Pretend

"Cora-Corinne, what is the matter? Does sex bother you? I never knew that about you, you are such a sweet petite nonne!" Renny giggled. I dug my pen deeper into the cover of my notebook and sighed hard through my nostrils.

"It's just... I dunno, Ren, after what happened with... After what happened over the weekend I just..." My voice trailed off weakly. Renny winced, then wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

"Oh, chérie, I am so sorry. I did not even think! I will tell these two crétins off for you, oui?" she said hurriedly, giving me a quick squeeze.

"Ren, no, it's fine," I said, but she turned around and told Zach to shut up in both English and French. Then she turned on Seb.

"And you, you know what happened on the weekend! You of all people should know when to shut up, you imbécile. Tais-toi, do not say a word, I do not want to hear it and neither does Corinne!" Seb flinched away from Renny's glare.

"Sorry," he muttered. He glanced at me and I made a face at him. He grinned a little. Renny turned to me, a gleeful smirk on her delicate face.

"That was fun!" she snickered. I rolled my eyes at her. "Do not roll your eyes, CoCo, I sorted them for you, you should be grateful!"

"I am, Renny, I promise," I said as sincerely as I could. Then we both burst out laughing and didn't stop until tears were running down our faces. Our homeroom teacher glared at us, but just as he opened his mouth to tell us off the bell rang. Zach ran out of the room, his backpack still open. Renny and I rode the wave of our fellow classmates out the door, then stepped to the side of the hallway.

"I'm meeting Adrian here," she told me. "Sorry, ma chérie. See you at lunch, oui?" I nodded and she kissed me on the cheek, then went up on her tiptoes to look for her boyfriend. I checked the time on my phone (8:05, only five more minutes to get to class) and hurried towards the science wing.



The school day oozed by, each minute dripping off the clock like molasses. I covered four pages of notebook paper with anxious scribbles. My phone buzzed several times with texts from Marcus. When the final bell rang at last, I leapt out of my seat and practically sprinted to the locker I shared with Renny. Marcus's latest text said that he was going to meet me here so that we could talk. I couldn't decide whether I was dreading it or if I was too excited for words.

I exchanged my Psychology textbook for my Bio book, then pretended to look through my locker while really watching for Marcus out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey."

"Shit!" I shrieked, jumping backwards and knocking over a stack of books on the floor next to me. The girl at the next locker over glared at me. Marcus, who was standing behind the open door to my locker, snickered.

"Sorry," I said to the girl, my face flaming. "Here, um, let me -" I bent down to help pick up the books, but the girl swatted my hands away.

"Get out, ya bimbo," she snapped as she slammed her locker shut. Marcus was doubled over with laughter at that point. I raised my eyebrows at the girl's retreating back and swinging brown braid. Then I turned to Marcus.

"What a bitch," he said, and I started laughing too. That was the thing about Marcus. I could never stay angry at him. But I still needed to talk to him about what happened. I took a deep breath and closed my locker.

"Let me carry your books," Marcus offered. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"I'm fine, Marcus, really. Thank you though!"

"As you will, m'lady," he said, bowing me towards the door. I giggled, then pranced outside. Across the street, Seb was leaning against a telephone pole, spinning his crappy phone in his hands and tapping his foot on the pavement. He waved at me and I waved back. Behind me, Marcus snorted.

"What?" I asked.

"You still talk to that dick?" he said derisively. I raised my eyebrows.

"Sorry?"

"That Sebastian kid. He's fuckin' weird, Cora. Always drawing shit and he gets freaky bruises and he never talks. Why do you even hang out with him?" I rolled my eyes. If I had told Seb once, I'd told him a thousand times: he needed to be more social. He only ever talked to a handful of people - me, Renny, Zach, and a few others in passing. But Marcus didn't know Seb, and it annoyed me that he was calling my best friend out.

"Shut up, Marcus," I snapped.

"What?"

"Don't talk about Seb that way. He's my best friend," I said crossly. Marcus frowned.

"I thought Renata was your best friend."

"My best girlfriend. Seb and I have known each other since we were really little," I explained. Marcus nodded.

"It's true though, he's kind of a loser," he told me. I sighed heavily.

"Marcus, stop. You don't know Seb at all, okay? He's my best friend and I love him and you really need to stop bashing him in front of me," I said, my voice hard. Marcus put his hands up, his eyes wide and innocent, an easy smile on his face.

"Okay, no problem babes!" he said gently. "I get it. I'll shut up, yeah? Or - " and here he paused, grinned rakishly. "Maybe you can make me shut up." His voice oozed innuendo and I couldn't help laughing.

"Shut up, you're an idiot," I told him fondly. He grinned and dropped a kiss onto the top of my head, then leaned down and kissed me full on the mouth. I hummed happily and kissed him back, losing myself in the sweet back-and-forth of our mouths for a minute.

"Hey, get a room!" someone yelled. I giggled and Marcus flipped the person off.

"We should probably go," I said. "Before we get, like, actually yelled at, yeah?" Marcus sighed and nodded, then wrapped his hand into mine and we walked to his truck together.

We drove down Main Street still holding hands. It was exhilarating. I still couldn't quite believe that Marcus liked me like this. I couldn't even fathom it. He was so gorgeous and popular, he could have had anyone at our school, and he picked me.

"You're blushing, Cora," he said, sounding pleased.

"Shut up."