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

I haven't explained this to anyone, not even myself

"I thought she liked Corey."

Clarice gives me a look. A look that says "Typical male. I freaking spell it out for him and he doesn't get it." I give her a look. A look that says "Well all the better, now fix this before he realizes what you just said."

"So she doesn't like Corey?" Damn it.

"Think what you want," I say, clamping a hand over Clarice's mouth.

"I want to think you don't like him." Damn it. Damn him.

"Regardless of what you think, I'm still going out with him this weekend." Trevor sits up.

"Whatever. Hey, you know that picture of you and Spike?" Why does he have to bring that up?

"What about it?"

"What were you guys doing in the girls' bathroom?"

"Getting a gum-spit ball out of my hair. Why?"

"Well, I asked Spike since he was at tryouts..."

"What? I didn't see him last time." I think back to last tryout I was at. All I remember is breaking my wrist trying to wave at Corey and Trevor simultaneously.

"You were kinda preoccupied last time," Clarice says with a laugh. Did I tell her about it? "Matt invited me to watch him and I saw you there." What? I didn't see him either.

"Stupid testosterone," I mutter. Clarice laughs.

"Amen."

"Uh...right here. Still listening," Trevor says awkwardly.

"Right, sorry," I say, trying to hide a smirk. "So you asked Spike and he said?"

"He said you guys were making out," he says. Clarice laughs.

"That's what he told me! That's why I checked with you." I laugh and shake my head.

"He was just joking." Trevor nods and turns red.

"That would explain why he started laughing when... I turned around." I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that, but I don’t push further.

Friday is calm. The whole fight scene scared everyone off, plus neither Christa nor Janice are around.  I want to go watch tryouts, but Dr. Thornton is coming over. I tell Christa to come with me. There's no way I'm going to be home alone with Dr. Thornton.

"So Haley, have you thought over what we discussed yesterday?" I'm ready with my red herring.

"I have a date on Saturday." He looks at me in shock and I start laying it on thick. He's such a great therapist. He showed me how I really hadn't forgotten Trina and the scales from my eyes. I realized that I had been slowly falling for someone but had been afraid to commit to it. (This, at least, is true). The boy in question asked me out and all my present happiness is due to Dr. Thornton.

He laps it up like a dog. He asks all the details: the when and where, as though checking to see if I'm telling the truth. I tell him everything.

"As you can see, Dr. Thornton, you've helped me a lot."

"I'm just glad to have been of service, Haley. You were my first patient and it's wonderful to see you blossom like this. You will always have a special place in my heart. It looks like my services are no longer needed." I thank him and see him to the door. I want to yell, I want to shout. I want to dance around the room to a random song. Clarice has a similar idea.

I barely shut the door before I hear some upbeat dance-y music blaring from my laptop speakers. Clarice and I spend a good few songs dancing before we both collapse on my bed in a fit of giggles.

"All right, get up," Clarice says suddenly.

"Why?"

"We're going shopping!" She waves a debit card at me. "Trevor's orders."

"How much is on that thing?" I ask as we park the car and start walking. Clarice squints at the number scribbled in sharpie on the back.

“About a two hundred bucks.” I stop walking.

"That's a lot of money."

"They're loaded,” she says, dismissing it with a wave of the hand. “Come on! Enjoy it! Dr. Trevor's orders are for you to buy a whole new wardrobe."

We head to Forever 21. I ignore the pinks and oranges and head straight for the blues and greens.

That one would look fantastic on you.

I hear Trina's advice in my head as I reach for the dark blue tunic. Clarice pushes me into the dressing room, throwing a thick belt after me. When I walk out she whistles.

"Fantastic. How'd you know what to pick up?" I smile and tap my head.

"Trina."

Clarice laughs. "I love her fashion sense."

The rest of the trip passes that way. I find what a piece that resonates and Clarice picks out the accessories. Just like Trina used to do. Except she usually had a say in the main piece I pick out too. Until I started learning what looked good on me.

We hit Forever 21, Tilly's, and Claire's, not to mention a barrage of other stores Clarice keeps pulling me in and out of. We end up with three or four bags of stuff. I'm pretty picky and frugal, so I get home tired, but Clarice is excited about everything.

Trevor pops his head in later to see how we're doing. Clarice is eager to show him all we bought but he's really not that interested. I just flop onto the bed.

"So tired." Trevor just smiles.

"Remember, you have a date tomorrow." I moan and pull the covers over my head. Is it just me or does Trevor seem to be enjoying my pain?

___________________________________________________________________

I know what you guys are all thinking: "Finally! Oh my gosh, does she even care about us readers at all?!" *sigh* I definitely deserve it. But the cousins are all gone now and maybe, just maybe I can try to get back in the swing of things. I really will try.

In the meantime, guess how many fans of this story there are out there? 202. Yup. Imma say it again. 202. How amazing is that? Well, at this point, 50 just isn't going to cut it anymore, lol. How about this, if 100 of you amazing people vote on this chapter by day after tomorrow, I'll post two chapters. If not, I'll post one chapter. (This way, I'll remember to check, haha). You don't have to be a fan to vote, obviously, I just use my number of fans as an indicator of the minimum amount of people who CAN vote. And then just hope that I can get all you amazing readers to vote.

So remember: 100 votes in the next two days and I post 2 more chapters.

Since you guys are awesome, here's a preview of the next couple chapters:

Chapter 27: "I have a date with Corey tonight." Mom looks upset.

"Do you like him?"

***

"Where does that leave you? A pedophile, perhaps? A stalker?"

Chapter 28:

He grabs my hand and drags me out to the car. He refuses to look at me

***

"Do you remember this place?"

I begin to shake

All right. Please remember to vote and comment!