Page 61 of My Fake Relationship With the Popular Boy
“I’m not mad, you know,” Eli said, breaking the frigid silence. I looked up. He was staring at me seriously, his book now closed and off to the side. “About the fake relationship.”
“Really?” I asked. After the way he’d left the other day, I hadn’t been sure.
“I understand why you did it,” he said. “And why it was for the best that you didn’t tell anyone.”
I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, so I just said, “Thanks.”
Eli chuckled. “And I’m sorry for telling Sabrina. I’m not sure if you were okay with me sharing it or not.”
I waved his concerns away. “I don’t mind at all. When I say ‘don’t tell anyone’, best friends and significant others don’t count.”
“Yeah, that’s the philosophy I live with too,” Eli said.
“Plus,” I said, “I know everything about your and Sabrina’s relationship. It’s nice that I can finally reciprocate, even if the relationship wasn’t real.”
Eli laughed. “It is nice, isn’t it?”
This felt good. Like we were back to normal again.
“While we’re sharing and apologizing anyway,” I said hesitantly. I shifted so I was sitting with one of my legs crossed under me. “Jaxon told me about some of the awful stuff Lewis said to you.”
Eli’s face dropped and he looked away. “You weren’t supposed to know about that.”
“Why not?” I asked softly. He just shook his head and didn’t answer me. “I’m sorry for being friends with Lew. For defending him. And you really didn’t need to defend my friendship with him.”
“It wasn’t fair of everyone to speak badly about your friend.”
“It wasn’t fair of him to hurt you,” I countered. “And everyone absolutely had the right to say awful things about him because he was an awful person.”
Eli laughed. “I guess I can’t argue against that.”
“I swear I had no idea how he treated everyone else,” I said. “And that’s not an excuse for me being friends with him. I should have listened when other people complained about him.”
“You didn’t know,” Eli said.
“I should have.” I played with the ends of my hair. “I just want you to know that I wasn’t friends with him despite knowing what he did to you.”
Eli shook his head. His wavy bangs fell in his eyes and he brushed them away.
“It’s not your fault,” Eli said. “I don’t blame you at all.”
I moved to sit next to him and rested my head on his shoulder. He instinctively wrapped his arm around myshoulders. I was glad he wasn’t upset; Eli was like my brother and I never wanted to lose him.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
I got caught up talking to Mr. Smith after school that day, so by the time I got to my locker, the hallways were practically empty. It made it easy to get to my locker quickly, but it also meant that I noticed from down the hall that Jaxon Andrews was standing directly next to my locker. Feeling a little nauseous, I stared straight ahead as I walked past him and opened my locker.
“Need something?” I asked when he didn’t say anything.
“I wanted to give this to you,” he said. He held out a grey plastic bag.
“Another gift?” I asked, taking it from him. The one he’d given me the other day was still sitting untouched in my room. I hadn’t found a reason to open it yet.
Jaxon’s face darkened. “It’s my jersey.”
“Your jersey?” I asked in confusion. I pulled it out of the bag. It was purple, with some white detailing on it — our school colours.
“Yeah,” he said. He avoided my gaze. “I get to keep it now that I’m graduating. The team always gives it to their significant others. It’s a tradition, I guess.”
