Alia dreaded the days at school following the bet, and it was all because of Cayden. She wanted nothing to do with him, or any part of that crowd either. She avoided Cayden as much as she could, she even avoided Caleo; she didn't see a point in making conversation. He made the bet, and he lost.
She thought it she avoided Cayden, it would go by quicker. But he always found her.
"Hey, Alia." Cayden smiled at the girl. She sighed, and smiled weakly.
"Hey..." Alia mumbled, spinning the combination on her locker, and grabbed her book.
"What'cha doing, babe?" He smiled.
"Heading to English. What do you want?" She asked, holding her book against her chest.
"I'm going to walk you to class. Caleo did that all the time, right?"
Alia stopped. Her eyes shifted to sharp daggers within a second.
"Let me get this through your head, Cayden Maxon. This 'relationship'," she used air quotes to enunciate the lack of a relationship, "that we supposedly have, isn't real. I was forced into this because of a bet. A dumb bet between you and my boyfriend! And I don't wanna be involved but I'm forced to! Cayden Maxson, you may have played lots of girls, you may have gotten them to fall for you. You may have slept with them and left the next morning, but that is not going to happen with me, okay? I'm not going to, and I'm sorry, but you cannot replace Caleo. So, don't bother trying to use the 'walking me to class' thing. It's definitely not gonna help you." Alia huffed, glaring at him.
Cayden looked at her as if she had just cast a curse.
"Alia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I don't want you to hate me."
"I started hating you after you thought it was funny to offer to pay Hanna to blow you freshman year, or when you tried getting the whole school to pretend that Lindsay didn't exist for six months."
Cayden sighed. "I was thirteen and dumb and an idiot. Lins' a great girl, and I never meant for that to go the way it did. As for Hanna, she was hot. And I wasn't going to just ask her generally, that's stupid."
"Of course, you didn't, Cayden." Alia rolled her eyes.
"Please, at least let me walk you to class."
Alia hid her close smile, behind her book. "Fine." She said, defeated.
Cayden took her hand, and they walked toward Mr. Bennett's English class.
Alia had forgotten for that split second that they were in the same class.
"Okay, for this activity, you guys need to come up with a story idea that has two genres, a synopsis, and the characters development. Do not make these characters boring! Make them all have a personality, a purpose. Partners as follows. Hanna and Marnie, Christian and Blake, Ashley and Lindsay, Jake and Courtney, and Alia and Cayden."
Alia sighed, not making it so important that she really thought it was.
"Ready for this?" Cayden looked at the distraught girl.
Alia nodded, and got out her English notebook.
"What is a good idea for a story, like Mr. Bennett said?"
"Maybe ours?" He smiled.
She sighed, and starting writing.
"Savanna and Ashton. She's manipulative, he's kind— "
"Kind of hot," Cayden chuckled, watching Alia's face turn red.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." She blushed lightly, and waved it off, and kept on writing.
"The genres are romance and humor."
"So, like some cheesy romantic comedy?"
"Oh, shut up." Alia rolled her eyes at him.
Cayden smirked, "Synopsis darling?"
Alia gasped, and scribbled an idea into her notebook.
"How about this?" She asked, and Cayden took the notebook from her, and read her writing.
Cayden couldn't contain his words. He reread it over a few times, images of her writing as a movie popped in his head.
Savanna was a shy and sweet girl, but she was manipulative. Her best friend, Ashton, was a popular kid in school, and he tried his best to stay friends with Sav, but she pushed him away. She despised him for wanting to play soccer instead of going to Sam's Diner every other Thursday. Savanna was vindictive and she had the spirit of a old witch. Ashton refused to stop being her friend, but soon he was pushed to face the awful truth: Savanna was a pawn in order for him to find who he really was. He soon realized--Savanna wasn't a real person, but a figment of his imagination based on a picture he found in a children's book, The Tales of Savanna Hardwood: Witch in Training.
"Sorry if it sucks..." Alia sighed. "I'm normally good at coming up with these things."
"No, no, it's great, Alia. I swear." Cayden smiled, and looked over at Alia. She had a downing look, more so than Cayden had ever noticed before.
"Alia? You okay?" Cayden asked.
Alia shook her head, evaporating her remaining thoughts, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine..."
He knew something was up.
"Are you staying after school?"
"I kind of have to. Cheer practice and all."
"You don't sound very happy about it."
Alia laughed lightly. "What gave you that idea?"
"You don't seem too interested."
"I'm really not. I never wanted to be a cheerleader. I was forced into it."
"Why?" Cayden looked at her.
"My mom said I had to, because she was a cheerleader in school, and I need to live up to 'family expectations'," she said, using air quotes. There was more to her than just a pretty face, Cayden thought.
"I mean... Sure, I don't mind being a cheerleader at times, going to all the games and supporting our school, but I don't like being classified as a 'dumb cheerleader' or whatever else people may come up with. I'm nothing like that."
"I know, you aren't."
Alia looked at him, a familiar pain shining in her eyes.
"Cayden, you don't know me. And I'm not gonna give you a life story, when this month is gonna be over in a matter of weeks. I was a reward to a bet that you and Caleo made. Nothing more." Alia said, quietly. She gathered up her stuff, and placed it in her backpack, and stood up, just as the bell rang.
Oh, the things Cayden wished he could say. The things he'd do to make her feel better. If only he knew the real reason as to why he made the bet. It wasn't just to torture her. It was to show her, that she meant a lot to him. If only he could explain. But he knew that she wouldn't want to listen, he'd fucked up too many times, he told himself. If only she'd listen to his story.
YOU ARE READING
Project: Girlfriend
Teen Fiction"Making a bet to date your best friend's girlfriend is NEVER advised, so it just became a project... Why not get an A+?" Hayden had his best friend, but he was in love with his best friend's girlfriend. One winning bet and she was his for a month...
