Touchdown Boy

Chapter Eight

Despite how reluctant Addison had been for Mark's party on the first day of school, she was somewhat looking forward to it by the time Friday came around. The days leading up to the party had passed in a hazy blur. During those days, Tom began talking, or rather flirting, with Addison more than usual. Addison probably wouldn't have even noticed his change in behavior if she didn't already know about the bet. It was just all the small things he did, like sitting next to Addison during lunch every day, how he would sit far enough away so that there was space but close enough so that their knees would "accidently" brush. He even began texting her more, just to see how she was or to ask what she was doing. At least afterwards he would never ask "what would you be doing if I was there." Tom hadn't sunk that low as a fuckboy yet. He even started to send pictures of stars to her when he texted her good night. Addison would have found it sweet if she didn't know it was all part of his plan to get in her pants.

Addison had also been getting to know Gerard better during these past few days. They bonded over the fact that they were both in AP Studio Art for drawing. This led to them talking about comics where they found a shared love of the Watchmen. They even began to talk about college, a subject Addison tried to avoid as much as possible. Gerard had told her he wanted to attend School of Visual Arts in New York so that he could pursue creating comics as a career. Addison shared with him her fear of still not knowing where she wanted to go for college or what she wanted to study. Gerard reassured her that she still had time to figure it out. He even suggested she apply to SVA too, because of her drawing skills. Addison appreciated the sentiment but she knew her artistic abilities were nowhere near as refined as it would take to get into SVA. She also knew that the clock was ticking for her to figure out where she wanted to go, or at least apply. Most schools had an Early Action application deadline of November 1st and a regular application deadline of December 1st.

But moving on from the dreadful topic of college, the two had become fast friends in such a short period of time. They didn't sit together at lunch and mainly just talked to each other during art class, but they had exchanged numbers and texted each other regularly. When Addison had told her girl friends about Gerard, they hadn't exactly been pleased.

"Look, Ads, I'm not so sure getting close to this guy is such a good idea," Adrienne told her over a four-way phone call Wednesday night. Addison had wanted her friends to be happy for her, for the fact that she had made a friend on her own; especially for the fact that they had so much in common. Plus there was the minor detail that he was tremendously cute.

Addison lied down on her bed on her back. She watched her ceiling fan revolve before she got dizzy and sat up. "First of all, 'this guy' has a name, it's Gerard," Addison huffed angrily into the phone. "And second of all, why the hell not? I like him, okay? He's nice, funny, talented, and really sweet. How could me being friends with him be bad?"

"Ads, it's not Gerard himself that's the problem," Skye explained slowly, not wanting to upset Addison any further. "It's the bet, really."

Addison stood up from the bed and threw one of her hands in the air in frustration. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" she exclaimed. "How does the bet affect who I can hang out with?"

"Addison, calm down," Noelle instructed. Addison took a deep breath and let it out. "You want to get Tom to give up the bet right?" Addison nodded before she realized the girls couldn't see her so she hummed in agreement. "Well, if Tom sees you hanging out with Gerard, he's going to get jealous." Addison was about to protest when Noelle continued. "Even if you guys are 'just friends', although I seriously doubt it considering how you go on and on about him. Seriously, Ads-"

Addison cut her off before she could be embarrassed any further, "Noelle, get to the point."

"Look, if Tom gets jealous," Noelle continued, "he'll just be more determined to win the bet."