A/N: ok so i have no idea how this website works, but i almost have this completed on ao3, so i figure why not post it here too? reviews are nice if this seems to be your thing :D this is basically a role reversal au because i suck at original ideas. i hope its ok!

Chapter 1

"How much?"

Those were the first words that Victoria Chase said to Max Caulfield. Max was minding her own beeswax, as usual, when the wannabe-queen-bee just waltzed over to her desk and spoke to her like Max was the scum of the earth. It was the other way around, if you asked most people.

"Huh?" Max replied, confusion leaking into her tone. Victoria glared down at her.

"I said, how much?" She dragged the words out way too slowly, like Max was stupid or something. Jesus, she'd heard stories of how annoying Victoria was, but assumed they were just exaggerated. All she'd gotten so far from the stuck-up loner was a glare or two.

"How much for what?"

"You." Victoria answered immediately with no shame whatsoever.

What did she just say-

"WHAT." Max blurted out loudly, alerting several of their classmates, who were now staring. Fantastic.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, Caulfield." The vicious way Victoria uttered her name would be more effective if there wasn't a slight tinge of red to her cheeks now. Max was honestly confused as all fuck. Was...Did...

"Are you trying to pay me to have sex with you?" Victoria's already flushed face reddened further. "Oh my god, you totally are!"

"Shut up!" Victoria hissed, avoiding the stares of, well, pretty much the entire classroom at this point. "That's not what I'm doing. What a narcissistic thing to assume."

Her sneer really didn't go well with her face. She had a kind of modern beauty, Max could admit that she was good-looking. Pretty eyes, a nice jawline that went well with her pixie-cut. The nasty glare she was sporting kind of spoiled it.

"Well, asking the amount of what I cost sounds like prostitution." Max could be rude too damnit. That was rude, right? Totally. Kate would probably gasp in a scandalized manner if she saw.

"I'm not trying to fuck you." The Queen Bitch deadpanned. "I...need something from you."

"Like what?" Max prodded, curious despite herself.

"I need," Victoria was being awfully slow and dramatic. "for you to pretend to date me."

"...What."

"I'll pay."

"You are trying to buy me, what the hell-"

"It isn't like you'd do it for free!"

What the actual shit was happening? Max's brain wasn't built to understand the bitchy complexity that is Victoria Chase. She'd never even said a wordto Max, nor an insult until today, and now she just strolls over and tries to basically buy Max. Universe, God, whatever's controlling the way things go, you are one confusing motherfucker.

"No." Max replied simply.

"Why the hell not?" Victoria clearly didn't expect to be shot down. Ah, the woes of being a spoiled-ass rich kid.

"Because I don't wanna." Max said cheerfully, giving a shit-eating grin up at the girl.

Victoria was silent. Face red, probably from irritation instead of embarrassment, she looked at Max's camera sitting on her desk like she was planning on setting fire to it. Max resisted the urge to cradle it protectively against her chest. After a moment or four of silence, it was beginning to get awkward.

"What if I said I'd pay you five-hundred dollars?"

Max's eyes widened comically, and if she had been drinking something, an epic spit-take would've surely gone down. emFive hundred dollars./em That's...Her mind couldn't process the amount of money she was being offered to 'pretend date' someone. That could buy a lot of film. Polaroid's were fucking expensive when it came to that. She could buy Kate that huge rabbit cage she'd been wanting for her bunny, she could...

But she couldn't, because she wasn't taking the deal.

"What about a thousand?" Max asked instead of turning her down immediately, mostly just wanting to fuck with her.

"Fine."

Well then. Once again, if Max had any liquid in her mouth, it'd currently be all over her desk and Victoria's chimmy choo's.

"Look, Caulfield," Leaning down so she could be quieter, Victoria spoke when it was clear that Max wasn't going to reply. "Would you just consider it? I'll pay two-thousand if you're really that reluctant."

Mr. Jefferson walked in while Max was still trying to fully comprehend the situation she was in.

"Come to my dorm room if you're interested." Victoria returned to her desk without another word, and wow did that sound like an innuendo if Max has ever heard one.

Max was interested. As sad as it was, she needed the money. Asking her parents for extra wasn't an option, so this would help greatly. She still wasn't taking the offer! Max was just interested in why Victoria would even want to do something ridiculous like that. Yep. Totally.

She was ashamed to say that she ended up at Victoria's door as soon as her last class ended.

Max knocked twice briefly, deciding she'd only wait a minute for Victoria to answer the door. Then she could book it back to her room and pretend this never happened. The door flung open not a second later, like she'd been waiting or something. But that was preposterous.

Victoria was practically radiating smugness, staring down at Max with a smirk. Damn those two inches she had on her in height. Damn them to hell.

"So you are interested, hm?" The words were practically purred, Jesus Christ.

"Yeah, just rub it in, why don'cha?" Max sighed. Victoria's smugness didn't wane, and she opened the door wider and stepped aside to let Max enter. She complied after a moment of hesitation. No need to be scared, it was just Victoria. All barks and bitching and no actual biting.

Shutting the door, Victoria practically emstrode/em over to her bed and sat down, acting like she owned the place or something. Well, she did, actually. Max just stood there, feeling every bit as awkward as she had this morning with Victoria. She really did have a knack for making people uncomfortable, didn' t she?

"You can sit, you know." Victoria rolled her eyes. "I don't bite."

Max sat down at the edge of her bed stiffly. She didn't bother to reply.

"So, you're interested, right?" Victoria broke the silence again.

"I...guess." Max admitted. "I still don't plan on accepting, but why would you want to offer me that outrageous amount of money just to 'pretend date' you?"

It sounded even sadder when she said it out loud. Victoria didn't have many friends, besides that Nathan kid who people avoided because he had a habit of going on rants at random and also being a douchebag. Was she really desperate enough to pay someone to give her attention?

"Because," Victoria avoid Max's eyes, smugness gone and replaced with embarrassment. "I...want to be more popular, okay?"

"Well..." Victoria glanced up at her, clearly wanting to hear a yes. "That's shallow as all hell."

Max stared at her, praying that she could realize the stupidity of this entire fucking situation. Was she really willing to pay someone thousands of dollars for popularity. Was this actually happening, oh my god.

"Wanting friends isn't shallow." Victoria said softly, and wow, she was going for the pity card now, wasn't she. "I have a grand fucking total amount of one friend, no one talks to me, no one even likes me."

"And so dating me will somehow make you Miss Popularity?" Max asked sarcastically.

"You have the most friends."

"So?"

"So, everyone likes you, dumbass! If you dated me, then they'd have to give me a chance. And maybe even eventually like me."

"That's your plan?" Max wanted to laugh, but also kind of wanted to bang her head against a wall from the sheer audacity of it. "Instead of actually trying to talk to people and make friends the right way, you're wanting to do this and you're willing to pay 2 grand for it?"

"Yes." Victoria answered with no shame whatsoever.

This was ridiculous. This was stupid. This had about a one-in-million chance of actually working. And the concept of it was shallow and idiotic. But...

The money. There was a lot of it. Was it worth pretending to be Victoria Chase's girlfriend for god knows how long? Max didn't like her, but watching her plan crash and burn would still make her feel bad. Max accepting this solely for the money would be as shallow as Victoria's plan in the first place.

"Deal."

"Really?" Victoria's eyes were wide like she couldn't believe what Max had just accepted. Max couldn't really believe it either.

"Yeah. But," Max was a terrible human being. "I'm giving you a month. That's all."

"Sure, fine, I don't care." Victoria was the happiest Max had ever seen her. She was even smiling, holy fuck.

"Wanna shake on it, Caulfield?" Victoria held out her hand, smirking slyly.

"Fuck you."

"Maybe later."