Chapter 8 : BOY I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO LOVE
THE BOY I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO LOVE
A Contemporary Romance
Written by
: [Prosper Praise]
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CHAPTER ONE
— THE WORST PERSON IN THE ROOM
There were three things I hated about Julian Hayes.
His smile.
His confidence.
And the fact that he somehow managed to look perfect while making my life miserable.
“Bennett.”
I didn't look up from my laptop.
“Hayes.”
“You're sitting in my seat.”
I finally looked at him.
He stood beside my desk, coffee in one hand and his backpack hanging from one shoulder.
I pointed at the chair.
“Does your name appear on it?”
“No.”
“Then I guess we're both learning something today.”
His mouth twitched.
“Still annoying.”
“Still arrogant.”
He pulled out the chair beside me.
Our professor walked into the lecture hall.
“Your final research project will be completed in pairs.”
I immediately became nervous.
“And because I don't want you choosing your friends, I'll be assigning the pairs.”
Please.
Anyone but—
“Amara Bennett and Julian Hayes.”
The room erupted in laughter.
Julian looked at me.
I glared at him.
“This is a joke.”
“Unfortunately,” he whispered, “I think we're stuck with each other.”
I hated him.
At least, that's what I thought.
---
CHAPTER TWO
— THE DEAL
The following afternoon, Julian arrived twenty minutes late to our project meeting.
“You're late.”
“I know.”
“You didn't apologize.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
He smiled.
“You're cute when you're angry.”
I froze.
He froze too.
Then he cleared his throat.
“I mean... you look angry.”
“Right.”
I opened my laptop.
A few minutes later, he became unusually serious.
“My sister is getting married next month.”
“Congratulations.”
“My family expects me to bring someone.”
I looked at him.
“And?”
“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”
I laughed.
Then I realized he wasn't joking.
“You're insane.”
“I know.”
“No.”
“Think about it.”
“I already did.”
He placed a document on the table.
It was a recommendation from the director of the company where I'd been trying to get an internship.
My dream internship.
I stared at him.
“How did you get this?”
“My father knows the director.”
“You're bribing me.”
“I'm offering you a deal.”
I pushed the document back.
“No.”
He sighed.
“Three months.”
“No.”
“You help me survive my family's expectations.”
“No.”
“And I help you get your internship.”
I stared at him.
Three months.
Fake relationship.
No feelings.
No complications.
It sounded simple.
It wasn't.
“Fine,” I whispered.
Julian smiled.
“Deal.”
---
CHAPTER THREE
— FAKE
Our first fake date was terrible.
Julian took me to an expensive restaurant.
I complained about the prices.
He laughed.
I told him his shirt was ugly.
He said I was jealous because he looked good in everything.
I nearly walked out.
But when we reached his family's table that weekend, everything changed.
His hand gently rested at my back as we entered.
“Smile,” he whispered.
“I am smiling.”
“You look like you're planning my murder.”
“Maybe I am.”
He laughed.
His family welcomed me.
His mother hugged me.
His sister immediately loved me.
And for the first time, I saw a different Julian.
Not the arrogant university rival.
Not the boy who constantly annoyed me.
Just Julian.
He remembered his sister's favorite dessert.
He helped his mother with her coat.
He listened when his father spoke.
He was kind.
Quietly kind.
On the drive home, I stared out the window.
“You're different around them,” I said.
“So are you.”
“How?”
“You stop fighting me.”
I laughed.
“Don't get used to it.”
He smiled.
Neither of us mentioned that our hands had been touching on the center console for almost twenty minutes.
---
CHAPTER FOUR
— THE RULES CHANGE
Weeks passed.
Fake dates became normal.
Then the fake relationship became harder to distinguish from reality.
Julian started texting me good morning.
He remembered my coffee order.
He knew when I was stressed.
One night, I found myself waiting for his message.
When it arrived, I smiled.
Julian: You still awake?
Me: Unfortunately.
Julian: Good. I need someone to talk to.
We talked until nearly two in the morning.
He told me about his parents' divorce.
I told him about losing my mother when I was younger.
Neither of us joked.
Neither of us pretended.
For the first time, we were simply two people talking.
The next morning, everything felt different.
And that terrified me.
Because our agreement had a deadline.
And feelings didn't.
---
CHAPTER FIVE
— THE EX
Everything changed when Julian's ex returned.
Her name was Victoria.
Beautiful.
Confident.
And completely convinced Julian still belonged to her.
I tried not to care.
I failed.
At a party, I saw them talking alone.
Victoria touched his arm.
He didn't move away quickly enough.
I left.
Julian found me outside.
“Amara.”
“Go back inside.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You're angry.”
“I'm not.”
“You're lying.”
I turned toward him.
“Maybe I forgot this was fake.”
He became silent.
I immediately regretted saying it.
“Amara—”
“Don't.”
I walked away.
That night, he didn't call.
Neither did I.
For the first time since our arrangement began, we went three days without speaking.
And I hated how much it hurt.
---
CHAPTER SIX
— THE TRUTH
On the fourth day, Julian came to my apartment.
I opened the door.
“You can't just show up.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I'm tired of pretending.”
My heart stopped.
He looked nervous.
Julian Hayes never looked nervous.
“I didn't choose you because I needed a fake girlfriend.”
I said nothing.
“I chose you because I'd already noticed you.”
My eyes widened.
“You were always arguing with professors. Always helping people. Always pretending you didn't care what anyone thought.”
He smiled slightly.
“I liked you before I had a reason to.”
I looked away.
“You should have told me.”
“I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of ruining this.”
I laughed sadly.
“You already did.”
He stepped back.
“I know.”
There was no argument.
No clever comeback.
Just silence.
Then he said:
“If you want me to leave, I will.”
I wanted to tell him to leave.
Instead, I whispered:
“Stay.”
---
CHAPTER SEVEN
— THE LAST THREE MONTHS
We didn't immediately become a perfect couple.
There were still misunderstandings.
Arguments.
Bad days.
But now we were honest.
We stopped pretending.
The internship offer came through two weeks later.
I got it on my own merit.
Julian's recommendation had opened the door.
I had walked through it myself.
When I told him, he smiled.
“I knew you could do it.”
“I thought you would say you helped.”
“I did.”
He laughed.
“You're impossible.”
“And you're still annoying.”
“Yet you love me.”
I looked at him.
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
For once, I didn't argue.
---
CHAPTER EIGHT
— THE END OF THE AGREEMENT
Three months after our first fake date, we returned to the same restaurant where we'd started.
Julian placed two glasses of sparkling juice on the table.
“To three months,” he said.
I smiled.
“To three months.”
He looked at me.
“So... the agreement is officially over.”
“Yes.”
“No more pretending.”
“No more pretending.”
He smiled.
“What happens now?”
I thought about everything that had happened.
The arguments.
The fake dates.
The late-night conversations.
The jealousy.
The fear.
The friendship that had quietly become something more.
“I think,” I said, “we start again.”
“Again?”
“This time, for real.”
His smile grew.
“That's the best answer you've ever given me.”
I laughed.
“Don't ruin the moment.”
“I wouldn't dare.”
And somehow, the boy I had once considered the worst person in the room had become the person I couldn't imagine my life without.
Maybe love didn't always arrive dramatically.
Sometimes it arrived disguised as an annoying classmate.
Sometimes it began with an argument.
Sometimes it started with a fake agreement.
And sometimes the person you were never supposed to love became the person who taught you what real love could feel like.
THE END
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Nice short novel