ContractxFamily

Chapter 3

Damian Pov

"We've got to set some ground rules," I explain.

I keep the words ground rules replaying over and over in my mind. I figure out that Anya could read minds in our last few years at school. She'd started cheating off me on class.

We'd be sitting miles apart but she'd always get the same answers as me.

One day when I started having suspicions, I deliberately put down the incorrect answers whilst thinking of the right ones.

She got all the correct answers.

That's how I confirmed it.

I didn't mind, I pitied her really, she'd had to resort to cheating to get her through school.

Instead I started properly mentally reading out formulae so she could memorise them.

The next year she stopped cheating, her grades went down just a little bit but she managed to keep her good grades.

"What sort of rules?" she asks.

"How to get on as a fake married couple," I shrug.

"Rule one, I'm your wife but I'm not your wife."

"Rule two, the minute we leave this hallway, we have to act."

"Act what?"

"Like we're... in...in... lo..."

"Love?" she asks tilting her head.

"Yeah that," I nod. I couldn't let the word leave my tongue. Not after years of squashing my feelings for her.

"Anymore rules?" she asks.

"Rule three, if anyone asks, this room is your personal guest room, for whenever Blackbell comes to stay or something."

"How did you know I'm still friends with Becky. She didn't even get to come to the wedding."

"Because I still know Blackbell," I say rolling my eyes. "And all I ever hear when I'm with her is Anya this, Anya that."

"Funny, she's  never mentioned you.

"Whatever," I say. "Rule four."

"There's more?!" she groans collapsing on the bed.
"The rest of the world thinks all of this," I say waving around at the room. "Is real, so we've got to make sure that they keep believing it."

I sit down on the bed, next to her, "Rule four, don't fall for me. Settle for civil." My heart can barely handle seeing her now.

"Never," she says sitting up. "Do me a favour and unzip this dress."

"Doesn't that violate the first rule already?" I ask surprised.

"Just unzip the dress, Sy-on boy, you should be glad this is the new fashion, Mum said buttons are much more fiddly."

"You're telling the model about fashion now?" I laugh, quickly unzipping the dress then getting off the bed. "There's a maid coming for you in the morning to do your hair, we've got to out for pictures."

"What time?"

"I don't know,  just look presentable, not like your normal incompetent self," I say. "I don't want them gossiping."