Chapter 3: Five Rules
900 Words
I should've walked away.
Any sensible person would've.
Instead, I stood there staring at Lucian's outstretched hand while my mind replayed Evelyn's warning.
"Lucian isn't someone you get to keep."
As if I wanted to keep him.
"I'll pretend you never asked," I said, stepping past him.
"Aria."
I didn't stop.
"If you leave now," he called after me, "the rumors won't."
I froze. That was the problem.
The rumors weren't fading. They were growing.
Every hour someone posted another theory. Some claimed we'd been secretly dating since last semester. Others insisted I'd stolen Lucian from his ex.
None of it was true
Yet everyone believed it.
I turned back slowly.
"You have exactly two minutes."
A small smile tugged at his lips. "I'll make them count."
I folded my arms. "Talk."
He leaned against the old oak tree, unusually serious.
"People love stories," he began. "The more we deny this one, the more interesting it becomes."
"I noticed."
"But if we give them what they think they already know..."
"They'll get bored."
He nodded.
"Eventually."
I wasn't convinced.
"Or they'll become even more obsessed."
"They won't."
"How do you know?"
"Because they've done it before."
"What do you mean?"
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Last year everyone thought Noah was dating one of the cheerleaders."
"Were they?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"They stopped denying it."
"And?"
"Three weeks later, everyone moved on to another rumor."
I hated that his logic made sense.
"So you want us to lie."
"I want us to survive campus gossip."
"There has to be another way."
"If there is, I haven't found it."
For the first time since we'd met, I saw something unexpected in his eyes.
He looked...tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
As though he'd spent years living under other people's expectations.
"What do you get out of this?" I asked.
He looked at me for a moment before answering.
"Peace."
The answer caught me off guard.
"My father will stop sending people to investigate every girl I'm photographed with."
"And me?"
"You'll stop being the mystery girl everyone's talking about."
I laughed softly.
"You make it sound so simple."
"It won't be."
At least he was honest.
"So how long?"
"Until people lose interest."
"That could take months."
"I doubt it."
I sighed.
"I still think this is a terrible idea."
"It probably is."
"But?"
"But it might be the only terrible idea that actually works."
I looked up at the branches of the Promise Oak, searching for an answer that wasn't there.
If I refused, the rumors would continue.
If I agreed...
I'd be pretending to date the most popular boy on campus.
Neither option sounded appealing.
"Fine," I muttered.
His eyebrows shot up.
"Fine?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
A grin spread across his face.
"I was starting to think you'd never say yes."
"I didn't say yes."
"You just did."
"I said fine."
"Same thing."
"It isn't."
"It is where I come from."
I couldn't stop the tiny smile that escaped.
He noticed.
"There it is."
"What?"
"You smiled."
"I did not."
"You definitely did."
"I was laughing at how annoying you are."
"I'll take it."
I shook my head.
"This agreement needs rules."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
"Of course you were."
He pulled a small notebook from his backpack.
"You carry a notebook?"
"I like writing things down."
That surprised me.
For someone everyone described as a carefree campus celebrity, he seemed unusually organised.
He clicked his pen.
"Rule One?"
I thought for a second.
"No lying to each other."
He nodded as he wrote.
"Fair."
"Rule Two..."
I hesitated.
"No fake relationship outside campus unless we both agree."
"Done."
"Rule Three..."
"No kissing."
His pen stopped.
"That's...specific."
"Because people in fake relationships somehow always end up kissing."
He laughed.
"I promise not to randomly kiss you."
"You'd better not."
He wrote it down anyway.
"Rule Four?"
"No meeting each other's families."
His expression changed for the briefest second before he nodded.
"Agreed."
"And the last rule..."
I took a deep breath.
"When this ends..."
I looked him straight in the eyes.
"We walk away."
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he quietly finished writing before closing the notebook.
"Five rules," he said.
"Five rules."
He held out his hand again.
"This time it's official."
I stared at it.
One handshake.
That was all it would take to change everything.
Before I could decide, my phone buzzed.
Maya.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Another message arrived immediately after.
Don't turn around.
Confused, I slowly looked over my shoulder.
Across the courtyard, at least a dozen students were pretending not to watch us.
Several phones were pointed in our direction.
Someone whispered excitedly.
Someone else took another picture.
I closed my eyes.
"They're watching us again."
Lucian followed my gaze.
"I know."
When I looked back at him, his hand was still waiting.
I let out a slow breath.
"This is the worst decision I've ever made."
"Hopefully."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Hopefully?"
He smiled.
"Because I'd hate to think your future mistakes are even worse."
Despite myself, I laughed.
Then, before I could change my mind...
I slipped my hand into his.
The cameras started flashing.
By lunchtime, the entire university would believe one thing.
Aria Bennett and Lucian Hayes had just made their relationship official.
The only problem?
It wasn't real.
Or at least...
It wasn't supposed to be.
- Writer
