You can Bet on Me

Part 11 ~ Party Invitation

Michael
"Hey, man, you coming to the party on Friday?" Gabriel asked after practice, sitting on the bleachers while we watched the track team's practice since we would be going over to Ricky's after school.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I am." I replied, throwing my head back to drink water. Gabriel grinned and leaned back on his hands.
"So, your girlfriend looked pretty pissed earlier when she stormed in," he said casually. "What'd she want?"
"Nothing," I replied, forcing myself not to growl.
"Well then, if you two are all good, then invite your girlfriend to the party," Gabriel looked at me smugly and though he wasn't a part of the bet, he looked like he would be soon.
"No way, man." I forced a laugh.
"Why not? If she was your real girlfriend, you would invite her," I see what he's doing. He's provoking me. He wants me to say no and then they could rob me of my money saying that I lost the bet. Well too bad that I wasn't going to let that happen.
"Fine, I'll try." I replied.
"Great," Gabriel clapped once as Ricky approached us and said, "alright, we can go now. Also, I'm driving."
Gabriel began to argue against him about that, but since the car was Ricky's, he inevitably lost the argument.
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"No," Maddison had downright refused. Not even a split second after I had asked, she had refused plainly.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because," she gave the single-worded answer that meant absolutely nothing and didn't give me an answer at all.
"Because what?" I pressed.
"Because I've never been to a party before? Because parties are loud and people get drunk and do illegal stuff?" I almost laughed at her answer.
"Where the hell did you get the idea that people get drunk and do illegal stuff at parties?" I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked at me, confused.
"M-Movies," she hesitantly replied.
That just made me laugh harder. Maddison looked more confused and blushed slightly as she asked, "is that... is that not what people do at parties?"
"Well, the drunk bit, sometimes, but illegal stuff? No way. Not unless every single soul at the party is drunk and no one can knock some sense into us." I replied, stifling my laugh.
"Well, the answer is still no." Maddison turned around and slammed her locker shut before walking away. And that was the exact moment that Brian, James, and Zachery appeared behind me.
"So, what'd she say?" Zachery asked, his face telling me that he already knew and was just asking for his own entertainment.
"No, obviously. She's never been to a party and her only ideas of parties are from movies – getting drunk and doing illegal stuff," I replied.
Brian laughed. "That's a true nerd for you. Anyways, if she was really your girlfriend, she would actually come. Prove that she's your girlfriend – convince her to come. I don't care how – if she was your real girlfriend, you would invite her."
"Oh, and tell her that her scones are delicious," James added. My heart twinged – how did he know? I hesitated.
"She gave you one?" I asked. James grinned and said, "don't worry, I'm not trying to steal your precious girlfriend from you. Mila's hotter." Despite James' words, I still felt something painful inside. Was I... jealous? Of James? Because Maddison gave him a single scone? No way... right?
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