Don't Bet On It

Chapter 15 - You Can't have a Party Without a Punch Up

Oasis – She's Electric

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"Hi Mads!" I exclaimed brightly as her picture popped up on my laptop screen, it took a few seconds for me to realise that she wasn't alone. Behind her was a cute guy with short mousy-brown hair and a blue jumper, he was standing awkwardly by Maddie's bed. He looked up as I greeted my friend then away again.

"Hi Stitch, I wanted to introduce you to Jamie before he has to go. Jamie this is my best friend Evie, all the way from San Francisco." She motioned for him to come closer, he did smiling as he leant down to fit in the screen next her.

"Hi, I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to meet you Evie." His voice was deeper than I was expecting and made my heart beat a little faster, I could see exactly why Maddie liked him.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you too." I watched in silence as the two of them said goodbye, I felt completely awkward watching them kiss each other. When she returned she looked dazed and happy and I couldn't help but smile at her. "He seems nice."

"Oh, he is. He's smart and funny and kind. He's just gone to pick his mum up from the airport now." I watched as she gushed with praise for him, practically bouncing around in her seat. I leant my head back and giggled at her until she gasped, I looked back at her to see what was wrong.

"Evie Bennett is that a love bite I can see on your neck?" My cheeks flushed red, I looked down to avoid her searching eyes. I'd noticed the small round bruise on my neck when I got out of the shower this morning, then instantly remembered where Noah had been focusing his attention last night.

"Maybe." I said coyly trying not to look at her but there just wasn't enough to distract me on the walls of my bedroom. I glanced up to see her shocked face.

"Noah?" I nodded in answer to her question and bit my lip. "I thought you said that you weren't dating, huh?"

"I . . . we're not. He wants to but I can't just forget what's happened in the past, I can't get my heart broken by him." I swallowed and sighed deeply as I watched her furrow her brows at me.

"You clearly like him and he clearly likes you, I get that he's been a player in the past but why throw the chance of happiness away." My eyebrows shot up at the anger in her voice, I wasn't expecting a reaction like that.

"I can't just forget the past, he really hurt Rae; he really hurt a lot of girls. I don't want to join the list, I don't want to be humiliated and pitied every time somebody sees me. I can't be that girl, I just can't." I rested my elbows on my knees and looked down at the floor, I could feel my eyes beginning to twitch as tears began to from and I didn't want my best friend to see.

"I know you don't want to get hurt but maybe it's different this time. Maybe he won't break your heart, maybe just maybe you're the girl he's been waiting for. The girl who can change him." I looked up to find Maddie smiling, I wanted to believe what she was saying but her words were too good to be true.

"That's a lot of maybes. I just don't know whether I can trust him, I mean what about the bet? He hasn't mentioned anything about it, if it didn't mean anything he'd tell me right?" I shrugged my shoulders and sighed, my shoulders sagged as I looked expectantly at her.

"Have you asked him about the bet?" I shook my head. "How you can you expect him to tell you about it, he's probably embarrassed by it. Look all I'm saying is don't ruin your own chance of happiness. Don't ignore love – if that's what it is – to please your friends." She looked the most serious I'd seen her in my whole life, Maddie was normally smiley and bouncy, this was a completely different side to her.