The telenovela continued with Luz waking up in her old bedroom. Her father told her to get ready for school. She panicked in front of the mirror at her younger face, then celebrated, exclaiming, "I'll definitely avoid Aaron this time!"

Keeley scoffed. "Been there," she muttered. "Good luck escaping, girl."

Valentina squealed, hugging a throw pillow. "Ooooh, my hottie Hector is about to come on screen!"

She still doubted the actor, accustomed to suave, sexy roles, could pull off Aaron's iciness. That kind of coldness was innate; it couldn't be replicated.

The scene changed. Luz chatted happily with her friends, Diego and Alessandra, as they walked down the school hallway in their uniforms. She waved goodbye as the bell rang, only to find herself immediately cornered—a perfect kabedon position.

Valentina's hottie had arrived.

Keeley sat up, curious to see Hector Garza's portrayal of Aaron. He began speaking with a sexy smirk as Luz stared back defiantly.

"Wrong! This is all wrong!" Keeley exclaimed. "Aaron wasn't supposed to be seductive, or have that much expression!"

She knew it. Aaron Hale was one of a kind; nobody could replicate his personality. She should have known this would happen. Telenovelas had a very specific mold for their leading men, and "cold, distant, and frightening" wasn't it.

He might not be that way now, but he certainly had been in high school, when her telenovela proposal was set. Keeley sighed. He'd warmed up considerably over the years, though she wouldn't call him a warm person.

How would she describe his personality now? She wasn't sure. Too many facets were mixed together. The "ice devil" was definitely still there; he just didn't show it to her anymore because he was making an effort to be nice.

"Hector is too alluring to play Aaron," she said resolutely, knowing Valentina would disagree.

"He has to be alluring," Valentina argued. "He's a terrible person. If he doesn't have something going for him, viewers won't root for their relationship."

"He's not—" Keeley cut herself off. She'd almost said Aaron wasn't a terrible person, even though the telenovela portrayed him as such.

Back when she'd conceived the idea, she hadn't known the truth about their history. It was before he'd started being nice to her. She'd believed, with every fiber of her being, that he was a terrible person.

Aaron wasn't terrible; he was…selfish? Inexperienced? Hypocritical? "Terrible" was too strong. It rankled hearing him described that way.

She had to remember Valentina knew nothing about this. She was talking about a character, not a real, complicated person.

Suddenly, Keeley felt guilty for slandering him, even if no one would ever know. Thousands of viewers would think Aaron Ibarcena was horrible, possibly even hate him. Though, if they made the show a romance, he'd probably get a redemption arc…still…

Aaron did a lot wrong, but he wasn't the villain the show was painting him to be. She wanted to apologize, but then she'd have to confess her crime to him, and she'd rather be hit by a subway train than explain all this.

It would embarrass her, but more importantly, it would hurt his feelings. He could never find out.

If someone had told her a year ago she'd care about hurting Aaron Hale's feelings, she would have laughed. Yet, here she was. Funny how perspectives change. She actually wished him well—just far, far away from her.

"Why did you make your main character so mean, Keeley?" Valentina pouted as Luz dramatically ran away crying after the hallway confrontation. "I don't like seeing my hunk this way!"

"I didn't write him. I only proposed a situation, and the writers ran with it."

She was defending herself, but the guilt remained. So what if Hector's Aaron was mean? Aaron himself had been fairly mean to her in high school! He'd always dragged her around against her will. Some might call that bullying.

Her friend harrumphed and continued watching. Lorena found Luz and began making fun of her for the confrontation with Aaron.

So they were making her a damsel in distress, huh? Lovely.

As the episode progressed, it seemed much like any other school-life telenovela. Keeley relaxed slightly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. They might be taking things in a completely different direction than reality.

She sighed in relief at the episode's end. She wouldn't have to watch the next one until Sunday.

"I think it's going to be a good show," Valentina announced. "One episode in, and I can already feel the tension!"

There certainly was tension. The acting was overdramatic, and the suspenseful music only added to the effect. That was just how telenovelas were.

Keeley wondered how big the fanbase would be. She honestly hoped it didn't get much exposure, so nobody she knew would see her name in the credits. If anyone found out, she'd die of mortification.

"Hey, Val," she said casually. "Have you been asking around your half of the medical school about possible roommates?"

Ever since Jennica moved out, she'd asked every girl she knew, but had no luck. She didn't have friends in other departments either; she lived, ate, and breathed the genetics faculty.

Valentina shook her head sheepishly. "No, I keep forgetting. We're all pretty focused on school, you know? This sort of thing just doesn't come up."

That was fair. They were in their third year of medical school; they were swamped.

"Just don't forget, okay? We don't want to end up homeless."

Her friend laughed. "They have showers in the medical school. We practically live there anyway."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

They commiserated before heading their separate ways, both with plenty of homework.

The promotional text ("Search the NovelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.") was removed as it's irrelevant to the text cleanup.