Chapter Three

Eden checked her phone after she finished all her tests for the day. She had a couple of spam e-mails, some Snapchat notifications, and a couple texts from friends. What surprised her, though, was that she had two missed calls and five texts from Oliver. They all basically said the same thing:

'Meet me at the caf after ur done I have something to tell u it's important'

As Eden headed for Lincoln Park University's cafeteria, she couldn't help but wonder what Oliver wanted to talk to her about. He never texted her with as much urgency as he had today. Was something wrong? Or was Oliver messing with her again?

When she entered the building, Oliver walked straight up to her with a mischievous grin on his face. That's not what startled her. That was just Oliver. What really surprised her was that he engulfed her in a hug.

"Hey, baby, what took you so long?" he said loudly.

Everyone turned to stare at them.

"What are you doing?" Eden hissed in his ear.

"Just play along, I'll explain later," he whispered back.

"Bullcrap." Eden stepped on his foot, hard enough to make him wince, but discreet enough to not draw any more attention to them. "You'll explain NOW. Let me go!

"Fine." Oliver stepped back out of the hug, but grabbed her hand and held it in his. Eden tried to pull away but Oliver only tightened his grip.

"Let's go for a walk," he said, pulling her out of the cafeteria.

*****

Oliver dragged her all the way to Lincoln Park Reserve, a small park on the outskirts of campus. It was big enough to be home to a pond and a small wooded area, as well as a playground, picnic area, and a baseball field who's outfield doubled as a soccer field. Oliver joked that it should've been called Lincoln Park Park.

Oliver headed for the cluster of trees and didn't release her hand until they were well in the middle of the woods.

"Mind telling me what the heck you're doing?" Eden said, rubbing her thoroughly squeezed hand.

Oliver bowed. "Certainly, my lady."

"Cut the crap and spit it out.' Eden sounded harsher than she meant to, but she was fuming. She didn't appreciate being taken advantage of. She especially didn't like someone playing with her feelings, even if they didn't know they were.

"Ouch," Oliver said, faking a hurt voice. "You're hurting my feelings."

Eden glared at him.

Oliver stared back.

They stared at each other like that for what seemed like hours to Eden, but in reality was only a minute. Eden spoke first.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Oliver asked, feigning ignorance.

"Well, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Why? What's going on?"

Eden was exasperated. They had another staring match. This time Oliver broke the ice.

By laughing.

"What?" Eden could feel her face flush from embarrassment.

Oliver only laughed harder.

"What? What's so funny? Tell me!"

"Your face." Oliver was doubled over with laughter, clutching his stomach. "You should've seen your face!"

Eden punched him. Not hard, but not exactly playfully either. But soon she was rolling with laughter too. Oliver's laughter was THAT infectious.

"Man, I love you," Oliver said, wiping tears from his eyes.

Eden sobered up immediately. Her heart began to race. "What?" she asked, voice shaking slightly.

Oliver put an arm around her shoulders and leaned on her, wheezing. "You're so adorable."

Of course. Eden should have guessed. Why did she still get her hopes up like that? She wasn't 15 anymore. Oliver wasn't confessing his love for her and he never would. Because he didn't like her. Why would a guy like him, who could get any girl he wanted, like a girl like her? She was just being silly.

"You never answered my question," Eden said quietly.

"Right. Sorry." Oliver stood up. He had stopped laughing. Finally. He cleared his throat. "Actually, I was kind of hoping you would help me out with that."

"With what?"

"There's this girl I want to..."

"Sleep with?" Eden supplied.

"I wouldn't put it like that but... yeah."

Eden rolled her eyes. "So what's the problem? You can get any girl you want."

Oliver said something under his breath that Eden couldn't make out, but it sounded like 'not ANY girl.' But then he said louder, "She won't mess with me because she thinks I'm an f-boii."

"That's because you are."

"Yeah, but she doesn't need to know that!"

"Dude, literally everyone on campus knows you're a player!"

Unless she doesn't go to LPU.

"She does go to our school, right?"

Oliver nodded.

"Who's the lucky girl?"

"Saffi."

Eden choked. "Saffi?" She coughed out. "As in, Sophie Sherman? That Saffi?"

"Know another Saffi?"

Eden decided to ignore that last shot at her. She was too interested in finding out about this new development. "Why Saffi?"

Oliver shrugged. "Why not? She's hot, popular, and has a bit of a wild side not many people know about." He winked at Eden.

"Oh, yeah?" Eden raised her eyebrows. "Then how do you know about it?"

"I have my ways," he said, smiling.

And there it was again. That stupid grin that had been driving Eden crazy since she was thirteen. Eden looked away.

"Anyway, I tried to convince her I'm not a player," Oliver continued.

"Oh, yeah? How'd you manage that?"

"I told her I'm in a relationship." When Eden raised an eyebrow, he quickly added, "A real one. Not my... usual type."

"You told her you're in a long-term relationship?!" Eden couldn't believe her ears.

"Yeah, something like that."

"With who? And why am I here? You never asked me for help before." But even as she said it, she knew.

"Last night, you revealed that you know what I do for fun. There's nothing left that you don't know about me."

Eden wouldn't say that. She didn't know why Oliver got drunk almost every night. Why he found pleasure in meaningless relationships. Why he and Gus didn't get along. Why he changed after that year. Why he REALLY wanted Saffi, not that bullcrap answer he gave her. And she REALLY didn't know why he was here, about to ask her what he was about to ask her. Not really.

"And besides, before now, I never needed help. This is the first time I've been turned down." Oliver looked sheepish, and for a rare moment Eden could see a vulnerable side to him. But it was gone in a flash, replaced by a look of resolve coupled with a pleading gaze and heart-warming grin.

"So, Richie, would you do me the great honor of being my fake girlfriend?"