Betting on You

22

t w e n t y t w o

The school was abuzz with the anticipation of tonight's game.

All the members had the luxury of being pulled from their afternoon classes yet they were gearing up for the game which would be held a few hours after school. I was still unsure whether I was actually going to go or not.

"So I'm thinking," Jai began later that afternoon in her room, "Is this one good? I mean it's not a date, and I'm not usually the dress type."

I looked up from my notes that were scattered on her bed, my eyes darting over to where she stood in front of her full-length mirror in the opposite corner of the room, "It's cute."

"Cute like it's jaw-dropping or cute like you'll glance over me in a crowd?"

"Jaime," I laughed, sitting up and stretching, "You'll look great in whatever you'll wear. Just be yourself."

"I can be myself in a cute dress, you know." she rolled her eyes, yet a smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she looked at herself one more time, the dress held up in front of the lounge clothes she currently had on.

"Well, it's November," I brought up, "It's going to be chilly."

"That's what the tights are for." she dismissed, grabbing a pair of black tights. Her dress, a beautiful and summery-looking one, was light blue with gold embroidered flowers. It fell to just below her knees and she planned to pair the ensemble with some doc martins.

"If you say so," I shrugged, beginning to clean up my homework and shove it back into my school bag, "What time are you meeting Michael?"

"You mean what time are we meeting Michael," she rose a brow as she proceeded to glance at the time before she draped her clothes over the back of her vanity chair, "You're not backing out of this."

"I didn't say I was," I mumbled, looking off towards her desk. She had laid out an outfit for me to wear for the game tonight as she knew I would come over to her house with nothing to wear. And she was right, I didn't. I didn't want to go to a game where I knew I'd just be watching Luke the entire time, "I just.. I don't want to be a third wheel."

"You're not going to be a third wheel," she groaned, tired of hearing that excuse, "Ashton is going to be there and we are going to support Luke and Calum and the rest of the team. Now get dressed."

Without letting me utter another word, she grabbed the outfit she had for me from her desk and shoved them into my arms just as I stood from her bed. Rolling my eyes with a slight smile, I trekked off out of her room and into the bathroom.

The outfit she had given wasn't as well-thought-out as her's was; Simple dark blue, ripped mom jeans cuffed at the ankles and a gold, cropped, t-shirt. After changing from my lounge clothes into the ensemble, I pulled my hair from its high ponytail and allowed it to cascade down my back in waves.

When I returned to Jai's room, she was applying some mascara in her vanity mirror, already changed, "See? You look fantastic!"

"I look like I usually do, but in school colors," I spoke flatly, giving her a playful shove, "Are we going or what?"

"Yes yes, let's go." she smiled, a blush creeping up her neck and to her cheeks. I smiled at her as I slipped on some vans and followed her out of her room, down the stairs and towards her front door.