Covington Prep

"ship" and "otp"

Cal's POV

We still had about an hour left since the traffic got worse, (we found out it was because some rapper

was having a concert in the city) and Jack started to play with my hair. At first, I tensed up because I

hated it when people touch my hair. My hair is easy but that doesn't necessarily mean I like it. He

tugged on it gently, knowing I tensed and said, "Hey relax. I just want to see if I can braid it. You should

like your hair by the way." He gave me a scolding look. He knew me too well, so I just sighed and let

him resume his attempts. My hair was long enough where I could turn slowly to glance at Jack. He had

bitten his lip and his eyebrows were furrowed. He looked very focused on trying to braid my hair. I

stifled a laugh and turned back. Finally, he let go and looked at me proudly. "Done." He grabbed his

phone from his back pocket and took a picture. He showed it to me and I tried not to smile. "It's very

good." He noticed I was trying not to laugh and he looked at me with his mouth open in shock. "What...?

Why are you laughing, thats so good!" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He just shook his head

and took out the rubber band. He started to just fiddle with it, so I leaned against him, staring off into the

distance. 

Jack's POV

I could stay like this forever. Cal was leaned up against me. Her head on my chest, since I was a lot

taller than her. I was playing with her hair and I loved it. It was a gorgeous chocolate brown, silky and

naturally wavy. I looked down at Cal to see her staring off. I nudged her with my elbow. "Hey, what are

you thinking about?" She blinked and tilted her head back to look at me. She took her time to answer.

"Things are going to be different when we go back." She noticed my confused expression and went on.

"Josh is gone, that video went viral" (I winced at the thought of the video) "and for some reason, people

want us to date." I looked at her, puzzled. She pulled out her phone. "Look at this. I have gained 118

new followers on Instagram and now, even the pictures that I posted ages ago with you in it, people

have put weird comments. It's like we're in a movie. Look." She brought up a selfie we had taken a year

ago when we were eating pizza and people watching. I remembered that day like it was yesterday. It

was the first time I had been with Cal alone, and yet it wasn't a date. The comments were things like,

"omg so cute!" or "yall should totally date," or "no! I want her and Josh to date!" I looked in shock as I

kept scrolling. I looked at more recent photos of us and the comments were all alike. The people who

commented sounded like fangirls. They used words like "ship", "Jal" (Jack + Cal), "Jol" (Josh + Cal),  

"Calson" (Carson + Cal)  and "otp". What's going on? Cal told me that the names were her and Josh,

me and Carson's mashed together. I asked her why and she just shrugged and told me that for some

reason, people wanted her to date one of us three guys. "Why are people so interested in my life all of a

sudden?" I looked at her, not knowing if she was joking or not.

"Are you serious Cal? You don't see it? C'mon, you're beautiful," (she looked down) "popular, super

nice, and that video made all of Carson's followers want to know who you were." She shook her head.

"First, thank you for the first part of that but, no." I couldn't understand why she didn't even believe the

first part. "Second, why do people care about who I date? I'm not a famous person, like, I would

understand if it was Louis from One Direction or something but why in the heck me?" (Unfortunately,

she was in love with the british star with ruggedly good looks and an incredible voice.) I looked at her

and laughed. She was practically famous from where we live. It's a small city and word gets around fast,

especially if you are the most popular girl at a top notch private school, which Cal was. She wasn't

famous like Louis was but she was sweet, gorgeous and smart, which made her in the same league.

She looked at another picture and smiled. It was of us at a concert about three months ago. The picture

was taken by her younger brother, who we didn't know was taking it. We were both singing and turned

towards each other, smiling. After the concert, he showed us the picture and we agreed that it pretty

much summed up our relationship; serious best friends but being silly and jamming out. The comments

were similar on that one too. She sighed and turned off her phone. "So... I'm guessing the fake date

won't help the situation?" She laughed. "Not a bit."