I guessed it could be counted as luck that my mum was having a late night at the office again, because I did not want to explain why or how I'd managed to lose my uniform. Luckily, I had a clean, ironed set at home for the next day.

Elaine was waiting for me at my locker when I got to school. "I heard what happened yesterday," she said.

"Yeah...it's pretty messed up."

"You didn't tell me anything was going on with Holden?"

"Seriously, why does everyone think something's going on?"

"The jersey," Elaine laughed. "Holden's done that with one other girl. His only serious girlfriend at Pemberton. She wore his jersey to watch all his games."

"Why'd they break up?"

"He probably cheated on her. Cause that's just what Holden does."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Anyway, you think my uniform is gonna turn up?"

"Probably. These kids get sick of the joke pretty quickly."

The bell rang and we parted ways. If there was one place I was sure of in the entire school, it was my homeroom. It was right beside the school reception, on the ground floor of the main building.

The Top Four were legitimately a big deal, because on my way to homeroom, I heard countless whispers about me and Holden. Parker and Stephanie walked past me, surrounded by their posse. I pressed myself against the wall, standing sideways to let the group through. Stephanie halted momentarily and turned to look at me with a smile.

Homeroom was just fifteen minutes of daily notices that were very rarely relevant to me. The only thing coming up was the 'Back to School' dance. As if that was any reason to dance. It was a masked ball with tickets going on sale during first break at the reception office.

I got to physics early, just in time to catch the morning's dose of daily gossip. I stood on the far end of the hallway outside the door, avoiding the groups that were chatting. "See why I didn't lend you a shirt?" Parker asked, stopping next to me.

"How kind of you," I replied.

He shrugged. "Better than Holden's kind of help, right?" he smiled.

That was it. Holden had given me that jersey on purpose. He knew what people would think. The only question: why?

"Just like Elaine. Hardly a week in and she's already trying to rope the guys in," someone commented.

"He's probably just using her," another added.

Holden came walking down the other end of the hallway. He grinned and waved, but I knew that move with the jersey hadn't been innocent help. Two could play that game.

"Babe!" I exclaimed. He looked at me, shock registering for a second before being replaced with a smile.

"Daisy," he grinned. I threw my arms over his shoulders and tip toed up to hug him. "You're going to have to do a little better than that at Pemberton," he whispered in my ear.

"Try me," I whispered back. I let go and looked him in the eye a moment before kissing him. If he seemed taken aback, he didn't let it show, although I was now immensely regretting my decision.

There was an audible gasp behind us. The class was let in and we took our seats at the back.

"Not bad," Holden grinned.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" I hissed.

"I think I should be asking that question. That was one hell of a kiss."

"You just had to give me your jersey didn't you? What was wrong with a plain shirt?"

"It was dirty. Besides, better than naked, don't you think?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Let's hope none of my clothes go walkabout again."

"Pretty sure it was Logan. He'll probably cool it off," Parker replied.

"So being Holden's girlfriend brings me immunity?"

"Nifty, right?" Holden joked.

The class fell silent as Mr Michaels cleared his throat, beginning the lesson. We continued discussing the assignment. Luckily, based on the distressed chatter, it was obvious that like us, the other groups had not started.

By the end of class, I'd scrawled down some tips to help the motor spin with greater torque: bigger magnets and more copper wire.

"This thing is due in a week, we should probably meet up to start and finish it," I said on the way out of class.

"How's tonight?" Holden suggested. "At mine."

Crystal overhead him, judging from the look she gave us when she passed us on the way out. "That works for me," I replied.

"Remember the wire," he said.

Parker and I were in the same maths class next, but Holden was in a different building. We crossed the yard to the opposite building, passing by the ticketing table that was being set up in front of the reception office.

"The dance. Now that we're dating, I suppose we have to go together," Holden smirked.

"Sure thing buddy," I scoffed.

"Being serious here. Now that the whole school thinks we have a thing, why not let it play out?"

"Oh I'd love to watch this trainwreck," Parker laughed.

People walking by were glancing our way. This would be the first time anyone noticed me in a high school. Even if we were faking it, spending my senior year as someone different was a welcomed change.

"Ok, I'm heading this way now," Holden said, leaning in closer to me before kissing me on the cheek. "Let's make this convincing."

I might not have gone red when I kissed him first, but my face was flushing now for sure. "You sure you don't need to get a drink of water after that?" Parker joked.

If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I needed to up my game.

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Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with another chapter of PWTRB :) If all goes according to plan, I'll be updating Tuesdays and Saturdays instead of once in a blue moon haha

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