The Challenge

"I thought we were here for pizza?"

"So did you decide yet?" Brad asked me the moment I stepped into the school. I rolled my eyes at him before strolling to my locker. I heard his heavy footsteps follow closely behind me.

"Did you decide yet?" he repeated with a giddy tone in his voice.

"I don't get a proper good morning?" I asked sarcastically as I popped open my locker revealing textbooks and papers I haven't taken a glance at since the first day of school.

"Good morning!" he said with fake enthusiasm and sighed as if those two words had drained out all of his energy.

"Did you think about it yet?" he prodded as he leaned against the locker next to mine.

I sighed, not only did I think about it, I spent the entire night obsessing over it. I must have laid in bed for hours replaying the scene over and over again in my head. I remember staring up at my white-washed ceiling with her face running through my head.

I had convinced myself that I couldn't stop thinking about her because I knew she would be a difficult target but that doesn't explain why I had the strange impulse to hold her and never let her go. Something tells me that it would be the first of many sleepless nights.

I shrugged. "Give me some time. I could already tell she won't be easy," I said to Brad who had been waiting not-so-patiently for my reply.

"I know," he grinned. "I figured you would need more persuasion, so I have increased the bet to fifty bucks," he tempted me by pulling out a bill and waving it infront of my face. I knew that fifty dollars was nothing to Brad since his family was loaded. His parents co-own a cell-phone network that everybody in the southern hemisphere uses.

That was one of the biggest reasons he's popular. Brad was extremley boastful and ostentatious so he had no problem giving away money like it was water. Sometimes I forgot why I was even friends with him because of how vain he was, but then he would pull out a pocket full of cash and I would give in.

"I said give me some time," I snapped pushing his hand away from my face.

"Hey guys!" Mike greeted as he approached us. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Hey clowny! We're talking about Dustin's new challenge," Brad proudly stated.

"I'm out," Mike said while turning around.

Mike was never fond of the whole game Brad and I played. He was one of those poor suckers who belived in true love and fairy-tale endings. I didn't mind as long as he never bought it up around me, and because I've known him since we were dressing up as aliens for Halloween, he was smart enough to not mention love around me. Mike, unlike Brad, was very modest. He certainly wasn't the most reserved person on the planet but he was the most sincere. He was the only person I could be weird around without feeling uncomfortable because-let's face it-nobody was as strange as Mike. That's why he was my best friend, because, even though we didn't agree on some things, the majority of my favorite memories were always with him.

"No!" I said grabbing him by the collar of his bookbag and pulled him back towards us. "Brad and I are done talking about this," I said while shooting Brad a look. He held up his hands in defense and strolled away from us probably going to flirt with the entire cheerleading team until one of them puts out.

"I probably say this a lot but I don't like him very much," Mike frowned as he crossed his arms and pouted like a five year old.

"I'm starting to see why," I agreed. I turned around to go to class when I saw the head of brunette hair that was the cause of my restless night.

I stopped and stared as she maneuvered her way through the large mass of students that filled the hallways. She kept her eyes locked on her shoes as people pushed past her as if she wasn't there. She advanced through the crowd and ignored all the shoves from the hustling students. Her expression remained stoic almost as if she was unaware of how they trampled past her like she was invisible. But judging by how her fists clenched around the books in her hands every time someone touched her, she definitely knew what was going on. She knew how she was being treated but at the same time, she didn't do anything about it. No one gave the petite, sheepish girl a second glance as they piled into the classrooms. She disappeared into her next class leaving me standing there wondering how on earth it was possible for a radiant girl like her to be ignored and dejected. How was it possible that people didn't create a pathway for her to walk down?