The Understudy Chapter 1

So, I hired someone to sit in my lecture for me. Minor problem: I accidentally hired a guy.

When the professor called my name, "Chloe Reed?" a dude’s voice boomed from the back, "Here!"

The professor squinted. "Chloe Reed... grew a beard?"

The guy froze for a second, then his brain kicked into high gear.

"Actually," he said smoothly, "I'm her boyfriend. She's sick, so she asked me to record the lecture for her. She's super dedicated, didn't want to fall behind."

The whole lecture hall buzzed.

Then, from the front row, Dylan Sterling stood up. He gave the guy a polite, tight-lipped smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Sorry, but *I'm* Chloe Reed's boyfriend," he said, his voice dripping with ice. "Who are you?"

Here's the thing about Dylan: he's the golden boy of the Computer Science department. A campus legend.

And me? I'm the ghost hovering on the edge of failing.

We hadn't seen each other in a month. His first words to me weren't "I miss you." They were:

"Chloe, if you don't get serious, you're just going to end up as a burnout, stuck in the mud."

He checked his watch three times while saying it. Like every second spent with me was a waste of his precious, billable hours.

I just nodded, my voice surprisingly calm. "You're right. I'm a burnout. I don't deserve you. Let's break up."

To finally get away from him, I’d asked the class-sitter to pretend to be my new boyfriend.

After Dylan stormed off and the breakup was official, my fake boyfriend’s eyes lit up. "Awesome! So... does this mean the boyfriend position is officially open?"

*

* * *

My phone buzzed while I was in the art studio, where I’d been parked for a solid ten hours, lost in a painting. It was my roommate, Sarah.

"Chloe, you have to check the campus gossip blog! You're famous!" she shrieked. "And maybe you should, like, call Dylan and explain?"

I flexed my stiff, paint-splattered fingers and pulled up the site. The top post was a video.

There it was: the professor calling my name, the random guy answering, the professor's confusion, and his "brilliant" ad-lib about being my devoted boyfriend. Followed, of course, by my *actual* boyfriend doing a live fact-check.

The comments were a dumpster fire of hilarity.

> *【Did the CS golden boy just get played? LMAO】*

> *【Dude was 100% a hired gun from ClassPal. Epic fail.】*

> *【A for effort, F for execution. Didn't count on the real BF being in the same class. Ouch.】*

I buried my face in my hands and pulled up the chat with the guy I'd hired.

Me: You might have mentioned you were a GUY.

The plan was simple. I’d hire a girl from the app, she'd wear a mask, sit in the back, and the professor, who knew our faces but not our souls, would be none the wiser. The profile on the app said female, so I didn't think twice.

He replied instantly.

Him: Omg I am SO sorry! It was my first time doing this, I totally messed up the process. 😿

Him: I just panicked! I had no idea your boyfriend was in there! 😭😭

Him: I explained it to him after, I don't think he's mad anymore? No drama caused, I promise! 🙏

Him: Seriously, I feel terrible. Let me buy you dinner or something to make up for it? 😥

I clicked off the screen and sighed. This was bad. Now Dylan was going to be furious about me skipping class again. It's what started the massive fight a month ago that led to us giving each other the silent treatment.