The Bet

Prologue

"I can't believe we're going to be high schoolers next week Jens. Like that's literally insane," My best friend Lane squealed as she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. We were making the most out of the last couple of days of summer and had forced our moms to drop us off at the mall for the day. "Let's go buy jeans at AEO and then get dinner at Chick-fil-a," I suggested as I dragged my bombshell bff towards American Eagle.

I was slurping down a vanilla milkshake when I spotted him. The hottest boy I had ever seen in my entire life: Bennett Hamilton, the most popular guy at our rival school. I'd only heard things about him, and not good things, but I didn't care. He was sitting across the table from his equally as hot and troubled best friend, Colby Calahan. I kicked Lane underneath the table and she let out a low whimper.

"What was that for?" She whined until her eyes got big. She had spotted the boys too. A sneaky smile spread across her lips and she pushed herself out of her chair, a determined gleam in her eyes. I could tell right away this wasn't going to be good.

"C'mon Jens, I've found my new victim," my heart skipped a beat. I was praying she was talking about Colby and not Bennett. To my dismay, she swayed her newly developed hips over to the table and positioned herself directly in front of the boy I wanted.

This was nothing new though; Lane got whatever she wanted, even if it was what I wanted first. I stuffed my bra for years but Lane woke up one morning with perfect C cups. She got all of the clothes, all of the guys, and had money coming out of her asshole. If something wasn't going her way, all she had to do was wave a couple Benjamins in front of some one or show just a little too much cleavage and she was good. Being her best friend was hard, especially with my mousy brown hair and lack of a figure.

"Hey ladies," Colby's thick southern drawl rang out over the loud mall food court. I gave him a shy smile in return but Lane didn't bother to reply.

"So Bennett..." She was using her high pitched flirting voice. I tuned out the rest of their conversation to avoid either crying or puking. Instead, I pulled out a chair and plopped down next to Colby.

Not soon enough, my mom arrived at the mall to pick us up and I practically had to drag Lane off of Bennett's lap. The only good thing that had come out of the night was that Colby gave me his number, but Bennett hadn't said a single word to me. He hadn't even looked my way.

* * *

The first day of Freshman year. It was finally here. I walked up the staircase and through the front doors. It smelled like pot, BO and freedom, and I loved it already. I navigated the confusing hallways to find my homeroom, and only got lost once or twice. I finally found it, D113. I pushed open the door and took a seat at the front of the room after not recognizing a soul. I put in my headphones and tried not to pay attention to the scary seniors that were hovering in the back of the classroom. Eventually the teacher came up to the front of the room and introduced herself, saying she would be moving us into alphabetical order. There was a series of groans from upper-classmen but I didn't really mind. If anything, it forced people to talk to me. I got up from my chair and continued looking at my phone. I waited for Mrs. Park to point to my new seat. "Gurden... Hardy...Hamilton..." My head snapped up when I heard it, and my eyes met Bennett's enticing baby blues.

"Looks like we're in this together Hardy," he smirked as he pulled the chair next to me out from under the table. "You're stuck with me for the rest of high school."

Lord help me.