Stray

VIII

VIII

Cain

Cain was attempting to sneak out of bed, failing miserably. The springs creaked and the wooden floorboards cried as he made contact with the ground. Jenna stirred from her sleep. The sun was seeping through the curtains, casting a golden light across her tanned, olive skin. Her dark brown hair was a hazel colour when it caught the light. Asleep, her face was gentle, but they both knew that her life had been anything but.

"Leaving so soon?" Jenna yawned. "We could go for round two," she smirked.

Cain laughed, picking his pants up off the floor before putting them on. She propped herself up on her elbow, leaning against the headboard. "I can't afford to get expelled this late into the school year," Cain replied, although the sight of her wrapped in the sheets was clouding his better judgement.

"Whatever you say," she said in a sing song voice. "Also, you can quit with the sneaking out. You don't expect me to stay. I don't expect you to stay. We keep things simple."

"Wouldn't want to disturb your beauty sleep," Cain joked.

He arrived five minutes before the first bell, spotting Peyton as she ran through the gate towards her lockers. Watching her bag bob up and down made him laugh to himself. He quickened his pace to catch her before she rushed off to homeroom.

Cain caught a glimpse of Peyton talking to her tall friend, waving her arms around in an animated manner, doubling over with laughter. Before even managing to come up with something to talk about, the bell tolled, and the stream of students rushed past, obscuring his view. Once the path had cleared, she was gone. And he was late.

"Sorry I'm la-" He began as he opened the door to homeroom, before he'd had a chance to see who was behind the desk. It was the relief teacher from the day before. Miss Nelwich, was it?

He kept his head down and walked to his seat while she continued shuffling around with some papers. Kade could barely keep his laugh to himself. "Jenna keep you in bed this morning?" Kade asked.

"Not exactly."

"You going to tell me what the bet is? I've had my eye on that autographed football of yours for ages."

They were interrupted by the second bell, signaling the beginning of classes. Miss Nelwich dismissed the homeroom, looking particularly uncomfortable as Cain walked past, and understandably so.

Cain and Kade caught up with Mark and Ashton in front of their English class. "So what's the bet boys?" Kade asked.

"Easy. He just needs to get the girl to kiss him, and we each owe him two hundred bucks," Mark grinned.

"You want in?" Ashton asked.

"Hell yes. You seen that football in his room? Besides, who's the girl?" Kade was looking around to see if there was an obvious target in sight.

"Speak of the devil," Mark said as Peyton rounded the corner, walking past them to her class.

Cain looked over to see Kade's eyebrows momentarily furrowing. "Peyton?" Kade replied almost absentmindedly.

"You know her?" Ashton replied.

"Nah. I think she was in one of my classes once," he answered vaguely. He pondered for a moment. "How about we raise the stakes?"

"I'm listening," Mark said, crossing his arms.

"Get her to sleep with you and we'll raise it to five hundred bucks each."

"Woah, his odds are pretty slim, but I don't have five hundred bucks lying around," Ashton said.

"Fine. I'll foot the extra three hundred for each of us," Kade grinned.

"What if he loses?"

"He owes us the goods and the money."

"Getting nervous with how poorly you're doing?"

"No way. Easy," Cain insisted.

Cain wasn't sure he was as confident as he sounded, but the glint he'd seen in Kade's eye when he saw Peyton led him to believe there was more to it for him than just a bet.