In Your Time

We didn't have to wait long before Elizabeth pulled up and jumped out of the car. It was kind of endearing seeing her so frantic over me. I felt less alone under her care.

"What happened?" She asked worried as she put a towel over my hair. Braden sighed as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Everyone knows that you want a daughter-in-law," he said simply. Elizabeth stopped fussing over me to look at Braden.

"You claimed Phoenix as your fiancé?" She asked in shock. Braden sighed and started walking towards the car. Elizabeth and I followed.

"It happened that way. Kids were picking on her and I knew you would kill me if it continued," Braden brushed it off. He was very nonchalant now, but earlier, he was legitimately mad about it. I guess he didn't want to encourage his mom in letting her know he actually cared. We got in the car and Elizabeth pestered Braden about the details the entire way. He was only able to breath again when we got to the house. Elizabeth took my clothes from me as I took a shower to wash the sticky fruit punch out of my hair. When I got back to my room, Braden was waiting by the door. I walked past him into my room and left the door open for him.

"Don't worry. I won't tell your mom you actually cared," I smirked at him as I sat on my bed. He sat on the edge of my vanity facing me, but his legs were so long, it looked more like he was just leaning on it. "Thanks," he chuckled.

"So what do we do about school now? I'm going to have to figure out a way to survive there until I can go back," I said absentmindedly.

"Go back where?" Braden asked.

"To my parents," I lied quickly. Braden sighed as he looked at the ceiling.

"Well, everyone thinks you're my fiancé, so they'll leave you alone for now. The problem is that we'll have to convince them it's true," he thought out loud.

"What do we do to convince them?" I asked.

"Act like a couple, I guess. If I act indifferent towards you, they'll still mess with you behind my back. So we'll have to convince everyone it's true, at least until this all blows over. I'll try to find you at your locker in between classes, and walk with you around school. We already eat together at lunch so that's taken care of. Oh, and social media. Let me see your phone," he listed off. I had my phone with me, but the problem was that it wasn't from this year. It was my phone from 2026.

"I-I don't have one," I said quickly. Braden raised an eyebrow at me as he tried to process what I said.

"How have you survived without a cell phone?" He asked.

"I had one but I think I lost it in the park," I lied.

"I'm sure my mom will be more than happy to buy you a new one," Braden scoffed as he stood.

"She loves you more than me anyway," he added. He left my room to look for his mom. I was having a hard time not opening my mouth and just telling him everything. He was so easy to talk to that I sometimes forgot that I was supposed to be keeping secrets.