How To Win A Guy In 30 Days

How To Not Care

Eric Brazen was a hurricane that hit her right on the gut, wounded her ego and vanished into thin air. Poof.

Vanessa covered her steaming face with her hand, her mind consumed in distress. She scrubbed her tired eyes with her knuckles, the force sufficient to make them impaired. She couldn't fathom the reason behind her curiosity of his absence. It had consumed the best part of her troubled slumber the night prior.

"How on Earth am I supposed to find out if that damn human being is as good as I am, if he doesn't come?"

Marly groaned loudly. "God Vanessa! Can you please stop talking about him? Trust me, you sound like a pathetic teenager being in an unrequited love."

"I really need to find out," Vanessa groused, ignoring the analogy her friend had put on her.

It was the day of the third and last exhibition match. Her final chance to beat Eric in a singles match. Since the tournament was played separately for men and women, the next match where she would play against a boy would be in the Battle of the Champions match. It was played after the main tournament, a month from now. She doubted if she would be able to calm her chaotic nerves for that long.

Vanessa looked at her annoyed friend and asked, her expression turning dead serious. "Marly, are you sure that the existence of Eric Brazen wasn't purely fictious was only a figment of our imagination? that there was no one that defeated me?"

"Reen," Marly shouted at the top of her voice and stood up. "Get me out of here. I'm never coming to watch tennis again." Marly stomped her way to a troop of giggling girls, leaving Vanessa alone with her disturbed thoughts.

"Damn you, Eric," she muttered, running her jittery fingers through her hair and pulled them at the ends.

She looked through the sea of Greenwich students and caught the sight of a black sizzling ponytail.

She froze, realization striking her at lightening speed. "That's it."

She smiled triumphantly as she strolled towards the lake of green and gold. The word must have spread about Eric's absence, so his usual cluster of pheromonal fans were not present. It reduced the storming sea to a eutrophicated lake. Vanessa's eyes narrowed down to one Asian who would give her the desired answer without speculation or suspicion.

She could have resolved the matter simply by asking one of Eric's friends. She was certain that she would have got the answer right away, but it also meant that she was giving herself bait to the enemy. She couldn't afford embarrassment when they decide to tell him.

You couldn't care for your enemy. At all.

"Luna," she called, ignoring her heart that played with a strange beat.

"Vanessa Graham," Luna said mockingly and crossed her arms. "What brings you to the wrong side of the court?"

Vanessa nodded, regret pouring over her head in generous amounts. She remembered vaguely the day she had insulted Greenwich students, belatedly realizing that Luna was among them.

"Let's talk business," Vanessa began formally. "You give me what I need, I'll give you a game."

Luna narrowed her eyes, doubt evident in her black crystal orbs. "What do you want?"

Vanessa smiled victoriously. "Now you're talking." She took a deep breath and said, "Where the hell is Eric Brazen?"

"Why do you need that?"

Vanessa tsked, tapping her shoes impatiently. "That was not part of the bargain."

After a moment of hesitation, Luna replied, "You lose the game and then I tell you." She walked out of the tent, a broad smile imminent on her face.