My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 123

My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy

Chapter 123 Keeping My Birthday A Secret

The digital numbers on my bedside clock glowed red in the dark. Six o’clock.

I reached out and pressed the plastic button to kill the alarm before it could sound. I pushed the heavy quilt off my chest. The morning

air in my small bedroom felt like ice. I shivered, my bare feet hitting the cold wooden floorboards.

Thursday. May the seventh.

I turned eighteen today.

A milestone year carried a massive weight inside the halls of Crestview Prep. For the affluent student body, turning eighteen meant extravagant displays of wealth. It meant catered parties at exclusive country clubs. It meant waking up to a luxury sports car with a giant red bow sitting in the circular driveway. It meant a week-long trip to a foreign city paid for by a black credit card.

In my house, turning eighteen meant a different kind of reality. It meant I was one year closer to graduation. It meant I was one year closer to securing a medical degree and pulling my mother out of the diner.

I walked down the narrow, dark hallway. The floorboards groaned under my weight. The house sat in complete silence. My mother worked the closing shift last night, and she needed to sleep before her afternoon rotation began.

I entered the small kitchen. I flipped the brass wall switch. The overhead bulb flickered, casting a weak yellow light across the chipped

formica counters.

A small, white cardboard bakery box sat in the center of the small table.

A faded yellow sticky note rested on the top of the lid. The handwriting looked rushed and tired, written in black ink. Happy Birthday, Raisa. I am so proud of the woman you are. I love you. Mom.

My throat tightened. A heavy lump formed, making it hard to swallow. I pulled the small tab and opened the box. A single vanilla cupcake with bright pink frosting sat inside. A plain white, unlit candle lay next to the paper wrapper. She stopped at the corner store after standing on her feet for twelve hours. She spent her tip money to make sure I woke up to a celebration.

The gesture held more value than any luxury car. The quiet, exhausted love in the sticky note meant everything to me.

I sat at the wooden table. I ate the cupcake in the quiet kitchen. The sugar offered a brief, sharp rush of energy. I washed the cardboard box in the stainless steel sink and tossed it into the recycling bin. I wiped the counter clean. I left the house a few minutes later, stepping out into the damp, gray morning.

The diesel engine of the city transit bus rumbled beneath my plastic seat. I stared out the smudged window. The concrete landscape of my neighborhood blurred into the manicured green lawns of the wealthy districts.

My mind spun in a chaotic loop. The memory of the school library consumed my thoughts.

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Chapter 123 Keeping My Birthday A Secret

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I closed my eyes. I felt the phantom texture of the carved wood against my fingertips. A cluster of stars. The Orion constellation. A storm

of creation.

Ryder Steinmann sat in that shadowed alcove. He carved the stars into the bookshelf while he watched me study. He spent hours in the quiet dark, guarding my space from a distance. He learned my habits. He memorized my past. He built an entire universe around me, and I

spent four years assuming I was invisible to him.

The realization terrified me. The depth of his devotion stripped away my breath.

When we drafted the fake dating contract in the empty chemistry lab, we established strict parameters. I demanded boundaries. I wrote

the rules in blue ink on college-ruled paper.

Rule Three: Personal lives remain separate. No questions about family or past.

I set the rule to protect my heart. I wanted to keep the transaction cold and logical. I did not mention my birthday to him. We agreed to perform for the school. We agreed to pretend for Trent Lawson and the rest of the student body. We did not agree to drag our private

milestones into the lie.

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