A shy high school senior jock and a closed-off girl battling an immune disorder fake a relationship to win a social media contest.
Being shy isn't easy, especially when you're the new kid at school. Scotts Valley's football program is subpar compare...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Posted." I shut off my phone and bit into warm cinnamon roll goodness. Fluffy bread and sugary icy wedged between my teeth.
"Great." Paige leaned against her window corner seat with her arms crossed and face looking like she didn't want to be here.
Surrounded by flour, cinnamon, and maple smells, the five of us sat around one of the small tables at the bakery. Her mom brought us giant cinnamon rolls, which were a little dry from being leftovers. The cinnamon and sugar inside were still crunchy. I'd already eaten dinner, but one smell and my plate was empty. Paige picked at hers before saying she wasn't hungry and gave it to me, and everyone else's progress fell in between.
"Did you post the first video?" Violet asked.
Within ten minutes of sitting here, we had an operation. Since I made the Golden Couple entry account, we collectively decided I'd upload pictures, quotes, and videos and gatekeep negativity. Xavi and Nia offered to film content while Violet flexed her creativity by editing them. Hopefully, this wasn't a giant time-suck.
I stuffed in my last bite and wiped off my hands. "Yep."
Yesterday, Violet attended my practice. Or, she was there for Nia, but afterward, she hung her arms over the fence and screamed my name to come over. Once I did, she stuck her phone in my face and made me read some scripted lines for videos. Poetic, nice lines introducing myself and my girlfriend, Paige. Breathless from practice, I read them in a few takes until Vi seemed satisfied enough to send them to me.
By the time I arrived home, Vi had sent me the videos. I didn't know she'd taken it, but I was glad she did. I watched them while sitting in my truck, grinning like a fool at my phone and saving them. The first one was Paige looking embarrassed to be holding her concessions stand box at the second home game, giving a small wave. The second showed me catching a touchdown pass from Caden, the third a faded-out view from behind us of Paige and me holding hands in the hall at school, and the last one was Paige laughing at the goats cutting into me winning her bear. From the camera angle, Vi must've gotten the video from Paige.
Directly, she was pouting, but indirectly, she was all in.
"Four ways you know you've found your person: One, it was unexpected. You weren't looking. Two, you don't have to pretend around them. You feel like yourself and can be comfortable in complete silence if they're around. Three, they make you laugh. Hard. Four, it feels okay to not be okay with them."
I cringed at how broken and crappy my voice sounded, breaking at some points. In the videos, text versions of my spoken words appeared, and girly pop music played in the background. I deferred to Vi's taste in trending sounds and gave her draft a thumbs up. I waited to show Paige before I posted the first one.
"And you used the right hashtags?" Violet pressed.
"Yep." Under the Golden Couple rules, only four were allowed: GoldenCouple, GoldenSVHS, SVHScontests, and SVHSprom. I wasn't sure why these four. Maybe for Prom hype?
