It Started with a Bet... (Watty Awards 2011)

"Haley, there's someone I want you to meet."

Chapter 13: “Haley, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

"Ha-ley," Trevor mouths during art. I ignore him. "Hal-ley." His voice is childish and teasing. I tug an earphone out and look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing." He goes back to his work. I look at Matt, who shrugs and looks just as confused.

"Hal-ey." Five minutes later. Just five minutes later he does it again. And, again, it's nothing. And then five minutes later, on the dot, he does it again.

"What?" I snap finally, smacking the table with both hands.

"Am I bothering you?" he asks in mock surprise.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Matt looks up in surprise.

"I've never seen you this annoyed. Come to think of it, I've never seen you anything but happy or really quiet." Trevor smirks at me.

"I guess I make Haley get emotional," he says. I see what he's doing now, the little dip-wad. He's trying to "help." I glare at him. "What's this? First annoyance and now anger? Looks like I'm a pro."

I roll my eyes and ignore him, but I can't help the fuzzy feeling in my stomach. It’s almost…flattering that he wants to “help” me feel emotions.

"Where do you want to go for lunch today?" Trevor asks as we exit the art room. He slips an arm around my shoulders. I try to push it off, but he refuses to move it.

"I don't really care."

"Oh, come on! You must have some kind of craving. Mexican? Italian? French?" I let out a snort.

"French? What kind of food do they eat?" He pauses.

"Uh...bread and cheese mostly, I think."

"Yeah, that's totally what I want." He shakes his head.

"Aren't you afraid of getting fat? You eat so much!" He exclaims. I turn around to glare at him.

"It's people like you that propagate eating disorders." He shrugs.

"I think you're the only girl I can say that to without feeling guilty." I punch him in the chest. "But apparently it's still not allowed."

"Wouldn't want you to get any ideas."

"What's up, Haley?" I shrug as Corey walks up to us. I feel Trevor's arm stiffen as Corey's eyes flick from me to Trevor.

"Nothing much. What's up with you?" I attempt to shrug Trevor's arm off, but it won't move. "Dude!" I say, exasperated. Trevor looks at me, annoyed.

"What?"

"Do you plan on coming to class with us? Now move it or lose it." It's like he just realized where his arm is.

"Oh." He moves the arm slowly, never taking his eyes off of Corey's face.

"So you guys aren't together?" Corey asks incredulously once Trevor's out of sight. I shake my head.

"An arm on the shoulders means nothing," I say. I ignore the fact that the two had engaged in an animalistic stare-down. Corey puts his arms around my shoulders.

"So this means nothing?"

"Yup." I ignore the fluttery feeling in my stomach as Corey's dark brown eyes look into mine. I feel like a girl again. That's the nice thing about Corey, I guess. He doesn't know enough about me to remind me of all the crap in my past.

"What's for lunch today?" He asks.

"I'm not sure," I reply. "We may not be going out at all.” Someone bumps into me as they pass. “Sorry,” I say quickly. It’s Christa. She sends me a death glare and walks away. Something tells me she didn’t bump into me on accident.

“What’s wrong with her?” I can hear the voices as I walk to class, on my way to my locker, on my way to my car. “Who does she think she is? First it’s Trevor, then it’s Corey. What a whore.”

I’d never dealt with rumors like this before. When Trina died, I wasn’t paying attention, and when I came back to school, helping me out was cool. Today, I ignore it. It doesn’t affect me at all. I am strong.

“Are you okay?” Trevor asks on the way home. How did he…

“What? Why?” I reply. He shrugs.

“You seem upset about something.” I scoff at him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with me.” He just looks at me like he doesn’t believe it. “Why? Have you heard something?” He pauses.

“No.” Makes sense. No one would dare mention it to his face. Wait—who cares? It doesn’t matter to me at all anyway. “But really, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing!” I say with emphasis. Why doesn’t he believe me?

“Okay,” he says. “Now, you left your clothes and stuff at my house, so do you want to pick it up now or should I drop you straight at home?”

It shouldn’t make much of a difference, considering the house is next door.

“Um…I’ll just pick it up now, I guess.”

“Cool.”

He pulls into his driveway and we walk into the house together. Dad gets up off the couch.

“Haley, I’m glad you came. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” I stiffen as I recognize the shadow on the couch.

“Haley!” Dr. Thornton exclaims. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

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Okay, who is Dr. Thornton? And why does he know Haley? Any guesses on what role he might have played in creating Haley's current emotionless state?

Awkward Teacher Quote #13
1/28/10 "I didn't pay attention to Star Wars. I was too busy staring at Natalie Portman. When she got that rip in her costume, ooh boy. That was something else."

Next chapter still has to be written, so it might take a while. But lots of votes and comments will definitely make me post faster :)