Chapter Text
“Wow, you? Asking for my help?” Aubrey asked, eyes glued to the TV.
Aubrey laid out on the couch, the remote in her hand skimming through television programs. Hector snuggled up beside Kel, relaxed.
Kel sat stiff on the other end of the couch.
He couldn’t believe he was going to ask this.
His mother had just sent his baby sister Sally to bed for her afternoon nap, after a quick lunch all together. His parents then took their leave, a Sunday for some romantic husband and wife time. It was Valentine’s Day weekend, after all.
Even when Kel was home, his parents were generous enough to give Aubrey a babysitting job, remembering the very sweet girl she was in her youth. Aubrey had flushed and stammered out a ‘no’ at their initial offer. Later, she scolded Kel for blabbing about her money problems. Hey, he didn’t blab about her problems to anybody, only to those he thought could help. And at his insistence, and her reluctant acceptance, he knew she was grateful for the extra cash.
Aubrey landed on a channel playing the start of The Simpsons. He remembered this episode—he wanted to at least watch the Dr. Zaius song. He would burst out laughing when the one ape suddenly break danced, every single time.
But no, he couldn’t lounge around and watch. Kel had a favour to ask.
“Aubrey, please don’t get mad,” he said, his brows furrowed. “But, uh…”
She rolled her eyes, leaning further back on the couch with her arm behind her head.
“You always make me mad. Just spit it out already.”
“C-Can…”
He clenched his fists on his lap.
He took in a deep breath, then steeled himself.
“CAN YOU BE MY FAKE GIRLFRIEND!?” he screamed. He probably spat on her, too.
Aubrey sprung off the couch’s back, shooting straight up on her seat. The TV remote dropped onto the floor.
Red rushed to her cheeks. She gawked at him, dumbstruck.
“Wh…”
Her eyes and lips trembled.
“WHAT!?”
Kel shifted closer to her on the couch. She scrambled away, crawling backwards to the armrest.
“Look,” Kel said, “it’s for a good reason—”
“M-Me, your girlfriend? And why fake!?”
“Look, I know, I know! It sounds stupid! But—”
“So you know it’s stupid!”
“Ah! Stop yelling!” Kel exclaimed. “My sister’s sleeping!”
Aubrey clamped her mouth shut, whipping her head to the stairs. No toddler complained; only a certain sitcom from the TV filled the awkward air. She snarled at Kel.
“Y-You’re the one who started yelling.”
Kel blinked. Right.
“O-Oops. Heh,” he chuckled out. Aubrey pursed her lips at Kel, unimpressed. He leaned back to meet her gaze, his sheepish expression hardening.
“Anyway, I-I need your help,” he said. “Please.”
Cris, who was Kel’s neighbour and top swimmer at school, was right. Kel would be a shoo-in for tryouts at the basketball team.
Kel saw the glint in the coach’s eyes, the nods and smirks from the current team who watched the tryouts.
He felt his whole body fill with mirth when his coach praised him for his agile ball handling and aggressive defense. It was one thing to be called a great player in general, but it was even more heart-warming to hear praises so specific.
The team coach assigned him as their small forward, further praising Kel for his versatile skills on the court. Kel didn’t even know about or care for strategic positions prior to making it on the team—he simply dribbled, passed and shot the best he could.
Kel wasn’t the best at any one skill on his team, but he was well-rounded; he wasn’t a leader or a strategist, but he was a team player.
Of course it was exciting to be part of a team that represented his school on a regional, no, a state level. Everyone he knew was proud. Even his dog Hector and baby sister Sally seemed more adoring than usual when Kel broke the news at home. They could have been simply imitating the enthusiasm of his parents, involving many claps on the back by his father and the sappy cooing from his mother. Extra special dinner that night, too.
But... Kel never saw it as an opportunity to be popular or to be well-liked.
It was the right choice to prove himself by joining the team, to finally have something to his name. His jersey number, Faraway 11: his birth month and day, and the less egotistical way of calling oneself number one.
More than anything, he enjoyed the skill and competition of basketball. Skirting around the court, outmaneuvering opponents with a nimble body, and coordinating with teammates? He loved it, all alongside the feel of the ball’s ribbed leather in his hands, and the sound of the pounding of the ball and the squeaky shuffling of shoes against the gym floor.
Being popular was just a convenient bonus his ego quietly but greedily lapped up. His self-esteem soared with the increasing praise and support over the months. He... kind of needed it.
Coming back from winter break, basketball season began.
And as Faraway competed against other schools in their district, he felt it:
The lingering eyes and the smirks, the shy giggles and the gossip, the loud cheers whenever he shot and inevitably scored, as he glided across the basketball court.
And with each basketball game over the weeks, the lingering eyes and loud cheers grew more and more.
That Friday, he couldn’t forget. Valentine’s Day. His friends chatted all week at the cafeteria, in class, and during practice, about who they were going to impress, what they were going to buy, and what they'd do after school.
Kel approached his locker that morning, spotting chocolates already on the floor. He gently swept them aside with his foot—maybe they were for the adjacent lockers. He opened his locker and...
“Oh my god.”
Aubrey’s voice was faint with surprise and disgust. Expression masked, she coolly examined the large pile of love letters in Kel’s desk drawer.
“Why didn’t I see this coming?” she muttered, picking up a handful of love letters carefully. She came to his basketball games when available, alongside Basil; she should have seen firsthand the crowds adoring his team and him.
Kel chuckled and scratched his head. “I should’ve seen it coming too.”
“No, I didn’t expect you to.”
“Hey!”
She ignored him. “All of these—from Valentine’s Day?”
Aubrey rummaged through the fifteen or so letters, all of different handwriting and craft styles, from cleanly modern to kitschy, many decorated with stickers and doilies and flowery perfumes. One had a suggestive lipstick kiss; another had a hand-drawn portrait of him inside. All of them were from his anonymous ‘secret admirers’.
When Kel had opened his locker door, love letters spewed out on to him like a slot machine vomiting out a jackpot, a papery mess all over the floor. Thankfully it was early morning. The sparse number of students around him gawked and giggled, amusement and jealousy at the ridiculous sight. Kel sheepishly picked them up, his face reddening as he avoided their gazes.
“Y-Yeah,” Kel stammered, embarrassed by the memory. “A lot of chocolates too. No roses, though. It’s weird.” He pointed to the single rose on his desk. “As a joke, my friend Jeremy went to the booth at school and bought me a rose,” he said with a snort.
Aubrey tsked at his rose, then averted her eyes back to the love letters.
Kel wondered if she got anything for Valentine’s Day. But that day was a sensitive topic to many, as he too felt the lonely pain before; it was rude to ask and compare.
“Oh, Charlie,” she suddenly mumbled. “Oh no...”
“Wait.” Kel cocked his head slowly, scrutinizing Aubrey’s tone and the letter in her hand: a baby pink envelope with a cute teddy bear sticker sealing the opening. “That’s Charlene’s?”
Aubrey nodded, her face scrunched up. “Kim and I helped her write it.”
A pause. “Oh.”
Kel had his parenting class with Charlene in the fall.
Along with a lot of other girls.
Oh.
“So that’s why everybody wanted to be my parenting partner!” Kel shouted.
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
He just wanted an easy elective! Yes, he was interested in parenting and child development ever since Sally was born, and maybe learning about birth order hit a little too close to home. And yes, he may have told his whole class his sister was so cute that he’d like to settle down one day and raise a family of his own...
But he wasn’t there to attract girls! No! Poor Charlene and everyone else!
“Anyway, is this all?” Aubrey asked. She plopped the handful of love letters on his desk. “You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend because everyone admires you from afar? How horrible.”
Kel groaned and shook his head. “Honestly, if it was just that, then I’d be okay!” he exclaimed. Aubrey raised her eyebrow in disbelief. “But it’s what happened yesterday that freaked me out!”
It was just friends hanging out. It was the day after Valentine’s Day, so of course Kel didn’t find it suspicious.
His basketball teammate Anthony asked him to accompany him on a double date. Nervous, Anthony had said. He asked their mutual volleyball friend Olivia out for a date to the mall and thought it would feel more casual to treat it as a group hang out. Cris came along on behalf of Olivia.
That’s alright, no biggie, Kel had thought. They were all friends.
Their eventual goal was to watch a movie playing at the theatres late afternoon. Until then, they’d hang out at the mall.
After lunch at the food court, apparently Anthony and Olivia changed their minds. Said they wanted to try their date alone for a bit, just to test the waters.
“Have fun, you two!” they cheered. Then they skipped away.
Still, Kel, never having forethought, didn’t question it, despite seeing Cris bite her lips and avert her gaze. It was odd, but he always made do in any situation.
Kel asked her what she wanted to do next. After all, it was courtesy to offer first. And being such a modest girl, Cris eventually gave in and took the lead.
Kel loved window shopping, experimenting with new products like his own playground. Kel wasn’t into fine details like accessories, but still he found himself amused at eyeing and touching all the earrings, necklaces and bracelets for teen girls. They shimmered so brightly and felt so cool to the touch, though he didn’t really know what necklaces made Cris look the best whenever she asked.
Same with the well-known geek culture store—he and Cris happily browsed the merchandise and graphic tees for video game and comic fans, but he could only listen with quiet interest at her gushing over rock band t-shirts and every punk metal song blasting throughout the store.
An hour or two later, Kel and Cris were pooped. After trying on shiny basketball shoes at the sportswear store and moping about their high price, Kel impulsively bought new socks to compensate. Still not in time for the movie, and still no sight of their friends.
And that was when it happened.
Cris led him to a bench near a secluded exit, one that led to one of the mall’s less populated parking lots. There was no one around.
“You’re really fun to shop with!” Cris giggled softly, throwing herself and her shopping bag down onto the wooden bench. Kel plopped down beside her with a content sigh. In a quiet voice, Cris added, “you’re… you’re also really sweet, Kel.”
Livened by her comment, Kel grinned. “Thanks,” he said. “You’re sweet too! And you sure know how to accessorize! That’s why it’s a blast to hang out with you.”
“You and your compliments,” she muttered under her breath. Then she looked back at him, searching his face with a sudden uncertainty. Kel raised his eyebrow.
“Say,” she said tentatively, “all our friends think we look cute together.”
Kel’s face fell.
“Have you… ever thought about it?” she asked. “About trying?”
Cris was a sweet girl, he just told her. Kind and soft-spoken, but a tomboy through and through with a competitive streak. His next-door neighbour, his top supporter, his good friend—he was all of those things to her as well.
Their friends weren’t wrong. He supposed they would look cute together. But there was a reason why the two of them kept dismissing their friends’ obnoxious match-making.
“Uh, why do you ask?” Kel replied.
A long pause. She mulled over the question, uncertain about it herself, until she spoke again.
“I’ve thought about it.” She held his gaze, her expression now unwavering. “I think we like each other enough to at least try, right? Maybe it’ll work out.”
Did he like her that way?
He did… didn’t he? He liked hanging out with her, and he was comfortable around her.
So he guessed he did. That was what being in a relationship was like anyway. Right?
Kel cocked his head. “Maybe? I mean, I do like hanging out with you, Cris.”
Cris’ eyes twinkled.
“Oh, this is so weird to ask,” she said, averting her gaze, hand to her chest, “but… do you want to kiss?”
Kel’s eyes bulged out, and his mouth hung open.
“H-Huh?”
“Maybe it’ll help us decide!” Cris quickly added.
A kiss?
Kel admitted this to no one: he was so curious. He hadn’t kissed before; no one had ever asked. Well, except for his brother and his mother, both he did not willingly kiss back. Those didn’t count.
But a kiss from Cris, someone he was good friends with and felt safe with?
It... wouldn’t be such a bad first-time. Good, even.
Dumbly, he nodded. Cris’ eyes only sparkled more, and with a bright but small smile, she scooted herself close to Kel, their thighs touching.
He could only stare, neck stiff and hands awkwardly by his side. Cris’ face was demure, her cheeks so red that it contrasted the blue of her hair well, yet she boldly placed a hand on his bicep. Kel’s arms froze—every first kiss was nerve-wracking like this. But with Cris’ guiding touch, he mimicked her softening face.
They leaned in slowly together, shy but committed. He watched her eyes flutter closed, and he held his breath.
His heart pounded, rattling his chest, as the blood rushed past his ears. Kel wanted to flutter his eyes closed too, to melt into the kiss like in all the movies. But he felt the hard planks of the wooden bench digging into him, and the uncomfortable churning of his stomach acid.
This wasn’t the nervous butterflies that girls in romance novels apparently experienced, but a feeling similar to when he ate that expired pudding cup one time and needed to throw up.
Their faces inched closer and closer. Cris loomed an inch away from meeting his lips. With a sudden realization, his head paralyzed in place.
His heart pounded and his stomach twisted, not for the reasons he thought.
Kel gripped Cris’ shoulders. Silently, he pulled away, pushing her away as well. Cris fluttered her eyes open, confused.
“Um,” he whispered quickly, “I’m sorry but I—yeah.”
She continued to stare.
“Oh.”
Kel swallowed a hard lump. What had he done? He let go of her and jumped up from the bench, his feet shuffling and ready to sprint.
“I-I’m gonna go now,” he said, pointing behind him to the inside of the mall. The bus station was that way. “Yeah. I’m so sorry. I-I’ll catch you later? If you see Olivia and Anthony, tell them I went home!”
“Um. Yeah,” Cris said, almost unheard.
And then he bolted.
Aubrey snorted.
“Ugh, Aubrey, stop it!” Kel hissed out, cradling his head in his hands. Aubrey had been making snarky comments all throughout from his desk chair, which she rolled close to his bed. Meanwhile, he sat on the foot of his bed with a curled-up Hector. Kel needed his dog’s relaxed vibes so badly.
“When were you such a coward?” she teased.
He shot Aubrey a glare. “A coward? I don’t like her that way!”
“You led her on!”
“I wanted to kiss her, I did! I wanted to know what a kiss felt like!” Kel huffed. “B-But then we were actually gonna do it, and then our faces got too close, and I, I…! Ugh!” He groaned into his hands.
“Kel.” She sat up straighter in his chair. “You didn’t think that maybe you’d hurt her feelings by leaving her like that?”
“I know that! I’m not that dumb! I apologized to her about it later!”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Kel!”
“Aubrey!” he called back, mimicking her tone. “Cris and I live next to each other! Her friends are my friends! I wasn’t avoiding her—I literally can’t!”
Aubrey’s frown was unmoving, still unconvinced. Kel groaned again. Frustrated, he collapsed himself over Hector and cuddled his medium German Spitz.
“Look,” he said, scratching his dog’s ears to its delight, “I gave her some of my mom’s leftover enchiladas as an apology, okay? She was fine, and we laughed it off! She even gave me some of her mom’s pie in exchange!”
“She could only be pretending to be fine.”
“She said she was fine!”
“Kel! You just broke her heart and you think she’s fine!?”
“I don’t know!” Kel hugged Hector tighter. His dog nuzzled back. “I’m not gonna play these mind games with her, guessing how she’d feel. She looked fine, and she told me she was. So I believe her!”
Aubrey huffed, exasperated, eyes up at his ceiling. “You don’t know anything about girls.”
Kel sat up. “Oh, like you do! Your friends are always guys!”
“Kel, I’m a girl!”
“Yeah, so what?”
Aubrey stared at him, speechless.
“Yeah, I’m not fake dating you.” She rose out of his desk chair.
“Aubreyyyy!” Kel whined.
He quickly latched onto her arm before she walked even a step towards the door. She sighed, stopping, and turned back towards him.
“Please, please, please! You have to help me!” he begged, staring up at Aubrey. “All those secret admirers? They’re all gonna ask me out one day, I know it! I can’t keep rejecting everyone—I’ll be such a scumbag! Imagine me rejecting poor Charlene! Charlene!” Aubrey grimaced. “I need a fake girlfriend so everyone just stays away!”
Her eyebrows furrowed, his dilemma finally sinking in. She flitted her eyes down to his hold on her, and back up to his eyes.
“I get it, Kel, I do. But why me?”
“You’re scary!” he said with a smile. “Everyone will be too intimidated by you to start any drama.”
“Thanks,” Aubrey said flatly.
“And… and I trust you.”
Aubrey’s eyes widened. At her reaction, Kel couldn’t help but redden a little, being sentimental like this with her. But this was the time to be honest.
“You’re my only friend who’s a girl and isn’t one of my sports friends.” His grip on her arm tightened. “Y-You’re the girl I trust the most not to do anything weird with me.”
She blinked down at him, a long pause held between them.
“Really?” she slowly asked.
Kel grinned. “Yeah. We’ve been best friends for so long, but after all this time, we still don’t like each other that way, right? So we’ll just say we’re dating, but we don’t need to treat each other any differently!”
She continued to stare, and his heart began to pound from the anticipation. Why did she always take so long to answer?
But eventually she did. Aubrey nodded.
“Right,” she said simply, her expression unreadable. She went back to the desk chair, slipping out of Kel’s grip, and sat back down. She gestured to their wildly different clothing styles. “But how is this going to be convincing?”
“Duh! We’ve actually known each other since childhood!”
“No, why would I date you?”
Meaning, why would Faraway High School’s infamous outcast, who seemingly opposed the status quo, date its goody two-shoes basketball star?
That question baffled Kel.
“Huh? I thought just knowing each other was enough,” he said.
Who cared about cliques, like they liked to emphasize so much in movies? His friends were jocks, sure, but they were also interested in music, science, theatre, math, debate and other fields unrelated to sports. Heck, Kel liked home economics, and Aubrey wasn’t so bad at geography! With such broad interests, students were bound to meet and even date others outside their cliques…
Still…
“But your guess is as good as mine,” Kel added, furrowing his eyebrows. “Why do so many girls want to date me?”
Honestly, he didn’t really know, other than being good at basketball and admitting he enjoyed taking care of children. He wasn’t this popular until his junior year.
Aubrey looked away and shrugged.
“Who knows?” she said, nonchalant. Then she smirked back at him. “But if they knew you the way I know you, that number would be way lower.”
“Good!” he chuckled. Aubrey rolled her eyes, and he laughed even more.
Now in a better mood, Kel leaned back on his hands, scrunching his bedsheets. “Okay, so I’m popular, right? So if people ask, it’s ‘cause you’ve liked me since we were kids—”
“Kel, I did not!”
“—and now that I’m popular and there’s competition, you finally made your move on me!”
“Hmph!” She crossed her arms. “Like I’d be that easily influenced by other people. How about you always liked me and used your popularity to ask me out?”
Huh? Him liking her? Well, she was cute when they were kids, but…!
Kel blushed. “Oh, no-no-no,” he said, shaking his head fervently, “I like my story better!”
“Kel! You were the one who proposed we fake date! My story is way closer to the truth—”
“No no! You liked me first!”
She knocked her head back against the chair and cried, “Oh my god, are we really arguing about this? Whatever!” She threw up her hands, scoffing. “It doesn’t matter who liked who first—let’s just say we happened to ask each other out at the same time. Or better yet, we tell everyone it’s none of their business.”
“Hmm.” Kel pondered her suggestion. None of their business, huh? He nodded. “Fine.”
“Okay, then,” she said, quieting, “why would you want to date me?”
“Because! Like I already said, you’re a childhood friend.” He laughed. “And you’re a really big softie!”
“Stop calling me that!” Aubrey snapped, an obvious blush raging on her face. She was so expressive, and she always reacted the same.
Kel’s grin broadened so much that it hurt his cheeks, his body warming with affection.
“See? You are a big softie”—Aubrey snapped her head away—“and other people probably won’t believe that, but that’s okay!” He leaned forward, tilting his body to try to meet Aubrey’s eyes, hidden behind her hair. “Aubrey, look, who cares about why I would date you or why you would date me? Nobody needs to know the details. All they need to know is that I’m not available.”
“I know that,” she quickly muttered, her face still hidden.
She sighed. She turned her head back. Her eyes were far off, directed at Hero’s side of the room.
“You’re gonna break a lot of hearts,” she said in a low voice. “I’m gonna break a lot of hearts. Poor Charlie.”
Kel’s eyes lit up, almost sparkling. “S-So you’ll do it?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” She flitted her gaze to him, her expression muted. “What do I gain out of this?”
Oh. Kel didn’t think about that.
“I-I can give you more of Mom’s food?”
Aubrey narrowed her eyes. “Kel, is your answer to everything food?”
“Uh—”
“And it’s your mom’s food!”
“Yeah, and she makes a lot of leftovers!”
Aubrey clicked her tongue, then shut her mouth. See, even she knew the delicious appeal of his mom’s cooking.
“You know you wanna!” Kel exclaimed, bouncing childishly on his bed, rocking Hector along. Aubrey stared at him blankly. “Do this for your friend! Do you want your good friend Kel to suffer?”
“For you? Maybe.”
Kel pouted. A small smile tugged on Aubrey’s lips, teasing in her eyes.
“We’ll… think about what you owe me later,” she said, her face stoic once more. “I guess for now, we should stop more girls from asking you out.” She glanced at his desk, cluttered with his red and pink gifts. She made a disgusted face. “Just looking at all these gifts annoys me. You should not be this popular.”
Kel laughed. “I know! I don’t want to be!”
To that, thankfully, Aubrey smiled again.