The Bet (Just The Way You Are)

The Bet *Against All Odds

It's hard not to fall for Pie. She's attractive, beautiful, nice, clever, beautiful—

 Oh, I already said beautiful, didn't I? Silly me. Well, I can think of a lot of adjectives to describe her. I can even make a novel about the things I love about her.

I like her.

I like her so much it hurts.

You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach that suddenly gives you emotional adrenaline you haven't experienced before? You know the feeling of riding a rollercoaster dropping down on its final wave? Pie is like a drug to me. I find myself addicted to her, drawn to her—

"Drake-y!"

"What?" Startled, I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

"I've been talking to you for the past minute but I see you're stuck talking to the voice inside your head," she says bemusedly.

"I'm sorry," I say sheepishly, scratching my hair. "Let's go."

"Where?" she asks.

"A date, remember?"

"It's not a date!"

"Whatever you say," I say slyly.

We slide in my car, and after a few minutes of driving, we arrive at Frosty Land.

"I didn't know you like ice cream," Pie says amusedly, walking inside the store.

"I scream for ice cream," I joke.

We take the table at the far end, beside the window. When we're already settled, a waitress walks to our place and gives us the menu.

"What do you want?" I ask Pie.

"Um, banana split," she says, looking at the waitress weirdly.

"What else?"

"Banana split's fine."

"Two banana splits then," I tell the waitress.

When she goes out to retrieve our orders, Pie turns to me, a wide grin on her face.

"What?" I ask. I'm glad her aura is starting to change. I know ice cream can alter your mood. I learned it by experience.

"The waitress was checking you out," she says amusedly.

"She was not," I say doubtfully. I don't know for sure because I just glanced at her for a second to give our orders.

"She was," she states.

"She was not."

"How would you know, you didn't even see the way she looked at you," she says matter-of-factly.

"Precisely," I mutter. "I was busy staring at you."

"Oh," she murmurs, her cheeks reddening at the compliment.

We're both silent for a moment, until the waitress arrives. She sets the banana splits in front of us and winks at me before walking away.

Pie smiles. "See?" She starts eating her banana split, her face full of wonder. "This is delicious. I scream for ice cream!"

I ignore her teasing remark. Instead, I ask her, "Where are you going to study in college?" This is a good start for a conversation. I take a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and start to eat as well.

"I'm not sure," she answers. "I passed application forms to Yale, Brown, and Princeton."

I sigh inwardly. Of course, the Ivy League. I'm not surprised that she picked those universities. With her grades, she wouldn't have a problem studying to any of them.

"What about your major?" I ask quickly, before she can ask me where I plan to study. Truth is, I haven't thought of my life after high school. I guess I'll be stuck here—

"I don't know," she says, a frown appearing on her face. "I haven't made up my mind yet. What about you?"

Uh oh.

I guess I can't really escape this question forever. "I don't know," I say, repeating her words from earlier. "I haven't made up my mind yet."

She rolls her eyes and says, "Seriously."

"I am serious," I say, biting my lip to stop myself from laughing.

"You have to plan your future now," she says thoughtfully. "Where you are studying will affect your life. You know the saying: You can't change your past, but you can let go and start your future? College is where real life really takes action. It's a once in a lifetime experience."

"Like high school."

"Yeah," she says, "but in a very different level."

"You're saying that like you're not a high school student," I observe.

"Well. . ."

"How do you study by the way?"

"Let's see," she starts, putting her spoon down and staring at me. "Make it a habit of reading your notes everyday, even though you don't have a quiz or test the next day. So when the time comes that you'll have an exam, the words will come easily to you- because you already read them repeatedly. It'll be a piece of cake." She grins. "And you know," she adds as an after thought, "Cramming is not good for yourself. You'll end up draining your mind. Besides that, the words will be jumbled, leaving you confused and. . . ." she trails off, frowning at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" I ask curiously, tilting my head to the side.

"Like I'm a bizarre creature," she mutters.

"I'm just surprised—"

"It's not wrong that I like to study when I have free time," she cuts me off.

"I—"

"And I like reading my notes again and again," she interjects, scowling at me.

"You didn't let me finish," I say. "I was surprised because you gave me good tips. I should have expected it though, because it's you we are talking about. And what you said really makes sense."

Of course if I read my notes repeatedly, they'll be stuck in my head.

And that's a good thing.

"Oh," she mumbles, smiling sheepishly.

She's smiling! I'm happy I can make her smile. Something bubbles up in my stomach, I can't explain this feeling. Suddenly, I have the urge to ask her a question. "Pie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do I have a chance?"

"Chance for what?" she asks, confused.

"You know. . ."

"No, I don't know," she says amusedly, smiling slowly.

I clear my throat and shift in my seat uncomfortably. Give it to me to be nervous in this kind of situation. "Do we. . . Do we have a chance of being together?"

"Oh," she murmurs, tearing her gaze away from me. "I. . . I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

My heart is thumping loudly in my chest. I have a feeling she can hear it. I try to calm my nerves to no avail. "Will you?" I probe.

She's about to open her mouth when someone says, "Long time no see."

I watch as a familiar dark haired guy saunters to us. I glance at Pie to check if she knows him but what I find changed my life.

Her face drains all color, leaving her pale. A single word escapes from her lips. If I'm not sitting close to her, I wouldn't hear it.

"Skye."