Siya's POV

Ryan was sitting on the floor beside my bed while I sat cross-legged opposite him.

My phone lay between us.

The anonymous messages still open.

For a while neither of us spoke.

Ryan was rereading the messages.

Again.

And again.

As if he could somehow find an answer hidden between the words.

Then he looked up.

"My fake dating idea isn't off the table yet."

I groaned.

"Ryan."

"What?"

"No."

He sighed dramatically.

"You're rejecting the idea before hearing the argument."

"I've heard the argument."

"You heard half of it."

I threw a pillow at him.

Unfortunately, he caught it.

The traitor.

"Why are you so against it anyway?" he asked.

I stared at him.

Was he serious?

"Because this isn't a movie."

Ryan folded his arms.

"Okay."

"And because our worlds are completely different."

His expression softened slightly.

I continued.

"Ryan, you're Ryan Bosco."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Last time I checked."

"You're rich."

"True."

"Your family hosts galas."

"Unfortunately."

"You literally live in a mansion."

"It's a house."

"It's bigger than my entire neighborhood."

Ryan opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

Because even he knew I had a point.

I continued.

"You belong to a completely different world than me."

The room grew quiet.

For a moment Ryan simply looked at me.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean no."

I frowned.

Ryan leaned forward.

"Our worlds might be different."

His voice was calm.

"But our goal isn't."

I stayed silent.

Because he wasn't wrong.

"We both want the same thing."

He pointed at the phone.

"To find whoever this creep is."

My eyes dropped to the screen.

The messages suddenly looked heavier.

More threatening.

More personal.

Ryan continued.

"Think about it."

"He disappeared when school started because he thought he succeeded in creating a rift and you became distant after confrontation."

I nodded.

"He comes back now."

Another nod.

"And what changed?"

I didn't answer.

Ryan did it for me.

"You started spending time with me."

The room fell silent.

Because that part was true.

Ever since Ryan and I had become friends...

The messages had returned.

The anonymous texter had become active again.

Ryan pointed at the newest message.

«Taking my place, Bosco?»

A chill ran down my spine.

Ryan's jaw tightened.

"That isn't normal."

"No."

"It sounds jealous."

I hated that he was right.

It sounded exactly like jealousy.

Possessive jealousy.

The kind that made my skin crawl.

Ryan looked directly at me.

"What if fake dating pushes him further?"

I frowned.

"What if he makes a mistake?"

"What if he gets angry?"

"What if he finally reveals himself?"

The room became quiet again.

Because for the first time-

The plan didn't sound completely ridiculous.

Dangerous?

Yes.

Stupid?

Probably.

But ridiculous?

Not anymore.

Ryan noticed my hesitation immediately.

A smug smile appeared on his face.

I pointed at him.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Look so pleased with yourself."

His smile widened.

Which somehow made him more annoying.

"I knew you'd come around."

"I didn't."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"You are."

I grabbed another pillow.

Ryan immediately raised both hands.

"Violence isn't the answer, Pink."

"It is when I'm talking to you."

And despite everything-

The messages.

The fear.

The uncertainty.

Ryan laughed.

And for the first time since the anonymous texter returned...

I found myself considering the possibility that maybe-

Just maybe-

This crazy plan might actually work.

Siya's POV

The more we talked about the plan, the more impossible it sounded.

Not because of the anonymous messenger.

Not because of the fake dating.

But because of one very specific problem.

Our friends.

I was lying on my stomach on the bed while Ryan sat in the chair beside my desk.

Both of us looked equally concerned.

"Okay."

Ryan grabbed a notebook.

"We need a plan."

I nodded.

"Good."

"Step one."

He wrote something down.

"Convince people we're dating."

I nodded again.

"So far so good."

Ryan looked up.

"Step two."

He paused.

Then crossed out step one.

"Actually, we can't get past step one."

I burst out laughing.

"Exactly!"

Ryan dropped the pen.

"Do you know how suspicious it's going to look?"

"Very."

"Yesterday we were friends."

"Yes."

"And Ta-da status updated Today we're dating."

"Correct."

"Nobody is going to believe that."

I pointed at him.

"Finally. You're using your brain."

Ryan ignored me.

"Lucas won't believe us."

"Nope."

"James definitely won't."

"Not a chance."

"Kathy will interrogate us."

"Like an FBI agent."

Ryan sighed.

Then both of us spoke at the same time.

"Carlos."

The room fell silent.

Because Carlos was a category of problem by himself.

Ryan rubbed his face.

"Carlos will either believe us immediately or not believe us at all."

"There is no in-between."

"Exactly."

I groaned.

"We're doomed."

"We really are."

---

Ryan stood up and started pacing.

A sign that he was thinking.

Or overthinking.

Usually both.

"Okay."

He stopped suddenly.

"We need a believable story."

I narrowed my eyes.

"What story?"

"How we started dating."

I froze.

Oh.

Right.

People would ask that.

A lot.

---

Ryan pointed toward me.

"What do we tell them?"

I immediately answered.

"The truth."

Ryan looked hopeful.

I continued.

"We don't date."

His hope died instantly.

---

A pillow hit me.

---

"Focus, Pink."

"I'm focused."

"No, you're annoying."

"Same thing."

---

Ryan sat back down.

Then thought for a moment.

"What if we tell them we slowly developed feelings after the camp ?"

I immediately shook my head.

"Kathy won't buy that."

"Why?"

"Because she knows every detail of my life."

"Fair."

Ryan thought again.

"What about Carlos?"

I stared at him.

Ryan stared back.

Then both of us started laughing.

Because there was no plan for Carlos.

Absolutely none.

---

"Actually."

I sat up.

"Forget Carlos."

Ryan looked concerned.

"That's never a good sign."

"The real problem is Aron."

Ryan froze.

"Oh."

"Exactly."

The realization hit both of us at the same time.

Lucas could be distracted.

James could be convinced.

Carlos could be confused.

Kathy could be emotionally manipulated.

But Aron?

Aron noticed everything.

---

Ryan sighed.

"I don't like how right you are."

I crossed my arms proudly.

"I know."

"He'll figure it out."

"He absolutely will."

"He'll ask questions."

"He absolutely will."

"He'll keep asking questions."

"He absolutely will."

Ryan dropped his head against the chair.

"We're doomed."

---

The room fell quiet.

Then suddenly I started laughing.

Ryan looked at me.

"What?"

"Do you realize something?"

"What?"

I grinned.

"The anonymous creep is the easy part."

Ryan stared.

Then slowly nodded.

"You're right."

The room became silent again.

A long silence.

Then Ryan sighed dramatically.

"Imagine explaining this."

I laughed.

"Hi guys."

Ryan immediately joined in.

"We're dating."

I continued.

"No we're not."

"We're pretending to date."

"We're pretending to date because of a stalker."

"To catch the stalker."

"Who pretended to be Ryan."

Ryan pointed at me.

"See?"

I nodded.

"Nobody is believing this."

And honestly?

For the first time since we came up with the plan-

Both of us realized that convincing our friends might be harder than catching the anonymous messenger.

Hello my lovely pentorians
Ready for the fake relationship arc ?
Because I am so so so ready to make you feel a roller coaster of emotions
See you soon
Love you all
Aapki dora urf pentora ❤️💋