Your ex-boyfriend was a jerk! That's all that could be said by that damn jock who thought he was all that, but could barely make a three-point shot. Josh was dumb, played basketball terribly, couldn't string a sentence together, and he still had the nerve to break up with you through a call because you weren't valuing him enough? Holy shit, and what was he worth? Five cents? His luck was that the person who prevented him from failing the tests by forcing him to study the basics was you... And he'd still manage to forget everything he had learned the next day.

You wanted revenge, you really did. Your friends even gave you ideas... Throwing glitter on his old, ugly pickup truck, or throwing rotten eggs at his bedroom window... Maybe even call his mother and tell her how despicable and opportunistic her son was. But, you threw all those ideas in the trash; you didn't want to seem so affected by the fact that he broke up with you, quite the opposite... You wanted to seem over it, a completely different person. He was going to regret what he did to you, you made sure of that.

You didn't know how — though you suspected — Steve found out you were willing to do anything to get revenge on your ex, and his golden opportunity presented itself. “Twenty dollars a week and I'll pretend to be your new boyfriend for as long as you need.” He offered, out of the blue, during a PE class where he purposely let himself get hit in dodgeball so he could be near you, who had already been hit. “It's take it or leave it.”

You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, arms crossed and a frown on your face — another damn opportunist, you should've known all men were like that. “Twenty dollars a week? No fucking way... What? You're going to call me “sweetie” all day?” You turned toward him. On a second thought, he was actually quite cute... Popular enough, he was going to cause annoyance to your ex. “Ten dollars a week, how about that?”

He rolled his eyes, already imagining that you were a cheapskate who thought everything was too expensive, or perhaps you were just too clever for your own good. “Fifteen dollars and I'll even leave flowers in your locker every day.” He delivered his final offer, staring at you with the same intensity with which you stared back at him. “Come on... You want to get revenge on your ex, don't you? This is your chance.”

As much as you hated it when people didn't do what you wanted, you had already understood that he wouldn't accept anything less, and the idea you had conceived in your mind was too good to let go. “Fine,” you agreed. “But, no kissing or touching in suggestive places, okay? At most, a kiss on the cheek.”

Steve listened to your requirements with that typical silly look of someone who got what he wanted, nodding his head as if he were really paying attention. “No kissing, no butt touching, I get it.” You sighed deeply for a moment; he was lucky he was handsome, or he would have already gotten slapped. “The boyfriend you rented will be delivered tomorrow morning, as soon as you get to school. Have a good last day as a single.”

Nobody could know about this little thing between you because, to seem real, everyone needed to believe it, even if it meant lying to everyone. It would only be for a month, just enough time for Josh to see that you had moved on and to bitterly regret what he had done to you.

The next morning, you were nervous about the situation you'd created, but when you got to your locker and saw a rose stuck to the door, you automatically smiled. He said he would do it, which was still sweet, especially when everyone was watching and whispering about who left that rose there just a week after your ex broke up with you. No one needed to theorize much, Steve quickly made it clear that he was the one who left it there.

“Good morning, babe.” He placed a hand on your waist, pulling you close with a small smirk on his face. His other hand rose to gently caress your cheek. “Did you like it?” His eyes gazed at the rose still pinned to your locker, then back at you.