After a while, David came to her and poked her.

"Hey! Where were you earlier? I didn’t see you."

"I had football training. The university's football match is coming."

Sophia probably forgot that she was on the field yesterday for the cheerleading rehearsal for the match.

"Oh. What did you say just now?"

"Help me choose a song."

"Song for what?"

"Song to play on stage."

"You should ask the band members, not me."

This year, many bands will perform at the festival. Each year level had to form a band to perform on stage. David and his friends were the freshmen's representatives.

"Come on. Name a song." He kept bothering her. Sophia thought about her favorite songs for a while.

"A Taylor Swift song."

"Are you a Taylor Swift fan? You always recommend her."

"Well, what do you want?"

"Think of a song from the 90s. This is an alternative music festival, okay?"

"But the seniors said that it’s not necessary to play 90s songs. Any song we choose is fine, right?"

"Then give your advice."

"Taylor Swift songs."

"No. How about another artist?"

"Taylor Swift only."

"Aside from that?"

"Taylor Swift only."

"Others."

"Then go ask your friends."

"I don’t want to. I want you to help."

Oh, God... Sophia couldn’t take this stupid jerk anymore. Doesn’t he ever watch Club Friday: The Series?

"I really like Taylor Swift."

He poked her head and left. What did he do? She thought he probably just came to argue with her. She was really confused about David.

Alter Matter Music Festival. The lively music and romantic lights were creating a nostalgic atmosphere of the 80s and 90s. Sophia stood in the middle of the crowd, moving with the stream of students who were rushing toward the various food stalls. She was with members of The Lead Man, but they had to separate since she needed to go backstage to help set up the sound system. Her friends had another task: getting rid of Adrian.

After everything was set up, Sophia quickly invited Benjamin to grab some food. They sat together, chatting for about an hour until the band consisting of the freshmen was about to perform.

David looked cool today. He was on stage with his bandmates, and the crowd was going wild.

"Ang hottie ni David!"

"David looks extra handsome!"

"Come here! Come here and I will take care of you! I'm rich! I have a lot of money!"

Sophia and Benjamin, standing in front of the stage, were pushed backward by the crowd, but that didn’t stop Sophia from getting a good look at the tall guitarist. David wore a white T-shirt with the words Alter Matter Fair printed on it.

"Hello, everyone! We are Encapsulation!" The smooth voice of the vocalist, Stephany from the Faculty of Architecture, caused the audience to erupt in excitement.

Many people may have wondered what the name Encapsulation meant, but as far as Sophia knew, it referred to a concept in object-oriented programming. The idea was to bundle data and the methods that operate on it into a single unit called a class. Just like how the band wanted to be remembered forever.

"Ewww! Ang corny," Sophia muttered under her breath.

"My name is Miguel, a first-year student from the Faculty of Architecture."

SCREAM~

"Next to me is the bass player, Gino! The keyboard player is Stephany, and on my left is David, the guitarist!"

“Ang gwapo mo talaga, David!”

"And the one playing the drums is Jean."

The loud cheering continued until the intro of a song began with Miguel, who kept engaging with the audience.

"This song is for those people who are brokenhearted because of love."

"We're here! We're very single! David!"

"And for those who are alone..."

"..."

"Sometimes we want to forget something, but the old stories never disappear... even in the summer."

SCREAM~

The song Somebody Else by The 1975 started playing. Its fun rhythm made the crowd sway to the beat. Sophia looked at Benjamin, hoping he'd dance with her, but no...

"Sophia."

"Umm?"

"I have to go home."

"Really? At this time? Why? Do you need a ride?"

"My mom will pick me up. Have fun! See you tomorrow!" Benjamin waved before leaving her alone in the crowd.

"So I heard you found somebody else

And at first, I thought it was a lie

I took all my things that make sounds

The rest I can do without..."

Sophia’s heart sank for a moment, but the feeling faded quickly as the second song began. She danced along, lost in her own world.

Encapsulation played songs like Be My Mistake by The 1975, Youngblood by 5 Seconds of Summer, and They Don’t Know About Us by One Direction. But before they played the last song, Taem made an announcement that caused everyone to grumble.

"Actually, we're going to play the song that David suggested," Taem said.

"..."

"But he didn’t win the argument with the band, so, we’re so sorry!"

Too bad.

"It’s fine! Because the next song we’re gonna play will remind you guys of your first love. I promise you, by Frankie J."