The Boyfriend Project

Chapter 12

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No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop staring at Easton. At one point, I think Blakely had a hold of my arm, pulling me towards the beach. We got close but knew to keep our distance from them as they continued to play football. After about five or so minutes of standing there watching, Easton happened to look our way.

"Oh my god, Blakely. Let's go. I don't know what I'm doing here. This is nuts," I said, turning to head back to the car. Blakely jumped in front of me, grabbed my arms, and spun me back around, facing Easton and his buddies on the beach.

"You're doing this. Do you want to get rid of Aaron once and for all? You have to go through with this, or Aaron will keep harassing you, saying you can't find anyone else." Blakely started pushing me out onto the beach.

I took a deep breath, breaking free of her grasp, but found myself sprawled out in the sand. I raised my head, spitting out what little sand had found its way into my mouth. Blakely was too busy laughing her ass off to offer to help me up. I raised up on my knees, brushing off the sand when I heard his voice.

"Chelsi, are you okay?" Easton asked.

I was thankful my back was still to him, so he couldn't see my red cheeks from the swan dive I did in the sand. "Um, yeah. I tripped." I mumbled, getting up and brushing the rest of the sand off me. I brushed my fingers across my face in case I missed any sand that was still lingering behind. I turned around, staring at his well-defined abs.

"Chelsi?"

"Huh?" I whispered, not taking my eyes off his abs. A sharp pinch spread across the back of my arm. I turned around, glaring at Blakely.

"What the hell did you do that for?" I grumbled.

She leaned closer to my ear. "You were staring, dummy."

"I was?" I turned to look at her wide-eyed.

"Yes."

"Chelsi, did you want to talk to me about something?" Easton asked with a bewildered look.

"Yes. Sorry. Want to take a quick walk with me away from listening ears?" I asked, walking to my right out onto the beach.

He yelled at one of his buddies, then threw the football their way. I paused, waiting for him to catch up to me. Once, he and I were far enough away from Blakely and his buddies. I began explaining to him how I thought he could help me with my situation with Aaron. I knew I had caught his attention when I mentioned Aaron. He didn't like Aaron, just like most of the other guys in the school. Aaron had a reputation for being an asshole to people outside his circle of friends.

"What do you need my help with exactly?" He said, running his hand through the top of his hair after a small gust of wind.

"That's the tricky part. I know you have been with Savannah a lot lately. And I don't want to cause any trouble between the two of you." I peeked over at him, looking for any response to my comment. He glanced over at me for a brief minute, then quickly turned toward the ocean. We walked a few more feet in silence.

"I wouldn't say a lot of time. She's pretty and all, but after a while, she becomes annoying as hell. She's so full of herself." He smiled, flashing his perfect ultra-white teeth. For a few minutes, he paused as if he was waiting for me to defend her or something. I sure in the hell wasn't going to defend her. I knew she was a stuck-up bitch, and I wasn't going to say otherwise.

"I was thinking maybe we could pretend to be a couple whenever Aaron is around, so he will stop bothering me. You aren't intimidated by him like some of the guys are in the school. It would only be if we were at the same party, at lunch, and any other place I happen to run into him. It wouldn't be forever. I'm hoping a few weeks; then, we can have a public breakup to make it look real." I lowered my head, watching him out of the corner of my eye.

We paused, turning to face one another when his friends started yelling for him to hurry up, so they could finish the game. He held up his hand to them. He apologized for them and said he'd better get back before they started to come after us.

"You give it some thought and let me know." I turned to walk back to the car. Blakely was leaning against the hood of the car, swapping glances between us and her phone.

"Wait a second, Chelsi! So, we will pretend to date to get back at Aaron. After a few weeks of playing boyfriend/girlfriend, we will have a public breakup to make it look real. Yeah. I'll play along. He's an asshole. This should be fun. I have to pay him back for the cheap shot he tried taking at me during football practice. Text me tomorrow afternoon about what you want me to do Monday at school," he said, looking back at his friends. "I'll talk to you later." He took off, running back to join them.

I got a few feet away from the car, and Blakely started questioning what I had said to him and what he had said about my plan. I told her I would tell her in the car on the way back to my house and be quiet because I didn't want anyone to know. She walked around to the driver's side door, glancing over the roof at me, smiling.

"What?" I asked, looking back at her over the roof. Before she could say anything, I hurried up and got in the car.

"You like him!" She yelled, laughing.

I raised up out of the car, smacking my head on the door frame. I stood the rest of the way up, rubbing my head, trying to ease the throbbing pain. "No, I don't! Will you be quiet and get in the car before you ruin everything."

"So, is he going to do it?" She asked, putting the key in the ignition.

"Yes," I mumbled, still rubbing my head from nearly knocking myself out, trying to get out of the car.

"Really? He likes you." She mumbled, backing out of the parking spot.

"He's doing it to get back at Aaron. I guess he took a cheap shot at Easton during football practice."

"Yeah. Whatever." She rolled her eyes.