Title: Pretend To Be Mine
Pairing: Donald/Stacie
Author's Note: Hello, fellow readers! Just an FYI, this chapter will be the start of the "agreement" for Stacie and Donald. It'll seem a bit unrealistic, and coincidental, but let's just call it fate, shall we?... Anyway, thank you all so much for reading. A special humongous gigantic thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited and followed this particular story. It really means a lot to me. But enough of my ramblings. Let's get back to the story, shall we? Onward!
Chapter Three
…
She was nervously fidgeting with the strap on her backpack as she stared at the door and waited for him to walk through it. It annoyed her that he was constantly late to class. Not that she looked forward to seeing him or anything. She quickly went over her plan again in her head. She was going to extreme measures, but this was for the sake of her mother. Stacie knew how much her mom worried about her, but she simply wanted the worrying and sadness to stop. She was perfectly fine with being single, but her mom was extremely adamant about a few things. One of those being the extreme nagging for Stacie to find a boyfriend.
Now that she had only a few days before her mom's visit, Stacie was going to go into some extremely tough decisions. Technically, it wasn't dating. She was going to ask Donald for his help. She was about 75% sure that he would agree to it. The other 25% was the fact that Donald is a guy who slept with girls and then leaves them the next day. What if he doesn't want to help me? What if he thinks he's got better things to do than pretending to date me for three whole weeks? Stacie's nerves were all over the place. She stared at the door knob, half-hoping that it'll turn and swing open and he walks in, but the other half, hoped that he wouldn't walk in and she'll just have to postpone the impending embarrassment of asking a guy to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Stacie held back a sigh when the door opened slowly and there he was, walking… no, strutting- into the classroom like he owned it. He grinned over at her and she looked down at her open textbook, hoping it didn't look too obvious that she was staring at the door.
Mr. Larson sighed in annoyance as Donald coolly plopped down in his usual seat behind Stacie. "Mr. Travers, this is the eighth time I've warned you to stop showing up late to my class." Mr. Larson scolded.
Stacie tried to hide the smile forming on her lips when she heard Donald mumble, "I really don't care."
"Excuse me?" Mr. Larson said loudly with a raised brow.
Donald put on his most innocent smile and said, "I said I really won't dare… to do it again."
Mr. Larson didn't look the least bit convinced but huffed in annoyance as he shook his head. "I am really sorry to inform you of this, Mr. Travers, but you are a Senior, and in order for you to graduate, you are required to pass my class. I can't let you pass if you keep showing up late. Your test scores seem good, but your habit of showing up whenever you feel like it, isn't helping you achieve anything."
Donald leaned further back into his desk. "Look, I'll show up early next time, Mr. Larson." He says, but the instructor was already shaking his head.
"As much as I want to believe you, I know for a fact that you won't show up on time next time… Not when you've said that at least five times before this."
Donald scoffed and rolled his eyes at the instructor. "Fine, what do you suppose I should do?"
It took only a minute before Mr. Larson cocked his head to the side as he answered, "I suppose you could get acquainted with Mr. Mop."
"Who the hell is Mr. Mop?" Donald asked in total confusion. About half the class sniggered quietly.
"Mr. Mop, Mr. Bucket, and Mrs. Scrubber." Mr. Larson added as a bonus hint. It took a moment before it suddenly registered in Donald's mind.
"You'll clean my classroom for the entire week." Mr. Larson said firmly.
Donald blinked incredulously at the instructor. "Is this some sort of joke?" he asked. "How is that supposed to help me pass this class?"
"It isn't. It's your punishment for showing up late three times in a row. As for your scores, you can pull them up if you help one of your fellow underclassmen with this class. I want a full report from said underclassmen, regarding your knowledge, skill, memory, success, and promptness in tutoring them."
Donald nearly choked on air as he stared up at the instructor. "Tutoring? You mean, I have to…" he trailed off as he stared at the door, looking like he was about to bolt.
"You will choose one classmate in this room, to tutor. If I receive a good report regarding your knowledge in this class, then I'll add extra credit for every day I receive a good report."
Stacie, who was pretending to do her class work, perked up at that. She quickly ran a few random worst case scenarios in her head before smiling. This might actually be her answer.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Donald muttered loudly.
Mr. Larson turned and walked back to his desk. "I'm not, Mr. Travers… and you will do well to make sure you pass this class. If not…" he paused to look back at Donald over his shoulder. "Well, then I'll see you again next year."
Donald wanted to pull out his hair as well as Mr. Larson's very few hairs.
"Fuck that." Stacie heard Donald say under his breath.
She turned around, and flashed a tiny grin towards Donald, knowing very well that his reaction to her grins were always the same. She turned back around and stared blankly down at her textbook.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Stacie felt him tap her shoulder lightly. "Hey, Conrad… need a tutor?"
Stacie turned around and raised an eyebrow at him, careful to make herself look irresistible. She's satisfied with herself when she watched as he slowly licked his lips.
Bingo!
…
She swayed her hips as she walked out of class when the bell rang. Stacie's excitement is heightened when she heard the thudding sound of someone running up behind her.
"Hey Conrad girl!" he called.
Stacie paused in her step, but didn't turn to look at him.
He came up beside her, grinning widely.
"What do you want, Travers boy?" she asked.
Donald's grin grew wider as he stepped up closer to her. "I uhh, I wanted to ask if you would be interested in being my tutee."
Stacie quirked her eyebrow higher. "I don't exactly need a tutor."
He actually smiled. A smile. Not a grin, or a smirk, but an actual smile. It was kind of… cute.
"Exactly! Then I won't need to actually tutor you. You could just say that I did, give Mr. Larson a good report, and I'll actually pass his class." He shrugged like it didn't really matter to him.
Stacie rolled her eyes at him. "And what do I get out of this?"
Donald's smile immediately turned into his usual smirk. "This guy." He pointed to himself.
Stacie scoffed. She couldn't believe she told her mother that she was dating this guy. He was cocky, obnoxious, oblivious, egotistical, and completely immature.
Donald could see the annoyance on her face, and he knew he had to do something to convince her. He's always found it easy to convince his parents to let him do something when he stops acting like a complete idiot, so he gave it a shot.
"Look, I—" he paused, wondering if she was actually worth showing his soft side to. He stared into her green eyes, wondering what it was about her eyes that was sucking his soul out. He snapped out of his staring and blinked several times. "I uhh—," Donald looked down at his feet, feeling that familiar chill in his bones. He's been here before. He's felt this way before, but the last time he let himself into this, it ended terribly. He doesn't think he has anymore strength to go through something like that again. So he does what he always does. He shuts off.
"Nevermind. I'm sorry." He said, before turning on his heels and walking away quickly.
Stacie blinked several times, wondering what had just happened. "Oh shit." She muttered. She wracked her brains for a reason as to why she didn't just agree to let him tutor her. She needed his help for when her mother would come over to visit her. Stacie stared at him as he continued down the hallway, without another backward glance.
...
Donald sighed heavily as he stared at his dinner. He hasn't gone to any of his classes after his English classes, and he tried to figure out why he's feeling this way. He knows it has something to do with that Conrad girl. He just doesn't know what exactly it is that he's feeling. He stood up and shoved his dinner plate into the trash bin, before walking over to his bed. He pulled his shirt off and shoved off his jeans. Before he could plop down onto his bed in only his briefs, a loud knock interrupted him.
Donald groaned, searching his mind for any Treble meetings he might've forgotten. He came up with nothing. And his mind was wiped clean as he pulled the door open, to reveal the girl standing outside his door.
…
Stacie's mouth watered at the sight before her. Standing half-naked in his room, with a confused look on his face.
"Hi." She greeted, suddenly feeling shy as she felt the blush rise up in her cheeks.
"Uhh, hey." He greeted back. "Umm, do you wanna come in?" he asked as he stood back and swung the door wider.
Stacie nodded and stepped inside, looking around inside his room. She expected his room to be messy, with posters of naked girls on the walls, complete with loud rock music, and the stench of sweat and dirty laundry in the air. But, instead, she found herself standing inside a neatly organized room, full of books, a record player, Vinyls of Led Zepplin hanging on the walls, and lots and lots of books. And the room smelled amazing; a mixture of Axe and something else entirely. It was oddly… alluring.
"Nice room." She said in awe. It really was a nice room. She guessed that it was true that Seniors have all the perks, because her own room which she shared with her roommate, was about half the size of his room.
Donald felt himself relax as she looked around his room. He watched her carefully, as she stared around the room. Her expression slowly changing from surprised, to pure amusement.
"Thanks." He finally managed to say.
Stacie waited a beat before jumping straight to the reason as to why she came over at such a late hour. "I have a proposition for you."
Donald nearly choked on his saliva as he tried to swallow. "You what?" he suddenly found himself wondering what he had just asked. He usually never questioned a girls intentions. Girls came and go, throwing themselves at him like fireworks on the fourth of July. He would jump them and dump them. Case closed. No, two-time things, no weekend flings… nothing. Just a whole lot of jumpin' into the sack, before he's turnin' his back. It's along the lines of his personal motto. "Once is enough, twice is forgiven, any more is forbidden." But… for some reason, he was actually curious as to what that meant, coming from the Conrad girl. Clearly, his mind was too dirty because she was suddenly rolling her eyes.
"I'm not propositioning myself, if that's what you were thinking." She stated after watching his reaction to what she said.
Donald nearly smacked himself in the face for jumping to such a dirty topic. "Oh, uhh… so this proposition." He said nervously as he folded his arms across his chest. "What exactly are you propositioning again?"
Stacie hid her grin well as she too folded her arms across her own chest, mimicking his actions. "An agreement."
Donald blinked in confusion but nodded for her to continue.
"I will be your tutee." She paused to give him time to process that. He looked a bit wary.
"And?" he asked.
Stacie sighed as she glanced over at his desk. "Umm, could we please sit down somewhere in here so we can actually discuss this?"
Donald nodded as he uncrossed his arms and led the way further into his room, before sitting down on his bed. Stacie had to fight the urge to stare at his muscled arms, and perfectly defined abs. It was quite distracting when he kept moving, subconsciously flexing every muscle in his upper body. Stacie could only allow her eyes to wander over his upper body. Anything below that region, would probably serve as a temptation, or torture. Either way, Stacie tore her eyes away and stared around his room some more. A picture frame on his desk caught her eye, and she smiled inwardly when she saw a picture of a slightly younger him, hugging a beautiful, elderly lady, whose eyes were clearly the same color as his. She guessed it was his mother. They were both smiling, and Stacie couldn't help but think that Donald would probably be the hottest living being on the planet if he just smiled instead of smirked. His smirks weren't so bad, and maybe even a little hot, but his smiles were just… indescribable.
"So…" Donald trailed off to let Stacie say what she came over to say.
Stacie snapped back to reality, immediately feeling nervous. "I uhh, I kind of need your help."
"How so?" Donald's cocky grin swept across his features.
"I need a boyfriend." She blurted.
He's not sure if he heard her right, so he leaned forward. "Come again?"
Stacie sighed, fidgeting with the hem of her top as she sank down on his desk chair, before launching into a brief explanation of why she needed his help. "Look, my mom has been nagging me to find a boyfriend. I'm not going to go into details about the reason why for now, but let's just say that my mother thinks it's impossible for me to be happy without a boyfriend to make me happy."
"So you want me to find you a boyfriend?" he asked incredulously.
"Not exactly…"
Donald gestured for her to continue because he's still not sure where he comes into all of this.
"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for when my mother comes over to visit me next week." She says quickly.
It takes a few moments for Donald to respond, simply because he was searching his barely functioning brain for a reply. "You need me to do what?" was all he could come up with.
"I need a boyfriend, okay?" Stacie looked away, feeling embarrassed by the fact that she is about to admit. "I may have lied to my mom about finding a boyfriend, and now she thinks I've been in a three month relationship with a guy named Donald Travers… you."
Donald's face threatened to split in two as he grinned widely. "You totally wanted me when we first met." He teased.
Stacie rolled her eyes, "I did not." She argued sternly.
Donald quirked an eyebrow. "But you do now?"
Stacie opened her mouth to snap out a retort, but slowly closed it when she realized that that was what she practically said just now.
"Shut up." She snapped. " Look, I just wanted to convince my mother that I am happy, and when she asked for the name of my so called boyfriend, your name was just the first name that popped into mind, okay?"
Donald scoffed, "Fine, you can go ahead and deny the fact that you totally dig this." He said pointing at his abs.
Stacie's blush increased, and she felt her face burning in embarrassment. "Whatever… so what do you say?" she asked, hope lacing her tone. "It's a win-win situation, you know?... I pretend to be your tutee, and you'll pretend to be my boyfriend."
He really didn't have to think about it. He was going to say yes anyway, but he pretended to think about it. He rubbed his cleanly shaven chin as he scrunched up his eyebrows slightly, pretending to be thinking really hard.
Stacie sat there for a max of two whole minutes, nervously awaiting Donald's answer.
As soon as Donald saw the worry flit across her features, he stopped pretending to think, and finally answered, if only to wipe away the worried look on her face. It made him feel weird to see her worried. "Deal."
Stacie visibly relaxed as she sighed in relief. "Good. I was getting ready to choke you to death if you said no." She joked.
Donald chuckled at that. He finds it extremely easy and fun to just sit there and talk to the Conrad girl.
"But you have to promise me that you won't act like a total douchebag in front of my mother."
Donald gave her a confused look. "What on earth are you talking about? I'm like the most wonderful guy on this planet."
Stacie gave him a serious I'm-Not-Kidding kind of look, that made Donald laugh, because as intimidating as it is, he couldn't help but think it's adorable. "Fine. I'll be a good little boy, and I'll be as innocent as sweet baby Jesus."
Stacie rolled her eyes at him as he gave her one of his rare smiles. "I'm serious—," she began, but he cuts her off.
His voice is gentle, and his eyes are soft as the rare smile stays intact on his handsome face. "I promise." Stacie thinks for a moment that maybe he isn't so immature sometimes.
He got up off his bed and walked over to where Stacie sat, and stuck out his pinky towards her. She stared at his pinky, wondering what it was that he wanted her to do with his pinky. "Pinky promise?" he said cheesily.
She laughed. "What are we, five?" she asked incredulously. Okay, he's almost always immature.
His smile disappears, and is immediately replaced by his usual grin. "Spit handshake?" he suggested.
She rolled her eyes, but laughed at his immaturity. If she really thought about it, it was his ability to be so carefree that made her smile every time she was around him. "I think a handshake is just fine." She muttered.
He sighed heavily, but took her hand anyway. Stacie immediately felt tingles run up her arm as he held onto her hand. "We have a deal, then." He said softly. Their eyes met for a brief moment before they both pulled away from each other.
"Perfect. We start tutor sessions whenever you're ready, and I'll fill you in on my mother's visit."
Donald nodded as Stacie got ready to leave. "Awesome."
She opened his door, and stepped outside before turning back to look at him. "Thanks... For doing this." She muttered softly. He smiled back, and shook his head.
"No need to thank me… If anything, I think I'm the one who is getting the most out of this."
Stacie cocked her head to the side, "How so?"
He shrugged, "Not only do I now have a tutee, get a good report from you, pass the class and graduate, I'll also get to spend time with a beautiful girl like you."
Stacie's blush was hard to hide, since her skin was extremely pale. "Let's just call it even." She murmured.
She turned to leave before he suddenly blurted out. "I never really got your actual name, you know?" he asked.
Stacie stopped in her tracks and turned fully so that they were face to face. "My name is Stacie. Stacie Conrad."
Donald smiled widely. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Stacie."
She felt tingles all over her body when he said her name for the first time. It rolled off his tongue like the most natural thing to ever occur on this planet.
She grinned as she watched him lean against his doorframe.
"Likewise." With that, she threw in one last smile before sauntering away.
"Goodnight, girlfriend!"
She giggled when she heard him call after her. "Goodnight, boyfriend!" She called back.
Donald smiled to himself as he watched her leave. He would offer to walk her to her dorm, but he knew she'd say no. But, there was still hope. When Stacie's mother comes to visit, Stacie won't have a choice but to let him walk her to her room. After all, he was now her "boyfriend".
"Stacie Conrad." He said softly under his breath as he pushed his door closed. He likes her name.
…
Author's Note: Oh thank goodness I got that over. It's a little funny, and I personally think this story has a lot of potential for fluffy, sweet, humorous moments, as well as dramatic, angsty, sad moments. But the angst and sad parts will be in the later chapters. For now, let's all enjoy the fun Stonald moments. Anyway, I hope you liked this. Thanks for reading, and please review!
-Sux2budude
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P.S. I'll be updating "With You" shortly... for all you Stonald fans.. much love!