Simp for Me Pt. 01

I bit my lip and nodded my head. I mean, I knew there were desperate guys out in the world like that, guys that would clamber after girls and go above and beyond. I just wasn't used to seeing it in action myself since no guys ever showed an interest in me. At best, my looks were considered bookish and nerdy, with my face hidden behind my trusty pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Some of my friends even jokingly referred to me as Velma from that stupid cartoon. On a number of occasions while I'd been out with my cousin, the thought would sneak into my head that if we weren't related, there's no way she would ever be in my company. Madeline belonged to the group of girls in school that I was never a part of. The popular girls that all of the boys pined after and all of the teachers seemed to allow a level of leeway in their behaviour.

As I'd said, Madeline had never been cruel or mean to me, but she'd also kind of looked down on me without her really considering it. It was kind of just an accepted, unspoken rule between us. When we met up, we did whatever Madeline wanted to do. The reason being, that despite being cousins, Madeline didn't need me. I realised that early on, as when we were younger, I'd spent one meeting whining about how I wanted to do something in particular. I can't even remember what it was, I just recall that Madeline hadn't wanted to do it, and therefore, she left our meeting early.

Ever since, we'd gone to the restaurants Madeline wanted to go to. We'd seen the movies at the cinema she preferred, and shopped in places I had no interest in because they were out of my budget. I tagged along because being in my cousin's presence was better than being out of it. I got to talk to guys who would never pay an interest in me if she were not around. Of course, they still weren't interested in me, and often only spoke to me as a means to talk to her. That was better than nothing though, and I grasped the chance as much as I could.

"I'll level with you, darling," she said. "It's so easy having everything covered by one of my simps. I mean, I make bank anyway, but guys are just climbing over each other to pay my bills."

I blinked a number of times. "What is a simp?"

She shrugged. "Just a guy that wishes he could be with me, but never could. So, instead, he's useful to me, and pays for anything I want. That's the best they can ever hope for and all I'm willing to offer."

I blinked again while struggling to fully compute the absurdity that my cousin was so candidly sharing. Not only was what she was saying ridiculous, but the way in which she was so casually saying it, without a hint of amusement or sarcasm, was taking me by surprise. I thought this was about guys wanting to see her feet, but this simp thing was even more complicated.

She picked up her phone then showed me the unread messages in her Twitter. She scrolled down the list with her white-polished fingernail. "You see, I have, like, hundreds of guys trying to simp. All day, every day." She bit her lip and nodded at the screen. I noticed there were so many guys begging to pay for the things she was posting on her feed. "But there's only a couple I actually trust and let simp for me. I keep my payment details private." She then turned and looked at me with curiosity. "They offer to do all sorts for me. Clean my car, clean my house." She narrowed her eyes at me and smiled. "All sorts."

I gulped. "That's kinda cool."

"Uh huh." She turned her head back towards her phone screen. "But I'm not letting some creepy guy come to my apartment, even if not having to clean it is a dream come true."

"But what about that guy--"

"The guy at the bank, right? When you were snooping on me?"

I looked away in shame.

I heard Madeline chuckle. "Well, yeah, firstly, just to make clear, I asked you to go and sit on that bench for a reason, Ellen. I didn't want you to see that." Despite still avoiding her eyes, Madeline reached out and cradled my chin with her pampered fingers. She steered my eyes to look into her own. Her expression was serious, taking on the strict, intimidating expectation that my school teachers used to wield. "That was very bad of you, you realise that, right? You invaded my privacy."

I blushed and wanted to disappear right there and then. We were in the middle of a bloody restaurant, and my cousin was embarrassing me in front of everyone. Manhandling my face and lecturing me in a way she hadn't ever done before. Even if I had stepped out of line and invaded her privacy, still, I was a grown adult. I wasn't one of her simps, that's for sure! I needed to take a stand right at the moment and make clear that I wasn't about to be like one of these guys obsessing over her that just allowed her to flip them off. "I'm not--"

"One virgin Mai Tai," the waitress said as she returned with a tray and Madeline's mocktail. My chin was still clutched in my cousin's grasp and I felt ridiculous as the girl placed the drink down and then awkwardly left us to it.

Madeline was staring me straight in the eyes, and after another few seconds of awkward silence, she released my chin and giggled to herself. "I'm just messing with you, Ellen." She slid the mocktail towards her and took a sip through the fancy straw. She smirked, then she snapped a photograph of the current receipt. "But, yeah, it was kind of uncool that you were spying on me like that. I trusted you."

"I'm sorry." I didn't really know what else I could add. "I'm really sorry."

"Since you're so interested, and you kind of know now, I meet him a couple of times a month to pay me a tribute," she added while twirling the straw. "He'll drop me a text when he wants to meet. Just so happened I was with you last time. I wasn't about to turn down some free cash just because I had you tagging along with me."

"And just like that he gives you money?" I was fascinated, and the potential of this leading to me getting the same treatment was exciting. To have a guy just text you and beg to give you money. Wow, my whole student lifestyle budget days would be well and truly over.

"Uh huh," she said, clearly becoming disinterested again as she wolfed down her mocktail. "Just like that." I could hardly believe how casual she was about this whole thing.

I leant in close, my cheeks reddening with what I was about to ask. "Do you think I could try it too?" I asked precariously, almost feeling like suggesting such a thing was absurd. I mean, I really wasn't the sort of girl that guys would simp over, but still, with my glamorous cousin's influence, then perhaps I could benefit from some of her cast-offs. Simply being in Madeline's orbit might throw some cash my way. Maybe guys would simp for me in the hope of simping for her; the same way they initiated a conversation with me just for the tiniest chance that it might evolve into a conversation with her. Despite being entirely out of my comfort zone, the thought of a bit of extra cash was enticing, especially for doing something so easy like taking feet pictures. "It's just, I could really use--"

"You want to simp for me?" Madeline asked with an astonished look on her face. "Really, Ellen? I mean, I know you like being around me and all, but we're cousins. I never figured you would be like these guys."

I blinked again in surprise. Madeline thought I wanted to simp for her? My face reddened even further at the misunderstanding. "That's not what I meant--"

"Though, I guess it kind of makes sense," she said with a shrug. "I mean, you've always been in my shadow, haven't you?" She offered me a sympathetic smirk, that somehow came across as being patronising too. Before I could move aside, she'd reached over and pinched my plump cheek. "You've always been like a little puppy, haven't you? Following me around and stuff." She then allowed a little giggle to escape her lips before she said in an obvious imitation of my voice, "Wanna hang out, Maddie? Please, we'll do whatever you want. We'll go wherever you want. Please, just hang out with me?"

I balked at being so outwardly mocked by my own cousin. Was that really how she saw me? Was that really how I sounded whenever I reached out to her and asked to meet up? She'd always been so soft and gentle with me, and I didn't like this change in her attitude.

"Awww, don't get all shy," she said while pinching my cheek again. "It's okay, that's why I like hanging out with you, cuz. It's kind of cute the way you always follow me around and pretend you're interested in the stuff I want to do. I just don't have as much free time anymore."

My face was pretty much on fire by this point. Madeline was bluntly summing up our interactions in a way that had been previously undisclosed. But, what was cutting through my confidence even more was that she had assumed I'd meant I would like to simp for her. When I'd asked about trying it too, that's where her thoughts had immediately gone to, not that I could have someone to simp for me. With that simple mistake, Madeline's opinion of me was evidently clear.

Madeline then chuckled and had to cover her mouth. "Oh my God," she said, while peering over at me. "I can't believe I never thought about this before. You've totally been simping for me this whole time."

"I, err, what--"

"Every time we meet up. You barely say a word. You just listen to whatever I want to say. You follow me around from store to store. You even carry my bags around for me." She slapped the table forcefully, which startled both myself and a couple nearby. "Oh my God. You even try to pay sometimes when we eat, even though you can't afford it." Her blue eyes were completely wide. "Ellen, you're totally my simp. You always have been!"

"I'm not a simp..." I said, my voice trembling and lacking conviction. I wasn't a simp, was I? I just liked hanging out with my cousin because she was so good looking and it felt good being around her. People looked at me differently when I was with her, and it made me happy to live vicariously through her glamorous life. It was only in Madeline's presence that I felt people were actually looking at me and realised that I existed.

Madeline then stared straight at me and cocked her head, as if sizing up the thoughts currently swirling around my head. "I'll totally let you, just so you know."

My eyes flickered in surprise, and I had to swallow. "You'll let me do what?"

She shrugged. "Simp for me. I'll totally let you, if it makes you happy and all. We are cousins after all. Beats some creepy guy doing it." She sucked up the remainder of her drink so that there was only ice left in the glass. "Anyway," she said. "I better be going." She adjusted herself in the seat and was about to snap her usual photo of her feet, when she paused, and looked up at me. There was a moment of recognition between us, as Madeline slyly smirked, then she made a show of sliding the receipt towards me. "Get that covered," she said with a giggle while rising to her feet. "Simp."

I wanted to die right there in the booth as Madeline left me all alone. When the waitress returned, I paid the bill, just as my cousin had told me to.

Once home, I had conflicting feelings. It had felt odd paying for the bill once Madeline had left. I mean, I had invited her out so it was fair that I paid, but it was the fact she had told me to that was making me feel weird and of course, that she had called me her simp while doing so. I hadn't offered to pay this time, and had only ordered a water. Madeline had ordered a mocktail and yet, she'd confidently told me to pay the bill, assured and confident that I would do so since she apparently now considered me to be like one of her simps.

But there was something else tugging at me. I thought back to that message from the foot boy on Twitter. He'd simped out and covered Madeline's lunch because she'd shared a photo of her feet on her feed. He was a foot boy and he'd covered the bill because she'd teased him with his fetish and he couldn't resist. Why the hell had I paid it? What reward had I received? Absolutely nothing. Madeline had disappeared before I had even followed her instruction, and I was left feeling like there was no closure.

The curiosity was brimming within me, and though I knew I was about to do something extremely danger, that could lead to consequences, I couldn't resist the temptation of finding out what Madeline was thinking about all of this. I was nervous as I did so, but I fired off a text to my cousin. I wanted to fish for more of her thoughts.

Me: I paid the bill, just like you told me to, Maddie.

I wasn't entirely sure why I felt the need to confirm to her that I had actually paid the bill. It wasn't even a particularly large amount, but maybe, somewhere inside me, I had a need to please her and was longing for some kind of praise in return. I needed to know if Madeline was happy that I had followed her instructions.

My phone buzzed instantly, and a tremble ran through my body. It was probably the quickest Madeline had ever responded to me. Usually I was kept waiting a few hours due to her busy life, but this response had come back after only a few seconds.

Madeline: that's a good little simp here is ur reward hahaha

I gulped as I read the message, and despite being all alone in my dorm, I turned my back to the wall and cradled the phone so that no one else could see. Another message popped up, and I realised it was a photo. My finger hovered over it in anticipation, excited and curious to see what this reward was that I had received. I figured maybe Madeline had wired me the amount back and this was all some kind of test. The photo was probably a screenshot of the payment through her banking app. Unable to hold off the suspense any longer, I clicked on the photo.

Madeline was clearly sat in a chair facing a mirror. I could see her in the reflection, though her face was obscured by the phone. There was someone stood behind her while in the process of blow-drying her hair. At her side, stood a woman who was doing something to her face, likely putting on some make up. But what was most jarring about the photo, was that on the desk up in front of the mirror, Madeline's bare feet were crossed with those gold toe rings catching the light. I was given a view of both her cute little white toes and her smooth, pale soles reflected in the mirror, all in one go.

I stared at the photo in the midst of confusion. Clearly, Madeline did actually have a shoot to go to and she wasn't lying. That was one thing about my beloved cousin, she never did lie to me, ever. Even when I'd confronted her about the things I'd discovered, she just admitted to them and didn't try to deny anything. That was the supreme level of her confidence and assuredness.

I stared at the photo intensely. At first glance, it would appear that she was just showing me what she was up to at that moment. However, now being familiar with her foot-tempting tactics towards her simps, I knew what the real focus was in this photo: Madeline's pretty feet. My reward from my cousin was her feet; she really did think that I was similar to all of these other simps that were lusting after her. She hadn't even asked what kind of reward I would have liked, she just assumed that her feet would be enough. There was arrogance in her assumption, and I should have been annoyed by it, yet, because it was Madeline, I found it exciting. For some reason, the casual way she had sent her own cousin a photo of her feet sent a tingle up my spine. As a result, my eyes remained drawn to that area of the picture and I was certainly blown away by just how pretty feet could be.

While I looked, I knew it was weird that I was staring at a photo of my own cousin's feet, but still, I couldn't look away. There was almost a privileged feeling running through my veins. She'd posted so many photos of her feet and shoes to her Twitter to bait simps, yet, this particular photo was especially for me. It was merely a breadcrumb in Madeline's exceptional life, however, I felt overjoyed that she'd taken the time to send it to me. I sent over a reply after I'd managed to peel my eyes away from the photo. I decided to be snivelling in my response, just to see how Madeline would run with things.

Me: thank you so much Maddie

A response came minutes later:

Madeline: ur welcome my little simp lol

That should have embarrassed me, but it only made me tremble and squirm as I leant against my dorm wall. It was as if I was finally accepting the reality that had always been there between us: I'd always strove to please my cousin Madeline and now I was doing it openly. I was both simultaneously terrified and excited by where this could all lead. But I knew wherever it was, Madeline would be the one leading and I would follow her direction.