It Started with a Bet... (Watty Awards 2011)

"Let's welcome an exchange student from Belgium"

"Let's welcome an exchange student from Belgium"

"Trevor?" There's no response. The body beside me stiffens in shock. "Trevor?" I roll out of bed and turn on the bedroom light. A messy-haired, wrinkled-shirted Trevor is lying stock still on my bed. He squints against the light. "Trevor, have you been drinking?" He sits up slowly and ruffles his own hair. Still looking good, damn it.

"I don't drink." Really?

"Then why are you so disoriented?" I freeze. "You didn't drive yourself home, did you?"

"Why does it matter? I'm not drunk." I pretty much jump him without thinking. He falls back with a thud on my bed. I lean forward and sniff his breath. Odd. No alcohol. So then the smell from before...I look down and realize that his shirt is wet. Moving off quickly, I look down at him.

"Why's your shirt wet?" He grabs my pillow and thumps it over his flushing face. I suddenly realize how awkward what I just did was.

"They wanted me to drink. And I knew I had to drive home, so I declined. But they were drunk so they kept forcing it on me. And it ended up on my shirt." I nod.

"And you're here why?" His face turns red again.

"I forgot you were down here. Usually I crash here if I'm too tired. My parents usually don't notice."

"Parties seem like such a pain," I said, rolling my eyes. Trevor shrugs and then sits up suddenly.

"Food. Did you save me any?" I nod.

"I left some in the fridge." He nearly jumps off the bed in his attempt to get to the door. I shut the lights and turn to go back to bed.

"Hold on." I freeze as Trevor grabs my hand. "Come eat with me." I shake my head, then realize he can't see me in the dark.

"I already ate."

"Well then, just keep me company."

"There's school tomorrow, you know that right?" There's a pause. "I'm tired, so I'm gonna go to bed. Okay?" Trevor drops my hand and opens the door to my room.

"Okay. Sweet dreams."
***
I settle slowly into my seat as the bell rings. As expected, I'm exhausted. Stupid Trevor coming home at one in the morning. I'm not used to sleeping that late. First period I was able to struggle through, but now it’s fourth. My stomach is grumbling and my eyes are droopy. It's too late to go sit in the back, the bell's already rung and the teacher's looking at us all expectantly. Stupid Trevor.

"Class," says Mr. Bendis calmly. He's a tall man, with a shot of dark hair and a rather large stomach. He's one of the few teachers on campus who treats us like a college class as opposed to an immature high school one. I guess that's what comes from being in an advanced math class. But with that respect he gets respect. So when he stands in front of us and says "Class." We shush one another and look up at him.

He motions to someone outside the door and a kid walks in.

"I know it's been a month since school started, but let's welcome an exchange student from Belgium. This is Corey."

Bright brown eyes flick around the classroom from underneath long dark hair. Most kids smile back, but I don't. I just lay my head on my desk and eye him up and down. Good build, good bone structure. I give him two periods to get snapped up by the crew. Though if he's in the smart math class... He catches my eye and smiles. Never mind. Not even the smart math class will stop them.

"There's an empty seat by Haley, why don't you sit down?" Corey nods and sits next to me. Another great benefit of sitting near the front, I guess. No one really wants to be up there, so you end up with a bunch of empty seats.

"Haley, huh?" I find myself lost in his face. The jawline, the skin tone, the shapes of the nose, eyes, eyebrows, even, makes me want to whip out my sketchbook. Better looking than Trevor by a long shot. His hand waving before my eyes breaks my concentration.

"Oh, sorry. You look kind of familiar, so I was trying to see if I could place you. Did you say something?" a total lie, but good enough so that he wouldn't know that I was staring. He smiled and looked me up and down. Gah, why'd I give him a reason to check me out? I began to feel a little self conscious.

"Doesn't seem likely. I'm from Belgium, remember?" I feel like headdesking. Time for a subject change.

"What's Belgium like?" He shrugs.

"Green."

"Everyone asks you that, don't they?" I say with a laugh. There we go, Haley, back to how you should be.

"Yeah. What I want to know is, what's America like?"

The proper response, I know, is "I can show you some time." But I have no desire to show him around. He's too good-looking.

"How long have you been here for?"

"A couple weeks. Haven't really had time to look around. What kind of stuff do you guys do for fun around here?"

Tcsh. He picked the wrong person to ask that question. But I can't point that out.

"How about you hang out with me and my friends during lunch?" He smiles and leans back as the lesson begins.

"Sounds good."
***
"Who's that?" Trevor asks in annoyance as Corey walks to the car with me.

"I'm Corey," he says with a smile, holding his hand out for shaking. "I'm an exchange student from Belgium." Spike warms up to him immediately, teaching him the proper guy greeting involving a hand grip and a side chest bump. Trevor's eyes bore down on me.

"You invited him along?" he asks. I shrug. "Are you betting on him, too?"

"Dude, just chill!" says Matt with a laugh with an arm around Clarice. I look at her questioningly. When did they start going out? She blushes and mouths "Last week" at me. I smile and shake my head.

We head to Taco Bell, Spike driving and Corey riding shot gun. Matt pulls Clarice onto his lap in the back. Janice sits alone by the window. Ironic, isn't it? Corey turns to look at us.

"So are you two going out?" Trevor's hands tighten around my waist and he opens his mouth to speak.

"No." I say simply. "There isn't enough room in the car." I turn to Clarice and hand her her seatbelt. She puts it on over her and Matt, causing Corey to open his mouth in question. Spike taps his arm and shakes his head.

"I'll explain later," he mouths.