As If I Could Ever Fake You

Not All of It

Jay didn’t go to school for two days.

She couldn’t.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face.

Every time she opened them, she heard his voice.

“I like her. So much it hurts.”

And yet he hadn’t said a word. Not to her. Not really.

She curled up in her hoodie, surrounded by tissues and emotional damage. Her phone stayed dark. Her heart didn’t.

“You love him,” Yuki said through the phone, unbothered, judgmental, and 100% correct.

Jay groaned into her pillow. “No, I don’t.”

“You do. You’re currently in bed with tragic music playing, a mug of tea you haven’t touched, and a Pinterest board titled ‘not real but it felt like it.’”

“I’m dramatic, not in love.”

“You’re both.”

Jay sighed. “I think he meant it. What he said in the voice note. But…”

“But?”

“He hasn’t said anything since.”

Meanwhile, across town, Keifer was staring out the window at the rain like he was the main character in a breakup song.

He messed up.

Jay heard the voice note.

And then left.

And didn’t come back.

What if she thought he was lying?

What if she thought he didn’t care?

What if she never spoke to him again?

That thought alone made him grab his keys.

No umbrella.
No hesitation.
Just a storm and a heartbeat that only knew her name.

Jay opened the door in her oversized hoodie and socks.

And stopped breathing.

Keifer stood there — soaked from the rain, hair dripping, eyes frantic.

He looked like he’d run through a hurricane just to reach her.

“Jay,” he said, voice low. “I’m sorry.”

She let him in.

Didn’t speak. Just… waited.

He paced her living room once. Then twice. Then faced her.

“I didn’t mean for you to hear that. The voice note.”

Jay folded her arms. “Why didn’t you just say it to me?”

“I was scared.”

“Of what?”

He looked at her like she was everything.

“Of ruining this.”

Jay blinked. “This isn’t real, remember?”

Keifer stepped closer.

“It wasn’t. At first. But now?”
He took a breath.
“I like you, Jay. I really do.”

She blinked. Once. Twice.

Now.

He said now.

Her heart broke in silence — because she knew something he didn’t.

That she’d already fallen.
That maybe… she already loved him.

She nodded slowly. “Okay.”

He looked surprised. “Okay?”

“You like me now. I get it.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No,” she whispered. “Of course not.”

But it was.

Because she didn’t just like him now.

And she didn’t know how to stop.

Later that night, Keifer sat in his car, fingers tight around the steering wheel.

He didn’t tell her the whole truth.

Didn’t tell her he’d liked her from the start.

Didn’t tell her she was never just fake to him.

He was waiting. For the right time. The right moment.

Because if he said it too early…

He was terrified she’d leave again.