It All Started With A Deal

Chapter 13.2

Chapter 13.2
The entire crowd gasp. Meanwhile, I sat there with a questioning expression in my face. A tie?

I already knew who it was between.

"Well ladies and gentlemen and variations thereof, looks like we'll be having a cat fight,"

Yeah. A cat fight. When I said the audience wanted to see a cat fight, I meant it. That's what they used to call the settlement of any tie at this school: a cat fight.

"Would Sapphire Kingston and Tara Hooker please step up?"

This was the last thing I wanted to be doing on a Friday night. Tara stepped up first, while the crowd stared at me expectantly.

All of me just wanted to give her the crown and walk away. But also, I was up here representing Liam in a way, and I couldn't have any of my choices reflect poorly on him for fear of the scout seeing.

So I stepped up beside her.

"Here begins the first cat fight in ten years. Will our hoco king please join us as well?"

Liam popped up beside me, clearly just as confused as everyone else.

"Now, the rules are simple. I will ask questions regarding the hoco king, such as his favorite color. Both of our nominees will get a chance to answer. Each correct answer is worth one point. The person with the most points will be our next homecoming queen."

The crowd roared, loving the idea of pinning me and Tara against each other, especially on a topic we both knew so much about.

I wanted nothing more than to crawl up in a ball and hide.

And if the scout weren't watching the scene so intently I probably would have.

They handed the three of us a white board to write our answers down before starting the cat fight, the whole set up as though it were a game show.

"Okay, first question: what is Liam's middle name?"

I stared at the announcer with wide eyes. I had no clue. Before I could even scribble down an answer Tara had her board flipped over with the letters 'AZRIEL' scribbled down.

The word matched Liam's board.

"Correct! That is one point for team Hooker,"

The crowd burst out in a round of laughter.

At this point, I'm questioning the sanity of our principle in why he would think this was a good idea.

"Next question: what is Liam's go to breakfast item?"

And once again, I had absolutely no clue. Tara on the other hand, had the correct answer out at lightning speed.

And that's how the entire game pretty much went. Question after question, I was failing. Favorite food, celebrity, song, color, quote, I knew none of it.

And by the end of the round, I had scored one point: his birthday. Tara had scored sixteen.

"And we have a winner!"

They approached Tara, crowning her with a tiara, a sash, and a white rose.

I stepped back, fading into the distance as all the attention was averted to the couple in front of me.

I couldn't help but notice the disappointment on Liam's face.

A look I most certainly deserved.

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I sat back up in the bleachers, Athena on one side of me and Taylor on the other. Alec had nearly killed Taylor the second he found out about her and Lilly. Thankfully, a couple of his buddies had managed to hold him off, even though I was fairly certain Taylor could have taken him.