Be my Girlfriend

Raeliana’s POV

My hands wouldn't stop shaking as I shoved wad after wad of clothes into my duffel bag.

I had my phone propped up on the bed on speaker, Betty's voice filling the room over the loud sound of zippers.

"Rae, please just calm down and breathe!" Betty begged from the speaker.

"I can't calm down, Betty. You have no idea what it was like," I gasped out, wiping another tear from my cheek. "She poured raw egg all over me in front of the entire hallway! And seeing Elias standing there, just watching me... it made everything ten times worse, and I don't even know why!"

Betty let out a slew of curses. “Where are you going to go then?”

"Let me come back to Texas and live with your family.” I begged. “I'll get a job and I'll do whatever it takes… just let me stay with you guys!"

Betty let out a laugh. "Rae, honey, you know I love you, but my house has three bedrooms and I have six siblings,” she snorted again, “we literally have people sleeping on the couch already.”

I sank down onto my bed, burying my face in my hands.

"Listen to me, Raeliana Roosevelt," Betty said, her voice turning stern. "Do not let that snake, Annalise, win. Remember who you are! You survived high school back here, and you're not going to let some fake ass girl drive you out of New York."

"It's just... hard," I whispered. "She used to be my sister, Betty. We did everything together."

A bitter wave of memories washed over me.

Annalise and I used to be inseparable, but everything had started to shift in middle school.

As we got older, Annalise hit a massive glow-up, getting prettier and more popular by the day, while I just gained weight and sank deeper into the background.

She tossed me aside the second she realized I didn't fit her new image.

"Rae, stop right there," Betty snapped, cutting through my thoughts. "You are gorgeous. Seriously, you are way hotter than her, inside and out."

I let out a weak chuckle, wiping my face. "You're just saying that because you're my best friend."

"I'm saying it because it's true! Now put those clothes back in your closet.” She snapped and I could almost see her fussy face. “Don't give those rich, pretentious pricks the satisfaction of running you out of town."

We spent the next twenty minutes talking and coming up with silly ways I could get back at the people at school. By the time I hung up, the knot in my chest had finally loosened, and I felt a million times better.

A soft knock came at my bedroom door, and one of the housemaids stepped inside. "Excuse me, Miss Raeliana. You have a guest waiting downstairs. He said it was urgent."

"A guest?" I frowned, standing up. "Who is it?"

Before she could answer, a tall figure stepped right past her into my room.

My blood turned to ice, replaced almost instantly by hatred.

Elias Lockhart stood in the middle of my bedroom, wearing a dark hoodie. The maid quickly scampered off down the hall, leaving us alone.

"Get the hell out of my room.” I snapped, marching toward him.

Instead of turning around, Elias reached behind his back and clicked the lock of the door.

"What are you doing?!" I shrieked, my voice escalating. "Help! Mom-"

"Shut up!" Elias cursed.

He lunged forward to grab my arms. I fought back but he lost his balance. We both tumbled backward onto my bed, landing with a heavy thud.

Elias ended up hovering directly on top of me, pinning my wrists beside my head. His heavy body trapped mine, rendering me useless.

"Stop moving!" he gritted out, panting slightly as his icy blue eyes glared down into mine. "I am not going to hurt you. Just stop screaming and listen to me.”

I froze, breathing heavily. He was way too big and strong for me to fight off like this.

"Fine," I growled through my teeth. "Let go."

He held my gaze for a second longer before slowly releasing my wrists and pushing himself up, sitting on the edge of the bed.

I immediately scrambled backward against the headboard. Being this close to him was disorienting.

Up close, I couldn't deny that he was absurdly handsome with that perfect jawline and messy blonde hair.

But every time I looked at him, all I saw was Annalise standing over me in the hallway.

"What do you want, Elias?" I demanded, shoving my hair behind my ears. "Come to laugh at me some more?"

He rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh. "You really act like a rabid tiger all the time, don't you?"

I shot him a dark glare. "You broke into my house.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. "Look... I saw what happened in the hallway today. What Annalise did to you, and how the whole school was acting."

I scoffed, standing up off the bed so I could look down at him. "Don't you dare stand there and pretend to feel sorry for me. You're the one who set the target on my back.”

"I know." he snapped, running a hand through his hair. "I know, okay? But you don't understand what's actually going on here.”

I rolled my eyes. “Then explain it.”

Elias stood up, taking a step toward me. The cocky smirk he usually wore was completely gone and I took a wary step back.

"Annalise cheated on me," he admitted, his jaw clenching tightly. "She made a complete fool out of me, slept with some guy from another school, and then dumped me and acted like I was nothing.”

He scoffed and cursed underneath his breath. “All these weeks, I’ve been trying to talk to her but she keeps avoiding me. She doesn’t even act like I exist and that call yesterday? She only wanted to take her fucking plushie back.”

I stared at him, blinking in confusion. "What are you even rambling about?"

Before I could process what he was saying, Elias dropped down onto one knee right in front of me.

He reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out a small black velvet box, and popped it open. There was a silver ring with a glittering stone inside.

"Raeliana Roosevelt," he said, looking up at me. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

My jaw dropped and I blinked.

"What?" I screamed, taking a step backward. "Are you insane? You want me to be your what?”

Elias stood up, a wicked smirk slowly spreading across his handsome face as he closed the box.

"Hear me out, Tiger," he said smoothly. "We become fake boyfriend and girlfriend. You get revenge on Annalise by taking the guy she used to date.”

I opened my mouth to argue but he raised a finger. “Plus being my girlfriend instantly makes you off-limits to everyone at Pembroke.”

He took a step closer, leaning down so his face was inches from mine.

"And for me? Annalise gets to watch me move on with the one girl she can’t stand." He winked, his blue eyes gleaming. "It's a pretty sweet deal, isn't it?"