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Elias was always talking to Simon and Simon kept brushing it off. Elias seemed like an okay guy. And Simon had noticed how attractive he was, in an objective sense. But, he couldn’t help but feel like Elias was only friendly to him because he was so cold and that the second he actually did return his friendliness, he’d get bored. Besides, Elias always wanted to partner with him in AP Statistics when all he did was slow Simon down.
Today Elias had finally gotten his way and was Simon’s partner. Mostly because Simon sorta kinda didn’t have other friends.
Simon immediately noticed that the popular girls kept looking over at them. When Nimah whispered something and Raina, Alex and Shelby all laughed, Simon felt his face get hot with embarrassment.
He walked over to them and crossed his arms. “What is it?” he asked. He’d wanted to seem cool and assertive but he knew he just sounded shrill and nervous.
“Nothing, nothing,” Alex said quickly.
“We were just talking about how cute you are,” Shelby said with a big smile.
Simon wrinkled his forehead and pushed his glasses up. He could tell that Shelby was sincere, but her saying that he was cute didn’t compute at all.
“Yeah, you guys are a really cute couple,” Raina agreed, although she sounded a little off. Jealous maybe? The thought made Simon excited.
“Elias and me? We’re…” He trailed off, looking at their expressions. People were actually smiling at him, interested.
“Are you two going to come to my party after homecoming?” Shelby asked.
Simon slowly grinned, his heart racing a little.
As they left class, Simon asked, “So, do you want to have lunch together?”
“You want to?” Elias asked with surprise. “Sure.”
When Simon and Elias were sitting with their food, Simon looked around to make sure no one from school was in the Chinese restaurant near school he’d chosen. When he was sure no one was around, he told Elias, “So, some people think we’re dating.”
Elias laughed and said, “Wow. So, if a gay guy so much as talks to another guy, they must be a couple. Typical.”
“Yeah, Alex and those other girls said we’re cute together,” Simon said.
“Of course they did. They ask to go shopping to? It’s like ever since Will & Grace…” Simon nodded along and waited for Elias to finish talking.
When he was eventually able to respond, he said, “I think we should keep letting them think we’re together.”
Elias blinked. “You want to be my boyfriend?”
“No,” Simon said, frowning and shaking his head. “I just want to say you are.”
“That is so offensive,” Elias said, frowning. “Are you even gay?”
Simon sighed. He took off his glasses and set them aside and looked into Elias’s eyes. He could see Elias soften up right away. He played up his patheticness and said, “You may have noticed I don’t have a lot of friends.” Elias nodded sympathetically. “If people are willing to actually talk to me because they think I’m dating you…”
He could see Elias struggling internally. He took Elias’s hand and said, “Please just think about it, okay?”
They drove back to school in silence. After Elias parked his Prius, he put his hand on Simon’s shoulder. Simon resisted the urge to twitch at the touch.
“Okay,” Elias told him. “I’m in.”
Everything after that was a whirlwind of happiness. Simon felt like he was finally on the inside, finally part of something. He knew things like taking group selfies and driving around in Shelby’s car singing along to the radio were completely vapid, but he loved every moment of it. The effectiveness of the lie surpassed his expectations: someone actually nominated him and Elias for homecoming kings.
At the pep rally, Raina shocked him by grabbing the microphone and saying that Simon and Elias were just pretending to be a gay couple. Simon wondered how she knew. Did she see the way he looked at her?
Elias looked over at Simon. Simon knew immediately what he was thinking, how they could put people’s doubts aside. Elias leaned in just slightly. Simon leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him. Simon wasn’t experienced with kissing boys, but he was very experienced in faking things. He made the kiss long and loving, to be convincing.
As they kissed, he also felt something. He told himself it was most likely the excitement of pulling off a con, knowing people were completely buying it.
But, it was something else too.