The Bet

Chapter 17

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -Wayne Gretzky

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(˚ˎ 。7
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And I was the victim to his charm while he was the target of a bet. How can two shattered people pick up the pieces of themselves? How can two damaged and broken people fix the mistakes that they've made?

They take one step at a time.

Its nearing the end of the semester. I take out my notebook and read the tearstained page I written a month ago. I close the notebook again as I rip the page out. I place the page into an envelope and place it on my nightstand. I grab a scrapbook from the shelf and nest myself onto the floor.

I have a week and half left of school and I've reached my decision on what I'll be doing. The month was painful and slow. Torture from Noah only grew by the minutes. If it wasn't his snarky remarks, if it wasn't his deadly glares, it was his hurtful actions or words that nailed me to the wall. I was the villain who created a dangerous monster. One that I'm truly afraid of.

His words cut deep into my soul but him making out with Ainsleigh is drilled itself into my mind. Him fucking her at a party is embedding into my brain. His actions spoke volumes. He's finally gotten over the heartbreak and has moved on.

Or maybe he's using girls again to numb himself.

Either way isn't healthy but who am I, a doctor? I can't judge a soul, especially him. I've seen the real Noah behind his hard exterior. Past his facade, he's a sweet, sensitive, and caring man. He had taken me to his sister's grave. He explained how she had cancer and how she exactly died. I watched as he let tears fall from his eyes for the first time that day. I watched as he cleaned her tombstone and laid her favorite flowers by her grave. He had shown me his fun and adventurous side. One weekend, we didn't go to any parties instead he drove us to a getaway. He drove for hours and hours; we stopped at every city along the way. We hiked, explored, took pictures, and made memories to last a life time. We went to the beach for the week. It wasn't a weekend getaway like I thought. I made his laugh, an actual laugh. His laughter filled the restaurant that night. All over my question...

"Trees have nuts?"

The menu had warning and one was some dishes contained tree nuts.

His real laughter was embedding into my memory. It made me smile to see him so carefree. So himself.
Once, he took me on a picnic. He had never done such a thing for any female. All he ever had to do was turn on his charm for a female and she'd fall to it. He went out of his way to plan this picnic. It lasted until the sun set and the stars glittered the sky. That night we talked about life. We danced under the moonlight and watched a shooting star flash in the sky. Each day Noah gave a little of himself to me that no one had ever seen. No one had ever witnessed this side of Noah.

The real Noah.

I wish I could catch a glimpse of the real him again but that's just wishful thinking. Like I'm wishing on a star. My luck the star would fade out and die into the night. All I see now is Noah being more heartless and colder than normal. Being in a room with him makes me feel like I'm standing in the middle of Antarctica. If only there were penguins in this Antarctica. When he laughs with his friends, it's not the same laugh I know. When he smiles at someone, it's not the smile that crinkles his nose and puts lines by his eyes. This smile doesn't even reach his eyes.

I glance to the last few pictures taken of us, the night before he had found out about the bet. He had kissed my head and my face shows shock. The next one is him laughing his real laugh with bright eyes shining into the camera. I'm smiling from ear to ear like an idiot. The last one is of us sitting on the other side of the bonfire. The flames dance around our skin. One flame splits us down the middle. Like it was a sign we both were about to get burned in the end. The flame splitting us in half was telling us, this is going to end with a painful betrayal.

I close the scrapbook labeled US and place it back on the shelf where it belongs.

My brain is always thinking and asking unasked questions. Like if we would have even started if it wasn't for the bet? Would we had lasted if we weren't based on a bet? Would we still be happy? Would we still be us?

The bet brought an amazing yet unexpected person into my life. The bet also took out the amazing yet unexpected person. In the end we both got burned from a mistake I had made.

Will the burn marks last forever or will they fade with time?

: ¨·.·¨ :
' ·. 🦋
╱|、
(˚ˎ 。7
|、˜〵
じしˍ,)ノ