“And that was the last one,” Big ol' Tom said, “now we've got ourselves a decent candle lighting again.” “Great,” replied Bethany, playing with the glass she had emptied for the third time. “May I ask you to fill that up again? Same vodka, please.” She nibbled on one of the earpieces of her shades, leaving her attentive audience in a short instant of anticipation before resuming her narration. She grinned and chuckled a b...

I remember that fateful day in my junior year of high school when we were packing up our stuff at the end of the practical chemistry course. My lab partner tripped over a backpack someone had put in the way. He was holding a rather bulky chunk of sodium in his hand that he dropped into the sink where I was cleaning the labware, so it was filled with warm water. Once pure sodium hits water, it will form sodium hydroxide un...

Unfettered waves of heat rolled through my body in a strengthening tide, and I trembled as he pressed himself harder and harder against me. Why Mr. Werner, I thought, you do know how to get a girl turned on. The clothes, though… they were beginning to get on my nerves… My mind flicked back to the memory of him locking the door, and I knew that his mind must be on the same track as mine. The kiss that locked us together wa...

I can’t remember the last time I saw a guy attractive enough to fantasize about… My sister (she’s 22) seems to see them everywhere, but she’s got an advantage that I don’t: she’s in college already, and I’m still stuck in this tiny little excuse for a high school. There’s only like eighty-five guys in my grade, and I’m not interested in the younger ones, so that means I’m limited to this very little “pond of fish,” if you...

Pretending Ch. 09 © 2009 All Right Reserved Connie let the water run down on her from the shower head after she'd finished. The hot water felt wonderful after such a long day. She turned off the water, wrapped her hair in one towel and grabbed another for her body. While she'd been in there, she'd gone back over what Emily had said. Her sister was right. She needed to tell him, and tell him now. She tucked in the corner o...

Pretending Ch. 08 © 2009 All rights reserved Emily proved prophetic. Despite Simon's grandiose claims, John had wiped out both him and Edward in a few short hands. He was more than happy to see Emily and Connie return. Lydia came in a few moments later, and headed into the kitchen to make coffee and tea to go with their pumpkin pie. Overstuffed from dinner, there had been unanimous agreement to save the pie until it could...

Pretending Ch 07 © 2009 All Rights Reserved "Connie!" Emily shouted at her sister happily while sitting on the front porch. Connie grinned as she stretched. She hadn't seen Emily in months. She got a shock, though, when Emily stood up—Emily was pregnant! "Em!" She ran over to hug her sister. They embraced, then Connie stepped back, looking at Emily's slightly rounded figure. "When did this happen? How far along are you? W...

Pretending Ch. 02 © 2009 All Rights Reserved Sunlight peeked through the blinds and prodded Connie awake. She took a moment to orient herself. I don’t have piles of books on top of my computer, she thought. Then she remembered where she was and turned her head. Simon lay behind her, his hand on her waist, sleeping like a log. Her first instinct was to jump out of the bed, but she resisted. That would wake Simon up, and sh...

Pretending Ch. 05 © 2009 All Rights Reserved "Rachel! Rachel, look out!" Connie was shouting and pointing, but nothing was coming out. The SUV loomed larger and larger as it approached from behind. Connie had seen it in the side mirror and watched in horror as it grew and grew, until the grille filled the little glass. Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, she thought with dread. Suddenly the little Corolla w...

Pretending Ch. 04 © 2009 All Rights Reserved Neither of them mentioned the kiss after that. They did agree to Simon's idea of going on dates and acting like a "real" couple. Connie found she couldn't keep her guard up all the time. More than once she realized she had forgotten the "pretend" part of the whole thing, and she gave up on trying to keep a mental buffer. She rationalized that it would make things look more conv...

Pretending Ch. 03 © 2009 All Rights Reserved Dinner and a movie did wonders for both Connie and Simon. Connie felt much better that she'd told him, and Simon was relieved to find he hadn't done anything to offend or scare her. The weekend was too cold to do much, although they did get out for groceries. Simon teased her and said she should cook for the next week to make up for him having to live on ramen noodles while she...

Pretending Ch. 2 © 2009 All Rights Reserved Simon was frustrated over the next few days. Connie went to lengths to avoid him, although since they lived together, she couldn't avoid him all the time. After three days, frustration turned to a strange sort of admiration. It was impressive how she managed to see him for the barest minimum of time every day. She left early, came home late, then went straight to her room. He wo...

Pretending Chapter 1 © 2009 All rights reserved "Simon, would you get that?" Connie called from her bedroom after she heard the knock on the door. Her date was probably here and she wasn't quite ready. "No problem," came the reply. She turned back to the mirror and decided this was the best she could do. Her black hair was swept back into a braid, and she wore dangly silver earrings. She wore a flower-print blouse with bl...