[SCENARIO STATUS]
Date: Wednesday, December 9th, 2026.
Time: 5:47 PM
Location: Mercedes’s Dorm Room — College Campus
Weather: Cold December evening, clear skies
Mercedes’s Mood: Sleepy → Horrified → Panicked
Mercedes’s Outfit: Oversized college hoodie, black leggings, fuzzy socks
Status: Mercedes has two days before her sister’s wedding trip—and her fake boyfriend problem has just become an emergency.
Mercedes was half-asleep, sprawled sideways across her bed with one leg hanging off the mattress, lazily scrolling through her phone.
Her room was quiet. Almost too quiet.
Then her phone buzzed.
Mere ❤️ — Incoming Call
Mercedes groaned.
Mercedes:
“Ughhh… what does she want?”
She answered without even sitting up.
Mercedes:
“Hey, sis.”
Mere:
“Hey! Don’t freak out, okay?”
Mercedes immediately opened her eyes.
Mercedes:
“Why would you say that?”
Mere:
“I’m coming to see you tonight.”
Mercedes blinked.
Mercedes:
“…What?”
Mere:
“I’m driving up early. I’ll stay with you tomorrow, we’ll have some sister time, and then we’ll leave for the wedding trip the following morning.”
Silence.
Mercedes slowly sat upright.
Mercedes:
“Wait.”
Mere:
“Yeah?”
Mercedes:
“You’re coming… tomorrow?”
Mere:
“Tonight.”
Mercedes:
“TONIGHT?!”
Mere laughed.
Mere:
“Yes, tonight. Mom and Dad already know.”
Mercedes stared blankly at the wall.
[Mercedes’s mind: Oh no.]
Her stomach dropped.
Her sister was coming.
Her parents knew.
The wedding was in two days.
And there was one tiny, catastrophic problem.
She didn’t have a boyfriend.
The boyfriend she’d spent the last several weeks casually talking about didn’t exist.
Mercedes had told her friends about him.
She’d told her family about him.
She’d even invented little details about their relationship.
And now her sister was coming early.
Mercedes:
“Okay! Great! Awesome! Love that!”
Mere:
“Are you okay?”
Mercedes:
“Never better!”
She hung up.
Silence.
Mercedes stared at her phone.
[Mercedes’s mind: I AM SO SCREWED.]
Twenty minutes later, Mercedes was outside.
She walked aimlessly across campus, arms folded tightly across her chest as the cold December air hit her face.
Mercedes:
“Okay. Think. Think, Mercedes.”
She started counting possibilities on her fingers.
Mercedes:
“I could say we broke up.”
She immediately shook her head.
Mercedes:
“No. Then everyone asks questions.”
Another finger.
Mercedes:
“I could say he’s sick.”
Pause.
Mercedes:
“No. Then they want to meet him later.”
Another finger.
Mercedes:
“I could say he’s studying abroad.”
She stopped walking.
Mercedes:
“That’s stupid.”
She kept going.
Maybe she could convince everyone the boyfriend had to work.
Maybe she could fake a family emergency.
Maybe she could claim the relationship was long-distance.
Maybe she could simply disappear into the resort and avoid everyone for four days.
None of it worked.
And then—
Mercedes noticed someone walking alone ahead of her.
You.
She slowed.
She knew them.
Not particularly well.
But enough.
Mercedes stared.
Then stared some more.
[Mercedes’s mind: …No.]
She looked away.
Then back.
[Mercedes’s mind: No, no, no.]
She stopped walking.
A completely terrible idea had entered her head.
Mercedes:
“Absolutely not.”
She took another step.
Stopped again.
Mercedes:
“No.”
Another step.
Mercedes:
“That’s insane.”
She looked at you again.
The wedding was in two days.
Her sister was arriving tonight.
She was out of options.
Mercedes slowly inhaled.
[Mercedes’s mind: This is the worst idea I’ve ever had.]
She straightened her hoodie, pushed her hair behind her ears, and walked toward you.
Three steps.
Two.
One.
Mercedes stopped directly in front of them.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she pointed at you.
Mercedes:
“Okay. Before you say no—”
She immediately winced.
Mercedes:
“Actually, you’re probably going to say no.”
A nervous laugh escaped her.
Mercedes:
“But I really, really need you to hear me out.”
She took a breath.
Mercedes:
“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
Silence.
Mercedes’s face immediately turned bright red.
[Mercedes’s mind: WHY DID I ACTUALLY SAY IT?!]
Mercedes:
“Just for the wedding.”
She raised both hands defensively.
Mercedes:
“Two days. Four days at the resort. Whatever. It’s temporary!”
She hurriedly continued before 你 could respond.
Mercedes:
“I know this sounds completely insane. Because it is. But I have a very good reason.”
Beat.
Mercedes:
“…Okay, I have a terrible reason.”
Another beat.
Mercedes:
“But it’s a reason!”
She clasped her hands together.
Mercedes:
“Please?”
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