He stood for everything she was against and he wouldn't be caught dead befriending someone like her, but when the worst happens and they find themselves in a similar situation, only then will they realize they need each other to discover the anatomy...
After school I texted Ansel to meet me in the gallery where my torture would take place. He dragged Dany along by bribing him with the promise that he could drive my Cadillac if he ever got a date. I wasn't too worried. Ansel was surprisingly easy to convince, claiming it was a good idea for him to have something to put on his applications too.
The gallery was full of students I'd never seen before and some I vaguely knew. The decorations from Monday were still up, plus some photographs that must have been put up after I left. Most of the kids here were already working on cutting out pieces of cardboard and there were even some older guys drilling and chopping wood for the bigger pieces of the set.
"I can't believe you let a girl like that slip through your fingers, man." Dany looked at Farrah, who was busy bossing people around while they gathered up materials for the set. She was in her element.
"Yeah, well there isn't much I can do about it now is there?" I grumbled, watching him walk away, shaking his head, to talk to some juniors he knew.
At that moment, Santana and the girl I'd seen her with in the morning walked into the gallery with her band of weirdos.
"Maybe there is," I heard Ansel say quietly. When I turned to him, he wasn't looking at me. His face was trained on the group that had just come in. "You know how you told me Farrah thinks she saved you from someone like that?" He nodded towards them. "And how she though you and Marlow were all wrong and that's when she started to notice you? What if," he shrugged, his neck disappearing into his shoulders, "you get her to notice you again by doing what she thinks is so wrong?"
"As in..."
"As in date one of those girls. Santana maybe?"
For the second time that day, I stood speechless against a ridiculous suggestion. My mouth failed to form the right words to throw into Ansel's face for even thinking something like that would work. So I settled for, "Dude look at her she's a freak!"
"Exactly. That's what you need. Make Farrah think that a guy like you thinks a girl like that," he pointed towards Santana, "is better than a girl like her."
"What would I even say? I don't think I've spoken a whole sentence to her in my life, and now you want me to be her boyfriend?"
"Not her real boyfriend. More like...have a mutual agreement."
"'A mutual agreement.' And what exactly do I have to offer her?"
"The same thing. She just got dumped by Jasper and I heard somewhere that she wants him back and could probably benefit in the same way as you would. What could it hurt to ask?"
"Let's see...my ego for one, after she brutally rejects me." I held up a finger. "My reputation as a handsome millionaire bachelor who only dates supermodels. And...Farrah, completely."
"You've already lost her, dude. This could be your final play." He was dead serious.
It was ridiculous. Impossible. And yet, just desperate enough to work.
"Well?" He lifted his eyebrows at me.
"Wait, I'm thinking."
"There's nothing to think. Just go ask her."
"You want me to do it now?"
"No shit, Sherlock. This is the perfect time. Farrah's here and she'll see the whole thing."
No way was this going to work, but right now, it seemed like the only option I had. So I walked over to her, grateful that she was alone while the rest of her friends had scattered. She sat at a crafts table, absentmindedly twisting a pair scissors in her hand, a sheet of green butcher paper on the table in front of her.
"Hey there," I said, cringing as I sat across from her.
"Uh, Special Ed is on the other side of campus," she said not looking up at me.
Ouch. This was going to be more difficult that I thought. What did I get myself into?
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you. I have a sort of...proposition for you."
The scissors in her hand stopped mid spin as she wrapped her hand around the hilt and pointed them directly at my throat. "Despite what you and your little band of fuckboys think, I'm not some dirty hole to put your tiny dicks in."
My hands flew up in horror. "No! That's absolutely not what I had in mind!"
She thought about it for a minute and lowered the scissors, looking back to the paper in front of her. There were pencil drawn leaves all over it, and I could now see the pencil sticking out behind her ear.
"So, what do you say?"
"No."
"You haven't even heard what I have to say."
"Whatever it is, no."
"Not even if it will help you get Jasper back?" I prayed I hadn't said the wrong thing again, because she didn't look like the type of person to be messed with twice.
"What do you know about that?" There was murder in her voice; a warning.
"I just think that as a team, we could both benefit from a sort of role playing."
"Didn't I make it clear earlier that I wasn't into any of..." she waved her hand vaguely towards me, "this? Is this some kinky fantasy you have going on?"
Could she be more dense? "This isn't a sexual proposition, Santana. This is about you getting Jasper back, and me getting Farrah back. I propose you and I pretend to go out to get their attention. Who knows, maybe it'll get us our person back." As I spoke I could see her expression shift like a flip book from emotion to emotion. Her eyes widened in surprise, then her lips parted in what I could only assume was horror, and finally, her entire face twisted into absolute incredulity as she burst out laughing. It was more of a cackle really. She brought her hands to her face, trying to quiet the mirth but people were starting to turn around. I looked for her and Farrah notice us talking, a frown on her face.
"You're delusional." She was still laughing, head tilted back, mouth wide open. I noticed there was a tiny gap between her two front teeth. Barely a sliver of space.
"I'm desperate."
"Well that's one way to a girl's heart." She paused. "Oh, no. You've never been dumped before have you?"
"Actually-"
"Do you want me to throw a pity party for you? Wait, let me go get my tiny violin so I can play it." I rolled my eyes. "Come on pretty boy. This isn't the only girl you can get. I'm sure there are a hundred other girls waiting in line to get their turn at you."
"This isn't about a hundred other girls. This is about the girl of my dreams."
"That's very nostalgic of you, James Dean. Sorry I can't help you." Pushing away from the table, she got up and started walking towards the exit.
I looked towards Ansel, catching sight of Farrah instead. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was openly looking right at me, fuming.
This was working. If I could elicit this reaction from her for only speaking to Santana, what couldn't I do if we pretended to go out? Ansel was a genius.
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This was going to be one chapter, but it would have been 2200 words so I cut it in half :P Enjoy!
