Betting Boy

Chapter Eight - Kian

Isabelle Priestly sent you an attachment.

Curious, I slide the notification open, and find a document titled 'RULES'.

The Official Rules of the Prank War.

1. There shall be no more than one prank pulled per person, per week.

2. Pranks shall not involve studying in any way: no tampering with assignments, classes, or study-related commitments. For example: no pranks are to be pulled in the 48-hour period before an exam or deadline.

3. Pranks shall not involve family in any way. For example, no sending an email to the prankee's family with something like, 'Didn't know how to tell you all, but I'm pregnant!' or 'I'm dropping out of university to pursue a career as a professional didgeridoo player, and hope you support this decision.' You get the idea. Family is a prank-free zone.

4. If the prankee is sick, or a prank Rule has been broken, the pranker shall help to tidy the mess/rectify. For example: if a prank is pulled the day before a midterm the pranker was unaware of, the pranker shall undo/tidy away their prank – or at least help to.

5. Pranks pulled by Isabelle shall occur on a Tuesday on weeks 1 and 3 of the month. Pranks pulled by Kian shall occur on a Thursday on weeks 2 and 4 of the month. The prankee shall leave their room unlocked on their designated pranking day. (Side note: I thought this was safer than leaving our rooms unlocked all the time???? And a prank a week doesn't seem like much but I get the feeling it'll get really time consuming, especially once we have actual studying to do...) Like I said, if there are assignments/midterms/etc. getting in the way then an alternative day needs to be agreed upon.

6. The Prank War shall only include Isabelle and Kian. No outside help is allowed, or else the pranker forfeits and must surrender the war.

7. The Prank War shall continue until the end of term/when we go home for Christmas.

8. You can surrender the Prank War at any time, but once a surrender is given, the war is over and the winner declared.

9. The winner of the Prank War receives ultimate bragging rights and the title of Pranker Extraordinaire. The loser will just know they lost. They're a loser. Ha. A pranker may win the war if the prankee surrenders, or the prankee may win if the pranker fails to prank on their designated pranking day, unless an alternative date is discussed and agreed upon.

10. Game on. (Sorry, I know it's not a real rule. I just felt like if there were this many, I needed ten rules. But yeah – game on.)

I can't help but laugh a little. Isabelle doesn't realise what she's started here.

I'm competitive. I'm a winner. And I don't give up easily.

I can out-prank Isabelle, and I'm going to prove to her that she does want me.

She was gone when I woke up this morning, and I was kind of sorry about that. I've spent the night with girls before, sure, but... This was different. Maybe it just was the lack of sex. Maybe it was the way she'd wriggled into me when she fell asleep and the way I'd held her closer – even though she was asleep and didn't know it; just because I'd wanted to.