Don't Bet on It

Chapter 9

Saturday morning, I changed into grubby sweatpants and an old T-shirt. I was just pulling my hair up into a high ponytail when my phone buzzed. I picked it up and looked at it. There was one text from Dad: Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?

I ignored it. If he wanted to talk to me, he should've done it a year ago.

There was a knock on the front door. I heard footsteps and then Emma greeting someone and saying "She's in her room."

Through my open door, I saw Eric walk up the stairs. He smiled at me. "Hey, Cupcake."

"I'll just be a second," I said, grabbing my phone and my purse.

"No worries." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started whistling.

"Okay, ready." I went downstairs, Eric following. "Bye, Mom!" I called to my mom, who was in her room.

"Bye, Jess!" she said. "Have fun!"

"We still need to pick up Deena," Eric said as we walked to his car.

"Okay." I opened the backseat door on the driver's side.

He made a pouty face. "Sit in the front."

"You know that's the most dangerous seat in the car, right? Are you trying to jeopardize my life?"

"I'm gonna feel like a chauffeur," he grumbled, walking over to the driver's side.

I rolled my eyes and got into the backseat.

We pulled up in front of Deena's house like ten minutes later. She ran out wearing sneakers, shorts, and a T-shirt with her hair in a short high ponytail. She slid into the backseat next to me.

"Okay, on to Daniel's house," Eric said, driving away from the curb.

Daniel's house was super classy. It was all white on the outside with a lot of windows in a high-scale neighborhood. Eric drove up into the driveway, which was empty because they had a four-car garage and Daniel's dad was at work. We got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Eric rang the doorbell.

Mrs. Richardson opened the door. She recognized us after about two seconds. "Did Daniel invite you all?"

"Yes, ma'am," Eric said.

"I'm here!" I heard Daniel call, and then he appeared in the doorway behind his mom.

"Okay." She walked away.

Daniel rolled his eyes and then smiled at us. "Hey. Come on in."

We followed him to the staircase in the den at the back of the house. Tiffany, Elsa, and their miniature schnauzer were chilling on the couch in front of the TV. They barely looked up as we walked past.

"If we're painting your room," Deena began, "where's all your furniture going to be?"

"We temporarily moved it all into the store room," Daniel replied. "The only thing left is my bed, which we should probably move today.'

Last year Daniel had made the mistake of painting his room dark blue, and we were here to paint over it with a bright green. Eric and Daniel moved the bed out of the room while Deena and I covered the carpet with cloths Daniel had given us.

"Please tell me you have roller brushes this time," Deena said when the boys returned.

Eric and I burst out laughing while Daniel rolled his eyes. Last time we'd painted his room, we'd torn the house apart looking for roller brushes and hadn't found them, so we'd had to use paintbrushes instead. The memory still gave my nightmares.