Fake Girlfriend

I watched as Cole pulled out of the parking lot and frowned. Why was he acting so... Different? He was being nice, but what really shocked me was that I was being nice back. That just about killed me. But, I assumed everything would be back in its right place tomorrow: Cole would be an ass and I would be the fake girlfriend that hated him.

I turned and walked inside the apartment complex and took the stairs to the 4th floor. (Taking the stairs was basically my only source of daily exercise.) I quickly unlocked the door to by apartment and plopped down on the couch.

As I reviewed what happened throughout the day, I had to say, I imagined my first day s Cole's girlfriend a ppt worse... Yes, Brad probably didn't like me anymore. Yes, I've been forced to lie to my friends. Yes, I took a ride home with Cole. But I didn't feel all that terrible... Is that bad?

My cell phone began vibrating in my pocket, and I quickly answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey Bebe!" It was Delilah.

I grinned. "Hey Dede!"

"Okay, you need to tell me everything about your new bo."

"Uhm..." I frowned. "I can't really explain him..." I couldn't, really. Unless she wanted me to tell her he was a jackass who ruined my life...

She groaned dramatically. "Come on, Be. Work with me!"

"No, really. It's hard to describe him. I mean we've only been dating for a day now." I hoped she didn't notice the emphasis I put on "dating". It seemed she didn't.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Anyways, I just had the BEST idea!"

"What?"

"You know how I've been wanting to go to the zoo lately."

Delilah was obsessed with animals since the day I met her when we were five. Plus, going to the zoo was dirt cheap, which was good because that was all I could afford right now. (I quit my job at the end of summer because, for awhile, I thought I was going to move to Maryland, and I haven't gotten a job since. Pathetic, I know.)

"Yea," I answered.

"Well! My ingenious plan is to make it a double date!!" I frowned. Oh God no. "You, Cole, John, and me! Isn't that awesome?"

"Yea... Great..."

Delilah didn't hear my lack of enthusiasm. "Plus, I figured it would be a good time to get to know your new boyfriend. See if he's, ya know, nice and stuff."

"Good idea," I said, keeping my sarcasm well hidden this time.

"I thought so, too! Anyways, unless you’re busy, I thought we'd go tomorrow after school. We’ll take my van.”

I scratched my head. My luck was so damn crappy. “Great,” I said, adding just a bit of enthusiasm to my voice. “I’ll get a hold of Cole.”

Delilah squealed. “Gah! I can’t wait! See ya later, Bebe!”

“”Kay, bye.”

She hung up.

I ran a hand through my hair. I saw this coming. I mean, I had to go on a “date” with Cole one time or another, but this soon? Really? I couldn’t even get just a little break? My life was already miserable. Now, I had to go to the zoo and act like a real girlfriend? I fell back on my couch and flipped on the t.v. Nothing like a bit of mindless entertainment to get my mind of how unlucky my life had turned out to be. Of course, depressing stories on the news didn’t help much.

Maybe I could make an excuse not to go, I thought. However, that would only work if Cole didn’t find out about it. No doubt if he did, just to make me mad, he’d agree. And really, I could imagine what a day at the zoo with that jerk would be like. Disastrous, no doubt.

I groaned, rubbing my temples. I hated this. I hated Cole. I really really hated all this depressing news. I flipped the t.v. on to some kid’s cartoon, just to try to cheer myself up.