Aye... Forgive me for the mix-up in the numbers... It looks like old age is finally getting up to me (24 years old btw)... As a pledge my apology, I devote this chapter I totally just whipped up within the span of 34 minutes. God, I need sleep. Anyway, do me a favor and read ACCORDING TO THE TITLES!! Do NOT TRUST THAT ARRANGEMENT! I'm stupid... Guess what! I've donefixed it in the worse way possible!!!! No need to thank me...
---
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY – FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
DING-DING!
The bell rang. The hallway buzzed with gossip, gasps, and camera phones aimed with precision. I stood in front of the trophy case, heart pounding, voice cracking, flanked by a very unhappy Vice Principal Jenkins holding a mic wired to the school intercom.
"All right, everyone! Quiet down!" Jenkins barked. "Leon Parker has something to say."
The crowd hushed, the air charged with expectation. Some kids were actually filming. Someone had popcorn.
I took the mic. It was already too late.
"Ahem. So. Um. Hi. I'm Leon. You may know me from such local legends as: 'Panties Sniper?' 'Lion of Lust,' and apparently, 'God of Thirst.'"
Laughter.
"No but seriously—I just want to say that none of the rumors are true. I did not, I repeat, did not, seduce three girls before lunch. I am not leading a cult. And I definitely don't host anything called the 'Lion's Den.' That's... that's not even creative. It's weird. Stop that." I rebuked on stage. No one is ever going to hold an orgy and call it a Lion's den... No one.
I glanced at Jenkins for support. He just looked like he wanted to retire yesterday.
"I didn't kiss Felicia. I didn't make out with Gwen. And MJ? That whole stall incident? Totally accidental. Pants-on accident. Very traumatic. I'm probably going to need therapy."
Mixed gasps and snickers.
"I am not dangerous. I'm not a heartbreaker. And I'm definitely not the reason Principal Merton drinks from a coffee mug labeled 'Vodka.'"
"LEON!" Jenkins hissed.
"I MEANT… water mug. Water! For hydrating and watering plants!"
I took a deep breath. "Anyway, please stop spreading lies about me. I'm just a normal kid. A nerd. A bystander. An innocent man. A—"
"LIAR!"
WHAM!
A locker slammed open behind me, and the crowd parted like a biblical plague had been unleashed.
Enter: Mary Jane Watson.
Green eyes narrowed. Hair tied up in a high, intimidating ponytail. Skirt swishing like she planned that entrance with choreography.
I paled.
"Leon," she said, voice sweet and sharp like a candy laced with poison. "Would you like to explain to everyone exactly what position we were in when I woke up?"
The crowd: ooooOOOOoooohhh.
"I—I was on the ground! I was concussed!"
"With your hand on my ass."
A very valid point.
"I was unconscious! I didn't choose that!"
She took a step closer. I took one back.
"Oh really?" she purred. "Because Gwen told me you 'accidentally' tripped into her arms after gym class."
When did that happen!?
"I was pushed! There was a dodgeball!"
"And Felicia?"
Damn you woman!
"...That was a sneeze!"
MJ arched an eyebrow. "And Liz Allan? Did you sneeze her into asking you what your star sign was and if you had trauma she could fix?"
She's just taking all frustrations on me at this point! Lay it one me evil witch!!
"I—I can't help it if I have emotionally damaged golden retriever energy!"
A freshman girl in the back sighed dreamily. "He really does."
MJ whirled to the crowd. "HE IS NOT CUTE!"
"Damn," said someone. "MJ's mad because she caught feelings."
"I caught a concussion," she snapped, spinning back to me. "And you! You owe me. My reputation is ruined. My group chat renamed me 'Stall Queen.'"
"I'm sorry!" I winced at the name. Sincerely, I felt her pain in the weird naming fiasco.
"Sorry doesn't cover it, Lion Boy." She leaned in, her breath hot against my face. "You're mine now."
The crowd gasped again.
"Wait what?" It was at this moment, I knew I had fucked up. Deep down throat gurgling deep shit! My brain had the capacity to absorb information like a sponge right from when I was a sperm and now the same brain was fried on the spot, unable to process the information I just heard.
"You heard me. If I'm gonna be the center of a scandal, then I'm cashing in. You're walking me to class. Carrying my books. Buying me lunch. Until this dies down, you're my public boyfriend. Got it?"
My jaw dropped. "That doesn't sound legal."
"Too bad. I already posted about it."
She held up her phone: MJWatsonOfficial – Relationship Status: Taken. #LionTamed
I blinked.
Jenkins fainted.
And the hallway exploded.
---
---
INT. SCHOOL – HOMEROOM (FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER)
I was MJ's... what now? Since when was I auctioned? Without my consent!
Public boyfriend. Temporary. Non-consensual. Mafia-level contract energy.
She dragged me down the hallway like a queen parading her latest conquest. I half expected rose petals and a jazz band to materialize. She tossed her hair with every step, smirking at all the stunned faces.
"Smile, Lion. You're with me now," she whispered. Again wrong name!
I smiled.
It looked more like a grimace crossed with a cry for help.
INT. CLASSROOM – HOMEROOM CONTINUES
I dropped into my seat, still reeling, as Gwen Stacy leaned over from the desk beside me, eyebrow arched.
"Leon Williams. Resident nerd. All of a sudden, MJ's man? Huh."
"It's not what it looks like."
"So you're not fake dating her because you fell in love with her in a bathroom stall?"
"…I didn't fall for her. I fell near her. There was a hand involved. But only one!"
Gwen stared at me like I just confessed to being a part-time cult leader.
"Sounds kinky," she said.
I choked on air.
Meanwhile, Liz Allan twirled around from her seat two rows up. "Wait, wait! Is it true?" she asked, eyes wide with excitement. "Did you really say, 'You're mine now,' and MJ just melted?"
"That's not what happened!" Where are this people getting information from!!
Felicia Hardy, lounging like a cat across two desks she did not own, smirked. "Oh, it's true. I saw the post. You're her little lion cub now. So adorable."
"I'm not adorable!" I hissed.
"You kind of are," Gwen muttered.
A freshman near the back whispered, "He looks like a soft boy with bite. I want one."
"LEON'S TAKEN!" MJ shouted from the front of the room without even turning around. Oh now she gets my name right!
The whole class gasped again.
Great. That was period one.
---
INT. SCHOOL CAFETERIA – LUNCHTIME
I sat at a table like a prisoner on death row. MJ sat beside me, arm looped around mine, staking her claim like a dragon guarding a hoard of gold. Every time someone looked at me for longer than three seconds, she smiled like, "Do it. I dare you."
"So," Liz said from across the table, resting her chin on her palms. "What's it like dating MJ?"
"I'm not dating—"
MJ elbowed me. "He means it's lovely."
"I was gonna say terrifying."
She beamed. "Same thing."
Gwen plopped down next to Liz. "Can I just say this is better than reality TV? This morning he was a nobody. Now he's like... the disaster prince of Midtown."
Felicia slid into the seat on my other side, fingers tapping a slow rhythm on the table. "So, Leon. Since you're clearly everyone's favorite scandal right now—tell me. If MJ hadn't tackled you into dating her, who would you have picked?"
My soul left my body.
Every girl at the table leaned in.
I tried to change the subject by pretending to choke on my mashed potatoes. MJ slapped my back. Felicia held my water bottle hostage. Liz offered to "catch" me with her lap. Gwen took out her phone to record it all.
And right then, a table of freshmen nearby started chanting:
"LION KING! LION KING! LION KING!"
MJ blinked. "Why are they chanting?"
Felicia smirked. "Apparently there's a TikTok edit going around. You're the queen, he's the Lion. And some genius looped it to the Circle of Life."
I screamed internally.
---
INT. CLASSROOM – FIFTH PERIOD
The rumors had fully mutated.
According to the girl two seats behind me:
I had six girlfriends.
I transferred from a secret academy for breeding alphas.
I was packing more than just brains.
I gave MJ a hickey so powerful it summoned a demon.
MJ leaned into the rumors. Every time she kissed me on the cheek, someone screamed. When she wrapped her arms around me from behind, someone fainted. The janitor had to mop up a spill that might have been tears or nosebleed. Of course there has to be a reason for this strange level of skin contact with MJ right?
Right?!
At one point, a teacher actually pulled me aside and asked, "Do you need a moment to cool down? Or a vasectomy?"
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I was dying. Slowly.
And all the while... MJ smiled like a devil in red lipstick.
---
TO BE CONTINUED...