Chapter 6: The First Step Into the Lie

I thought I’d misheard: "What?"

Nathan’s expression was calm and matter-of-fact: "You know my family’s been pushing me to get married."

It’s true.

Honestly, I felt a bit sorry for Nathan.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been happily married for years and always hoped Nathan would settle down early and have a happy life. Their Christmas cards always had a postscript about bringing home someone special.

But things never go as planned. Nathan, with his looks and long legs, never brought a real girlfriend home.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller even started doubting his orientation.

Tanya tried her best to clear her brother’s name—she insisted he had a crush on a girl, but she wasn’t interested in him, so he was suffering from unrequited love.

No one really bought it. With Nathan’s qualities, why would he pine for someone who didn’t like him? He could have anyone he wanted.

But there was no other explanation, so they just accepted it.

I used to gossip about it with Tanya, but she didn’t know the truth either.

—"He keeps a girl’s hair tie in his wallet, you know? The kind you get fifty for three bucks on Amazon. What am I supposed to make of that?"

This year, Mrs. Miller even issued an ultimatum: several blind dates lined up, just waiting for Nathan to come home and go through the list. Mrs. Miller’s texts were a parade of heart emojis and blurry photos of eligible girls from her pickleball group.

Emmm... he really is a bit pitiful.

But—

"Your parents both know me. How are we supposed to fake this?"

Nathan was unfazed: "We won’t show your face, just send a few photos of your back."

I was still worried: "If Tanya sees them, she’ll recognize me, right?"

Nathan: "Just Photoshop it. Aren’t you good at that?"

Me: "..."

What are you implying?

He tilted his head, as if studying my face, then said in a low voice:

"They haven’t seen you in a while. You’ve... gotten a lot prettier. They won’t recognize you."

My cheeks went hot. Was he just being nice, or did he actually mean it?

"O-okay."

Nathan seemed satisfied with my answer.

He curved his lips slightly, as calm as ever:

"Then take me off your blocklist first."

Me: "..."

...

Tanya only stayed with me for a day before heading back—finals were coming up. She hugged me tight and made me promise not to mope.

I started studying hard, basically living in the library every day. My desk was stacked with coffee cups and highlighters, the soundtrack of my life became the hum of the HVAC and the click of other students’ laptops.

Once, I even ran into Chris and Jamie, who were practically treating the library like a hotel room. Jamie had her legs draped over his, and Chris was feeding her Skittles like they were starring in their own low-budget romcom. I tried to focus on my notes, but their giggles made me want to throw a highlighter at the next person who said “relationship goals.”

Aside from wanting to throw a desk at them, I had no other feelings.

Although Nathan had asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month, he hadn’t contacted me since.

After my last exam, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, packed up, and got ready to go home. I tossed the textbooks I never wanted to see again into my suitcase, planning to spend the break binging bad TV and eating my weight in takeout.

Unexpectedly, I got a message from Nathan.

"I’m at your campus gate."

My heart skipped. Was this the start of more trouble—or something I couldn’t walk away from?