Chapter Text
Incoming message from [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Coffee L8er?
Class is boring as hell.
Prof has no clue I’m just using my laptop 2 message u haha.
I’m done at 3 if u want 2 go 2 the coffee place down the street 2 study?
Andddd delete. Oops, sorry, never got the email, must have been a bad connection.
Shauna blew out a sigh, then opened the essay she’d been putting off writing for the past month.
“Still dodging her, I see.” Jackie whispered, considering they were in a library and all. “Why don’t you just tell her you’re not into her like that?”
“You’re one to talk.” Shauna whispered back. “How many times have you rejected Jeff?”
Jackie flipped a page in the book she was supposed to be reading for class, cause if it wasn’t People’s Magazine, she wasn’t interested. “As of today? Or of all time?”
“That’s my point. What if she won’t take no as an answer?” She leaned back in the library’s uncomfortable wooden chair.
“I guess you won’t know if you don’t try.” She shrugged, flipping through pages.
Shauna chewed at her bottom lip, mindlessly typing a letter on the keyboard and then backspacing it.
Melissa was nice and all, but she had feelings for someone else. Someone very close to her. Literally. She was sitting right next to her. If she were to reject Mel with honesty, she was worried she’d go and tell Jackie. If she were to say she wasn’t interested, she might pull a Jeff and not leave her alone.
Type. Backspace. Type. Backspace.
Shauna couldn’t keep dodging her like this forever, though; she knew that, as tempting as it was. Ignoring the conversation was a one-way ticket to never being left alone, either. She wished she weren’t so bad at communicating her thoughts and feelings, but years of pining for your best friend would do that.
There must be a secret third option she hasn’t considered yet.
Incoming message from [email protected]
To: [email protected]
No Subject (Click here to mark as spam)
Hey Shauna, for some reason, when I try to send Jackie an email, it says “user unavailable.” Kinda like when I try to call her. Don’t know why it’s doing that, haha. Anyway, could you relay a message for me? Can you tell her I’d like to speak with her? Please. Thanks. This is Jeff, by the way. Okay. Thanks.
“For fuck sake…” Shauna whispered under her breath, frowning at the screen. “Did you block Jeff's number?”
Jackie leaned over to look at the computer screen and groaned. “Ugh, delete.” She smashed a button on the keyboard, the click echoing throughout the library, and the message vanished.
“Seems we both have similar issues…” Shauna noted, more to herself than to Jackie. That was when an idea struck her, like a lightbulb flicked on above her head. “Hey, so, why don’t we date?”
“What?!” Her voice echoed. She threw a hand over her mouth, earning a couple of shushes from nearby students. “What are you talking about, Shipman?”
“I mean, think about it, if we were girlfriends, Jeff and Melissa would leave us alone, right?”
Jackie paused, going silent for too long. The way her face scrunched up at the thought of dating her made Shauna’s heart ache. Oh come on, fake dating her wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
“I don’t think anyone would believe I’m a lesbian.” She finally said.
“Think about it, though, we hang out all the time, we do pretty much everything together. We’d just have to hold hands and maybe kiss once or twice, and people will believe it.”
She paused again, pondering long and hard. Shauna could practically see the cogs turning in her head while she contemplated the idea.
“Let me think about it, okay?” Jackie gave her a wary smile.
She knew what that meant. That was a hard no. It was just a suggestion. Just a thought. So, why did Shauna still feel like this was a brutal rejection? See, she can’t put Melissa through that; it would be cruel!
God, that was a stupid thing to say. Now, Jackie’s reaction was gnawing away at her mind. And this was just FAKE dating, she didn’t even want to think about what would happen if she really asked her out. Though her mind was already flashing vicious scenarios without her consent.
She didn’t make much progress on her essay. No words other than ‘fuck,’ ‘shit,’ and ‘kill me now’ came to mind. She was going to get up and leave, but Jackie was already bored with the book she was “reading” anyway, so they headed out of the library together.
Shauna was visibly distressed, not really contributing to anything Jackie was rambling on about. Not that it mattered, it seemed her best friend/girl she was hopelessly in love with didn’t notice.
“…and then she had the audacity to tell me I was overreacting! I was NOT overreacting…”
“Mhm,” Shauna responded, hundreds of miles away from this conversation.
A man shouting in the distance caught their attention, making them look over.
“Jackie!” Jeff waved, with a big dumb smile like the big dumb jock he was. “Hey, Jackie!”
“Shit…” Jackie said under her breath as he came closer. They couldn’t back out now, not after making eye contact.
“Hey, Jackie,” his voice came out all high-pitched and squeaky. “Hey, Shauna,” he nodded at her.
“What is it, Jeff?” Jackie crossed her arms over her chest.
“I was just wondering if you wanted to go out tonight? There’s a soccer game on at the bar, I know how much you love soccer, so…” he cleared his throat to deepen it. “…and maybe I could take a look at your phone to see if it’s working?”
“I’m sorry, I can't um…” She looked from Shauna, to Jeff, then back again. She quickly grabbed Shauna’s hand, interlocking their fingers. “We have a date tonight.”
He laughed—she was honestly very offended that he found it so funny—then he stopped when neither of the girls laughed with him.
“Wait…you’re serious? You guys are, like, dating dating?”
“Is there any other kind of dating?” Shauna snapped, getting way too defensive. Was it THAT unbelievable? Like, come on!
“B-but…” He stuttered. “You’re both girls.”
“Yes, and we’re together,” Jackie wrapped her arms around Shauna in a very awkward side hug. “And we kiss and have sex and stuff.”
Her face was burning red. Her and Jackie? Having sex? She swallowed hard as the thought made her pulse quicken.
He raised a brow, frowning. “Uh, okay?” He didn’t believe them. The look on his face said it all. “Yeah, no. That’s cool. I'm, like, all for gay rights and stuff.”
“Us too, obviously. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we would like to continue our date in peace.” Jackie grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her forward, leaving Jeff in a mess of confusion.
“Do you think he believed that?” Jackie asked when they were out of earshot.
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head, chuckling.
“Well, we’ll just have to make it believable.”
Whatever that meant, Shauna was unsure. She wouldn’t lie, the idea filled her with butterflies. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since Jackie announced they were together.
Them? Together? Even if it was fake, Shauna would enjoy every second of it.