The Mailbox Girl

25. A bet

I called Olivia in the evening to share my idea with her and, to say the least, she was stoked. She immediately offered to write the letter so Prishka wouldn't recognize my handwriting.

Then Olivia proceeded to tell me everything she had learnt about the other girls on the list.

"Two of them have been disqualified."

"Already?"

"Yes. It was 100% sure Isolde wasn't one of them." I laid on my bed as Olivia pursued. "Teegan West, the girl who was in the Council with you went to a party after seeing the play with Mr Hastings and her class. A few people, including her boyfriend were there. Then there's Melanie Cheng. She is a virgin. So unless she is lying about wanting to remain one until her wedding day, it's impossible she had sex with Mr Hastings."

"How did you even know that?"

"She was very openly discussing this with some of her friends during their Cheerleaders practice today. I just so happened to have my soccer practice a few meters away from her and I recognized her face. And she was way too opinionated about the matter to be lying."

Olivia was seriously the best amateur detective I had ever met. Not that I had met any before her, actually but I was still pretty impressed at her investigating skills. She should get in the police after we graduate, or something.

"Great. So we're down to three names? What are they again?"

"Hadley, Jasmine and Prishka. You want my opinion on them?"

"Absolutely!"

"If it's not Prishka, it'll be Hadley. No slut-shaming intended but she sleeps around pretty easily and is like a woman version of Shane. She dates a new guy every few weeks. And, she also happened to date Shane last year. You could ask him about her!"

Who Shane hadn't dated, honestly?

"Olivia, it's a first for you! Acknowledging Shane's a fuckboy."I teased with a laugh.

"I never said he was one." She protested vehemently. "He dates a lot, it's a fact. But he's only looking for true love, that's why he doesn't settle..."

The woman from Starbucks came back to my mind. He had wanted to impress her, show her that he moved on yet, when I didn't help him, he changed his mind and went to her on the spot. Like he couldn't resist seeing her and talking to her again.

Could she possibly be his one true love?

It would explain a lot.

"Maybe you're right." I gave in with a sigh which Olivia seemed to misinterpret.

"But don't worry!" She exclaimed and I had to get my phone away from my ear since she suddenly spoke so loudly. "I'm 100% sure he'll soon realize you're his true love. You two are meant to be, I can sense it! See, you even admitted having a crush on him at the sleepover. It won't take a long time before he realizes he has feelings for you too."

"Yeah, well, actually... I think I was just confused, you know?" I said, trying not to be too harsh while breaking her dreams. "A few things happened and I'm pretty sure I don't have any feelings for him. He's just hot, you know? And hot guys make you feel kind of warm inside, that's it."

It was her turn to let out a big sigh. Words wouldn't have conveyed so well how wrong she thought I was. But we were talking about my feelings, and who else could interpret them better than I did? Certainly not a love story fanatic who saw soulmates everywhere!

No offense, Olivia.

"I'm just gonna wait until you both date to laugh at you for all the stupid things that came out of your mouth!" She spurted dramatically in typical Olivia fashion before adding: "If he's making you all warm inside, you're already done with, Jenn."

"No way."

"Should we bet on it?"

"I never bet anything..."

"Well, it will be a first! I bet five meals at Pizza Hut that you and Shane will kiss before the end of this month. And you will start dating shortly after."

Five meals at Pizza Hut was a fine deal. Because I was always overthinking things, bets had always seemed scary. I could perfectly imagine ending up being chased by shark loans while having to pay someone back for the rest of my life. But five meals at Pizza Hut were worth approximately two months of pocket money. I would be fine.

Also, I was pretty sure I'd win the bet. I had no intention to date anyone for the rest of the school year.

"Deal. If I don't kiss nor start dating Shane by the end of them onth which is in... sixteen days, you'll owe me five meals at Pizza Hut."

I never did such spontaneous things before, but, to be quite honest, I felt safe knowing that Shane felt no attraction whatsoever for me and wouldn't kiss me if his life depended on it.

It was great being plain and unpretty sometimes.

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A/N: I feel like I don't say this enough but thank you to all of you who read and vote on every chapter, it's really important for me to know that the story I spend so much time on is being appreciated :D

Thank you, thank you, thank you :D

(Also this chapter is quite short because the next one will be of the utmost importance :D)