Chapter 6
The next morning, I woke up hoping everything had just been a strange, vivid dream. That Logan hadn’t kissed me. That he hadn’t walked me to class. That I hadn’t stood up to Sarah Richards like I was in some teen movie.
But when I got to school, reality hit me like a ton of bricks. It was all very real.
Whispers followed me the moment I stepped through the doors. Heads turned. People stared. A few even pointed. I kept my eyes low and tried to walk fast, but of course, Jess was waiting at my locker, grinning like she’d just won the lottery.
“You are legendary,” she said.
I groaned. “Please tell me it’s going to die down today.”
“Oh no,” she said with a gleam in her eye. “If anything, it’s going to get bigger. I heard someone say Logan’s planning to sit with you again at lunch.”
I blinked. “What? But… why?”
Jess shrugged. “He obviously likes the attention too. But I don’t know, Alicia. The way he looks at you? That doesn’t feel fake.”
That stopped me in my tracks.
Because the way Logan had looked at me… it wasn’t playful or casual. It was focused. Almost intense. Like he really saw me.
But that didn’t make sense. He was Logan. The guy who could date anyone. The guy every girl in school drooled over. And I was… me.
In English class, I tried to bury myself in my notebook, but it was impossible not to notice Logan sliding into the seat behind me. A second later, I felt something hit my back—soft and light. I turned to find a folded-up note sitting on the corner of my desk.
I opened it.
“You okay?”
I glanced back at him. He raised an eyebrow, waiting.
I hesitated, then scribbled back: “Kind of. Overwhelmed.”
I passed the note back.
He read it and smiled a little, then wrote something else and sent it my way again.
“Just breathe. You’ve got this.”
I didn’t know how a simple sentence could make my chest feel warm, but it did.
Later at lunch, true to Jess’s prediction, Logan sat down next to me again—this time even closer, like we were joined at the hip. People were full-on staring now. I could feel their eyes burning holes in my back. But somehow, having Logan there made it… tolerable.
“So,” he said casually, picking at his food, “I was thinking.”
“Dangerous,” Jess muttered with a smirk.
Logan ignored her. “We should keep this up.”
My stomach fluttered. “Keep what up?”
“This whole… fake relationship thing.”
Oh. Right. Fake.
“Why?” I asked.
He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Because it works for both of us. You get to show the world you’re not invisible, and I get to shut Sarah down once and for all. She won’t leave me alone otherwise.”
I nodded slowly, trying to keep my expression neutral even as my chest tightened. “Okay. Sure. As long as we’re clear.”
He tilted his head, studying me. “Are you?”
I swallowed. “Yeah. Totally.”
Jess kicked me under the table and gave me a look—the kind that screamed, Girl, you are not okay.
And I wasn’t. Because even though this thing between us was supposed to be fake… my feelings were starting to feel anything but.
Logan saw me now.
But I wasn’t sure how long I could pretend it didn’t matter.