Aces [#NANOWRIMO2017]

Ace Takes A Hike (And Tries To Convince His Dad To Do Likewise)

Tʜᴜʀsᴅᴀʏ, Fᴇʙʀᴜᴀʀʏ 1

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As soon as the bell rang, announcing the end of the school day, I grabbed my backpack and books and started to walk home...

Ha. As if. I'd skipped most of school -- as soon as lunch was over, I packed my stuff and made a beeline for the forest beside Windy Point Plaza.

Today marked day one of the month of February, and therefore day one of my next task. My mind was buzzing with possibilities, each of them more and more dangerous and each of them getting me more and more excited. I'd pretended indifference when Scott and Bradley had tracked me down the day before during lunch and informed me that this bet would be the best one yet, but in reality, I couldn't wait to see what would happen.

Walking through the forest helped clear my mind. Of course, I'd never tell the gang about that; I can just imagine the conversation.

"Hey, what do you do in your spare time? I love taking long, romantic hikes in the forest. I hug all the trees, sing to the blue jays and the squirrels, and make flower crowns."

Yeah, no.

Nevertheless, I can't deny the fact that hikes like this one really help me relax. But today, I was anything but relaxed. As four o'clock approached (the time that I'd set to meet up with my friends), I found my palms were sweaty and my heart was beating fast. Eventually, at 3:45, I gave up trying to calm down and prepare myself and headed straight for the alley where the gang and I had agreed to meet up.

I pedalled my bike furiously, imagining all sorts of possible scenarios. Maybe they'd tell me to vandalise school property? Or perhaps, to break into someplace? No, they'd done that before. What if they asked me to smuggle a weapon into the school? No, too easy.

I couldn't help it -- as I imagined the havoc that I'd be wreaking soon, I started to grin. I couldn't wait to discover what kind of amazing chaos that I'd be causing.

"Are you serious? You want me to fall in love? That's your big idea?"

"No, no," Jenna rushed to reassure me. "We don't want you to fall in love, dummy. We want you to make someone fall in love with you."

I couldn't believe that they were doing this to me! They'd built it all up like this, and the big reveal was some stupid mushy romance gunk? I was furious. My good mood from earlier was nowhere to be found.

"I thought that you promised this would be the best bet yet!" I fumed. "How the heck is something dumb like making someone kiss me count as 'the best yet'?!"

"Two hundred dollars, Ace," Matt reminded me. "Plus an extra fifty if you make her cry."

"I'm gonna ruin her life," I groaned. "Hasn't that occurred to you guys?"

"I thought you wanted to wreak chaos, didn't you?" asked Bradley.

"Well, yeah, but..." I trailed off as the truth of his words sunk in. I loved playing with fire, but wasn't playing with feelings just as much fun? Besides, everyone else had it so good. I deserved to have a little fun too, didn't I? Preferably at someone else's expense. It was only fair. Plus, doing this would pocket me a nice two hundred and fifty dollars. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

I still wasn't completely sold, but I was starting to warm up to the idea. "Alright, fine. I might do it."

"Yes!" Rafael cheered, high-fiving Scott. Even Matt -- ever the level-headed leader -- cracked a smile.