PRETEND || JENO

0:3

:sky:

Jeno drags me away from the library. He stops at some lockers and lets go of my arm.

"Why did you have to do that? I need some time with Renjun. That's really the only time I get to talk to him." I shyly whined.

"Awh, so sad, but I just got a new idea."

I lean against the lockers with a frown.

"Did you see how Renjun reacted when I grabbed your arm?"

I shake my head.

He switches his balance to his left foot with a sigh. "He was being all weird when I dragged you away."

My insides burn as I looked towards the ground. "What do you mean by that? He was...jealous?"

"And, so, I got this idea!"

I smile towards the floor.

Just fantasizing about Renjun being jealous for me was too much for me to handle.

It could never happen!

Could it?

"Let's pretend to date."

We'd be so cute-

"What!?" I gasped and shot my gaze to him.

He grabs my hands. "Isn't that a good idea? It's perfect!"

I shook my hands at him. "No, no, no. That is n-not-not-"

"Why not?"

"I can't....date you..." I awkwardly scratch my head. "I can't...do that."

His arms drop. "It's just pretend."

"Look, Jeno, I'm not good at that type of stuff." I whisper and pointed to myself. "I don't think I can even pull it off."

"Come on, babe, it won't be hard. It's just pretend." He tries to convince me, but I don't budge.

"How will it even work?"

"It'll give us the attention we want from them. It will get them jealous. Plus, I've seen it in movies! It works all the time!"

I scoff at his last reason, but his enthusiasm kind of made me lean towards agreeing.

"It won't take long either. As soon as we both get what we want, we can pretend break up." He continues with no sign of giving up. "What do you say?"

"..........I'll think about it."

"Fine, but I'm telling you, it will work." He digs into his pocket and pulls out a phone. "Let's exchange numbers."

"Oh, I don't have a phone."

"You don't-" Jeno steps back in shock. "What? You don't have a phone? What? How?"

I shrugged. "My mother won't let me have one."

Jeno closes his eyes in frustration. "Ok, then. How about you just tell me your answer tomorrow in the morning. Where do you go in the morning?"

"I go to the library."

"You've got to be kidding me."

<•>

I laid down in my bed and stared at the white ceiling.

I can't sleep.

I can't focus on work.

Why?

Because of Renjun.

And Jeno's plan, but mostly Renjun.

My mother would kill me if she knew I was skipping a homework assignment to think about a boy.

But he's not just any boy.

He's an angel.

Sometimes I lay in bed and think about what it would be like to have him lay right next to me.

Like, in the bed too.

I get too shy to think about it sometimes, but when I do...it's the cutest 3 seconds of my life.

I also think about him being my first kiss. How he would be gentle with me and not like those animals in the school hallways.

I get so red and embarrassed just thinking about it, so I don't spend much time on it.

Maybe...if he really was my boyfriend....I wouldn't have to just think about it.

I squeal like a pig, turning over to lay on my stomach as I picture Renjun and I holding hands.

"SKY!" My mother screams from downstairs.

Dang it.

I sighed and got up from my bed. "Yes?!"

"DO YOUR HOMEWORK! IF I DON'T SEE YOUR WORK DONE TOMORROW MORNING, YOU'LL BE SLEEPING IN THE BACKYARD AGAIN!"

I ran to my desk and whipped out my stacks of homework.

I can't sleep outside again.

There were so many bugs last time and I didn't even have a blanket or a pillow to keep them from biting me.

It was horrible.

I guess I'm not sleeping again tonight.

<•>

:jeno:

"You having a crush makes you weird different. It's weird." Donghyuck comments.

"I'm not doing anything weird." I ignore his mockery.

"Do you like Sky?" Jaemin asks.

I choke on my spit. "W-What?"

"You're asking her to pretend date you." Jaemin crosses his arms. "And you're saying you don't like her?"

"He was also spying on her during 3rd period." Donghyuck butts in, making me push him over.

"First of all," I kick a small rock underneath my foot. "The pretend dating is only to get the attention of the people we actually like. Second of all, I spied on her for a different reason."

"Wow, you can count!" Donghyuck jokes and claps his hands.

"Shut up, you idiot." I smack his shoulder. "It's not like you can do any better."

"How can he? He can't stay inside a math class for more than 10 minutes." Jaemin laughs.

We continued to walk down the dark neighborhood, joking and shoving each other around.

"Do you hear that?" Donghyuck suddenly asks and stops in his tracks.

"What?" Jaemin and I stop too.

"It sounds like yelling. I think it's coming from that house over there." He points to a house on our left with only one lit window. "I always thought this neighborhood was peaceful. Ugh, imagine having to live next to that yelling."

"Imagine how miserable your neighbors are because they have to see your face everyday." Jaemin snorts and begins to run down the street with Donghyuck chasing him like an angry dog.

I continue to look at that house with a strange feeling in my system.

<•>

:sky:

"YOU CAN'T EVEN DO YOUR WORK RIGHT! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET A GOOD JOB, YOU MORON!"

I flinched.

I hate it when she calls me those types of names.

I hate her.

She grabbed my hair and throws me down to my carpet.

"CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING WITHOUT MESSING UP!? ARE YOU CAPABLE OF ANYTHING AT ALL!? YOU SHOULD BE BECAUSE YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO WORK AND LIVE ALONE ONE DAY! I WON'T BE AROUND TO TAKE CARE OF YOU ALL THE TIME, SO YOU BETTER MAKE IT TO A GOOD COLLEGE AND GET A GOOD JOB! OR ELSE YOU'LL DIE ALONE!"

She leaves the room, slamming the door shut.

I sat on the floor with my heavy breathing. My hands trembled as I reach up to my bed.

"I can do a lot of things." I growled under my breath. "And I will."