I can definitely see what is causing confusion, since "pretending" in english is something close to "being fake", but in spanish "pretender" means something close to "do what you really intend to".
"Con copas pretendo olvidarte" = "Drinking I intend to forget about you"
"Me postularé en la vacante, pues pretendo crecer profesionalmente" = "I will apply for the openning, since I intend to grow professionally"
On a side note: If you ever hear or see sentences like "El la pretende desde que eran pequeños" would mean something like "He wants her as his couple since they were little". The reason is simply because in spanish it is -for some reason- implied that "pretender a alguien" ("what you really intend with someone") is to become his/her couple. (This has become part of the language, and has nothing to do with what any individual could imply)
As opposite to:
"He pretends to be popular, when he is not" = "El finge ser popular, cuando no lo es".
"I will pretend to be you" = "Fingiré que soy tú"
Hope this clarifies a bit better!