The Bet

7

Chapter 7: Stories Building

Aspen pranced down the halls of the high school little to nothing in her hands, the last day of her senior year going by quicker than she could've anticipated. All of the students walked passed her, the freshman, sophomores and juniors, all similar phases of her past life disappearing just as quickly as they came.

Her thoughts were anywhere but where they should have been, focused solely on brown eyes and the same warm shade of brown hair. "Did you hear me?" Tori had chased her down the hallway, her backpack absent from the equation, their need for school supplies fading into nothing quickly. "I've been calling your name all down the hallway."

"Really? Sorry, I didn't even hear you."

Raising a brow, Tori turned to watch Aspen and the stupid grin that couldn't fade away from her face. "What's got your head in the clouds?"

"Can you believe it? In just a few short days we're going to be graduates, legal adults to go on and do whatever the hell makes us happy."

Tori took in a deep breath, a smile gracing her face afterwards, pretty shoulder-length blonde hair framing her cheeks. "Feels surreal, like I've been waiting for this moment for years and now that it's here I can't tell if I want it to keep going or pause so I can collect myself."

"We have the whole summer to collect ourselves."

Aspen was barely finished with her daydream of adulthood and freedom when the topic of Eli was brought up, the mere sound of his name escaping someone else's lips making her body confused on if she could blush or look away in dislike for it never came out just right in their voice. "What about Elliot, what's he going to be doing this summer?"

Brows furrowed, the brunette hovering in the doorway of her classroom, the bell still having a few moments to spare before this conversation could be cut off. "Why does it matter?"

"You two are just getting really close and I'm curious."

"I went on a few dates with Eli."

"Dates, plural, you and Eli went out on multiple dates and you are just now telling me?"

Aspen shrugged, tucking a chocolate strand of hair behind her ear. "Didn't think there was much to tell, I didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing."

"Nothing," Tori scoffed, her light brown irises rolling at her friend. "You went out with Elliot James, that's not nothing."

"It is to me," Aspen defends, her annoyance growing in her friends presence and she was now reminded why she didn't say anything about the extra curricular activities she'd been involving herself in. Tori was fun and was nice to hang around but lately all she seemed to care about was hooking Aspen up with someone and with Eli that's all he was—Eli.

He was so different than he seemed from afar, sure he had a body count, that much Aspen was positive of. Guys that looked like him didn't have a reason to keep their pants zipped up. "You sound ridiculous, do you have any clue how many girls would kill to be with him?"

"Doesn't take that much, really. I'm sure just saying hi to him would work just as well."

Tori let out a series of unintelligible sounds, her arms jumping out at her sides. "That's just it though, Aspen. You didn't even say hi to him, he said it to you. Walking his gorgeous ass right up to you and started a conversation."

"How do you even know all of this, I didn't tell you that."

"Word travels fast around here." The bell above rang, signaling the others to wrap up their conversations and head to class, both girls stepping in the same class and sitting in two different seats a good ways away from one another to which Aspen was grateful for.

Her and Tori had been the best of friends for her first two years but something had changed, maybe in Aspen or maybe in Tori because the brunette was having a hard time confiding in the blonde. Everything Tori had to say was about boys and even though there was a boy in Aspens life, she was trying hard not to wrap her head too hard into it in fear it ended up like her previous relationship.

Being with Ethan was the most toxic part of her life as Aspen had remembered it, he was sly and so emotionally abusive she still wasn't sure who she was before him. He'd ruined some of the best parts of her that Eli had slowly been prying back out of her.

The whole class hour was spent how it usually would for the soon to be graduates, the predominately senior class not having much to do, seeing as the finals had already been taken in this hour.

"Aspen, right?" Hunter Davis acknowledged her presence, his floppy brown hair a little messy given he'd done nothing but nap the hour away, his warm brown eyes half-lidded. A simple nod was his answer and it prompted him for further conversation. "You're the girl Elliot's been spending all his time with lately."

Shrugging her shoulders, brown eyes met one another for comfortable small talk. "Not all of his time, just a bit of it, I guess."

"Dalton isn't a big fan of you at the moment."

Aspen couldn't hide her emotions if she tried, it was sort of amusing to Hunter the nasty attitude that immediately spread across her face causing him to bite his lip to suppress a laugh. "Dalton isn't exactly someone I aim to please. If he has an issue with how his friend spends his time, he can talk to his friend. Not my problem at all in the slightest."

Hunter stares at her for a few beats of time before smiling. "I like you. Hope Eli doesn't fuck it up with you, out of all the girls of him that I've met, you're one I'd like to see stick around."

"If it'll piss Dalton off, then me too."

The bell ringing almost covered the sound of his laughter, but not quite.