Just a Bet

Chapter Twelve

 

Liam's POV

 

           

           

            "Yo, man, what's up?" Demarko stopped in front of my locker and leaned against it.

            I raised one eyebrow at him, "What do you want?"

            "I wanted to say sorry. I know this bet is making our friendship suck, man. When was the last time we actually played basketball together like old times?"

            Maybe a month or so. My lips turned into a thin line, "And?"

            He sighed, "Let's ditch for the day. Let's go play basketball or something. I'm done with this bet, Liam."

            I slammed my locker closed and turned to Demarko. He seemed like he was doing this out of good will. I'm kinda sick of this bet too. I don't know if my feelings for Eliot are true or false. And I've been behind on school work for awhile now. Maybe a good basketball game could fix this.

            "I'm in."

Eliot's POV

 

 

            I sat under the tree where Liam and I usually meet for lunch but he was no where in sight today. I haven't seen Demarko around either. Hm.

            I bit into my peanut butter sandwich, bored. It was extremely hot today and while most people wore shorts and tanks today, I stuck to my long sleeve shirt and jeans. I put my sandwich down, took a deep breath and pulled my sleeve up a little. The dark lines bore across my wrist like hot wire. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to forget the pain and nightmares.

            The nightmares consisted of my past homes I was put in and leaving my abusive parents.

            I had the nightmares while I was staying with the Gold's but whenever Liam curled up next to me, they wouldn't come. As hard as it is to believe, Liam is making the pain go away but like everyone else in my life, he's going to leave and then the nightmares are going to come back... with him in it.

            How did I get so attached to this family? I even agreed to go to a stupid school dance. I probably won't even be here in a couple of months.

            I need to stop what I'm doing which is pretending my life is totally normal like Liam's. I'm tainted. I have no life ahead of me.

            As much as my heart wants me to, I need to stop liking Liam. I'm just going to get hurt at the end. Like always.

            "What happened to your arm?"

            I shoved my sleeve down and opened my eyes to see Jenny, sitting beside me. Her long brown hair was in a pony tail today. Her lips smacked together as she chewed her gum.

            My heart was stuck in my throat right now, "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

            Her face bunched up, "Sorry, geez, if you didn't want me to see your cut, you could have left it covered but instead you let it hang out like you want people to see it."

            "Shut up,"

            Her expression changed to worry, "What's wrong? You're more aggressive than usual."

            I picked up my sandwich and took a huge bite, "I'm done with the bet. I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

            "What? Why?" She said, panicking.

            "You were right. I'm falling for Liam and its all this stupid bets fault. I'm done. I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

            Jenny frowned, "Are you going to tell_"

            I shook my head, "No, I'll keep your little student/teacher love affair a secret but if you're going to go back to Liam, tell him. Stop cheating on him. He deserves better."

            She gulped, "He deserves you, Eliot. I've watched you guys and you are made for each other."

            "Stop. I can't. There's so much wrong with me and if he knew, he wouldn't want to be near me either."

            She reached for me and I backed away, "Eliot_"

            I held up my hand to shut her up, "Stop trying to convince me to stay with Liam." One, I'm afraid he'd leave me. Two, I pretended to like him so he'd like me to for this stupid bet. Now, I'm confused. Do I really like him? Or is it the bet? I just need to get away.

            "Are you sure about this?"

            No, "Yes."

Liam's POV

 

           

            Demarko skated across the court, ball dribbling beside him. I ran at him and pretended to skit to the left. As he went right, I snatched the ball out of his hands. I raced down the court and slammed the ball into the hoop.

            "Okay, you win." Demarko huffed, placing his hands on his knees.

            I smiled, wiping sweat off my forehead.

            I collapsed on the hot concrete ground and took a deep breath. I felt good to play basketball. I missed the feeling of the sweet ache in my legs and arms.

            "What time is it?" I asked Demarko.

            "Lunch time. Wanna head back?"

            I nodded. I really wanted to see Eliot right now. I wanted to feel her soft lips on mine. Screw the bet, I just wanted her. Nothing else. A little part of me just wanted to tell her about this stupid bet but I couldn't. Was Demarko serious about quitting the bet?

            I didn't ask and decided to head back to school.

            ***

            I arrived at home to find luggage piled in the living room. What the hell? I heard a crash and Eliot curse. I went to the stairwell and saw Eliot struggling to get up from the floor. I picked up her duffel bag off her and helped her up. My fingers were on her a bit longer than it was supposed to be.

            She pulled away from me, her brown eyes on the floor rather than me.

            "What's with all the luggage?" Was she leaving? She can't leave me... I mean, I don't want her to leave just yet. I like her too much for her to leave.

            Aunt Ava helped my mother with some more bags, "Liam! Get packing! We're going camping for the weekend!"

            Eliot walked past me.

            "Why?" I asked my aunt.

            She glanced at Eliot than back at me, "I think everyone needs a break and I wanted to show Eliot what our family is all about. We're going to bond over this weekend."

            I looked at Eliot who had her had turned away from me.

            I sighed in relief.

            At least she's not leaving me.

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