Worth the Trouble ✓

03 | giving me your weekends

SHUFFLING OUT OF MY LATEST class, I scan the hallways.

I never used to care about the other people around me, but I really want to know who the mystery girl from Dare Week is. A flash of inky black hair catches my eye, and then it disappears behind the door of an open locker. I approach silently, peering around the door to see a familiar silhouette.

She slams the locker door shut and flinches seeing me beside her. I flash a warm smile.

"Hey, stranger."

"Oh. Hello, Terrence," she says cordially. With none of her usual fire. Odd. "Congratulations on your win. Everyone is gossiping about how you broke several people's ankles."

Okay, maybe daring everyone to jump off the roof of a building was too intense. But in my defence, the smartest people pulled out of the competition because of that dare. About half of them. Jethro included.

I continued, of course, because I'm not so clever that I become scared of everything. I'm observant, intuitive, good with tactile tasks. Street-smart, and everything else-dumb.

The teachers were hunting people down for days for the person who made that dare. No-one caved, no-one ratted me out, but I confessed to it because they wouldn't stop searching. Better to take the month of detention with a grin than be steadily worn down by someone breathing down my back.

Plus, it gave me a certain notoriety among the student body. Like I'm somehow dangerous.

"That's an exaggeration. Firstly, they were just sprains."

A week later and everyone was walking, running and jumping like Dare Week never happened. I checked with each of them to make sure there were no hard feelings.

"Secondly, no-one forced them to jump off the roof. Have you ever heard your parents say, if your friends all jumped off a bridge, would you do the same? Well. Same thing."

Her eyebrows raise incredulously, giving me a straight shot into her deep brown eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"What's your name?" I ask randomly. I have to know. "You never told me."

"Suki."

I tilt my head sideways, turning the name over in my head. It's a beautiful name.

She chuckles wryly, "I realised I forgot to tell you, like half an hour later."

"You were thinking about me half an hour later?"

Her face is very red all of a sudden. "No! I never said that."

"I'm only joking," I tell her. "I'm just here to give you our cut of the winnings, as per our deal."

"Oh," Suki exhales. Her eyebrows furrow. "Hey. It was unfair of me to force you into that deal. You earned that money fair and square. Well, maybe not fair. Either way, it's your reward. Enjoy it."

"Whoa. Did you develop a moral code in the short span of a week, Suki? You seemed really intent on squeezing money out of me before we—"

Both of us tense.

The kiss.

Should we talk about that? Or should we just brush it under the carpet?

Her eyes flicker when she looks at me, searching my face, full of uncertainty. I don't like that expression on her. She looks much better with sarcastic eyes and a bright smile.

"—um. Last week," I amend. Under the carpet it goes.

"I'm still as qualmless as ever," Suki assures me. Qualmless? I need to search for the definition of that later. "But I know dedication when I see it. You should enjoy the spoils of your victory. Alone."