The Bet

Excessive Stalling

On Monday morning I walk into school with my hood low over my face. This is my way of avoiding Evelyn. If I remember the bet then I'm sure she'll remember it. Especially with her freakish memory. I'm almost in the clear when she comes up behind me and snatches off my hood.

"Did you honestly think that would work?" She smirks.

I swear violently to myself and throw her a sidelong glance. She looks completely different from the glassy eyed, pasty faced Evelyn I saw two days ago at the party. Her tan skin is back to normal. Her black hair is piled in a messy bun at the top of her head. And her blue eyes are lined with dark, coal eyeliner.

I applaud her effort. Unlike me. I barely have any makeup on. I'm still suffering from the world's biggest hangover. So this morning I just left my fiery red hair to do its thing. And by "its thing" I mean form into the beachy waves I'm so naturally blessed with. My thoughts are laced with sarcasm. I applied concealer and a little mascara before rushing out of the house. Just to make my green eyes pop.

"So the bet started already," she says.

"What bet?" I play dumb. Maybe she'll brush it off. Or maybe I can convince her she's insane. Let's try that. "Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard at the party. And you've been talking about a bet for the last two days."

She squints at me as if she's almost believing me. "Nice try, Jade. Even though I was drunk as hell I remember our bet. If I lost I had to dye my hair a poop green. If you lost you had to get Desmond Riley to love you by Valentine's Day."

Once again I swear violently to myself before getting on my knees. I wrap my arms around her legs and grovel. I have no shame. "Please don't make me do this! Please please please! He's the biggest asshole ever."

She lifts me to my feet and hisses at me. "Stop causing a scene! You made a drunken bet. And you must honor that bet!"

I roll my eyes so hard it actually makes me dizzy.

"He's right over there. Go get started. You'll need every second."

I turn around and catch him leaning against the lockers. His black hair falls into his eyes as he bends down to grab his bag. My eyes sweep over his arms, which are both covered in a full sleeve tattoo. I can see a little of one of his tattoos poking out of his shirt and snaking up the back of his neck. What seventeen year old gets a neck tattoo?

"Did I ever tell you how much I want to strangle you?" I grit my teeth at my idiot best friend.

"I love you too. Shoo! You have a lot of work to do. I expect to see some hand holding soon." She sashays down the hall, leaving me alone.

I wring my hands together and take a deep breath. I'm gonna bump into him and play it cool. How do I walk again? Right. One foot in front of the other.

I begin walking towards him. I'm almost there when he glances in my direction and that's when I make a B-line to the water fountain.

Come on Jade. You got this, I think to myself. I turn around and end up smacking against his chest.

His bag falls to the ground and he glares at me. "What the fuck?"

I bend down to get his bag. This is exactly what I wanted. Why am I so nervous? "Sorry about that."

He snatches his bag and stares at me. "Watch where you're going next time, red headed freak."

I cock my head to the side as if to hear him better. I know he doesn't think he can talk to Jade Mercer like that.

"Excuse me?" I ask. "Do you mind repeating that?"

He steps closer and snarls. "Watch where you're going. Red. Headed. Freak."

I can feel the heat rising to my face. And since I'm naturally pale I know it's visible. I snatch his bag off of his shoulder and throw it to the ground. Before he can react I stomp on it. "Pick your own damn bag up."

I turn on my heels and fume silently to myself. I don't even turn around to check his expression. If Evelyn thinks I'm going through with this bet she has another thing coming.

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