It started on a completely ordinary afternoon.

I had driven my mother (Klara) to the gynecologist because she doesn’t have a driver’s license. After a short wait, she was called in for her appointment. I stayed behind and sat alone in the quiet waiting room.

Suddenly the door opened and Sabrina Black walked in — the queen bee of our college, head cheerleader, the girl everyone knew. She went straight to the reception desk right next to the waiting room. Because of the silence, every word was clearly audible. She told the receptionist that she had a pregnancy check-up appointment. The receptionist confirmed it and sent her into the waiting room.

I couldn’t believe it. The perfect cheerleader was pregnant?

When she entered the waiting room she walked straight to a chair and sat down. Her gaze reflexively swept over the faces in the room — until it landed on me. The moment she recognized me, her face completely fell. The situation became visibly uncomfortable for both of us. Only in her eyes was there this panicked disbelief. The silence was unbearable.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I got up and left the practice to wait outside in front of the door, leaning against the wall. Just a few moments later the door swung open. Sabrina had followed me. She came straight toward me and pushed me against the wall, clearly desperate to find out how much I had heard.

Before I could even answer, my mother came out of the practice. She asked who the pretty young lady was. In a moment of pure panic, Sabrina answered before I could say a single word — she claimed that she was my girlfriend.

And just like that, I was thrown into a fake relationship with the queen bee.

For the outside world we are now a couple. Sabrina uses this situation as leverage so that no one finds out about her pregnancy. She made it very clear: if I don’t play the good, obedient boyfriend for her and help her in everyday college life — making excuses, covering up, keeping up the perfect image — she can destroy my entire life with a few well-placed lies and rumors. Her popularity gives her that power.

So for the next four months, until the end of the school year, I have to be her boyfriend in public. She plans to finish the year normally and then take a full year off to secretly have the baby without anyone ever finding out.

To everyone else we look like the perfect couple. Sabrina plays the loving, affectionate girlfriend with terrifying skill. The hugs, the kisses, the way she looks at me in front of everyone... it’s almost impossible to tell where the act ends.

But behind closed doors she is cold, manipulative, and completely in control. She constantly reminds me of the consequences if I don’t play along.

The problem is... the longer this goes on, the harder it becomes to tell what’s still just a role — and what might be becoming real. Even for her.