The rest of the weekend, in comparison to Friday, was actually okay.

            Andrew and I spent the rest of Saturday hanging out at my place, as if we didn’t have a plastic baby demanding our attention at erratic intervals. He stayed over that night, too, although we made sure to crash in my room instead of on each other. The baby was considerably more manageable when you got used to it, and the diaper situation improved drastically after our first attempt. I’d even braved a night with it alone, and although I arrived at school on Monday morning feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, I was proud to say I survived.

            As we pulled into the parking lot, I looked down at the baby carrier balanced on my lap. It was quiet, but three days’ experience told me that could change at any moment.

            What was I supposed to do if it started screaming in the middle of homeroom?

            Taking it into school would be about as safe as walking through a minefield. With fifteen other dolls under the care of our classmates, it’d only take one to start crying, and they could all be set off.

            Oh, the joy.

            “So,” I said, as I climbed out of the passenger seat and slammed the door behind me, “we’re all clear on the plan?”

            “Sir, yes, sir,” Andrew answered, mock-saluting. “It’s both of us in homeroom, first and second it’s yours, I’ll take over third, fourth we’re together–”

            “Lunch?”

            “Lunch we’re together too,” he said, nodding. “Fifth’s down to me again, and sixth…”

            “Health.”

            “Got it,” he confirmed, grinning at me as we began trekking up towards the school’s main entrance. This was followed by a double-take, as he suddenly realized I was the one lugging along the bulky carrier whilst he ambled along with nothing heavier than a backpack. “And I got this, too,” he added, with a sheepish smile.

            “I was wondering how long it was going to take you.” I smiled amusedly as my arm was relieved of the weight.

            We reached the end of the path and started up the steps, joining the inflow of students piling into the school. As we approached the doors, my attention caught on a familiar pair a few meters away. Darcy and Austin were caught up in what looked like a pretty heated argument, their blue carrier lying between them. Although Austin was trying to argue back as fervently as his opponent, he was lacking his usual confidence and kept running a hand through his hair. The bustle of our surroundings meant I couldn’t hear exactly what they were arguing about, but whatever it was, Darcy looked pissed.

            Entering the hallway brought an unexpected assault from the air con. Obviously, whoever was in charge of the school’s internal temperature had realized we’d all been melting last week, but it had gone from one extreme to the other. It felt almost like I was in some sort of chick flick, striding into school with Andrew at my side, my hair blowing wildly behind me.

            But then I remembered we were dragging with us a baby carrier and plastic doll, which kind of ruined it.

            We started in the direction of our lockers, but only managed a couple of meters before I felt a hand tap my shoulder. Surprised by the contact, I spun round, only to be faced by a person I would never have expected to want my attention.

            “Hi, Ava.” Darcy was smiling brightly, as if she’d actually spoken to me before in her life. Her pale blonde hair was, too, looking a little windswept, but somehow it managed to look artistic. Mine, on the other hand, would probably resemble a bird’s nest by second period. “Can I, uh, talk to you for a sec?”

            Her top was so low cut I was kind of afraid to look down, and she had the baby carrier hooked on her forearm. For a moment I just stared, wondering if I was imagining this bizarre encounter. Girls like Darcy Steinmann just didn’t talk to people like me. Where she thrived on attention, I preferred to blend in. She wasn’t strictly popular, not after being kicked off the cheerleading squad at the end of sophomore year, yet she always seemed to be the subject of outrageous gossip. Last I heard, she was one guy away from hooking up with the entire football team.

            “It’s Avery,” I said. “Not Ava.”

            “It is?” She looked thoroughly confused, peering at me like the world no longer made sense. “Oh. Well. Can I talk to you?”

            I was still none the wiser about what on earth could possess Darcy to want a word with me, but I found myself nodding anyway. Andrew, who was hovering beside me, sent me a questioning look which I returned with a shrug when she turned her back. Mouthing “Wait for me!”, I trudged after her toward a quieter part of the hallway.

            “So, um…” She trailed off, and I wondered briefly if she’d forgotten my name again. “How’s the project?”

            “Oh, it’s… okay.”

            Which is true, if you define “okay” as “utterly exhausting and horrific”.

            I cleared my throat. “How’s yours?”

            However, she either didn’t hear my question, or chose to ignore it. Her deep blue eyes were focused on something behind me, glittering in a slightly unnerving way. “Look,” she said eventually, dragging her attention back to me, “you’re partnered with Andrew, right?”

            “Um… right.”

            “It’s just,” she continued, “things aren’t really working out with me and Austin.”

            “Oh, uh… how come?” I asked, wondering where the conversation was heading.

            Darcy rolled her eyes, then leaned in closer like she was about to tell me a secret. I resisted the urge to take a backwards step as I got a whiff of her overpoweringly sweet perfume. “Well, we hooked up on Saturday,” she told me, and my eyes widened slightly. I couldn’t believe she was telling me this – and so casually – after a minute-long conversation. “And I mean, yeah, it was great, but then I found these texts on his phone… turns out he’s also been hooking up with my best friend.” She noticed my face, but totally misread my speechlessness. “I know, right? He’s such a dick.”

            “Yeah…” I said, stunned. Still, at least the reason behind their argument had been uncovered.

            “So anyway…” She adjusted the carrier on her arm. “I wanted to ask you whether you were up for a partner swap.”

            I was surprised my jaw didn’t hit the floor. At first, I assumed she was joking. I would never have expected Darcy to favor Andrew over one of the most popular guys in school. It was only a few seconds later, after noticing her eyes were still trained expectantly on my face, and that she hadn’t yelled “Just kidding!”, that realization set in. She was serious. She wanted to trade Austin, the cheating jock with muscles bigger than his head, for my best friend.

            “You want Andrew as your partner?” I said incredulously.

            “Uh huh!” She nodded her head vigorously, her blonde hair shaking with the movement. “I mean, he’s pretty cute, don’t you think? I guess I didn’t really notice him that much before, but he’s got that whole awkward thing going on… it’s adorable. I could totally see us together. And it would really piss off Austin.”

            For a moment, I was rendered motionless, blinking back at her in disbelief. She and Andrew were about as well-matched as toothpaste and orange juice. They’d never get on. But this was Darcy, a tiny part of my brain reminded me. Once she had her sights set on a guy, she wouldn’t give up without a fight. And if she wanted Andrew, who was to say she wouldn’t get him?

            Suddenly, I felt sick. Sick with an emotion I didn’t quite recognize. If she got her way, she’d only get bored and drop him like she’d done countless times before. Sure, that was fine with the guys on the football team, who bounced back in a heartbeat, but this was Andrew. He was sweet, funny, thoughtful… and being used like that would hit him hard.

            “You can’t!” I said quickly.

            Darcy frowned. “What do you mean?”

            “You can’t because… because…” I racked my brains desperately for an excuse.

            Suddenly, the guy in question appeared at my side. His hair was being blown wildly about by the   intermittent blasts of the air con, and the baby carrier was weighing down his skinny arms. Pausing for a moment to look between the two of us with curiosity, he locked eyes with me. “Come on, Avery,” he coaxed, “we’re going to be late for homeroom. Can you guys talk later?”

            “Because Andrew and I are dating!” I blurted out suddenly, as the idea popped into my head. Ignoring the look of utmost confusion on my best friend’s face, I snaked an arm around his waist and pulled him closer to me, smiling nervously back at the surprised blonde.

            “But-”

            I aimed a surreptitious kick at his foot, which effectively cut off his protest. Looking up at him, he was frowning questioningly. It didn’t take a genius to read his expression; his eyes spoke the words I couldn’t hear: what the hell are you doing?

            “You are?” Darcy said, her eyebrows raised.

            “Yeah, we are?” Andrew muttered, his voice low enough so that only I could hear it.

            I nodded. “Uh huh.”

            Although he obviously didn’t have a clue what was going on, Andrew held his tongue and did his best to play the part. He slung an arm around my shoulders, pulling me a little closer to him. I knew it was only to keep up the illusion, but that still didn’t stop color from rising to my cheeks. Sure, he’d put his arm around me and hugged me before, but that was just friendly.

            And this… this wasn’t.

            “Really?” Darcy didn’t look entirely convinced. Which, you know, might’ve had something to do with the fact we were faking. “When did this happen?”

            “Oh, um...” I trailed off, my brain suddenly unable to focus on anything other than the warmth of Andrew’s arm around my shoulders. “Uh...”

            “Last week,” he cut in. “Yeah, we were going to keep it quiet for a while, but... I guess the secret’s out.”

            I had to give him props. He obviously had no idea what I was doing, or why it required the pretense of us dating, yet he was willing to jump straight in without question. No doubt the question part would come later – when Darcy had removed herself from earshot – but I was still immensely grateful. At least, I thought I was. It was difficult to distinguish my actual feelings from the ones induced by Andrew squeezing me tighter to his side.

            “Really?” Her eyebrows were raised. “Huh. I didn’t know you guys were into each other like that. I always thought you were just friends.”

            “Nope,” I said, laughing nervously. “We’re, um... totally loved up.”

            From the corner of my eye, I could see Andrew peering at me. My cheeks began to heat up again, and it took all I had to keep my eyes fixed on Darcy.

            “Really…” Her eyes drifted between the two of us. “Why don’t you prove it?” Her sentence was punctuated by a mischievous smile.

            “Um... what?”

            “Go on,” she said eagerly, still grinning. “I just can’t imagine you guys like that. I’m curious. Kiss him.”

            “Kiss him?”

            She nodded, but I was no longer paying much attention. My head suddenly felt fuzzy, and a fresh batch of butterflies had just erupted inside my stomach. She wanted me to kiss him. Kiss Andrew. My best friend.

            Kiss him.

            “Um... okay,” I managed to force out, but my heart was pounding.

            I felt his grip loosen around my shoulders slightly and I shifted to face him. Tilting my head upwards to meet his gaze, I tried to gauge his thoughts, but his expression betrayed no emotion. For the first time in a long while, I had no idea what was running through his mind.

            And I also had no idea what was running through mine.

            How was I even supposed to do this? I wasn’t exactly experienced – heck, I had zero experience. I wasn’t even completely sure what a kiss entailed, other than the obvious action of two sets of lips being pressed together. Was there some kind of technique I was hopelessly unaware of? My breath caught in my throat as I found myself leaning in, the distance between us disappearing at a worrying rate.

            I wasn’t prepared for this. I so wasn’t prepared for this. I could’ve spent a million years preparing, but I doubted that would’ve been enough time to calm the pace of my heart to a normal speed.

            Here goes, I said inwardly, as my eyes fluttered closed.

            And then it happened.

            Maybe I was expecting an explosion or something, but the absence of any deafening blast or at least a shower of confetti seemed strange when our lips finally made contact. This thought lingered in my head for a total of about two seconds, before it was replaced by the full force of the realization of what I was doing.

            I was kissing Andrew.

            Obviously, I wasn’t too familiar with the process of a normal kiss, but I had been left with enough brainpower to know we were both hesitant. I suppose that was inevitable, really. I wasn’t exactly going to grab fistfuls of his hair and refuse to let up for air, even though a small part of me found the idea more appealing than I’d like to admit. The whole thing was weird. Because, despite neither of us having a clue about what we were doing, it was sort of... working.

            Well, that’s what I took the frenzied butterflies in my stomach to mean, anyway.

            After an amount of time that seemed to last both two seconds and ten years at the same time, distance found its way between our lips again. My eyes flickered open, immediately locking onto Andrew’s which were swimming with unreadable emotion, and my cheeks caught alight.

            Then, our eardrums were shattered by the ringing of the bell overheard.

            “Aw!” Darcy’s voice sounded next to me, and I suddenly remembered she was standing there, bearing witness to that whole spectacle. “That was cute,” she said, although I couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes lingered on Andrew as she looked between us. “You know, for a moment there I almost didn’t believe you, but... I guess you guys really are dating.”

            “Uh huh,” I replied, surprised by how shaky my voice sounded. “We are.”

            “Well, I suppose I’ll see you around,” she said, shifting the baby carrier onto her other arm. “Good luck with the project.”

            “You too...” I said weakly, as she headed off. For a moment I watched after her retreating back, as she ran a hand through her pale blonde hair and strutted purposely in the direction of our homeroom class. It was only at the last possible moment – when she rounded a corner and disappeared from sight – that I took a deep breath and faced the inevitable.

            When I turned round, Andrew had bemusement written all over his features. The silence – which wasn’t really silence at all, what with the rabble of passing students – seemed to go on forever, and I bit my lip nervously. What was I meant to do after that? Nothing wise sprung to mind, so I did what I did best, and kept quiet.

            “So,” he said eventually, clearing his throat, “you want to tell me what that was all about?”

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Sorry this has taken so long! I lost motivation for this story... and for all my writing, really. I was close to giving up. So coming up with this chapter was a bit of a miracle, haha. I hope this makes the story a bit more "plotty" because I know some people had that issue. But yeah. Fingers crossed you liked it! :-)