CHAPTER 5

I turned around and immediately recognized the person standing beside our row.

Of course it had to be Samantha.

She was one of those people who somehow knew everything that happened on campus before anyone else did. If someone broke up, Samantha knew. If two students were secretly seeing each other, Samantha probably knew before they even admitted it to themselves. She was always carrying her phone, always watching, always ready to turn somebody else's business into the next big piece of campus gossip.

And now she was looking directly at me.

She leaned closer and lowered her voice so the professor wouldn't hear us.

"Are you dating Lily Parker?"

I could feel Lily looking at me from beside me.

Samantha raised an eyebrow.

"You know," she added, "the nerd?"

"Yes," I said, although the word came out with a slight stammer. "I mean, yes, I'm dating Lily. And don't call her the nerd."

She looked at Lily, then back at me.

"When did you guys start dating?"

I shifted in my seat.

"Can this question wait until after class?"

Samantha stared at me for a few seconds. Then a small smile appeared on her face.

She turned around and went back to her seat.

I let out a breath and faced the front again.

That had gone exactly how I expected.

It had gone worse.

I glanced at Lily.

She was staring at me with an expression that told me she had several questions of her own.

"You didn't tell me Samantha was going to ask us questions."

"I didn't know she would do it during class."

Lily sighed and turned back toward the professor.

I tried to focus on the lecture, but my mind kept going back to Samantha.

This was what we wanted.

People were supposed to talk about us.

Cameron was supposed to notice Lily.

Samantha was supposed to spread the news.

That was the whole point of the fake relationship.

So why did I suddenly feel like I'd made a huge mistake?

I shook the thought away.

It was fine.

Everything was fine.

I just needed to make sure Samantha believed us.

The rest of the class felt strangely long. Every few minutes, I caught myself wondering what Samantha was going to ask after the lecture. She was not the type to ask one question and walk away. She would want details.

When the professor finally dismissed us, students immediately started packing their bags.

I stood up and looked at Lily.

"Samantha has some questions for us."

Lily looked exhausted.

She had spent the entire lecture taking notes while I had spent most of it worrying about our fake relationship.

She slowly pushed her books into her bag.

We walked out of the classroom together.

The hallway was already crowded with students heading to their next classes. I kept close to Lily because I knew people were watching us.

That was good.

At least, that was what I told myself.

We had barely made it halfway down the hallway when I heard a familiar voice.

I looked up.

Samantha was walking toward us with her phone already in her hand.

The camera was facing us.

My stomach dropped.

She was recording.

"Look who we have here," she announced loudly.

Several students nearby turned to see what was happening.

Samantha smiled at the phone.

"It's Logan Carter and his new girlfriend, Lily Parker."

Lily's eyes widened.

I leaned toward her.

"She's actually doing this."

"I can see that," Lily whispered.

Samantha continued walking backward as she recorded us.

"But does he think he can fool us?"

A few people laughed.

I forced a smile.

Samantha turned the camera toward herself for a second.

"Because I have questions."

She swung the phone back toward us.

"If you guys are really dating, why don't you kiss and show the whole school that you are..."

She paused dramatically.

I knew exactly where this was going.

The hallway had gone strangely quiet.

Then someone shouted from behind us.

Another person joined in.

Within seconds, the entire hallway seemed to explode.

I looked around.

Students were stopping to watch.

Some were laughing. Others were pulling out their phones. A few were already recording us.

Samantha's smile grew wider as she held her phone up.

She had gotten exactly what she wanted.

And somehow, so had I.

This was supposed to be part of the plan.

We needed everyone to believe Lily and I were together.

We needed Cameron to see us.

We needed the rumors.

But there was one part of the plan we hadn't discussed.

Kissing.

I slowly turned toward Lily.

She was standing beside me with her bag held tightly against her chest.

Her face had turned completely red.

The shouting continued around us.

I swallowed.

For the first time since we created this ridiculous contract, I had no idea what to do.

I looked into Lily's eyes.

She looked back at me.

Neither of us said a word.

And then Samantha stepped closer, still recording.

"Come on, Logan," she teased. "You said she's your girlfriend."

The crowd got even louder.

I looked at Lily again.

She looked nervous.

So was I.

I could walk away.

We could laugh it off.

We could tell everyone we weren't ready to do that in front of people.

But if we did that, Samantha would know something was wrong.

And so would everyone else.

I took a slow breath.

This was supposed to be fake.

Just a contract.

Just a way to make Cameron jealous.

Just a way for me to get my grades up.

So why was my heart beating like I was about to do something that actually mattered?

I looked at Lily one more time.

Then I took a small step toward her.

The entire hallway went silent for half a second.

And Lily's eyes widened as I leaned closer.