Falling For My Fake Valentine

“I’m disappointed in you,” Mrs. Berry said, walking slowly down the aisle between our desks. In her arms she held a pile of marked assignments. Her face was stony. “Tobias Carson,” she said, lifting the first one. “C minus. Not enough effort.” I hated this moment. In my head, a drum-roll had started and would reach a frantic crescendo, for Mrs Berry had worked her way, alphabetically, through the pile and she had almost reached me. Abigail Kilbride. I took my grades very seriously. Around the classroom a few despondent faces furiously read through the handwritten notes in vivid red ink. “Abigail,” said Mrs. Berry, stopping at my desk. This was it. My first failure in the subject of Physics. I tried to reassure myself – that it was okay, I could make the grade up somehow. It was still only February. “Well done,” my teacher said, placing my assignment on the desktop. I breathed an enormous sigh of relief at the large A+, circled in red. Beside me, Jax Lamont rolled his eyes and gave a deep groan. “Jax!” Mrs. Berry almost threw the papers back at him, her tone waspish. “D. Although I’m impressed you managed to achieve a grade at all this time. The assignment was three thousand words, Mr. Lamont. Not three hundred.” She took two steps forward, paused, and glanced over her shoulder. “You’re very close to failing my class, young man.” I wasn’t surprised by Jax Lamont’s lack of success. Of everyone in our year group, he had less interest in pursuing a decent education than most. Why would he want to, when his totally loaded family gave him everything he wanted? He was one of those ridiculously blessed people in life; gorgeousness oozing from his every pore, a really nice car, even though he was only eighteen – and an almost impossibly beautiful girlfriend – Delaney. Writing three thousand words on atoms and nuclei was the last thing on Jax’s mind. “How big is that font?” I couldn’t resist asking. “What?” Jax snapped, self-consciously pulling the assignment closer to himself. “How did you make three hundred words stretch to two pages?” I wondered, more to myself. “Some of us have more interesting things to do, Bossy Abbie.” He sneered at me, glaring at me with cruel, iceberg blue eyes. “How small is your font that you managed to make a thesis fit on four pages?” I glared back. Jax had been placed beside me in all science subjects for the last three years in a row. Our teachers placed us alphabetically and in the class roll, Kilbride fell next to Lamont. “It’s not a thesis,” I replied through gritted teeth. He always knew how to annoy me. I didn’t mention that my assignment actually clocked five thousand words and I had to painstakingly condense the whole thing. I’d hoped footnotes weren’t included in the word count - and thankfully, it seemed as though they weren’t. Or at least, Mrs. Berry hadn’t felt it important enough to count. I probably gave too much thought to it all. “You need to get a life, Abbie. When was the last time you had fun?”    “I have fun with Brandon all the time!” I snapped, outraged. Did he think I was some sort of party pooper? Still, even as the words escaped my lips, I wished to snatch them back. I really had to stop using Brandon like a secret weapon – like being his girlfriend somehow validated me. Sometimes I did feel like that if Brandon wanted me – popular, fun-loving Brandon – then it must mean I’m not a total bore. Before that, I was a mostly-silent wallflower, lurking in the shadows of Kady, my best friend. Jax made a noise – perhaps of disbelief, perhaps to relay how pathetic he thought I was. Before I could confront him, the bell rang and just as he had in every class we’d ever taken together, he snatched up his belongings and vanished from the classroom before Mrs. Berry could announce we were free to go. We glared at his departing back – fuming for different reasons. Kady met me at the door. She somehow managed to look great, no matter what. Which meant everyone at Sugar Grove High had noticed her – including Jax. He was halfway down the corridor, the black fabric of his jacket visible through the crowd, and I could have sworn he looked back at Kady – then his arctic gaze locked with mine and he turned forward, merging with the tidal wave of transiting students. “Why is Jax such a loser?” I asked. “Rhetorical?” Kady replied, shouldering the cute tote she carried her textbooks in. “If you’ve solved the mystery, I’d be happy to hear. Otherwise, yes, it’s rhetorical.” The thing about him was how little self awareness he possessed. Tobias Carson, for example, was an academic loser too – but at least he had the decency to be bothered by it. “What did you get?” I asked Kady, referring to the assignment. “B plus,” she replied, shrugging. “At least I won’t flunk.” “Unlike Jax,” I muttered. “What are we talkin’ about now?” An arm was slung around my shoulder, careening my whole body into the large, broad frame of Brandon. He smooched a kiss against my temple, not waiting for a response. “Alex Withers is having a party tonight. His folks went to New York for a long weekend so... what say?” Kady was already nodding enthusiastically. “I am so up for it,” she announced. “This whole week has been one assignment after another.” She flicked beachy-waves off her shoulder. “I need to blow off steam, big time.” “That’s the spirit,” said Brandon, already distracted by a horde of his friends. Before we could speak, he removed his arm from my shoulder and veered off our path. He was performing some complicated fist-bump manoeuvre with Mitch Quinn as Kady and I strolled on. “He doesn’t even say bye,” I lamented, casting a longing gaze at my boyfriend of three months. “It feels like he stops by to check in, you know?” Kady popped a piece of chewing gum into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “He’s a popular guy, though. Everyone in Sugar Grove wants to spend five minutes in his circle.” She leveled a stare at me. “Chrissy Davis is furious that he asked you out.” Kady popped a little bubble with her gum. “She had big plans for the Valentine’s Ball.” Perhaps I was being ungrateful. Brandon had always been super popular – and it wasn’t as though he didn’t have a vast choice of girls at our school. I was a bit bewildered by why he’d asked me out. If I allowed myself to dwell on it, I’d worry it was all part of an elaborate practical joke. Still... it bothered me that he treated our relationship like an item on his roster – a duty to be completed. Being scheduled into his day felt like an obligation, not a relationship at all. I stopped at my locker, tucking the assignment into my notebook. “I suppose you’re right,” I said to Kady. “I just imagined it would be... different, somehow.” Way to sound like a spoiled brat. My best friend made a face – of disbelief and horror. “Just ignore me,” I insisted quickly, turning the combination to my locker. “I’m being stupid.” “Ya think?” Kady replied. “Anyway, I’ll catch you at lunch.” She gave me a squeezing hug – reassurance, maybe? Concern for my sanity, almost definitely. Popping open my locker, a folded slip of paper fell out and landed on my shoe. Confused, I knelt to retrieve it. For a brief second I wondered, with a leap of hope in my heart, that Brandon had written me a love letter and delivered it to my locker. Then I remembered how much he hated writing anything – and for my birthday in January he’d sent me an e-card online rather than write a real one. I unfolded the sheet, staring at the black handwriting. I didn’t recognize it – and it definitely wasn’t a love letter. Brandon kissed Kaycee Preston. I stared for a long time, my whole body still except for my eyes, which searched the scrap of paper for more information. Eventually, my hands began to shake – with nervousness or anger, it was hard to decipher my feelings at that moment. Around me, the noisiness of the corridor had dimmed to a faint, distant background noise. My world unravelled in slow motion. Was the author of this note watching me for a reaction? I glanced up, searching my surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary – familiar groups loitered, catching up on gossip between classes. No one paid any attention to me. I felt nauseous, for someone had put this note in my locker and that person was either being malicious or truthful, and neither option was good. No matter how long I stared at the hastily written words, nothing further was revealed to me and before I knew it, the hallway had emptied and I stood, virtually alone, late for English. “Miss Kilbride.” As if guilty of some sinister infraction, I slammed my locker shut and came face to face with Mr. Denver, the school principal. “Sir,” I said, crumpling the note and shoving it into the pocket of my jeans. “Just collecting my books.” It was lucky the principal liked me – courtesy of my near-perfect grades. He watched me, not quite believing me. “Well... hurry along, then.” His brow quirked, scepticism written across his stern features. “Yes, sir. Going now.” I snatched my belongings, spun the combination in my locker and lowered my head, lest Mr Denver see the lie on my face. The note in my back pocket felt as though it were burning; sinful words, dangerous lies or a heartbreaking truth. How would I ever know? My mystery warning had come from an anonymous source, on a perfectly ordinary piece of notebook paper. I pictured Kaycee Preston, and my heart gave a painful squeeze. Insecurity washed over me as I compared myself unfavourably to Sugar Grove High’s resident prom queen. There wasn’t a single girl on campus that was prettier. She was captain of the cheerleading squad, perfect figure, the epitome of popularity. She was, in fact, Brandon’s female counterpart. They were probably a perfect match. If Kaycee had caught Brandon’s eye, we were all but done for. “What’s your problem, Bossy?” A tightness formed in my chest as my despair became critical. I was at serious risk of breaking down, in tears, at school. How embarrassing! Worse, the almost taunting inquiry had come from Jax Lamont, whose voice was intimately close to my ear. I spun, coming up short against the tall, broad-shouldered width of him. Had he always been so tall? “Nothing,” I replied, annoyed at how my voice sounded sniffly – as though I had a cold. “Excuse me, I need to get to class.” Jax stared at me – really stared. Those glacial blue eyes searched my face, and instead of his usual contempt, he looked concerned. He caught himself quickly, shrugging as though he couldn’t care less. “Whatever.” He pushed past me, into our English class, leaving me with no choice but to follow. I felt as if we had been colluding together when Mrs. Twine turned to us. She glanced at Jax with open despair and me with disappointed surprise. I bowed my head, slipping into my empty chair, muttering a barely audible apology. Jax offered no such platitudes. Instead, he flung his jacket over the back of his chair, thumped his books on the desk and assumed his best expression of disinterest. “Now that everyone is here,” Mrs. Twine said pointedly, “open your books to chapter eleven, and let’s get started.” I couldn’t concentrate. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to read. The note in my pocket felt like a stone, pressing against my backside – and Kady wasn’t in my class. Anyway, I didn’t want to share the information with anyone just yet. I needed to know what it all meant. Was someone being cruel to be kind by telling me that my boyfriend was a rotten cheat, or were they just being cruel? I was humiliated to be a part of it at all and for the first time since I agreed to date Brandon, I longed for the simpler days of being single. In physics we learned that time slowed down next to a black hole. By the time English class ended with the sound of the bell, I had convinced myself that room 9B stood on the event horizon of a supermassive black hole. I even checked my watch to be sure the bell hadn’t malfunctioned. As per usual, Jax was gone before it had finished trilling.