9. Faking It

RYLIE

Blake and I stepped out of the closet where we'd been and almost immediately, I felt everyone's eyes on us. Most of the girls had murder in their eyes and I felt intimidated.

Just then, I felt Blake slip his hand into one of the back pockets of my pants. Almost immediately, I froze. Everyone was staring at us but I didn't mind.

Faking a smile, I leaned in and whispered fiercely, "Rule number two. Rule number two!"

Leaning in as well, he said, "If we want to make this work, we have to make it believable. Now quit acting like a weirdo and give me your backpack."

Still faking a smile, I grabbed my backpack and forcefully hit it against his chest. He scowled but quickly covered it with a smile.

Since we had different classes, Blake escorted me to my class first. Aware that everyone's eyes were on, I gracefully collected my bag from him.

I wanted to head into the class but Blake pulled me back and before I could react, pecked me on my forehead. Then he turned and walked away.

I fought to control my emotions as I turned and walked into the class. I took an empty seat at the back of the class in a corner and awaited the arrival of the teacher.

The whole class was filled with murmurs and whispers, all of which I knew involved me so to block it all out, I put my headphones over my head and played Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.

As soon I noticed that the teacher was in the class, I removed my headphones and turned off my phone.

***

I made my way across the cafeteria, searching for Blake. For whatever reason, his little punkass didn't show up to escort me to the cafeteria when the bell for recess was rung.

I wouldn't have cared either way but I love Grandma Nellie and I wanted her to be happy even if it meant that I would be unhappy for a while.

I eventually found Blake and he was talking with a blonde who was clearly trying to flirt with him.

I frowned. I warned him anyway so if he chooses to ignore me, it'll be his loss.

Squaring my shoulders, I put on a fake smile and approached them. A few steps away from them, I cleared my throat to attract their attention.

They turned to look at me and while Blake looked flustered at being caught in the act, the girl he was with scowled at me, obviously mad that I'd ruined her flirt session.

"Uh, let's talk later," he said standing up.

She pouted but didn't object. While walking away, she walked past me and hit me with her shoulder and said, "Slut!"

I said nothing as I walked her leave. Then I turned to look at Blake who refused to meet my gaze.

I took my seat at the table beside Blake and began eating.

"Look Rylie, there were no rules against talking with girls, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"I can still talk with girls. Good girlfriends are not jealous."

"I never said I was jealous. You can keep female friends. Just be careful what you do with them," I said and went back to eating.

"Okay then."

Halfway through my meal, I tapped Blake who was busy on his phone.

"What is it?"

"You broke rule number two this morning. Why?"

"I thought I already explained this to you."

"Actually, you didn't."

He sighed and said, "Boys are possessive by nature and like to show off. Me putting my hand in your back pocket..."

"Against my butt," I added.

"Whatever. Anyway, that was just a way of me showing that you belong to me. It's a sign of ownership."

"Correction, you don't own me."

"Whatever. Besides, it's all fake anyway."

"Of course. Maybe next time though, try putting your arm across my shoulder. It's less..."

"Arousing?"

"I was going to say gross. Stop being so weird."

"Okay fine. Correction taken."

"Perfect."

***

Ding dong! the doorbell rang as I pressed it.

Soon after, the door was opened by Ava.

"Rylie, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

"Uh hi Ava. I'm here to see Blake."

"Oh right. Your boyfriend!" she said grinning. I smiled nervously.

"Come in, come in. You can come say hi to Nana while I tell Blake you're here."

She opened the door wide for me to come in and I did. I made my way into the living room where Grandma Nellie sat knitting.

"Hi Grandma Nellie."

She looked away from her knitting and beamed at me.

"Rylie, I was wondering when you would show. How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm fine, Grandma Nellie. How are you?"

"I'm okay. I'm hanging on. So, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to see Blake."

"Of course you are. I'm really happy that you guys no longer have to keep your relationship a secret. I hope what I did didn't offend you guys?"

"Of course not. We were actually getting tired of keeping it a secret anyway so thank you."

Just then, Ava appeared and said, "Rylie, Blake asked you to come up to his room."

"Oh okay. We'll talk later, Grandma Nellie."

"Sure thing, dear."

I turned and went up the stairs to Blake's room. His room had his name written in it so it was easy to locate.

Not wanting to be rude, I knocked on the door and said, "Blake, it's Rylie."

"Come in."

I walked in and found Blake lying on his bed. I'd expected a messy room that stunk with girl panties laying around and clothes everywhere. Instead, the room was clean, tidy and actually smelt good. On his walls hung pictures of Justin Bieber, Drake and Shawn Mendes.

"Why do you look so surprised?" He asked.

"Nothing. Your room just looked different than I expected is all."

He grinned. "What can I say? I'm full of surprises."

I rolled my eyes and asked, "So, why did you ask me to come?"

"Because, silly, we're dating now and we have to act the part so no one will get suspicious. First of all, can you sit?"

"Where?"

He groaned and grabbed two bean bags from a corner of his room and placed opposite each other. He sat on one and I sat on the other.

"So, as I was saying, we're dating now and we have to act the part which means dates, doing weird couple things together, changing our relationship status, etcetera etcetera."

"Okay. I could change mine now."

"No. Not yet. First things first..."

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted as Blake's door opened. His mom stuck her head in and said, "Sorry, you guys but the door has to be open. House rules."

She left the door wide open and walked away.

"Like I was saying, we need to go out and now seems a good a time as ever. Come on," he said pulling me up.

"Where are we going to?"

"Anywhere but here. They're probably eavesdropping on us right now."

We stepped out and sure enough, we saw Ava running down the stairs. We walked down the stairs hand in hand and told them that we were going out.

"Have fun, you guys. And don't go too far. I'm talking to you, Blake."

"Of course, Mom. We'll just be in the neighborhood."

"You know what I'm talking about, Mister."

He chuckled and said, "Sure thing, Mom."

As we walked towards the door, I had no idea what to think.

First date? That should be fun... or a total disaster!