An Arranged Marriage to a Jerk

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Trap

I walk into the study. I take a step back and my heart stops. There, sitting on the stool by the large bookcase, is Martin Stanzee.

Let me explain first, before I go on.

Martin and I met freshman year. He has hated my guts since that day. And quite frankly, my feelings weren't that different. 

One day, about four month after school started, he began dating a girl in our class. Her name was... Catherine. I have to stop and think for a second because she left later that year. But we'll get to that later.

Anyway, Catherine didn't really like him, but she agreed to date him because he seemed kind of cool (before we knew him.) After a week, she started to break up with him because he was annoying, ugly, and 'superficial.'  But when she told him, he flipped out and started crying in the middle of the hallway. Then, he stalked her. After three weeks of dating her. Eventually, it got so bad that she ordered a restraining order. And changed schools. And moved to Alaska. (Actually, it was South Carolina, but still.)

And, of course, Catherine had been in my friend. One of my best friends, actually. And after she left, Martin blamed me because I was the one who encouraged her to break up with him. So, he's been making my life miserable ever since.

Now he's sitting in the study, waiting for me, alone. I'm dead.

I throw my jacket on the ground and run from the room. "RIng the gong!" I scream and run to the nearest room; the bathroom. And of course, there's someone waiting there as well. He's laying in the bathroom with his cap over his eyes. "You never saw me!" I stage whisper. I look around and grab a towel. I pull him from the bathtub, jump into it, and throw the towel over myself.

Martin runs into the room and looks around. "Dude, what's under that towel?"

"Drugs," the guy says. "You wanna leave?"

Martin snorts and slams the door. I sigh and sit up. "Thank you!" I look at him and realize that it's Jordan Popner, the school druggie. "Crap."

"Hey, baby! How you wanna repay me?" He reaches out his arms and I slide past him and out the door. I shut it tightly and sit down on a step. The gong rings twice. I hear laughter coming from the kitchen. I sigh and unfold the paper that's tightly wadded in my hand. My next room is the bathroom but I was supposed to be in the west wing guest bedroom.

I slowly walk to the room, taking my time. When I finally open the door, I see Calvin Rike. I scream and slam the door. Calvin Rike has been to Juvi three times in the past year. There is no way I'm interviewing him for anything.

"What is this, a fun house?!" I yell and run to the kitchen. They're all doubled over, laughing. "What the hell?" I scream. I try not to cuss, but this is insane.

"What- what's wrong?" Sarah asks. Her face is red. 

"I think you know what's wrong!' I respond. 

Mark laughs. "Yeah, we do. We're sorry, we had to play a little prank on you. we have cameras in all the rooms. We saw everything... I'm sorry."

Kim and Nikki are laughing too hard to say anything. I glare at them and Nikki sobers up. "Look," she says. "We've had our fun. You've only got five guys left. But here's a piece of advice: Skip the next four. We saved a good one for the last one. Now go to the dining room! Go!" Kim shoves me out the door, still laughing.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It this is another weird guy, I'm going to kill them. I walk to the dining room, even though it's only a few yards away. When I slide open the door, I'm greeted with a modest dinner table, one that's not forty feet long. 

Simon Hierson is sitting at the middle seat. Odd. Wouldn't most people choose to sit at the end? Interesting...

"Hi," I say softly. I've always liked Simon. He's quiet but you can tell he's a great guy. He's had a couple serious girlfriends, but none lasted more than a few months. He's a football player too, the back-up running back. He's pretty strong. Blonde, about my height, blue eyes. I could date him. Maybe even marry him.

"Hello," he replies. He stands and offers me the chair next to his. So that's why. 

"Oh, thank you!" i sit down and cross my legs. "So... did they tell you?"

"About your dad? Yeah."

He stops and i wait for him to continue. When he doesn't, I clear my throat. "And?"

"And... I think I could deal with it. My dad wants me to be a lawyer or something like that, so there's that. And I've always... sort of liked you." He looks down and his face gets red. "So, would you like to see a movie on Sunday afternoon? That way no one would be there to see us and it wouldn't be that crowded. I've never liked crowds," he adds.

I smile. " That would be great. Thanks for coming today." I smile and he pulls me into a hug before I can offer him my hand. 

"There's no time for formalities. Let's just skip the getting to know each other and see if we can make this work." He leaves the room without another word.

Well. Two dates and a fiancee. Wow, I have a busy love life.