The Fill - In Boyfriend
Episodes 10

I wanted to ask her what her brother's name was, but I can't admit that she hasn't told me yet. I need your brother's phone number.

"Why?"

I just wanted to send him a thank you note. Good. Thank you text. It would be like Dear fill-in Bradley, Thank you for lying to me and deceiving my friends by pretending to be my girlfriend. Now, can you tell me why you decided to go to the prom with me? Why do you want to help me? Why do you give me a very intense look when we dance like you can see something in me that I didn't know existed? That way I can get you out of my head. Thank ye.

If he wants you to have his number, he'll give it to you. He seemed happy to tell me this.

He would do it, but he had to leave immediately with all those fake fights.

He groaned as if he remembered how I used it again.

“If I give you my number, will you give it to him?”

"If I drop myself down these stairs, will you leave me alone?"

We had come out of the building and stood at the top of the cement stairs. A man who was as stupid as him stood below while looking at us. He didn't wait for my answer, which could technically be yes or no, to go straight down to join him.

“Hey, Gia,” said as I caught up with the two of them below.

I took a double photo and realized that he was the guy Bec was dating at the prom. "Hey. Ii'm sorry. I don't know your name. "

He shrugged his shoulders. “I've only been in your four classes for the past three years. Why would you?"

My cheeks are reddened. Really her? I looked at him again, closer. To be honest she didn't look familiar to me at all, except from the prom that night. We did attend public school — class sizes are large.

“Be careful,” says Bec, “popular friends you might see you walking with us.”

I looked up to see Claire and Laney heading straight towards me. They probably wouldn't recognize her, but Bec was right, if they saw her and realized that she was the same girl from the prom party, it would ruin everything. I changed my direction, leaving Bec and his girlfriend.

"Coward," Bec said as I took another ten steps. I stumbled a little but didn't stop.

"Do you know them?" Laney asked me when I met her and Claire.

“She's in my government class. We have a pop quiz. Who gives a short quiz on the Monday after prom? Our teacher is Satan, I have decided. "

They didn't seem to realize that I was completely confused by their question, changing the subject. “Yes, I saw your tweet. People are retweeting it all over the place. ”

Laney laughs.

Claire pulled my arm, turned my attention back to him. “Did you and Jules fight again?”

Another question I want to discuss. "He's been working on my case about Bradley for two months and he still won't let go."

“But we all met him. What could he possibly say now? ”

My tongue feels two sizes too big for my mouth. Now is the time for me to be frank, tell them what he can dig up and how stupid I am for lying. That way he has nothing on me.

Laney grabbed my hand. “Try being nice to her. He's been through a lot. "

“True, it's just—” My phone clang and I instinctively looked at the screen.

Claire must have looked over my shoulder because she said, "Don't you dare call her."

My eyes were still wide in shock. It was a message from Bradley: I've been thinking about prom night. . Call me when you get home.

I'm at home, staring at my phone, not calling Bradley. What I said to Daniel is true — I did not repeat it. But Claire is also right — I have always been the one to break off a relationship with a man. Breaking up with Bradley all of a sudden and I wasn't ready. Maybe it's too early. My mind was trying to remind me that she had left me in the middle of the prom parking lot. I don't want him back. But it never hurts to call him back, get a better close. Maybe if I told him what it's like to be left in the parking lot at prom, alone, I'd feel better. Maybe it'll help me deal with this sooner because I still have a stupid lump in my throat every time I think about it.

I need to touch the phone. All the numbers are on the screen waiting for that simple action. What's stopping me? There aren't.

I touched the Phone icon. My heart beats when the phone rings. I'm gonna do this. End it forever. Then why am I relieved when a call goes to a voicemail? "Heeey," the tape message says. "You missed me. But I've got your name and number on the Caller ID, so unless I don't want to talk to you, I'll call you back. " I laughed a little. Bradley fun. It felt like I had not heard his voice for a long time when it had only been a few days. I pushed End without leaving a message and threw my phone to my bed and left it there while I spent the next few hours doing homework.

When I returned to my room, my phone showed me some missed texts from Claire and a missed call from Bradley. I responded to the text but I have made an important decision about Bradley. I had to wait to talk to him, give myself time to calm down. I don't want my emotions to tell a story that's different from my mind. In the meantime, I need to see Bradley stuffing once again. He needs to answer one simple question — why does he do it? He would answer that question far from prom night, under normal circumstances. He's gonna wear a nerd sweatshirt with messy hair. Then I can finish with both Bradley and move on with my life.

This was my plan and I was determined to make it work. I started by opening my closet and taking my yearbook off the top shelf.

CHAPTER 8

Me and my friends usually go off campus for lunch, so it's not hard to stay behind claiming make-up testing. Nor is it difficult to find where Bec and her boyfriend are hanging out with some other friends near an empty portable that is technically off limits during lunch.

I hold a note with my phone number in my hand. I don't want to admit how many times I've written my number so it looks very mundane, the numbers are intentionally perfect. I've never done that for a man before. That adds to my frustration over the whole situation. I just need to talk to him, figure out his prom motivation, get him out of my head, and then it'll all be over.

Bec and the other girl were playing tic-tac-toe on the ground with sticks.