Chapter 4:The Deal begins
1060 Words
The moment my hand touched Lucian's, the courtyard exploded in a storm of camera flashes.
It was instant—blinding, disorienting, like the world had decided to turn us into a headline before I even understood what I had agreed to.
I pulled my hand back immediately, as if the contact itself had burned.
"See?" I muttered under my breath, stepping away from him. "This is exactly why I said no."
Lucian didn’t look surprised. If anything, he looked mildly amused, like this chaos was just another predictable outcome in a long list of things he had already calculated.
He glanced around the courtyard, taking in the cluster of students pretending—poorly—not to stare.
"They're faster than I thought," he said quietly, more to himself than to me.
I followed his gaze. Everywhere I looked, people were pretending to be busy: laughing too loudly, checking phones that weren’t ringing, adjusting bags that didn’t need adjusting. The performance was almost impressive.
Almost.
The irony almost made me laugh.
One minute ago, I was just another student walking across campus, trying to survive lectures and deadlines.
Now I was standing at the center of attention like I had been cast as the lead in a show I never auditioned for.
My phone buzzed.
Then again.
And again.
I didn’t even need to look at it to know what was happening. The campus gossip page moved faster than actual news. Faster than logic. Faster than mercy.
Still, I pulled it out.
The post was already there.
𝐴𝑟𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙.
A photo underneath showed us mid-handshake, my expression caught somewhere between shock and regret, his calm and unreadable.
I could already imagine the comments spiraling out of control.
I rubbed my forehead.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
Lucian’s voice was calm, almost too calm.
"A fake relationship."
I shot him a look immediately.
"Don't smile. This is your fault."
He raised a brow. "My fault?"
"You asked."
"And you agreed."
"I was pressured."
"You were convinced."
"There is a difference."
A faint laugh escaped him, low and unbothered.
"I’ll let you have that one."
I exhaled sharply, still staring at the screen like it might undo itself if I looked hard enough.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
"You'll survive," he said simply.
"I hope so."
He checked his watch like this was just another scheduled inconvenience in his day.
"Come on."
"Where?"
"The cafeteria."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because if we're supposed to be dating, disappearing in opposite directions after shaking hands won't help."
I stared at him for a moment.
"Are we starting already?"
"The rumors won't wait until tomorrow."
That was the problem with Lucian. He always sounded like he was right, even when I hated that he was.
"Fine," I muttered.
As we walked, I became painfully aware of the surrounding shift. Whispers followed like shadows. Every step we took seemed to trigger another reaction.
Some students smiled like they were watching entertainment unfold in real time.
Some looked shocked, like they had just witnessed a scandal break open in front of them.
Others looked annoyed.
Especially the girls.
One of them stared at me with an expression sharp enough to cut glass, like I had personally stolen something from her.
I leaned slightly closer to Lucian, lowering my voice.
𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒.
Without even turning his head, he replied,
𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘.
"Too late," I whispered back.
He sighed faintly. "You'll get used to it."
"I don't want to get used to it."
"You might have to."
That answer sat uncomfortably in my chest.
We stepped into the cafeteria, and the atmosphere changed instantly.
It wasn’t loud like usual.
It was silent.
Not the peaceful kind—the dangerous kind.
Every conversation died mid-sentence. Chairs stopped moving. Trays paused midair. Every single pair of eyes turned toward us at the same time.
"Oh, this is horrible," I whispered.
"It'll pass," Lucian said.
"No, it won't."
And then, as if the universe wanted to make things worse, Maya appeared.
She materialized beside us with a tray in her hands like she had been waiting specifically for this moment.
Her eyes flicked between me and Lucian, slow and deliberate.
Then she smiled.
A very dangerous smile.
𝐴𝑟𝑖𝑎...
"What?" I already didn’t like her tone.
𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑?
"My life is falling apart," I said flatly.
𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡.
"It is."
Maya turned to Lucian, completely ignoring my suffering.
𝐻𝑖. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑎.
He gave a polite smile. "Lucian."
𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒.
"Everyone does," I muttered.
She didn’t even glance at me.
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚.
Lucian let out a short laugh. Not mocking. Just… entertained.
𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ.
I buried my face in my hands.
"Can everyone stop acting like this is real?"
Maya finally looked at me properly.
Her smile faded slightly.
𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡?
I hesitated.
Then glanced at Lucian.
He looked back at me.
Neither of us answered.
That silence was enough.
Maya’s expression shifted instantly.
𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑛...
She lowered her voice.
𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡?
I almost choked. "Keep your voice down."
Her eyes widened dramatically.
𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑖𝑡!
Several heads turned again.
Lucian gave a small, awkward smile. "This is going well."
I glared at him. "If I survive this semester, it'll be a miracle."
Before anything else could escalate, a tray slammed onto the table behind us.
The sound cut through the cafeteria like a warning shot.
I turned.
Evelyn.
She stood there like she had walked straight out of a storm.
Her gaze moved slowly—first to me, then to Lucian, then down to the small space between us where our hands had almost touched again without us noticing.
She laughed.
But it wasn’t warm.
It was sharp. Bitter. Almost disbelieving.
𝐼 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑎 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘.
No one responded.
She picked up her tray again, her expression unreadable now, and walked away without another word.
The silence she left behind felt heavier than anything that had come before it.
I looked down at my untouched food.
For some reason, my appetite had completely disappeared.
And for the first time since this whole deal began, I wondered if pretending was going to be harder than I thought.
- Writer
