Don't Bet on It

Chapter 8

"Jessa!"

My eyes flew open.

Emma was standing in my doorway. "You slept like thirty minutes late!"

I'd turned my phone off because Eric kept texting me kissy-face emojis, not thinking about the fact that my alarm wouldn't go off if my phone was off.

I sprung out of bed.

"See you in the car in ten." Emma closed my door and left.

I threw on a pair of jeans and a bright green T-shirt and pushed my hair back with a bright blue headband. Then I ran downstairs, downed a glass of water, grabbed a yogurt drink and a power bar, and dashed outside.

"You forgot your backpack," Emma said as I was getting into the car.

So then I had to run upstairs, get my backpack, and run back to the car.

"We're leaving in good time," Emma said, pulling out of the driveway.

"I take it you had a proper breakfast," I mumbled, ripping open the power bar wrapping. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"You usually stay in your room for a while," she replied. "I wasn't sure whether or not you were still asleep. But after thirty minutes, I figured I better go check on you."

"I'm gonna murder Eric," I muttered.

"What did Eric do?" Emma asked, glancing into the rearview mirror.

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing. He and Daniel have just been getting on my nerves a lot lately."

Emma laughed.

We pulled into the parking lot. As we were getting out, I heard Eric shout "Jessa!" and turned around to see him waving at me from the other end of the parking lot.

Emma looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

I grabbed my backpack and began speed-walking toward the school.

"Wait!" He called.

"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath.

I walked past Daniel on the way to my locker. "Hi Jessa," he said, laughing.

I ignored him and got my stuff out of my backpack.

"How was your morning?" he asked, walking over to me.

"I slept late," I replied, not looking at him. "That's why I look like trash."

"If trash looks like the gardens at Versailles, then yes, that's what you look like."

"You're funny," I said, taking books out of my backpack and throwing them in my locker.

"Hi beautiful." Eric walked up to us.

I just looked at him. "Did you seriously take a detour so you could come tell me that?"

He grinned. "Can I walk you to class?"

"Heck no."

"Please?" he begged.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

Eric shot Daniel a smug look and started following me down the hall.

"I should join this bet," I said. "How long is it lasting? Two months?"

"We extended it to the end of the year," he said, trotting alongside me. "And you should, if you want to pay me fifty buck."

Someone thinks highly of themselves, I thought. "The end of the year? Seriously?"

He shrugged. "I'm having fun."

I shook my head slowly. "You two are pathetic."

He laughed. "You know, I'm kinda glad you find out about the bet. This way I can be as absurd as possible without you getting weirded out."

I gave him a sideways glance. "Who says I'm not weirded out?"

He winked at me. "Did you get my texts?"

"Don't text me while I'm sleeping. I will murder you."

"Noted." He stopped walking. "Don't you have Mrs. Robert's for first period?"

We'd walked right past my class.

"Uh, yeah." I turned around and ducked into the room. "See ya later."

He blew a kiss at me and walked away.

* * *

"You did what?!" Deena stared at me. "Unbelievable."

"What did you do?" Daniel asked, walking up to our table.

"Emma and I went to Laura's house for dinner last night," I said nonchalantly.

"What?" He looked at me like I was crazy. "Why?"

"She's actually pretty nice," I mumbled.

"Who is?" Eric asked. He and Daniel had fourth period together, and their teacher always let them out late.

"Her dad's fiancée," Deena told him.

"Oh. Well that's good." He said sitting down.

We ate in silence for a few minutes.

"We should hang out at my house tomorrow," Daniel said. "You can help me repaint my room."

"Sure," I replied.

"I can pick you guys up on my way over," Eric offered, looking at Deena and me.

I made a face.

"We're carpooling, you're gonna have to be in the same car as me anyway Cupcake." Eric winked at me. "I'll pick you up around ten thirty."

"Okay," Deena said.