Page 39 of My Fake Relationship With the Popular Boy
“It’s like…” I sighed, trying to find the best way to explain this. “A short term fake relationship? Sure, fine. Great, even. But something that will be brought up at our high school reunions? Not so good.”
“Oh. Right.” Jaxon bit his lip. “Do you want me to take back the nominations somehow?”
He looked so disappointed at the prospect that it broke my heart. It hadn’t occurred to me that being Prom King might actually matter a lot to him, outside of the scope of pissing off Lewis, but it seemed like it did.
“No,” I said. “It’s okay, we can do it. I was just surprised is all.”
“Are you sure?” Jaxon asked. “I mean, if we can’t pull off cancelling our nomination, I could rig the ballots to make sure Sabrina and Eli win even though they weren’t nominated. That’s sure to take the attention off of us.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” I said with a grin. Then I shook my head. “But no, it’s really fine. If this is important to you, I’m not going to be the reason you can’t do it.”
He rubbed his thumb up and down on my arm and studied my face. I tried to look happy so he wouldn’t feel bad.
“It’s really not that important to me,” he said. “Especially not at the expense of your feelings.”
I shook my head. “It’s really fine, Jaxon. I just… I feel guilty about lying to my friends and it feels a little like we’re taking it to another level by doing this.”
“You know, Vi, Prom King and Queen aren’t always a couple,” Jaxon said. “I know they nominated both of us but it’s still possible people will vote for me but not you.”
I shrugged. I didn’t want to say it but I was pretty sure Madison was right when she said a lot of people would vote for me just because I was Jaxon’s girlfriend.
He made a small sympathetic noise before he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I held still for a second, shocked by this rare act of comfort, before I leaned into it and wrapped my arms around him as well. Our height difference was obvious as he leaned his chin on the top of my head but for once, I didn’t mind. I felt like I was getting to see a side of Jaxon that nobody else had ever seen before and I really liked it.
fourteen
Jaxon,Eli, and Sabrina wanted to go off on their own for the morning, leaving Madison and I to hang out by ourselves.
“This all works out pretty well, actually,” Madison said as we left the hotel.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, I’ve been wanting to spend some one-on-one time with you,” she said. She linked her arm through mine. “I feel like since you and Jaxon started dating, we haven’t really gotten the chance.”
I flushed, feeling bad. I must have been the worst friend in the world, abandoning her for a relationship that wasn’t even real.
“I guess I have,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t mind,” Madison said, with a small shake of her head. “I’ve done it to you enough times, haven’t I?”
Every time Madison got a new boyfriend, she tended to fall head over heels for him. The relationships never lasted long, she didn’t want them to, but for the time that they did, she almost forgot about me. But then two weeks later, when she inevitably broke his heart, I was always there to welcome her with open arms.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I admitted.
“So, I’m thinking we should get a mani-pedi,” Madison said. “I know we have to go again soon anyway because of prom but I really feel like it today.”
“I’d love nothing more,” I said in relief. I was exhausted. It was a little ridiculous, considering the fact that we’d only been on the grad trip for a few days, but I guess pretending to date Jaxon Andrews took a lot of energy out of me. A pedicure was all I wanted.
It didn’t take us long to find a nail parlour that had availability. It was probably a benefit to us that we were there in the morning on a Friday, when most people were still at work. The workers pointed us to the back wall, where they had all their nail polishes on display.
“What colour are you thinking?” I asked Madison.
“Not sure,” she said. “Probably something light purple. You?”
“Dunno,” I said. My eyes drifted over to the blues. I picked up a light blue shade that was almost the exact same colour as the romper that Jaxon had complimented me on the other day. I bit my lip and turned it over in my hand. A weird warm and fuzzy feeling spread through me — one that I previously never would have associated with Jaxon Andrews of all people.
“Is that the colour you’re thinking of getting for your toes?” Madison asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “My nails too, probably.”
