Pretend to Be My Boyfriend

“Please, please! Play along for me! Pretend you’re my boyfriend.”

I lifted my tearful eyes and pleaded with a stranger I’d accidentally bumped into. And he… leaned in and kissed my cheek!

— Did something happen? Why the tears? — he asked, joining the game and looking somewhere over my head.

I, of course, knew there were my classmates standing there—who a second ago had been chasing me…

***

Our meeting was pure accident. I believed he was my shield and support. He seemed to me like the very hero from fairy tales—mysterious and enigmatic, which made him even more attractive. And at some point I realized I couldn’t imagine life without him.

Only… I was foolishly wrong about him. My fairy tale shattered against the cruel reality.