the bet//[a.k.]

✦ ʙᴇᴛ ✦

"alright guys, after you all leave i'm going to post a project on classroom." mr. steele announced. "you will be working with the other person at your table to create a 20 slide slideshow about weather. it's due friday so you have all of this school week to work on it, however i suggest you work on it together outside of school as i'm only giving you tomorrow and wednesday to work on it in class."

i felt my heart speed just a tiny bit as i looked to my left. awsten knight. that would be my partner for this project. just my luck.

i had a crush on awsten. of course, i had never talked to him before. he was new that year, immediately joining the popular assholes that bullied me in elementary and middle school. from the sidelines, he seemed different than them. if it wasn't for him being friends with them, i probably would have talked to him before that day.

"looks like we're partners." awsten said with a smile. i nodded, smiling back.

"it seems so." i agreed.

"i'm awsten, by the way." he introduced himself.

"i know, i'm-"

*beep*

"i'll just tell you tomorrow, i guess." i said, after being interrupted by the bell. that meant it was lunch time and i was starving.

"okay, keep it a mystery for now. tomorrow then." awsten replied, grabbing his bag and leaving. i grabbed mine and headed to the cafeteria as well.

what an odd first interaction.

awsten's pov

"and then i- awsten, dude, are you okay? you seem spaced out." my friend, tyler, stopped what he was talking about to shake me out of my trance. i looked up.

"what? oh, sorry, i wasn't paying attention." i apologized. my best friend, geoff, started laughing.

"yeah, he's staring at y/n l/n. you got a crush on her or something?" he joked. so that's her name.

"no, i just met her today. she's my partner in science." i told him.

"hey, i wouldn't blame you if you did have a crush on her. she used to look pretty lame but during the summer of eighth grade she got hot." my friend, otto, added.

"heard she doesn't date though, so don't even try." my other friend, jawn, added.

"i swear i almost had her last year, guys." tyler said. our friend josh laughed right in his face.

"yeah, right. she told you to burn in hell. that's what you get for picking on her for all those years and then suddenly showing interest out of nowhere." josh told him.

"hey, she only told me to burn in hell because as we said she just doesn't date."

"i bet i could get her to go on a date with me." i said. the minute the words left my mouth, i felt like a douche. betting over people always seemed like a dick move.

"you? ha, i'd like to see you try, knight." tyler snickered. i raised an eyebrow. did he really think just because he couldn't meant that i couldn't either? i wasn't the one who she already hated.

"i said bet." i reminded him. he smirked.

"fine. $50 says you can't do it." he said. he then looked at everyone else. "anyone else willing to bet on it?"

geoff, otto, josh, and jawn all nodded that they were in. $250 if i could get her on a date or i'd lose $250 if i couldn't. what was the worst that could happen?

"alright, you guys are on. she's my science partner so this should be a piece of cake." i said. tyler clapped me on the back.

"don't be so confident. she's not easy." he reminded me. i raised an eyebrow.

"tyler, you keep forgetting i'm new. i never bullied or picked on her in elementary and middle school. i have a better chance than any of you combined. even though three of you have girlfriends anyways."

"yeah, we'll see about that."

"we will."

i sat down and started to gaze at y/n again. i already felt wrong about betting on her but i genuinely could see myself getting to know her and asking her on a date either way. she was beyond pretty and the way she walked and talked just dragged me in.

just as long as she never found out about the bet, whether she agrees to go on a date with me or not, it would all be fine.