The Bet

Chapter 7 - Third Time's the Charm

                Before Amy knew what she was doing, she nodded, forgetting the mental debate that she’d been having only a second before while watching them eat and converse. She followed him as he pushed his backpack off the seat to his right – beside Julie (thank goodness!) – while mocking the style of a gentleman, she was sure.

                She let a little awkward laugh slide out as she shrank in her chair. She’d never seen this table from the inside and what she saw was a shock. They were acting like normal high school juniors. Just plain normal people. She’d always expected something more. It seemed stupid but they’d always acted superior to the rest of the school. It was just hard to believe that their obnoxious attitudes stemmed from the same kind of manners as everyone else.

                “Hi,” Julie said, squinting as she looked Amy over curiously, “You are Amy, right?” she asked sweetly.

                The boy beside her turned around, tossing his arm over her shoulder automatically as he entered in their conversation too, “You are in English with me, right?” he asked.

                Amy thought that she remembered him too. He was dating Julie, of that she was sure, and his name was David. He was pretty cute too, although his features were much stronger than an average boy’s. It wasn’t that he was built, only that his jaw line was much more potent while his lashes were shorter and his eyes seemed protective of Julie. They were sweet together, Amy decided, nodding back at them in response, “Yeah,” she said softly, “Amy for short though.”

                They nodded approvingly and turned back around to the rest of the group, introducing her. As nice a gesture as it had been, Amy immediately felt self conscious. She wished that they hadn’t done that.

                “Guys!” Julie cried, trying to get the crowd to stop talking. It seemed like a major task to Amy who’d never even dealt with that many people at the same time and been able to get every to do her biding, “Okay, look, this is Amy,” she said, pointing at her.

Now Amy was the center of attention, all eyes falling on her as Chris shifted to face her with an obnoxious grin. “She’s mine so don’t even think about it,” he said, throwing his arm over her shoulders just as David had done with Julie.

Amy automatically shrugged him off with an uncomfortable blush directed at the whole group.

“Wasn’t she the one that wouldn’t kiss you?” a voice sounded, raising a laugh from the crowd at Chris’s expense. Amy was glad for the distraction and a better impression on her personality.

After a few more witty comments, some at Chris’s expense, others directed at their shared classes, Amy didn’t feel so bad. Everyone in this group was so nice. They were kind, caring, and exactly the opposite of what she’d assumed they would be.

Amy leaned back in her chair with a sigh of happiness and wondering as to why she hadn’t sat with them before. It was probably because of the menacing feel she got around them. It was ridiculous – she knew now – and she wished that she’d never judged them before.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Silvia from the corner of her eye. She couldn’t help but feel amazing. Amy had never wished harm on anyone before. But when they’d humiliated and broken away from her, she felt the right to be able to make them a little miserable. Especially since now she was doing the exact thing that Liv had always wanted thanks to her gracious separation.  

Amy smiled; attempting the way Chris’s lips curled when he looked at her or needed to keep up a reputation. It was a smug, knowing grin that suddenly took over her whole complexion and made Silvia storm out of the cafeteria in anger, towing Charlie with her.

She laughed maliciously, knowing that it was wrong but still getting a kick out of her ex-best friend’s jealousy.

“You’ve got a really nice smile,” she heard a voice say to her left. A boy was looking at her cutely, leaning in front of Chris to catch Amy’s gaze.

She bit her lip again with an awkward giggle. She’d never really had anyone say that. Maybe it was because she didn’t smile much lately, but either way, it was a nice compliment.

“Thanks,” she said.

The boy – whom she still didn’t know the name of – grabbed her arm and gripped it while he stared into her eyes. Amy knew all of a sudden that he was a charmer, or at least that he was charming her. Not that he really needed to pull out any of the tricks when he was already so handsome with his dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Maybe,” he said hesitantly, although Amy was sure it was just for the effect of being shy like her, “If you wanted, we could go out... soon.”

Amy didn’t know what to say to that. He was really sweet but she didn’t know his name or anything about him other than that he thought she was pretty. And there weren’t too many of those... she thought cynically, brushing her hair to the side.

“Yeah, sure,” she said, feeling her voice crack at least twice in that short structure of words.

Overhearing this, Chris turned to face her again. “Oh – I get it,” he started, making a joke although worry was clearly bothering him, “You’ll go on a date with Michael but you won’t kiss me. Nice.”

Amy smiled at him, glad to have a name to use when addressing her date. She didn’t notice though the faint strokes of anxiousness that coloured Chris’s face. She didn’t care either. Chris was a good friend and even though she’d only known him for a short time, it seemed that he was changing her life for good.

In the few days that they’d become friends, she’d made Liv jealous as payback, made at least five new friends within this lunch group and gotten a date. Maybe everything wasn’t going to be as bad as she’d thought it would be.