The Virgin Bet

19

Day 12 - 3:15 pm

It was Wednesday, meaning that there were only two days left until Cole's birthday. He still refused to mention this event to Charlotte because he never celebrated it. Growing up young with a twin, the two of them attended many birthday parties for their fellow peers. When Dylan and him were only five, their parents split up. His mother took Dylan under her wing while his father took Cole under his. The two didn't see much of each other throughout their elementary and middle school years, but they somehow met back up in high school.

Cole and Dylan are not as close as most twins are. Since their parents separated them for nine years of their life, they never truly got to socialize together in their younger years. Because of this, when they reunited again in their late teen years, they never really bonded. The two of them were polar opposites. Dylan is naturally intelligent with a small friends group at Columbia University. Cole had a larger friend group, if you counted the people he met at wild parties, and had to work harder for his grades. Cole is a risk taker with a hard head on his shoulders, while his twin likes to shelter himself off alone in his room where people cannot bother him.

Needless to say, Cole was glad when he heard that Dylan was going to a different university than he was. Of course, Dylan got multiple scholarships to help pay the cost of his tuition. On the other hand, Cole didn't apply for any scholarships and his grades weren't high enough to get much from Merit Based scholarships. He's just fortunate he got into NYU, or any university for that matter.

Maybe if he hadn't gone here, then maybe he would've never met his group of friends that got him into this bet to strip away an innocent's virginity. This always stuck in the back of his mind, which made him wish he had gone to school somewhere else. But he would do anything to make a quick buck, and that's why he took this bet in the first place. It was all about money to him. He's stuck being this girl's fake boy friend like figure until the time is up, or until he takes her innocence.

In a way, he felt bad for Charlotte. She had no idea what was going to happen to her. It was going to hit her like a truck in the end. He just hoped he didn't stay around long enough to see the aftermath. He'd torn girls apart before, piece by piece as they shared all their secrets and whims with him. They were just a nice woman to sleep with before he left without a trace.

Deep down, he didn't want to do that to Charlotte, but he knew that he had to since his friends would ruin things for him if he fell for her. The number one rule that lingers over him like a storm cloud to haunt him at night. He is not allowed to fall in love with her, or else they are allowed to tell her everything. That was one thing he did not want to risk happening. That meant he wasn't allowed to date her after this bet was over, although he didn't want that to happen.

Charlotte was outside his dormitory door, standing there as if contemplating what she was going to say. How could she confront him with the minimal details that Andy confessed to Kristie? Kristie told her that Andy said that Cole was a major player in the game of fake love. He said that he liked to play around with girls until he just up and left them without a warning, taking their innocence with him. Charlotte didn't want to be one of those girls. She especially didn't need another man in her life who was going to hurt her.

A fist raised, she went to go knock on his door with a deep breath. After the first knock, the door swung open to a very surprised Cole, for he was just about to go visit her at her own dorm. Charlotte, taken back by the sudden appearance, gathered her thoughts before she decided to speak up. "Cole, we need to talk." She huffed as she straightened out her skater skirt. In the back of her mind, she reminded herself why she was here. That reason was not to gawk over how attractive he looked in his low sweats and white shirt.