Page 41 of The Pretender

We’ll be forever haunted with the memories of each other.

His eyes close, as if he forced them to stop staring at me. “Go watch your movie, Vee.”

I nod and pull away, making my way to the bathroom as fast as I can. I drag my chair out into his bedroom and sit, pulling my knees up under me. It occurs to me that I don’t have my iPad, and while I have my phone, it’s just not the same. So I decide to sit quietly until Sebastian falls asleep. Then I can go back to my house and check in on him later.

It’s what we both need.

“You know where my iPad is,” he says sleepily. “Use my login if you want to. You should still be able to remember all the passwords—you created them.”

I fight the stupid flurries in my stomach. They have no place in there right now.

“Don’t be stubborn, Valentina.”

I chuckle and stand, going to the trunk that he uses to lock up his expensive shit at parties. I lift the heavy lid and there I find, not only his iPad, but the pajamas I gave him for his birthday.

“You kept them,” I whisper.

He grunts. “They make for good packing material.”

CHAPTERTEN

Sebastian

University CamFlix Competition Submission

Entry Number: 75

Sebastian and Valentina

Second Interview, or those three minutes that I was glad I applied extra deodorant

“Thanks for coming in, guys,” Tom says, ushering us into his office. “We wanted to touch base with all of our competitors since the contest started.”

I lean back on the plush sofa and tug Vee’s tense ass down with me. “No problem. What can we answer for you today?” I hope it’s not something that will send Vee off into a bitching fit. I can’t take another one of those wonderful car rides home.

“I thought you could answer some fan questions. You two have garnered quite the fanbase so far.”

I nod slowly, dreading what questions we might be tasked with answering. “Sure. Hit us with what you've got.”

I knock my knee into Vee’s and she knocks mine back harder than is necessary.

“Sarah from MyView asked, ‘When did you know you loved Valentina?’”

I smile at the camera trained on Vee and me. “Hmm… Well, probably when she asked me for some Vaseline. Her thighs were chafed, you see—”

* * *

“I’m not doing that.”

I nudge Valentina’s hip with mine. After a nice nap with my pillow, I’m feeling much better. So much so that my energy has returned and I’m using every bit of it to convince Vee to do one of the popular MyView dances.

“Don’t tell me you suck at dancing too?” I tease.

I guess it’s possible that someone sucks at dancing and singing, but I’m thinking Vee’s hesitation is more shyness than lack of moves. But that’s just a guess. I could be totally wrong about her, like I have been many times before.

“I don’t suck at dancing, thank you very much.” Her lips purse and she sends me a glare that I’m pretty sure relays that I can eat shit. “I just think those dances are silly.”

I tilt my head to the side, looking for the real reason she doesn’t want to dance with me. “Is it because you feel bad that you paid your friend, Juan, to poison my food?” I shake my head and give her a quick pat on the back. “I told you, it’s fine. I know you meant to. I’m just happy you had a change of heart and came over here to nurse me back to health.”

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