The Bet (Just The Way You Are)

The Bet *Twisted Mind

 “Daydreaming again.” The corner of her mouths pulls upward.

 A smile makes its way on my face. “When will you tutor me?”

 “When do you want?”

 “Tomorrow?” I suggest.

 “Whoa you really like seeing me huh,” she comments teasingly.

 “No,” I deny quickly.

 “So you’re saying that you don’t want to see me tomorrow?” She asks, tilting her head to the side.

 “It’s not that,” I say, “maybe you’ll do something important and I don’t want to bother you.”

 “I’ll text you then,” she says cheekily.

 “Okay,” I agree.

 “Goodnight Draky,” she says.

 “Sweet dreams Pie.”

 She leans to me slowly. Her breath tickles my cheek. Our faces are just a few inches apart. When I think she’s about to put a kiss on my lips, she opens the door and slides out of the car. She looks at me mischievously through the window and mouths, “Expecting for a kiss?” She sticks her tongue at me and makes her way inside the house, leaving me staring at her retreating figure.

 That girl has a hold on me. I can’t even explain it; the way she makes me feel. It’s so bizarre, nothing I experienced before.

 So what am I going to do now? I’ll just probably continue what I’m doing until I get bored and find something interesting. I’ll think about it later. Now I have to think of a plan on what am I going to do in Pie’s birthday.

 I start the engine of the car and drive home. It’s like a fast forward because the next thing I know, I’m outside the house and searching for the key in my pockets.

 Putting it to the doorknob, I walk inside. There’s a noise coming from the kitchen so I go to that direction. Rounding the corner, I see my mom rummaging in the fridge.

 “Mom,” I say.

 She jumps and accidentally drops the apple she’s holding. Picking it up, she turns to me and says, “You scared me.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” I say amusedly, “why are you still awake?”

 “I don’t want to sleep yet. Have you eaten? Do you want me to prepare something?”

 “No,” I say, with a shake of my head. “I’m not hungry.”

 Even though its a few hours ago since I last ate, my stomach is still full; full of butterflies.

 “Okay,” says my mom, washing the apple on the sink and sits on the stool. “How was your day?”

 “Fine,” I reply.

 “That’s good,” she says, nodding her head. “What about school?”

 Uh oh. I haven’t made a progress yet. I’m glad I asked Pie about the tutorial lesson a while ago. What am I going to—

  “Drake,” mom says, snapping me from my thoughts. “Are you really okay?”

 “Yes,” I say quickly. “I’m studying for next month’s exam.”

 I’m sorry for lying mom. I really am. Anyway, I’ll study after a few days.

 Mom sighs and pretends to believe me. “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep now.”

 “Goodnight mom.”

 “Goodnight Drake.”

 After mom goes to her bedroom, I decide to sleep as well. This is such a tiring day. I feel exhausted and happy at the same time.

 Staring at the ceiling, lying on my bed, I wait for sleep to come. I don’t know how many minutes or hours have passed but I still can’t fall asleep. It’s so frustrating when your mind is thinking incomprehensible thoughts while your body wants to rest.

 After a few minutes of contemplating on what to do, I get up from my bed and sit on my desk. Opening my laptop and turning it on, I wait for a couple of seconds before it starts up. The clock shows that it’s midnight. Maybe someone is still online. I sign in my skype account and wait for it to process my email and password.

 No one’s online. Seriously, what are they doing?! Minimizing my skype, I open another window, type youtube.com and click enter.

 Time to listen to music. It helps me forget my problems, and listening to a song can make me sleep. The first band that comes to my mind is All Time Low. When the Walls play, I put my headphone and sing along with Alex.

 I'm gonna break down these walls I built around myself. I wanna fall so in love with you and no one else—

 Blink!

 Someone’s calling me on Skype. Clicking it, I see that it’s Andre.

 “Hey,” he says, when I answer it.

 “What’s up?” It’s a video call so I can see him.

 “How was it?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.

 “It was. . .” I pause, finding the right word. “Great,” I say finally.

 “What did you do?” he asks. “You didn’t know they’ll go there right?”

 “Yeah,” I say, “I was surprised when I saw them. My plan was to buy a gift for Sophia.”

 “And then you saw them so until now you don’t have a gift,” he says amusedly.

 “I still have two days,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.

 “Right. So what did you do?”

 “Watch a movie, eat, and then. . .” I trail off.

 “And then?” he probes.

 “Go home,” I lie.

 “That’s it?” he asks dubiously.

 “Well, Parker told me something,” I say slyly.

 “About?”

 “Sophia,” I answer.

 “What about her?” he asks curiously.

 “He told me what I have to do to make her fall in love with me.”

 His eyes widen. “Really?” he asks incredulously.

 The talk with Parker was . . . I can’t find the right words to explain it. He gave me a lot of suggestions on how to make Pie fall in love with me. I was shock at first. I didn’t know why he was doing it and then he told me that he thinks Pie and I are perfect for each other. I was like, seriously?

 I couldn’t believe it! It was a man to man talk. He was sure about it. And I, the player of the game, was awestruck. He even threatened to come back if I hurt Pie. If I continue to play the game, I will surely cause her pain. Not that I’m afraid of Parker, but I. . . I learn to respect him in the limited time I know him.

 Will I tell Andre all the details? He’s my best friend so I think its okay. “He said that—“

 Knock. Knock. Knock.