Lottie walked through the halls of the school, still wondering if what she was about to do was a good idea. She doubted her plan a lot but didn't really see any other alternatives. And Taissa's words were clear.
Her eyes looked around and she finally saw the figure she was looking for, blonde hair, baggy jeans, a top with long long sleeves that showed her belly as well as her pierced bellybutton.
Lottie had had a crush on Angela since she first saw her. But she only dared to speak to the girl very rarely. And if today was not an emergency. She would have probably never speak to her.
She clutched the straps of her sports bag in her hand, moving closer and closer to her. Once in front of her, the locker door being the only one between them. She could see her applying lip balm while humming softly.
She cleared her throat and Angela looked up from her mirror to lock her gaze on her.
The blonde closed her lip balm, she looked at Lottie up and down noticing how uncomfortable she looked. She raised her eyebrows silently indicating that she should speak.
"Do you want to be my girlfriend ?"
It slipped, it sounded wrong, and Lottie's voice didn't even seem to know what she was talking about.
Angela closed her locker after taking her books. "Fuck no."
She turned and was about to leave but the taller girl wrapped her fingers around her forearm to face her again and get her attention.
Angela faced her, and looked at her face more closely, she recognized Charlotte Matthews. The rich girl from the school soccer team, the Yellowjackets.
"I-I mean not in a romantic way." She mumbled lowering her voice.
She made a face. "Not in a romantic way ?"
Lottie nodded, swallowing slowly, she was sure that a drop of sweat had fallen from her forehead because of how stressed she was.
"I'm curious now." She announce as she took Lottie's hand so she let go of her wrist, gently pushing her back to her side. "Tell me about that more Matthews."
"It's complicated to talk about it here, but meet me behind the bleachers at 5 p.m." She said as Angela nodded.
"You mean after your practice with the team ?" She asked, pulling on just one of the straps from her backbag.
"Hm mm." She confirmed with a positive hum.
"Okay, it better be interesting." She shrugged her shoulders as she walked away. "Bye."
Lottie held back a squeal of delight and opted for a little noise of excitement as she cupped her lower lip between her teeth before raising her hand shyly. "See ya."
----------
Angela had been waiting for about ten minutes with her arms crossed. Lottie still hadn't arrived, she was actually late. Which is something the blonde hated, when someone gave her a specific time only to end up being late.
"Thanks for waiting for me." A voice came from behind her.
She turned around and saw Lottie still in her practice shorts and soccer jersey. Her hair was parted in two ponytails. Her cheeks were slightly rosy from physical exertion. Angela immediately thought it was worth the wait after all.
"No problem." She responded by taking a step forward. "So ? What do you need me for ?"
"Well, you know Taissa from the team ? She's been teasing me about not having a girlfriend for a while. And unintentionally. By panicking. Under distress. And pressure-" She took a deep breath. inspiration by looking at her shoes. "I kinda said that we were dating."
Angela felt the heat rise to her ears and her eyes opened wide. "You did what ?!"
"I thought that would shut her up ! But the situation just got worse and now the whole team wants to meet you, and wants me to introduce you as my girlfriend." She finally said, fiddling with her fingers.
"When the hell did that happen ?" She asked in disbelief, staring at the girl who obviously avoided her gaze.
"This morning."
Angela wondered if the girl in front of her was really serious asking her that. Like why she had to say her name.
"I'm sorry but you need to tell the truth to your friends-" She started to leave but Lottie immediately slipped in front of her to stop her.
"Angela. Please." She practically begged, tilting her head to the side.
"Matthews, even falsely. You don't want to be my girlfriend." She replied with an amused smile because of how she was practically on her knees for her to agree.
"I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't an serious emergency." Lottie sighed in despair. "And I can handle it. I can handle anything."
The blonde chewed her lip. Lottie's eyes were glued to hers. That intense brown was staring at her and suddenly nothing mattered anymore. She tried to think of something else but all she could saw were Lottie's pupils. All over.
How could we say no to such eyes ?
No, she had to refuse.
No. No. No.
"Yes."
"Yes ?" Lottie asked hopefully leaning closer to the girl.
"I accept." She added, nodding her head. "I'll be your girlfriend."
Lottie smiled widely and hesitantly put her hand on Angela's shoulder before gently patting her twice. "I knew you would help me. Thank you."
Angela almost wanted to laugh at Lottie's smug look, even being friends with her was annoying. So being her girlfriend ? Lottie didn't know what she was getting into. It's not like she didn't warn her.
"No worries." She smiled too before gently patting her on the shoulder twice, imitating her gesture.
Lottie seemed to think for a moment before pulling out a folded piece of paper. She slipped it into the palm of her hand. "That's my number. Text me if you want."
"I will, we need to talk about some things before we really start." Angela said putting the paper back in her pocket. "Like the basic things we need to know about each other. And how to make this 'relationship' work. Is that okay with you ?"
"Sure." She agreed quickly. "Anything you want."
"And this weekend, listen to Mariah Carey. I'm not dating music ignoramuses." She rolled her eyes before walking away.
Lottie wrote the name on her arm and frowned. "Mariah ? With an h or without an h ?"
Angela groaned and shook her head causing Lottie to just smile. She finished writing the name on her arm and watched the blonde walk away, before leaving as well.
It was the start of something else. They could both feel it.
----------
"I have to attend all your games ?" She exclaimed with her mouth hanging open.
The two girls had decided to see each other to agree on how they were about to manage this fake relationship. Or rather Angela had decided it and Lottie just accepted.
"Your demands are worse." Lottie rolled her eyes. "I don't see why I have to drive you to school every morning ?"
"Maybe because you literally have a driver ?" She chuckled as she checked off one of Lottie's rules. "But I agree to eat lunch with you, it's a normal thing at this point."
Lottie looked at the paper Angela had given her and opened her eyes wide to a rule the blonde had written. "I'm not going to carry your bag and take you to all your classes."
"Yes you are." Angela scoffed as she read her own paper. "But I won't put your jacket on. I don't want people to think I belong to you."
"We are not together yet and you are already making all the decisions." Lottie huffed annoyedly crossing her arms before rolling her eyes again.
"Don't roll your eyes at me." She replied simply by clicking her tongue. "You're three favorite songs."
"Huh-"
"Now." She insisted, looking at her sternly.
"A-any Clairo song ?" She stammered nervously. "I-I don't know, you're looking at me too oddly, it's stressing me out !"
"You don't think well when you're under pressure. We'll work on that." She finally said as she folded her sheet. "I think we checked everything. Let's go."
She got up from her bed and opened the door. Lottie frowned, wondering what she should do.
"Follow me." She ordered leaving the room.
The taller girl got up quickly and stumbled out of the room. She saw Angela already at the other end of the corridor.
"What are you-"
She got cut off by the blonde knocking on the door of one of the bedrooms. "Timothy ! I have someone to introduce you to !"
Lottie turned pale at the name. Timothy was Angela's older brother. He was kicked out of high school a year ago, because he hung the principal up by his feet from the roof of the school.
Everyone knew the story of how he tried to cut out his sister's first girlfriend's tongue for kissing her.
Lottie was banging her head against a wall inwardly for forgetting such an important detail.
A head popped out of the doorframe, a cigarette in his mouth. "What do you want ?"
"This is my girlfriend Lottie." She announced, taking her arm in hers so that their shoulders touched.
He looked her up and down, frowning as if something was wrong. Then put his cigarette behind his ear. "Why did you decide to date a giant ? You're already small enough as it is."
"I am average height." She groaned, squeezing Lottie's arm tighter.
"Yeah yeah whatever. Keep telling yourself that." He rolled his eyes before closing my door.
Angela let go of her arm and smiled. "He definitely likes you."
"You think ?"
"Yeah." She affirmed, shaking her head.
Angela knew she had to tell Timothy too because he always hung out with his friends from high school. So he could learn it from them and would have been capable of the worst. It was purely precautionary. But it didn't seem to bother him which was even better.
Fake a relationship with Lottie Matthews, what could possibly go wrong ?