I Bet...

Chapter 1- Cole

I was half-awake when Samantha called me. I woke up, squinting at the sunlight filtering in through my bedroom window. "Cole! We need to have another breakup hang out. Bryce dumped me. He said I was too flirty to be in a relationship. Can you believe that?" I chuckled. "Haha. I beat you out for a longer relationship. Sucks to suck. But yeah we can hang out, just give me an hour." I hung up and then got out of bed. As I was getting dressed and making myself not look homeless, I got a call from my girlfriend Lia. "Hey Li, what's up?" I held the phone away from my face as she began yelling at me. "What's up?! My birthday is today and you're not here! I told you that we were going be hanging at my house for my party and you're not here. I can't believe you! We're done!" She yells before hanging up. I sighed. Another girl dumped me. I'm sorry but high school girls are way too clingy. Yes I want to be with you too, but not every single second of my damn life.

As I finished making my loaded nachos, I heard a knock at my door before Sam waltzed into the house. "Hey!" She said hugging me from behind. "Lia broke up with me. Apparently I forgot her birthday, which I know for a fact is actually tomorrow, she put it in my phone. But it's fine, she was way too clingy and needy for my tastes. I need someone that is independent and doesn't expect much. Why can't I find someone like you to date?" I said with a chuckle as Sam hopped up onto the island counter. "Because I'm one of a kind. There's no one like me." She says simply. I chuckled. "But what am I going to do?" Sam said, "I have events that I need a date for and alas I'm single." I began thinking and then an idea dawned on me.

"I'll be your date. I have an idea, a bet so to say. How about we date each other and see who could say I love you first? It'll be fun to see who will crack first and until school ends we won't have to worry about subpar boyfriends and girlfriends. Winner gets to determine their prize. It would start now and continue until someone says I love you or we graduate, whichever comes first." I explained and then watched Sam as she contemplated the idea. I don't know what I was thinking when I came up with this bet. I guess I just wanted to see if I really wanted to date someone like Sam. Or maybe I just wanted to date Sam, I don't know.

I finished making nachos and then sat down on the couch, waiting for Sam. I think this might be the longest amount of time she's been quiet. Maybe it was a bad idea to suggest this bet in the first place. What if Sam doesn't want to do it but she feels like she has to? "Cole!" She yelled from the kitchen, pulling me out of my own head. There goes that brief period of quiet. I made my way into the kitchen where Sam was making herself hot chocolate. "I thought about the bet and I think I'll do it." She said to me. "Really?" I asked, a bit shocked that she gave in. She shrugged. "Sure why not? It could be fun, I mean you're like the hottest guy in school. I could make everyone I've ever been dumped by and dumped for jealous. Major bonus." She said with a small wink. I smiled. "Ditto for you." As we made our way back to the living room, I took a seat on the couch and Sam sat next to me resting her head on my chest. Oddly enough, it felt completely natural, like I was supposed to be doing it.

----------------------------------------------

The next day, me and my friends were hanging at the mall. "So guys me and Lia broke up..." I began. They all began to try to console me and set me up with new people but I stopped them. "I've already moved on though. I have a new girlfriend now." I said smugly. "Who have you not dated yet that you could possibly be dating now?" Brandon asked. They all began shooting out names, all their guesses incorrect. "Well who is it?" As I felt my phone vibrate, I took it out to see who it is. "Hey guys Sam's calling me, give me a minute okay?" They all nodded and I answered the phone. "Hey babe." I said. Sam tried to hold back a laugh. "Hey baby. I'm hanging out with the girls and I was wondering if I could tell them about the bet, or just tell them that we're dating." I thought about it for a second. "Sure, you can tell them. I plan on telling the guys so it's only fair." "Alright then. I'll talk to you later babe, kisses." I chuckled. "Kisses to you too cutie, later." I said before hanging up.

I looked up to see all my friends staring at me in shock. "You and Sam?! I thought you two said you'd never date because you're like brother and sister." Marcus said. I laughed. "Yeah Sam and I are dating, but it's part of a bet." "A bet? What is the bet?" I smiled. "Basically we're dating and the bet is to see who would fall in love first. We're both sick of the people we date and we've finally realized that we were looking for people like each other. So now that we're dating, we get to date the type people we truly want and don't have to deal with the crazies." Brandon just shook his head at me. "What?" "You do realize you're setting yourself up to fall in love with Sam, right? I mean are you ready for that, that possible change in your guys' relationship?"

I hadn't even thought about it like that. What if I turned to one of those clingy types? Sam would not want anything to do with me. Not only would that ruin our relationship but it'd ruin our friendship too. I hope nothing goes wrong and backfires on me completely. "You really think our friendship could be messed up over this?" Brandon shrugged. "Who knows? She could end up becoming clingy and become what you don't like or you could end up becoming the possesive, jealous guy she hates. So you'll never know until it happens." Brandon had a great point, I don't know what will happen. I shouldn't let the unknown dictate how I run my life.