To escape her bullies, a young woman agrees to fake-date the school's football star — a plan that was never supposed to involve real feelings. As their pretend relationship plays out in front of everyone, the line between performance and genuine love starts to blur.
I really don't know him. That was the first time we talked today. But Luca was at the prep school too, wasn't he? I was a cheer captain back then and I had way too many people chasing me. Maybe he was one of them? Come on, stop overthinking it. I'm still a cheer captain now, but with how popular Luca is? Why would he ever have a crush on me? The more casually she said it, the more
excited the upper-year students became, pressing her for details. Their laughter and chatter into background noise. I couldn't take in a single word. My eyes stayed fixed on Luca's photo on the screen, completely lost in my thoughts. My mom had been working as a live-in cleaner at Chloe's house for years, and Chloe had always liked to bully me. In my freshman year, she lost a party
game and convinced my mom to get hold of my diary. The next day, photos of it were posted on anonymous campus confession account. I became the school's joke for an entire semester. I hated her furiously, but I couldn't do anything, so I retaliated in the only way I could think of. I used Chloe's photos and name to register an anonymous dating account and started stirring
chaos online. Got flamed for feeding in a game. I'd unmute my mic and say, I'm Chloe Whitward. If you've got a problem, come find me on campus. Arguing with trolls on forums, I'd drop Chloe's social media handles directly. I wanted someone in real life to corner Chloe in a back alley and give her what she deserved.
But before I ever got to see Chloe suffer the consequences, I ran straight into Luca.