Cruel Stakes High Roller

Some competition

[5] Some Competition

As soon as I got out of the locker room, I saw Justin above the stairs of the pool. He was waiting for her to come up... what would it take me to get to her first, before she sees him there?

I glanced over the girls' locker room. She's not yet out. I slowly walked over there, carefully timing my arrival with her departure. And when out of my peripherals I see her coming out of the door, I faked a stumble. My bag spilled out its contents in the front of the door, and I mutter a loud swear before bending down to pick it up.

She stands there, doing nothing and just looked at me, possibly waiting for me to move out of her way.

I stand up, careful not to show her that I was aware of her presence there. I glance towards her as if trying to conceal my shamed face, and sport a wide-eye surprised look to see her there."Hey," I chuckle. "Sorry about that."

"No problem." She smiled and moved aside, "Do you need help?" She asks while laughter bounced in her eyes.

"No, not really, I just... slipped. I have wet feet." I smiled and glanced at my watch. "Do you have class? Time's almost up." I said as we walked together towards the stairs.

Ha, bingo. I got to her first, bye, Justin.

"I uhm... I'm actually going home already. You?" She said as she watched her steps as we ascended the stairs.

"Me too, are you getting picked up at Unit 1?" I asked. "We can go there together."

"I ah... sure." She glanced up and saw Justin waiting for her at the top of the staircase.

"Justin! Hey, why are you here?" She immediately smiled and glowed—much to my dismay.

"I was doing nothing anyway, I don't need to attend PE remember?" He chuckled. "I was supposed to watch you, but you are already done. Headed to Unit 1?" He asked as he walked with us. "Oh, hey... ah Anthony right? From Math?"

"Yeah"

"I have lots of things to tell you! I met with Ashley earlier; do you remember that she has the wildest crush on Mike? Well, she said she's over him already..." She smiled brightly as her attention went all to Justin.

"Oh, Felice, Justin, I'll go ahead. I forgot I have a meeting to attend." And I moved to the closest exit to save myself from a very awkward state.

I went home with a sense of fulfillment. The rest of the week will be easy, a little flirting, a little compliment, nothing over the top.

——
She became comfortable with my presence and soon after, my block mates started to tease, not that I minded. Teasing is said to amount to something greater anyway.

Karen is kept updated with everything and she was delighted. She tells me that the more I get closer to making Felice fall in love with me, the more she gets excited to give me my prize, and we both know and anticipate what that is.

There's just a slight complication however, I cannot seem to neglect the fact that Justin is giving me the hardest time. He is giving me a run for my money, and I do not appreciate it one bit. He is making my job a very difficult task. I cannot compete with Felice's emotions if we were first enemies and they were friends to start with.

I must make a plan.

Her birthday is coming up, and I must make her something special to ensure my intentions. Thank you, Facebook.

Felice_915 is now online.

"Hello there." I typed in.

I waited for a response, but nothing came. Minutes later I send her an emoticon showing a question mark.

Still no response.

Frustrated, I turn to view my mail to search for updates regarding assignments in school and whatnot. Finally, a notification arrives at the bottom right of my screen. She has changed her status to busy. Felice_915 updated her status to Awww that's so sweet, thank you, Justin.

Barf.

Beaten again! Swearing, I was about to close the IM window when she replied. "Hello, sorry I wasn't able to reply, what do you need?"—that was how she answered my greeting.

Apparently, it seems to her that I only talk to her when I am in need of something. What must she think of me? An awful user-friendly person, it seems.

"Oh nothing, just wanted to chat," I answered lamely. And I wait for another 15 minutes before she gives me a moment of her time. Exhausted, I give up and say goodbye.

I must think of something else to beat that punk.

Friday arrives as quickly as the wind. I was happy to know that Justin is absent today, which means I'll be able to execute my plan effortlessly. After Math, I immediately turned to her to ask a stupid question about the lesson while her other block mates walked aimlessly in the hallways. She answered me without hesitation, and I was glad to see her enthusiasm in answering.

She looked around with curiosity and said, "Oh, they left me." And gave me a weak smile.

"Well, we can have lunch together," I suggested. "We have an hour and a half before PE. Let's go out and get something to eat at Bob's Pancakes."

"No thanks, I'll just stay here inside the campus." She said as she started to exit gracefully.

"Oh, in that case, I'll just come with you then." With that, I gave her my most innocent smile, which I figured, probably made me look like a fool.

But then, thinking that I couldn't get a hint, she just nodded and let me walk with her.

It was a very satisfying day if I say so myself.

With Justin out of the picture, it was easier for me to make her focus on what I was telling her, or better yet, on what I was making her feel. That way, I'll have her fall for me in no time.

As my classes were over, I headed to Unit 1 to get fetched. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Felice enter the Newman Library.

Didn't she tell me she was going home?Curious, I went in to find her.