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He exhaled and fully smiled, the tension melting away. "Thank you, Molly."
"It's fine. We're not actually dating though. So, I'll just go on about business as usual, and you can make the announcement in the morning. Whatever that means."
"We’ll need to disclose it to Morgan and maybe make it Facebook official?"
I cringed imagining my family asking questions and everyone I knew both near and far seeing me in this relationship and then having to explain why it all fell apart even though none of it was real.
"You're on Facebook?"
"Why are you so surprised? I'm not that much older than you."
I laughed. "That's not what I meant. I just didn't expect that from you."
"Oh," he said a hint of laughter in his voice. "Well, I better get back. Thanks again."
And before I realized what was happening, he hugged me.
I pulled back and cocked my head at him. "You're a hugger?"
"I can be," he said smiling and then walked out.
I went back to the couch, shaking my head. This entire week I had gone from hating Jake Kingsbury to being his neighbor, hooking up with him, and now fake-dating? Jesus, what would next week bring?
6
JAKE
I stood in my classroom, waiting for the final bell to ring. My stomach rolled and my palms were sweaty. I had spent the last half hour convincing myself to go through with this. I knew that no one would believe that Molly and I were a couple, but I couldn't take the risk of word getting out.
I had thought long and hard about whether or not to involve the school district and the police. The photos, if published, would clearly violate school policy. I mean teachers all over the country were getting fired for having OnlyFans accounts and spicy TikToks. Wouldn’t this be the same? I just needed time to figure out who was doing this and why.
I looked up at the clock. The bell was close. Where was Molly? She was supposed to meet me here this morning so we could go to the office together. There was a knock at the door, and I hoped it was her but instead, it opened and Mrs. Diaz, the school nurse, poked her head in.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Kingsbury, but there's a student vomiting in the girls' bathroom next door. Can you phone one of the custodians and have them send someone to clean it?"
I nodded, not wanting her to linger.
"Yes, absolutely, Mrs. Diaz."
She smiled and disappeared.
A moment later Molly poked her head in without knocking. "Sorry, I'm late. Don't worry, I don't have cold feet, just poor time management."
I inwardly rolled my eyes. At that moment, I couldn't afford to piss her off. I was indebted to her big time. "Let's just get this over with."
She nodded and followed me into the hall and to the main office. I strode quickly and she hurried behind me stage whispering. "Since I was late I thought you were going to fake dump me," she giggled.
"Shh," I chided. "We can't have anyone hearing you. This may be a joke to you, but this is serious."
She stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. "I am taking this seriously. I'm the one agreed to help, remember? I'm sorry for having a sense of humor."
I sighed and turned around. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you," she said with a smile. "Let's go." She slipped her little hand in mine and practically skipped down the hall. I could feel the eyes of students and faculty alike boring into me. This was so embarrassing.
In the main office, the secretary, Mrs. Givens, was sitting behind her desk looking bored or half dead until she saw Molly and she lit up. Mrs. Givens was old when I was little. I think they would have forced her to retire years ago but they were afraid that if they did, she would come back and haunt the place.
"Well good morning, Molly. How are you doing this morning? And Mr. Kingsbury, you're looking handsome today."
