The Pretend Friend Prologue

I was sixteen years old when I befriended Charlotte Simmons. I had been living with Maeve Anderson, my fifth foster parent, for about eight months. Maeve was the kindest foster parent I had by then, but she was also the biggest pushover. I had taken advantage of her kindness on too many occasions, and while I did feel guilty sometimes, I knew it wouldn't be too long before I was switched to a different home anyway. I learned the hard way to never make attachments.

So it was unfortunate for me when I bumped into Charlotte on her first day at Sugarhill High School. Standing in the hallway, she had never looked so out of place with her white skirt and plaid vest. Then there were the dark glasses on her face, and I thought she must have been the most stuck-up person in the world to be wearing glasses inside.

I had meant to bump into her shoulder just slightly out of spite, but a guy crashed into me from behind as soon as I reached her and sent us all to the ground.

He had screamed out an apology while scrambling to his feet and running away.

"Asshole!" I shouted after him, but he was long gone.

I stood up and meant to walk away, but then I heard her glasses crunch under my shoes. I turned back towards her, but she was still sitting on the ground where she had fallen, unmoving.

"Hey," I said roughly.

When she remained still, I sighed deeply and leaned down in front of her. It was my first time seeing hazel eyes, and I was struck by how unworldly it seemed. She didn't look away even as I continued to stare at her, enraptured by the green and gold of her eyes.

But then she spoke, and I was pulled back into myself. "Leave me alone."

I stood up again with a scowl. "Gladly."

As I walked away a couple of steps, she finally moved, her hands reaching out blindly in front of her for her stuff. I realized, with a start, that she was blind, and I came to a stop. Then, before I could shout a warning, her fingers brushed against the broken glasses, and she withdrew her hand to her chest.

Without thinking, I rushed back to her and grabbed her hand to examine it.

"What are you doing?" she asked while trying to pull her hand away, but I kept a firm grip. A line of blood had broken on the surface of her finger.

"You're bleeding," I said. "You cut yourself on your glasses."

She frowned. "I'm blind, not stupid. I can feel it."

"Geez, are you always this uptight?" I muttered and released her hand. She cradled it to her chest and winced from the pain. Even though I could have left, I picked up her books instead and stood. "Come on. I'll take you to the nurse's office."

"I can't," she said and finally stood up.

"And why not?"

"My dad is with the Principal."

I glanced over at the closed door behind her, where the Principal's office was. "How long has he been in there for?"

She merely shrugged in response, and I sighed. "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" she asked, stepping forward.

"I'll bring the nurse to you."

Her brows furrowed. "Why are you helping me?"

"I don't know, Princess," I said as I began to head towards the nurse's office.

She stiffened. "I'm not a princess."

"Whatever you say." I grinned even though she couldn't see it. "Princess." Her face twisted into a scowl, and I laughed. "See you in a few."

-------

Nurse Robin was not happy that she had to leave her office, but it only took me exaggerating the state of the wound for her to bring the big box of first aid.

When we got there, the girl was still there, but this time with Principal Williams and a well-dressed man, who I assumed was her father, hovering over her.

"I'm fine, dad," she said.

The man looked up when we stopped in front of them. Principal Williams's eyes widened when he saw that it was me.

"I brought the nurse," I said awkwardly.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Principal Williams asked nervously, stepping forward.

"What happened to her?" The man asked sharply. His eyes were a piercing green, and they were filled with accusation as he stared me down.

"She was just helping me," the girl said. "Someone bumped into us, and I cut myself on the glasses."

Unable to hold his gaze, I lowered my head. "Yeah, what she said."

Finally, I felt his attention shift away from me. "What are you doing, just standing there? Shouldn't you be treating her?"

Nurse Robin snapped to attention and stumbled towards the girl. "Oh yes, sorry."

It felt like we were trapped in a bubble of tense air, and all of the power radiated from the man solely. I had never seen Principal Williams so nervous before, and even Nurse Robin lost all of her snappiness.

I began to back away from them. "I should be heading to class."

"Wait."

My feet came to a stop. So close.

The man stepped towards me, and I dared to meet his gaze again. This time, some of the hardness had left. "I want to talk with you."

My heart began to race, and I glanced over at Principal Williams, who looked just as panicked.

"Sam, can we use your office?" He demanded more than asked.

"Yes, of course," Principal Williams answered. "But she's really no one special. Just a student--"

"She helped my daughter," the man said. "That's pretty important, don't you think?"

I froze. I had never heard anyone talk to Principal Williams that way. Whoever this man was, he must have been important, and I cursed myself for getting involved.

"Right, of course." Principal Williams's face reddened. "Take as long as you need."

As I began to wonder where Principal Williams would go, the man headed towards the office, and I reluctantly followed him. He turned briefly towards his daughter. "Take Charlotte to the nurse's office. This won't take long."

Charlotte. So that was her name.

"Dad," Charlotte looked up with a pained look. "She really didn't do anything."

He smiled warmly at his daughter, and I was struck by how different he looked now. "I believe you, darling. Don't worry."

She smiled in relief, but I felt none of it myself. I stepped into the office, and he closed the door behind us. I had been sent here too many times to count, but now, it felt like a prison cell.

The man walked over to the desk and sat down in Principal Williams's seat as if he owned it. He gestured to the seat across, and I reluctantly sat down. I kept my gaze on the desk as my fingers fidgeted on my lap.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Jess," I answered. "Jess Silva."

Jess Silva was a random name given to me. I never knew my parents, and all I knew was that I had been dropped off at a fire station the day I was born.

Then he typed something into the computer and clicked around. I sat there, waiting. Then he pulled out his phone and rapidly tapped it.

The longer I waited, the more constricted the air felt in the office. We must have sat in silence for about ten minutes before he shifted his attention back to me.

"Why did you help my daughter?" he asked, pocketing his phone.

I shrugged. "I bumped into her. I felt bad."

It was the truth, though he didn't know that I had intentionally planned to bump into her anyway.

"So you pitied her," he said factually. "Is it because she's blind?"

My eyes snapped up to meet his but didn't answer. He took it as confirmation.

"Charlotte is a very stubborn girl. She insisted on going to public school even though I told her it wasn't going to be easy." He leaned back into the chair. "Private school would have been too tough. People like me are not nice, and they will not treat a blind girl kindly. So public school was the only option, and it seems like I was right."

I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be an insult with his tone. He made everything sound like an insult.

"I want to propose something to you, but whatever I tell you next can never leave this room. Do we have an understanding?" he said sternly.

Swallowing, I nodded. I wasn't sure what he would be capable of doing if I did say something, but I wasn't in the business of finding out.

He leaned forward, and folded his hands together on the table. "I want you to be Charlotte's friend."

My mind went blank. The request was so underwhelming that I couldn't even think of a response. Thankfully, he didn't wait for one.

"Be her friend until she graduates, and I will pay for your college tuition to whatever school you decide to go to," he proposed now. "If you choose not to go to college, then I will pay about the same amount to you in a span of four years after high school. Do whatever you want with that money."

I could feel my mouth opening as his proposal ran circles in my mind. He wanted to pay me to be his daughter's friend. The idea was so ludicrous I wanted to laugh, but he was not smiling at all. In fact, his eyes were hard.

"I know you have been in foster care since you were a baby, so you don't have any financial support," he continued. "This will benefit you a lot."

My body chilled all over. In a matter of ten minutes, he had looked up my entire life. Just how powerful was he, and why, out of all the places Charlotte could have gone to, she had to come here?

And why the fuck couldn't I have just minded my own business and walked away?

Now, he sat back and waited.

Even though my mind was still racing, the answer was clear.

"No," I said and met his gaze steadily. "No deal."

And for the first time since I met him, he looked surprised. He raised a questioning brow. "And why not?"

"I'm not someone you can just pay to make your daughter's life easier," I said as calmly as I could even though pressure was growing in my chest from fury. "Just because we're not as rich doesn't mean we have to be nice. We're not here to be pushed around."

I knew he probably could have ruined my life for saying all of this, but I didn't care. I had nothing to lose.

But Charlotte's dad merely tapped his finger on the table as his expression changed into consideration. "That was not at all the response I expected."

I merely stared at him blankly, and then he sighed and shrugged. "Well, it was worth a try." He stood up and pulled out his wallet. Then he tossed a card on the table. "If you change your mind."

I remained still as he moved towards the door and opened it. Then he glanced back once more. "And remember what I said. Nothing leaves this room."

Long after he left the room, I pocketed the card and left the office.

------

I didn't see Charlotte again for the rest of the day, and I made a promise to myself to ignore her if I saw her again.

Even though I pushed her father's proposal to the back of my mind, the card felt heavy in my pocket.

Daniel Simmons. CEO of Simmons Enterprises.

I had no idea what Simmons Enterprises was, but he was the CEO of a company that had his name. It was no wonder Principal Williams had been so flustered.

Whoever he was, I was certain that I wouldn't take the deal. There was nothing that would make me give him the pleasure of winning.

I had been so sure of it until I arrived back to the house. Maeve was sitting in the kitchen, head in her hands with a yellow paper on the table.

When she heard me come in, she immediately tried to hide the paper, but I grabbed it from her hands. My heart dropped at the word "foreclosure."

"--just a couple months behind," Maeve tried to dissuade me from concern. "I'll call the bank tomorrow morning and try to--"

"What about the monthly stipend?" I asked. "You could just use that."

Maeve shook her head and sat down. "I'm not going to use that money. That's for you."

"I don't need it," I said. "I would rather you not lose the house."

I didn't tell her why though. I didn't tell her that I didn't want to go into another family. I didn't tell her that I wanted to stay with her.

Maeve sighed. "We won't lose the house, Jess. I promise."

I had listened to too many empty promises.

She attempted a smile. "Why don't you let me worry about this, okay? How was school today?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I turned on my heel and went towards my room. She called out for me, but I ignored her.

Then, in my room, I pulled out Daniel Simmons's card and called the number.

------

When I arrived to school the next day, all of my classes had been changed to the same schedule as Charlotte's. Principal Williams had not said anything when he gave me my new schedule, and I had not said anything either. I didn't know if he knew about the deal, but I wasn't about to risk it.

I had negotiated on a different offer. In exchange for paying off the mortgage, I would befriend Charlotte. It would be less than the amount he offered before, but I didn't to use his money for myself. I only wanted to help Maeve, which in turn would help me.

He had agreed to the deal immediately, and why wouldn't he? It would cost him less, and he would still get what he wanted.

A fellowship was the excuse I gave to Maeve. She wanted more details, so Daniel faked a couple of documents and emailed it over to me. A fellowship for Simmons Enterprises, where I would be studying business. There was no bone in my body that cared for business running, but Maeve didn't need to know that.

I felt a tinge of guilt when she hugged me excitedly and went on a tangent of celebration ideas, but she would be able to keep her house and that was all that mattered.

Befriending Charlotte was not an easy task, though. She might have been the most infuriating person I had ever met, and it was no wonder why her dad had to pay me to be her friend.

I tried making light jokes, but she laughed at none of them. I asked questions, but she merely gave me dry responses or no responses at all. I even went as far as asking her to hang out after school, but she said she was busy. It was as if she didn't want to be my friend at all, and I wondered why she even wanted to attend public school if she didn't want to interact with anyone.

Well, it wasn't like anyone wanted to talk to her anyway. They all avoided her and looked at me like I was crazy for trying to befriend her. I felt crazy.

It was the second week since I accepted the deal that she finally confronted me.

"Why do you keep talking to me?" she snapped as I followed her out of the school. Classes had ended for the day.

She stopped on the steps outside the building and stumbled. I immediately grabbed her arm to steady her, and she yanked it away with a frown.

"I'm just trying to be your friend," I said lamely.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"I act like a bitch, and yet you come back every day." She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled sharply. "What did my dad say to you?"

I grew still as my mind formed my next words carefully. "Nothing major. He just thanked me for helping you."

Charlotte shook her head in disbelief. "He had to have said something."

She couldn't have known. I had been careful, and I knew Daniel was calculative enough to not have said anything suspicious. But somehow, she had caught on.

Then Charlotte turned away from me, closing her eyes. "Did...did he tell you about the accident?"

Accident?

I looked at her, trying to figure out what she meant, and then it occurred to me. Her blindness had not been natural at all.

"No," I answered. "He didn't tell me any of that. I promise. I just want to be your friend. That's all."

She exhaled slowly and lowered herself onto the steps. I sat down next to her.

"No one has ever wanted to be my friend," she finally said and reopened her eyes. They shone with tears.

"Me too," I said. "I've never really had friends before."

It was the truth. Growing up, I had a bad temper and got into a lot of fights. Anyone who tried to befriend me was repelled by my aloofness. I was used to being alone, but now I had no other choice.

"I thought you were just pitying me."

"What, because you're an antisocial bitch?" I retorted.

That earned me a small smile from her, and I was struck by how mesmerizing it looked.

"Yeah, that's exactly it," she said. Then her smile faded, and I felt the desire to see it again. "So you really want to be friends?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

She threw her hands up. "Oh, what the hell. We might as well since it seems like we're in all the same classes anyway."

Right.

Silence enveloped us. I wasn't sure how else to proceed now. My goal had been to break through her shell and get her to agree to be my friend, but what did friends really do?

"So," Charlotte finally said after a while. "What should we do?"

"What do you like to do?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Read."

"I don't really like--" Then it hit me, and her lips formed a smirk. "Okay, that is so mean."

"Well, let me rephrase that," she said, laughing. "I like to listen to audio books."

"I hate books."

"Well, what do you like?"

"Music."

Charlotte raised a brow. "What about it do you like?"

"Everything."

Then she sighed and shook her head. "We suck at talking, don't we?"

I found myself grinning. "See, we finally found something in common."

And Charlotte returned my grin with one of her own.

------

In the span of five months, Charlotte and I got better at talking, and we talked so much that our teachers had to tell us several times to be quiet. They never separated us though.

I found out that Charlotte had a twin brother, James, who went to a boarding school. He was the more charming and outgoing sibling, but he was also the troublemaker in the family. Charlotte's mom, Grace, was a famous photographer, and she had taken a lot of pictures for popular magazines.

Charlotte's family seemed happy and successful. It was the kind of family that I always wanted. When she asked me about my family, I thought about lying. I wanted to paint my life in a glamorous way and tell her that I had loving parents, but the friendship already felt dishonest enough.

"My parents gave me up after I was born," I told her.

Immediately, she sought for my hand, and I put it in her path. As her hand enveloped mine, I knew that if it were anyone else, I would have shoved them for touching me.

But not Charlotte.

As my friendship with her progressed, the mortgage kept getting paid each month. Maeve continued to keep believing me about the fellowship, and all of the times that I spent outside of school hanging out with Charlotte was used to help spin that lie.

I had gone to Charlotte's house a couple of times by now. The first time I came, I was struck by how big it was. I had never seen a gated house that was almost the size of a mansion before, and I felt out of place in my jeans, graphic tee, and converse.

Charlotte's bedroom was what I expected. It was spacious with a balcony and private bathroom. Her room was neat and decorated with plushy furniture.

All the times I had been to her house, I had not seen her parents at all, thankfully. Her brother was at boarding school, so I had never met him.

But it was the first day of summer, which meant her brother was home, and so, I was surprised when I came over and saw him lying on the couch.

He was the guy version of Charlotte with chestnut-colored hair and hazel eyes. His hair was naturally wavy like Charlotte's.

He sprung up from the couch and bounced towards us with energy.

"Jess, that guy is probably my brother, James," Charlotte introduced us to each other. "James, this is Jess. She's my best friend."

Best friend. I felt my chest swell.

James looked at me with a grin. "Hey Jess, I heard a lot about you."

I held out a hand, but he pulled me into a welcoming hug. Charlotte beamed at us.

"It's nice to meet you," I said with a polite smile when he pulled away.

"Nice dimples," he said, and I blushed.

"Thanks."

Charlotte's brows furrowed.

James threw himself back on the couch. "So what are you both planning on doing today?"

"Girl stuff," Charlotte said before I could answer. She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the stairs. "None of your business, basically."