My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 158

Chapter 158 Lying To Him On Purpose

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The morning arrived with a suffocating gray sky. The clouds mirrored the heavy weight in my chest. I stood on my front porch. My canvas

backpack hung from my shoulder. The thick biology textbook inside felt like a block of concrete. I possessed the knowledge to ace the

upcoming midterms, but I carried the intent to fail.

Ryder pulled his dark blue truck up to the curb. The diesel engine idled. I walked down the concrete path and climbed into the passenger

seat.

He wore a faded black t-shirt and his scuffed leather jacket. He looked rested. The dark circles under his hazel eyes were gone. He

believed the plan. He believed he would march into Principal Miller’s office and take the fall to protect my flawless transcript.

He put the truck in gear. “I will drop you at the library entrance. I need ten minutes with Miller. I will find you after.”

“Stop, I said. My voice sounded cracked. “You cannot go to the office.”

Ryder hit the brakes. The truck jerked to a halt at a red light. He turned to face me. The protective fire burned in his stare. “We discussed

this. I am ending the threat.”

“I handled it, I lied. The deception burned my tongue. I forced my hands to remain still in my lap. “I sent Chloe a message. I told her you hired a private investigator. I told her we have proof she cheated on her sophomore history final. Mutual destruction.”

Ryder narrowed his eyes. “You blackmailed her back?”

“I neutralized the threat.” I maintained eye contact. I refused to blink. She deleted the photographs. She dropped the demand. We are

safe. You keep your record, and I keep my rank.

The lie sounded plausible. Chloe harbored secrets. The affluent elite survived on hidden scandals.

Ryder studied my face. He searched for a crack in my composure. I built an impenetrable wall of ice around my features. I channeled the professional distance I perfected during our first month of tutoring.

“She backed down?” he asked. The skepticism hung in the confined space of the truck cab.

“She values her Ivy League acceptance more than revenge,” I stated. “Let it go, Ryder. Do not go to Miller. If you confess a fraud, you

create a scandal we avoided.”

The light turned green. He pressed the gas pedal. “I hate it. I want to ruin her for threatening you.”

“The threat is over.”

We reached the Crestview Prep campus. The massive brick buildings loomed against the gray sky. We walked through the front doors. The chaotic noise of the student body filled the main corridor. Teenagers slammed metal lockers and gossiped about the weekend. Nobody pointed at us. Nobody whispered about a fake contract. The lie held the school in a trance.

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Chapter 158 Lying To Him On Purpose

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The morning passed in a blur of hollow interactions. I sat in AP Chemistry. Mr. Harrison wrote complex equations on the whiteboard. I stared at the black marker lines. The numbers and symbols looked like a foreign language. I did not take notes. I did not raise my hand.

The drive to succeed vanished, replaced by a profound, numbing grief.

I surrendered my dream. I traded the prestigious medical scholarship for the freedom of the boy sitting two rows behind me.

The lunch bell rang. The students flooded the hallways.

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I bypassed the crowded cafeteria. I could not stomach the smell of the food or the sight of the blue plastic tables. I headed for the library.

The quiet sanctuary offered a place to hide.

I sat at our usual round wooden table in the back corner. I pulled my biology textbook from my bag. I opened the pages to the chapter on cellular respiration. I stared at the diagrams. I did not read the text. I prepared to fail this exam. I needed to memorize the wrong

answers. I needed to construct a believable failure.

Footsteps approached the table.

Ryder pulled out the chair across from me. He sat down. He dropped a paper bag from the local bakery onto the wood. The scent of warm sugar and cinnamon drifted into the air.

“You skipped lunch,” he said.

“I need to study,” I replied. I kept my eyes on the textbook pages.

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