Faking It | Wattys 2022

Chapter 9

Camila's chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, knuckles colliding with the front door repeatedly until the professor opened it.

"Lauren," she said breathlessly.

"I... I didn't think you were going to come," Lauren opened the door wider. "I thought we would talk about it tomorrow,"

"No, the sooner we talk about it the better," Camila panted. "Do you have it on you?"

"It's on my coffee table,"

Camila hurried over to the living room, picking up the document that was flipped to the third page. "My dad," she was still out of breath. "He has a... Uh..."

"Okay, first of all, slow down," Lauren pushed her down onto the couch by her shoulders. "Did you fucking run here or something?"

"I had to park a few blocks down because there wasn't any parking," she explained. "He has a charity event in two weeks that he wants me to come to. And he's expecting you to be there. Which is why we need to discuss this now."

"Two weeks?" Lauren grew increasingly worried by the second. "He wants to meet me in two fucking weeks?" She began regretting all of the decisions she made within the past twenty-four hours

"Stop," Camila pulled her down so that they were sitting next to each other. "We'll be prepared by then. But we should get this signed and out of the way now."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I want to make some adjustments to the rules,"

"Such as?"

"I don't want to move in with you," Lauren murmured. "I like having my own space and... I don't want to give that up."

"You won't have to," Camila is quick to reassure her. "You can have your own bedroom and office at my place. I won't bother you unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Camila," she sighed heavily.  "I can't afford to pay for this place and other things."

"I'll handle all of that," she muttered. "You can leave most of your stuff here and take only the things you want. That way, when your year is up, everything will be easier to move into your new place."

"I can't ask that of you,"

"I'm forcing you to give up your life for an entire year for me. This is the least I could do, don't argue with me on it."

"You're fucking insane for this," Lauren fiddled with the pen in her hand.

"And you're just as insane for agreeing to it,"

"Shit happens," the professor ignored the tears welling up in her eyes before signing across the line. She watched as Camila does the same, signifying that the contract was now in place. "What does this fake relationship entail?"

"Well, not that anybody will ask, but just in case they do—we met back in high school. I knew you through Dinah who played on the basketball team with me, but we didn't give a shit about each other back then. Then, at the reunion, we ended up talking again and things picked up from there."

"That's not what I meant," a soft pink tinted her cheeks. "I meant... PDA wise,"

"Nothing's off-limits besides sex, unless," Camila grinned devilishly at her. "That's something you want to include. But it'll be nothing too crazy. Kissing, hugging, hand-holding—whatever it is couples fucking do nowadays."

"Right," Lauren shifted her weight on the couch. "And what if I'm not comfortable with all of that?"

"With what exactly?"