Huey Freeman's Guide to Dating

Prologue

"Oh, she may be weary. And young girls, they do get wearied."

- Otis Redding

She was trying so hard to stay calm.

The girl whispered something in his ear as he smirked in response, gripping her hand to lead her to her next class.

"What an ass." Cindy remarked, watching her ex. "It's been what, two weeks, this time?"

"Three and a half." Jazmine corrected her. "Guys are jerks, even him. You'd think he'd at least wait."

"Especially him." Cindy tossed her backpack over her shoulder. "l hope you can move on soon." She said. "That way you can stick it to him whenever he comes crawling back."

Jazmine tried to ignore the feeling of hope, slowly rising to the surface.

"I hope not." She frowned, glancing down at the floor. "I'm done this time. It's over."

"Uh huh." Cindy made it clear she didn't believe her. "Sure."

"I'm serious." Jazmine glared. "This is really it this time!"

Huey snorted from behind them and stared over at Cindy. "They broke up, again, huh?"

"Yup." Cindy leaned onto her locker and grinned at her best friend's brother. "Want to place a bet? No entry fees required."

"Absolutely." He nodded. "Is there a prize?"

"I'm standing right here you know." Jazmine pouted. "Heartbroken. Depressed. Forever alone."

"A thousand bucks for you if you're right." Cindy leaned on Jazmine's shoulder. "All I want if I win is for you to perform a song. Preferably a selection previously performed by a wrongfully accused musical genius. With choreography."

"P Diddy, R Kelly, Trey Songz, and Dr Dre are not wrongfully accused victims." Huey rolled his eyes. "But I do need money for a part to my car."

"I'm falling into the abyss!" Jazmine crumpled against her locker dramatically. "No. More. Joy."

"Let's get into specifics, then." Cindy placed her thumb on her chin. "We need clear guidelines around collection of payment."

"Agreed." Huey nodded, rubbing his hand together. "Are they back together when they kiss again, or are they back together when they're an official couple again?"

"Does it matter?" Cindy mused. "It all happens around the same time."

Huey intercepted Jazmine's locker door with his foot just in time

"Trust me." He smirked. "It matters."

"Let's shoot for when they're a couple again." Cindy decided, snapping her fingers. "Oh! Let's make it interesting."

Huey snorted.

"What's more interesting than getting a thousand dollars for the inevitable?" He turned around to check out some girl, switching hard as she walked past. "You sure you wanna do that?" He asked, almost laughing at the fact that this was so damn easy. "You can always back out, no pressure."

Cindy stepped over Jazmine, who had made a show of falling onto the ground.

"I'm sure." She shrugged, smiling. "And if you can somehow get her to move on, I'll even toss in another thousand bucks."

Jazmine groaned from her spot on the ground

"You guys don't love me!" She whined. "The people who loved me wouldn't treat me this way!"

"That's even better." He shook her hand, shaking his head at Jazmine. "Now, I just have to find someone crazy enough to date her." He frowned. "She's a lovestruck shell of herself. Worst case I've ever seen."