Chapter Twenty

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Now that I am Tom's officially fake girlfriend, we came to an agreement that both of us must follow the conditions we both set and that I have to go by a different name since I don't look like Beauty Smith whenever I am fake dating him and so that my cover won't get blown right off the bat. And of course, to avoid having another rumor spread about us in school.

It's alreay 6PM and we've decided to go back home but not without Tom walking me back to our house. While we were walking, we kept on discussing the terms and agreements. We have also talked about the name I'd like to go by when I am in a pretentious mode as his girlfriend.

"So, what name would you like to go by whenever my parents and grandparents are around?" Tom asked.

"Hmm. I'd like to go by the name Beatrice," I answered. "Beatrice Smith."

"Nice name," Tom complimented. "So, your nickname will be Bea, then?"

"No," I answered. "I'd like to be called Beatrice."

"Can I call you Betty?" Tom asked.

"No," I answered. "I'd like to be called Beatrice. No nicknames."

"Alright then, Beatrice it is," Tom answered. "But can I call you mine?" He asked with a hint of flirt from him.

"As your fake girl? Sure" I said, making sure that he would feel my disinterest with his flirtatious side. "Please don't forget that we are only playing pretend."

"Fine, fine. If that's what you want," He answered.

While we were walking, we got surprised when 3 dogs began chasing us while barking. I noticed that Tom seems nervous about the situation. He kept on looking at the dogs barking at us who are now close to us. They kept on following us as we walked.

"Don't look at the dogs, eyes on the road and keep walking," I told him calmly. "And as you walk, try to relax."

I've been chased by dogs countless of time and thankfully, I have never been bitten. My suggestion to Tom works everytime that's why I am pretty confident that the dogs barking will eventually stop and leave us alone. When getting chased by a dog, one must remain calm and ignore them.

"Keep walking," I told him again and he did as he was told. We keep on walking normally and calmly as if the dogs are not chasing and barking at us. Eventually, they stopped and left us alone, watching the two of us as we kept on walking.

We were about to walk to the right corner of the street when we bumped into someone I know. He seemed to be in a hurry when we saw him.

It's the library boy, Brent.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" He said as we literally bumped to one another. "I'm chasing my dogs so -" He trailed off when he saw my face.

"Oh, so the dogs who chased us belong to you? You're an irresponsible owner, aren't you?" I said with my arm crossed under my chest.

"Yes, they are mine," He began. "Can you please forgive me, my gorgeous lady? Would you mind telling me your name?"

I was about to remind him that I am Beauty Smith when I remembered that I don't look like Beauty Smith because I am in disguise.

He didn't recognize my real identity, but he recognized Tom who's been watching us. When he saw Tom, he said, "Hey, Tom. Would you mind telling me this beautiful girl's name?"

He pulled me close to him and said, "Stop hitting on my girlfriend, will you? I don't like other guy eyeing her."

He sounded serious, but then I realized that we are currently on show. Brent goes to the same school as us so obviously, I can't blow my cover off.

"Lucky one," Brent said and left me alone. "You must be feeling delighted that she's yours."

"The luckiest guy alive, indeed" Tom said. "Now, shut up and leave us alone. Why don't you chase your dogs and be a responsible owner?"

"Oh, right!" Brent reacted and dashed towards the street where his dogs ran off and the same street where they began chasing us.

When he's out of sight, I said, "When did you learn how to act like that?"

"I'm just a great pretender, that's all" Tom said and shrugged.

"Very informative," I responded sarcastically. "Good for you then."

As soon as we arrived at our home, Tom grabbed the motorcycle he parked in front of our house and drove off. That's when we bid each other a farewell. I stood in front of our house as I watched him drive away, shrinking 'til he's out of my sight.

As I walk inside our house, the one who welcomed me back home is my elder sister, L by saying, "So, how's your date with Tom?"

"Fake date," I corrected. "It's fine. An act. Oh, and we also saw NJ together with Audrey at the ice cream shop we went to."

"NJ? Did they see the two of you?" L asked out of curiosity.

"No, we made sure to exit the shop before we get spotted by them," I answered. "He sure looked busy with Audrey. I doubt that he'll notice us anyway."

My sister formed a grin and fiddled her eyebrows, "Do I see a hint of jealousy?"

I raised a brow at her and said, "Excuse me? Why would I get jealous of them?"

"Meh. I don't know," She answered with a shrug but her teasing grin stayed on her face. "Maybe because you got used to him focusing on you but now, you just found out that you're sharing him with another girl?"

I sighed, exasperated. "Look, I am not jealous of anything at all, okay? For starters, we are just buddies. There is no need for me to get jealous."

"You seem affected though," L insisted. "Even just a little jealousy?"

"I am telling you, I am not jealous of Audrey or whoever get close to him." I answered and rolled my eyes.

"Your vibes says otherwise," L said. "And who's Audrey?"

"She's in the same class as ours and I once saved her from her bullies. She's nice, you know?" I said. "No wonder why they became closer. Also, she works as a part-timer in NJ's daycare center."

"Are they together? Like, dating?" L meddled.

Shrugging, I answered, "I'm not sure about that. Haven't asked him. Is it necessary to know about it?"

"Aren't you curious? Even a bit?" L asked..

"I've got something to focus on so not really," I answered. "Can we stop talking about this kind of topic? I am exhausted with today's dating trial."

"Never thought you'd agree to that," L said and chuckled. "It's good to see that you're trying something new."

"I hope Tom's parents will return to their homes earlier than the said timeline," I said. "My world doesn't revolve around him and his play-pretend game just because of their silly tradition."

"We're pretty lucky that we don't have that kind of thing, don't you?" L said.

"Uh-huh," I answered with a nod. "At least we're free to choose who to love and date. Not by force."

"Anyway, you better go get a warm nice bath," L suggested. "Then go down to eat dinner afterwards, alright?"

With that, I walked upstairs heading straight to my bedroom. As I stepped in my room, I shut the door closed, making sure it's fully locked. I walked towards my table, sat down on the chair and looked into my mirror. I then began removing my makeup and my contact lense. After removing both, I grabbed my eyeglass and wore it.

"There, finally. Comfy," I muttered with a smile and a sigh of relief. "Glad that this day is over."

I stood up from my seat, walked to my bathroom and removed my clothings from top to bottom. I didn't go in to my tub to take a bath. I've decided to take a shower and finish off so I can have a good night's sleep.

***

I woke up just to see NJ hovering over me while grinning at me early in the morning.

"Hey sleepy head! It's morning, wake up" He said. "I've got news for you!" He added with a hint of excitement in his face.

I was too surprised to give a response and my instinct whispered to me to give him a nice kick. Straight to his balls, causing him to fly down the floor while his hands were on his precious. "Ow! That hurts!" He said. "When are you gonna be gentle? You know, like a lovely maiden."

"You could have woken me up in a normal way that normal people would do instead of hovering over me," I retorted. "If you don't want to get your precious one kicked, might as well try to normalize knocking before entering."

I know I've mentioned this countless times but I made sure to lock my door and here he was, waking me up.

Is this a confirmation that he got a duplicate key? Probably.

As soon as he regained his composure, he said, "That's mean!" He pointed towards my wall clock and said, "You might be forgetting that today's Monday and you'll be late if you don't get up and prepare."

I looked up the wall clock but not with my glasses on. As soon as I put on my glasses, I blinked and saw that it's already 7:15AM. I looked back at him and said, "So?"

He grunted, frustration is too obvious on his face. "Just get up, good grief. And I've got good news for you. Let's go together at school."

"You understand that I don't want to create another issue, right?" I reminded him.

"Fine, I'll go to school alone." With that, he stormed off.

***

He waited.

In the sala, while laughing with my sister and my mother.

They all looked at me and NJ said, "Finally, you're here! Now, let's go."

"Very pushy," I said then sighed.

"Can't you be at least grateful that he waited?" L said with a frown.

"If we go together, another fake news might pop up," I pointed out. I looked back at NJ and asked, "I thought you cared too much about having perfect attendance?"

"Never mind that. It's only once," NJ said and it was a miracle, if you ask me. This is NJ, a perfect attendance freak. And now here he goes, willing to be late. What does he need from me? He walked towards me and grabbed my wrist. His grasp is too tight, so I've got no choice but to walk with him.

"Fine! I'll go with you. Can you just let go of my hand?" I demanded. "It kinda hurts."

So he did.

"Take care, both of you" My mom said as she slightly waved her hand up in the air.

"Thanks mom. See you later," I responded.

We began walking and as usual, he kept on talking while I remained silent, just listening to him.

"There's this new ice cream shop," He started. "I went with Audrey yesterday. Their ice creams are good! We can go there before going to school if you want?"

"I thought we're heading to school?" I said. "I thought you don't like being late? Let's go straight to school."

He remained silent for a while and said, "Okay, if you insist."

But when we got to the school, it was closed. How come the school is closed? I never heard about this!

"Did you know that we don't have class today?" I asked NJ.

"That's the good news that I've been wanting to tell you," He said and he said that with an "I got you there" look in his face that I'd gladly wash off with my fist but I didn't.

"YOU WOKE ME UP JUST FOR ME TO FIND OUT THAT OUR SCHOOL IS CLOSED TODAY?!" I yelled at him, totally pissed. "DID YOU JUST TRICK ME?!"

"That's what you get for not being aware," He said then chuckled. How did I even know that I am not aware? As if he was able to read my mind, he added, "Remember when you keep on saying that you don't care about anything at all? So, I tested you and it looks like it's true."

I took a deep breath, trying to relax myself. "So, what's your motive for having a silly trial?"

He ignored that question and again, grabbed my wrist and pulled with him, "Let's go and get some ice cream."

I faked my cough and said, "I can't. I am not feeling well."

"Liar," He said, then laughed. Of course, he won't buy that.

"Why don't you go with Audrey? You mentioned that you went with her yesterday," I said. "I bet you enjoyed your time with her." I added without looking at him.

"Ooh. Is someone jealous?" He teased me.

"Why would I?" I said. "See, I'd rather sleep than go out with you." I added even though I quite had fun going out on a date with Tom even though it isn't real.

Tom's a nice guy, at least that was the first impression he gave to me. But first impressions never last, do they? Maybe eventually, he'll show me his true colors. For now, I'll help him out with their family's silly tradition.

Of course, I didn't tell NJ that I am going out with Tom. We came to an agreement that our fake relationship must be hidden at all cost. But even though anyone sees Tom with me, they wouldn't recognize me. After all, I am Beatrice whenever I'm dating Tom.

NJ just laughed and we began walking side by side towards the ice cream shop he's referring to. Suddenly, he asked, "Have you dated someone before?"

I shook my head sideways and answered, "Nope. Never have I ever dated someone."

"Really? I should have expected that. After all, you disliked associating yourself with guys." He answered.

"How about you? Have you dated someone before?" I asked. What? Be fair. If he asked something personal, why couldn't I?

"Yes, I did for a while," He answered.

"What happened?" I asked.

He shrugged and said, "Didn't work out between the two of us. Besides, she and her family migrated to another city," Then he added, "She's a great gal, really."

"Why don't you try reaching her out?" I asked. "Sounds to me that you really liked her."

"I did," He answered. "I went to the city they transferred to and looked for her. But when I finally met her, she didn't seem to know me at all. She probably forgot about me."

He smiled sadly so I said. "Aww.. is someone here feeling sad because of his past?" Then patted his shoulder. "Let's eat some ice cream. It'll cheer you up."

Then I found myself being the one to pull him towards the ice cream shop.

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