Behind the Locked Door
1933 Words
Harper wished she had kept walking. Instead, she was standing in the middle of an empty classroom with Luca between her and the door while Fiona Reed pounded on the other side as though the school had personally offended her by putting a locked door in her way. The sound echoed through the room, each knock followed by Luca’s name, and Harper found herself wondering how many times he had been in this exact situation. Judging by the complete lack of panic on his face, the answer was probably more than she wanted to know.
“Luca! I know you're in there!”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked toward the ceiling. “She's got incredible timing.”
Harper gave him a look. “You say that like it happens every day.”
“It does.”
That should have sounded ridiculous. Somehow, with Luca, it didn't. He had the particular kind of confidence that came from being used to people wanting something from him, whether it was a photograph, a conversation, a place beside him at lunch, or apparently a private audience he had no interest in giving. Harper had always assumed he enjoyed that attention. Watching him now, with Fiona practically trying to break down the door, she wasn't quite as sure.
“Have you ever actually told her you're not interested?” she asked.
“I have.”
“And?”
“I told her.”
Harper waited for more, but he only shrugged. “That's it?”
“What else was I supposed to do?”
She glanced at the door as Fiona knocked again. “Maybe tell her again, considering she clearly didn't get the message.”
Luca's mouth pulled into a crooked smile. “She got it. She just doesn't like the answer.”
Harper stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “So she thinks you'll change your mind.”
“She seems to think persistence is attractive.”
“And what do you think?”
“I think persistence is exhausting.”
Harper laughed before she could stop herself. It slipped out quietly, but Luca caught it anyway. He turned toward her with that irritatingly pleased look he always wore whenever he managed to get a reaction from her, as though her amusement were some private prize he had earned.
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“That laugh.”
“I didn't laugh.”
“You did.”
“I coughed.”
“You smile when you cough too?”
She pressed her lips together, refusing to give him another one. “I genuinely don't understand how anyone puts up with you.”
“They don't.”
Harper looked at him. He shrugged. “They worship me. Different problem entirely.”
She rolled her eyes, although the smile threatened to return. That was the trouble with Luca. He could turn almost anything into a joke, including the things that probably bothered him more than he let anyone see. Outside, Fiona called his name again, and this time there was a sharp edge underneath it.
“My dad says you're avoiding me!”
Luca's expression changed for the briefest moment. “Your dad's not wrong.”
Harper caught the change. It was small, but she had known Luca too long not to notice when his confidence slipped for half a second.
“Coach Reed really cares that much?”
“He cares about everything.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
She studied him, trying to fit the pieces together. Fiona was the coach's daughter. Luca was the captain of the team. Their families knew each other. Fiona had spent months behaving as if the two of them were inevitable, and Luca had apparently been trying to escape that assumption every chance he got.
“So you really don't like her?”
He looked at her as if the answer should have been obvious.
“No.”
“Not even a little?”
“No.”
“She is pretty.”
“So?”
“Popular.”
“So?”
“Captain of the cheer squad.”
His eyebrows lifted. “And?”
Harper hesitated. “You're supposed to care about that stuff.”
“Says who?”
“Every popular guy in this school.”
“I'm not every popular guy.”
The answer landed differently than she expected. Harper looked at him for a second longer than she meant to, and for once she didn't have a sarcastic response ready. She had spent years putting Luca into a neat little box in her head. Star athlete. Popular. Confident. Self-obsessed. The kind of boy who liked being watched. It had been easier that way. If she knew exactly who he was, she didn't have to wonder whether she had misunderstood him.
But standing there, listening to Fiona threaten to involve her father while Luca looked more tired than flattered, Harper felt the first small c***k appear in the version of him she had carried around since childhood.
Another knock shook the door.
Harper glanced toward it. “You should probably deal with her.”
“I'd rather not.”
“She isn't going away.”
“I noticed.”
Harper looked back at him, and then the answer came to her so quickly that she almost said it before thinking better of it.
“Oh.”
Luca frowned. “What?”
“I get it now.”
His expression became suspicious. “Do you?”
“You need someone.”
“Someone for what?”
“Someone who makes Fiona think you're already taken.”
He stared at her.
Harper started pacing as the idea formed properly in her head. It was ridiculous, obviously, but it had a certain ugly practicality to it. If Luca had a girlfriend, Fiona would have no excuse to keep chasing him around school. More importantly, if the school believed he was with someone, it might finally stop treating every interaction between Luca and Fiona as the beginning of some inevitable romance.
“You're using me,” she said.
His eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You need a fake girlfriend.”
“I wasn't using you.”
“You were about to.”
“I was actually about to suggest it.”
“That is exactly what using me would look like.”
He considered that, then rubbed his chin as though she had presented an argument worth examining. “I hadn't thought of it that way.”
“Of course you hadn't.”
“But now that you mention it...” His mouth curved. “It isn't the worst idea you've ever had.”
Harper stopped pacing.
“Wait.”
“You might have just solved my biggest problem.”
“No.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Absolutely not.”
He was already smiling.
“We are not fake dating.”
“Why not?”
The answer came easily. “Because we've spent seventeen years trying to beat each other at everything.”
“Exactly.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
“We argue every time we're in the same room.”
“People would expect that from us.”
“We're complete opposites.”
“That's debatable.”
Harper folded her arms. “How is that debatable?”
“We're both stubborn.”
“I am not stubborn.”
He gave her a look.
She stopped herself before arguing. Unfortunately, the pause proved his point better than any answer could have.
Luca's smile widened.
“Don't.”
“You were about to prove me right.”
“I was thinking.”
“Same thing.”
Harper turned away, annoyed that she was smiling again. The idea remained absurd, but it had started to sound less impossible with every reason he gave. A fake relationship could keep Fiona away from him. It could give Noah a reason to stop hovering around Harper. It could turn the rumours already circling the school into something they controlled instead of something everyone else controlled for them.
The problem was that the person standing in front of her was Luca.
She knew him too well.
Or at least she thought she did.
“What about Noah?” Luca asked.
Her amusement disappeared.
He had noticed.
“He'd probably back off if he thought you were seeing someone,” Luca continued, quieter now.
Harper looked down at the floor. She hated that he was right. Noah had already shown her that he didn't intend to accept the breakup gracefully, and the thought of having to deal with another week of his questions, his apologies, and his attempts to convince her that she had misunderstood everything made her stomach twist.
“What if it actually worked?” Luca asked.
Harper looked up.
“What if everyone believed us?”
“They won't.”
“They might.”
“We'd never convince anyone.”
Luca leaned against one of the desks, watching her with an expression that was almost thoughtful. “You don't think we could?”
“No.”
“Even if we tried?”
“Especially if we tried.”
He laughed under his breath. “You're underestimating my acting ability.”
“I saw your English presentation.”
“That was a difficult role.”
“You played a tree.”
“I was an excellent tree.”
“You forgot your only line.”
“I was emotionally invested in the character.”
The laugh escaped her again, fuller this time. Harper looked away, but she could feel him watching her.
For a moment, the room felt strangely normal. No Fiona outside. No, Noah. No rumours. Just the two of them arguing over something stupid the way they had done since they were children.
Then Luca's voice changed.
“So why are you really saying no?”
Harper's smile faded.
“Because it's ridiculous.”
He didn't accept the answer. She could tell by the way he watched her, by the quiet patience that had replaced his usual teasing. When she turned toward the door, intending to end the conversation, Luca moved first.
He reached the door and placed one hand against it before she could open it.
Harper stopped.
She could have stepped around him. There was enough room. Instead, she remained where she was, suddenly aware of how close he stood and how little space separated them. His usual scent of grass and detergent had been replaced by something cleaner, probably from the shower he had taken after practice. A strand of dark hair had fallen across his forehead, and for once he didn't seem to notice it.
“You know what I think?” he said.
“I didn't ask.”
“I know.”
She looked up at him.
His voice dropped. “I think you're scared.”
The words caught her off guard, not because they were true, but because she wasn't entirely sure they weren't.
“I'm not scared.”
Luca didn't argue immediately. He simply looked at her, and somehow that was worse than another joke.
“Then what are you scared of?”
Harper opened her mouth, but nothing came. His gaze stayed on hers.
“That if we pretend long enough,” he said quietly, “you might stop pretending somewhere along the way.”
Her heart gave one hard, uncomfortable beat. She hated that he noticed. She hated even more that, for once, she didn't have a clever answer ready.
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