Fake Girlfriend

I slid into Cole’s beat-up dark green truck that was so old that the seat was one bench. I frowned as Cole slid into the driver’s side. “How old is this car?” I asked.

“Old,” he answered, starting the old relic. It roared loudly. He grinned, “but she still works perfectly.”

I wouldn’t say perfectly. My hand went out instinctually to grab the seatbelt, but I grabbed at air. I looked and sighed. “No seatbelt…” I murmured. “Of course.”

Cole laughed.

“Is that even legal?”

He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and stared out the window as we pulled out of the parking lot. Why did I agree to ride home with him again? Oh yea, it’s because he asked me in the two seconds he wasn’t acting like a total jerk, and I was a frickin’ mess. Right now, however, I felt eerily… calm. It was probably because of the mind-numbing noise the engine made as we drove along.

I shifted in my seat and flinched. My butt was so sore.

Cole shifted his eyes towards me. “You okay?”

I glared. “Well, in the past day, I’ve been forced to be your girlfriend, lie to my friends, and turn down the boy I’ve been crushing on for four years,” I said, and Cole frowned. “Plus, I’ve got a big nasty bruise on my butt from falling down yesterday.”

Cole snickered. “Thanks for that lovely picture,” he said. “Anyways, you’re going to have to tell me how to get to your house…”

“You want to take a left up here,” I said, pointed to the road up ahead.

He did so.

Without much thought, I open the glovebox of his car. He looked over to me and his forehead creased. “What are you doing?”

I poked around inside, not even looking up at him. “I figured I do a little investigating on my boyfriend. You know, make sure you don’t have anything… illegal or nothin’.”

He snickered. “I’m not doing drugs.”

I took out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. “Then what are these.”

“Smokes,” he answered simply.

“You smoke?”

“Only one every now and then.”

I glared, throwing the pack back into the glovebox. “A smoker is still a smoker.”

He chuckled and shrugged.

The car was quiet for a long time, and Cole brought his hand to the old radio and turned it on. I didn’t particularly liked the song that was on –it was some Crunk or Screamo song or something—but I supposed it was better than silence and loud hum of the engine. Cole didn’t seem like the type of guy who was a particular cautious driver, but he didn’t take his eyes of the road once. He quietly murmured the lyrics to the song as I gave him step-by-step directions to my house. He didn’t seem very awkward, but he didn’t seem too comfortable either.

I couldn’t complain, though. I didn’t really want to strike conversation for twenty minutes with the person I couldn’t stand. I just leaned my head against the window, calling out the occasional right and left towards my apartment. Suddenly, a song I recognized came on. It was a song from my favorite band, called Clickk. It wasn’t Screamo or Punk or anything, so I assumed it wasn’t Cole’s style as he went to change it, but I sat up.

“Ooh, I like this song!” I said.

Cole pulled his hand back away from the radio and left the song on without a word.

Once the song was over, and I told Cole to take another left, he asked with a quirked eyebrow. “Are you sure we’re going the right way? I don’t remember there being any houses in this area.”

“Just keep going,” I said.

“Okay. If you say so.” With a confused look, he turned into the parking lot of the apartment complex. He opened his mouth, probably to ask me what the deal was, but I interrupted him.

“I live in an apartment across from my uncle,” I said.

He frowned, parking the car, then looked at me. “What about your parents?”

“They moved to Maryland last year.”

“Why?”

“For work. I’m just staying for my last year of highschool.”

The car went silent, and I found myself awkwardly staring at Cole, with him staring right back. There was a pause. “Do you love them?” he asked after awhile.

“Huh?”

“Your parents. Do you love them?” he asked again.

I blinked. “Of course! I just wanted to graduate high school with my friends. I want to move back near them for college next year.” I wasn’t sure why I was telling him this, but I suppose he should know as my “boyfriend.”

“Huh,” Cole said. His gaze suddenly seemed distracted to somewhere else.

I cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t ask. A part of me didn’t care. “Well,” I said, opening the door. “See you tomorrow, I guess.” And I was out of there.