8. Setting the Rules

RYLIE

"She did what?!" I yelled hysterically. "You're kidding, right?"

Blake glanced at me and sighed, nodding his head.

"I wish I was. But it's true. Turns out my grandma put her up to it."

"Argh! This can't be happening. It just can't!" I yelled, pacing the room.

You remember yesterday when Grandma Nellie took a picture with Blake and I and shared it on her social media platforms, and in her caption, tagged Blake and I boyfriend and girlfriend? You remember me thinking that no one from school would see it?

Well imagine my surprise when I came to school and found out that everyone had seen it.

You're probably wondering how, right?

Well, Ava, Blake's sister on Grandma Nellie's order, shared the picture to the school's blog and as you've probably guessed by now, it went viral.

I should probably have mentioned this by now but Blake also happens to be a teen model which explains his excessive popularity and why everything about him goes viral. Apart from that, girls seem to think he's hot or something.

Anyway, by the time I got to school, I found out that I was trending and as you might've guessed, it was not exactly in a good way. Knowing fully well that it had something to do with Blake, I tried to see if Olivia knew what was going on but she refused to speak to me. Again. Blake eventually came along and now, here we were.

"So, what do we do?" Blake asked. "I don't want to be stuck with you as my girlfriend. Yuck!"

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

"Trust me, the feeling is quite mutual... Blakey."

I chuckled at the name as Blake rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Rylie. Can we get back to the issue at hand now?"

"Sure sure."

"So like I asked, what do we do?"

"Can't we just break up?"

"We can't. We can't break up."

"Why not? We can do it. We'll stage an outrageous fight and then break up. It's perfect."

"Yes, it is and while I would love to ‘break up’ with you and have things go back to normal, we can't just break up."

"Why not? There has to be a reason."

He sighed. "Well, you remember when my grandma started talking about promises and her last wish yesterday?"

"Yes. Go on."

"Well, some months back, she made me promise her that I wouldn't give up on love just because my last girlfriend broke my heart."

"Really? Is that why you became... you?"

"And what does that mean?"

"A jerk who thinks it's fun to toy with people, you know, you," I remarked with a knowing smile.

"No, of course not," he murmured, not meeting my glance. "Anyway, a few months ago, we moved Grandma to the retirement home after she had a heart attack in her home. The last time I went to visit her there, she asked me if I remembered my promise to her and had finally gotten a girlfriend. She really seemed expectant so I told her I had. She seemed so happy.

When I learned my parents planned to bring Grandma here because the doctor said," he cleared his throat, "the doctor said she doesn't have much time left, I did try to find a girlfriend who would agree to be my girlfriend for the duration of my Grandma's stay but knowing most girls, they would end up taking it too seriously... Except you."

"So you planned all this?"

"Not exactly. That was why I didn't want you to enter the house. Ava had told my grandma that I was lying about having a girlfriend so when I opened the door and found you there, I didn't want you to come in because I knew what Grandma could do.

Look Rylie, I know we hate each other and all but I can't bear to tell my grandma that I lied to her. I just want to see her happy and as far as I know, you're the only one in this school who can be my girlfriend without taking it too seriously. So, what do you say?"

I pondered on his offer and what he said for a long while.

Blake wasn't so bad afterall. He suffered a heartbreak just like me and right now, he just wanted to make his grandma happy.

I made up my mind.

"Okay, I'll be your girlfriend... I mean, fake girlfriend."

"Thank you so so much, Rylie."

"But..." I started.

He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"But what?"

"There will be some rules."

"Rules? What kind of rules?" he groaned.

"Don't look at me like that. I can't just fake-date you without some rules being in place."

"You are such a nerd, Rylie."

"And that's rule number one. No name-calling."

"Wait what?"

"Mm-hmm. You're not allowed to call me any name. Or I walk."

"Does that apply to both of us or..."

"Nope. Just you," I responded with a smile.

"How come?"

"Well, to convince your grandma and everyone else that we're a completely normal couple, I'm allowed to call you whatever I want and you, like the good boyfriend you are, will take it all without calling me a name back. Agreed?"

"But–" he tried protesting but I was quick to cut him off.

"Do you want this to work or not?"

"I do," he murmured begrudgingly.

"So, agreed?"

"Agreed!"

"Good. Next, rule number two. No kissing or inappropriate touching."

"Okay."

"What? You're not going argue about that one?"

"Why should I? Unless, of course, you want me to," he said with a smirk.

"Of course not. As if!" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever you say... sweetie. Now, there has to be something there."

"What do you mean?"

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend to everyone around us so situations may arise that may force us to, you know, K-I-S-S."

"Okay then. Rule number two: No kissing or inappropriate touching, except when completely necessary."

"Better. Is that all?"

"No. There's one last and final rule."

"What's that?"

"For the duration of our ‘relationship’, girls are off limits."

"Wait what?! Why?"

"I won't allow myself to be made a fool of, no matter how fake our relationship is. If I learn that you got together with any girl behind my back, it's over. Is that clear?"

"Yup. Clear!"

"Great! Now," I grabbed his arm, "let's go be boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean, fake boyfriend and girlfriend."