chapter 3: Maxine

"Then date me, Four Eyes!"

Did I just imagine that? Did he really just say I should date him? My heart is pounding so hard that I cannot even think clearly. It is the only sound I can hear right now. I look at his hands shoved in his pockets and then straight back to his jet black hair that is still wet. He is still wearing his hockey jersey with his bag slung over one shoulder.

I push my glasses up and look up at him. There is no way he is serious about this.

"Are you joking? Because if you are—"

"Well, do I look like I am joking?" he snorts. "And if you will not meet my demands then I will just tell Ethan and the whole school about your little obsession and your high school life will be completely crushed."

I look around the hallway and thankfully no one is around. It is just the two of us. The worst thing that could happen is someone listening in on us.

"You cannot be serious," my voice quivers.

I would rather die than be with Hans. He is the epitome of evil. He is cynical and there is simply no way this can happen. I cannot imagine dating the boy who has bullied me from childhood until now. He will make my life ten times more miserable.

"Oh, I am very serious," he answers. "And if you do not agree then suit yourself. You know exactly what I will have to do."

And that is to humiliate me completely...

I gulp as I think about everything. My life is not over yet but I have no choice if I want to keep my secret safe. I knew this was a bad idea from the very start. Olive does not even know I am doing this.

"Why? And how long do I have to keep this up?" I stutter.

Hans reaches out and brushes a lock of my curly hair between his fingers. My cheeks burn bright red. He pulls back and hums softly.

"I do not have a date to prom and Amber keeps pestering me. She wants me to be her date and her boyfriend. She will not leave me alone. I need her off my back."

"Amber?" I start to speak but he cuts me off.

"Secondly, my math grades just crashed and I know you are a math genius. I need you to tutor me," he says, and I find myself shaking my head.

Amber is the cheer captain of our school. She is athletic, tall and beautiful. She has a terrible attitude but everyone overlooks it because she is so pretty. She is the most popular girl in school but she always chases after Hans. I honestly do not know what everyone sees in him but one look and girls are thirsting for me.

If I pretend to be his girlfriend even for a little while, everyone will tear me apart. I am not pretty or charming.

"Can you not just find someone else to do this for you? And maybe actually study a little yourself while you are at it," I frown. "I just cannot do this."

Hans turns around to leave. "Fine then. I will just simply go and tell Ethan that you are obsessed with....."

"Wait!" I grab the hem of his shirt gently and he turns back around with a slow, smug smile on his face. He is enjoying this way too much.

"So what is your answer?" He lowers his head until we are eye level. "Because the only answer I want to hear from you is yes. Unless you want everyone to read that pitiful letter you wrote."

"I need time to think. But please just give me back my letter first," I answer breathlessly.

There is no point in going back and forth. I cannot let Hans ruin everything. He already made my childhood and middle school miserable. I do not want my final year of high school to go down in flames too.

The Hans I know very well doesn't just tease or mock me. He pushes me around, pours water on my books, calls me horrible nicknames every single day, breaks my glasses whenever he gets the chance and embarrasses me whenever he can. He is clearly the definition of hell and I don't even know how else to describe him.

I have no idea how I am going to survive this. I look down and realize everything is blurry. Tears are already spilling over and running down my face, fogging up my glasses.

"Are you crying?" He lifts my chin with his fingers but I pull away quickly.

"I am not," I wipe my eyes roughly. "If we are doing this until prom, the we should stop the moment prom ends. You stay quiet and I will help you with math. That is the deal."

"Not so fast," he tilts his head and I sigh in frustration. "I have one last condition."

"And what is that?" I ask. "Pretending to like you is already going to be hard enough."

"I know," he smirks. "But if this is going to work to keep Amber away, it has to look real."

"What is it?"

"We can do small things. A quick peck on the cheek before class and after class."

My heart literally and completely stops.I have never kissed anyone, let alone been that close to a boy. There is absolutely no way I can keep this act up until prom. "This will never work. I cannot do that."

"I guess I will just go show everyone your little secret then," he waves the pink envelope right in front of my face and I shrink back.

This is the worst day of my life. First I was late for a class and got bullied by Hans. Second,I professed my love in a letter like a fool to Ethan. When I finally decided to give it to him ,Olive tells me she saw him making out with a girl. Then I decided to throw this piece of embarrassing trash and somehow it ended up in Hans' hands and now I have to fake date him to keep this a secret.

"Fine. I will do it," I finally say, defeated. "I will be your fake girlfriend until prom ends. After that, we go back to how things were. Nothing ever happened between us."

"Sure ! "He tucks the paper in his pocket and I sigh heavily. Why did I have to do this to myself.

"I will see you tomorrow! "I walk in front of him and he pulls me by my collar.

"Not so fast four eyes! "He growls and I look up at his amused face ,"We agreed that we start our little relationship now. So which means I get my daily dose of pecks before prom! "

My legs completely turn to jelly at the thought of pecking Hans.I hate the way his green eyes light up when he looks at him. I'm just a source of entertainment to him.I push my glasses and stand up on my tip toes as he drops his head with a cocky smirk.I touch his chin and finally kiss his cheek. An unfamiliar warmth travels to my whole body and my heart starts pounding extremely fast. This might be very my first kiss. Even though it seems so chaste .

I quickly back away from him as he chuckles loudly.

"You are so disgusting,"I wipe my lips even though my body is still trembling.

"But you are so red like a tomatoe,"he snickers,"Great try for your first time. Don't mess this up because if you do,then you just have to say bye to your school life "

He gets on his bike and the engine comes to life with a voracious roar. I'm still stunned with the events that just happened. Mud sprays on my face as he drives off with a wicked laughter. Even a fake doesn't change his nasty attitude to me.

I wipe the mud off my face and my shirt and look at the sidewalk back to home. This is going to e hard if I have to keep up with him everyday.