The Bet || l.h.

- 16 -

Noah finds me in line for food, flashing his dimples at me. "Hey, Emmy," he greets as he picks up a tray.

"Hey, Noah," I say as I slide down the line.

"I really enjoyed hanging out with you yesterday," he says sincerely. His eyes are sweet and innocent, a startling contrast from the glares Luke's been sending my way in the hallways.

"Me too," I say with a smile.

A wide grin grows across his face as we make our way to the end of the line and pay. I leave him to head to my table, hiding a smile as I watch him trip over his own feet trying to look back at me.

"How was your date?" Kayla asks the second I sit down.

Natalie spits out the drink she just took a sip of. "You went on a date? With who?!"

I blush. "It wasn't really a date. And it was just Noah."

"Who's super hot, by the way," Kayla gushes.

"I thought you were into hottie Hemmings... ?" Lindsay says, arching an eyebrow at me.

My face grows even redder at the mention of Luke. "I... He... We're not anything, we never were."

I don't say that he practically was begging me to give him a chance, or that we made out at the party not even a week ago. But his touch is burned into my skin, a living memory.

My eyes wander over to where he sits, an impossibly beautiful girl leaving a line of kisses down his neck. Luke doesn't seem to be paying much attention to her even though she's perched on his lap, sucking on his skin roughly.

A jolt goes through me when his eyes lock on mine, cold and furious. I shiver as I drop his gaze, hating the fierce longing twisting my stomach.

Luke Hemmings is nothing but trouble. You'd think I would know that by now.

I blink, realizing that this is the third time that Natalie's said my name. "Hmm?"

"I said, what happened on your date?"

I don't correct her on the fact that it was not, in fact, a date. "We just got coffee and talked." I shrug. "It was nothing special."

"Nothing special? He's hot as fuck and took you to a coffee shop to talk, that doesn't sound boring to me," Kayla says, giving me a Look.

Lindsay lifts one shoulder, taking a sip from the alcohol she sneaks into her water bottle every Monday. "If you ask me, I would have stuck with Hemmings. He's got that dark, mysterious vibe I can't get enough of. And he has a much better ass."

I roll my eyes. "Can we not talk about this?"

"What happened between you two anyway?" Lindsay presses, narrowing her eyes at me. "One day you're the best of friends and he's stealing your pretzels at lunch. The next, he's furious and you keep avoiding him."

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. "Linds, just drop it-"

"Did you hook up? Did he get you pregnant and you just want to forget about him? Did he turn you down when you tried to kiss him? Did-"

"Just stop!" I shout, shoving back from the table. "He wanted to date and I said no, ok? Just leave it alone!"

Not meeting the surprised eyes of anyone around me, I turn and storm out of the cafeteria, letting the door slam shut behind me.

I love Lindsay, but sometimes she didn't know when to leave things alone. I don't want to talk about Luke or how badly I wish it was him I went on that date with or how I'm still not sure whether I can trust him with the heart that's already his.

Ever since I came to this school, everyone's been transfixed by the hot blond with the brilliant blue eyes, the one that makes girls melt with a single look. I've seen all the girls he's made fall for him over the years, all the girls whose hearts he broke. 

I don't want to end up like them.

Frustration bubbling up inside of me, I turn and slam my hands into a row of lockers. Why can't anything ever be simple?

Footsteps echo in the hall and I open my mouth before the person approaching me can, not even bothering to turn around. "Look, I know I messed up, just leave me alone."

"I don't know who you were expecting," a slow voice starts behind me. "But I doubt I made the cut."

I whirl, wide eyed, to see Michael leaning up against the locker next to me. His hands are shoved into the pockets of his black skinny jeans, a crooked smile playing across his face.

"What do you want?" I snap a bit too harshly. I have no reason to be mad at Michael for except for the unfortunate fact that he's friends with the one person I wish I could forget.

"I wanted to thank you," Michael says, taking me by surprise. "For giving me advice, I mean. I... It helped a lot."

Michael pushes off from the wall and takes another step toward me. "I know things haven't been the best between you and Luke and I appreciate you helping his stupid ass friend when he was falling apart."

I wince at the mention of Luke, but hide it behind a forced smile. "You're welcome. At least someone knows what the hell is going on in their love life."

He chuckles. "No one said life was simple." Michael turns to walk away, but stops and looks over his shoulder at me, holding my gaze. "For what it's worth, Luke puts up a big front, but he's a softie at heart."

He leaves me in the hallway, trying to make sense of his words.

And I thought junior year was going to be a cakewalk. God, could this day get any worse?

I sigh as I head down a different hallway, wanting to get as far away from the cafeteria as I can. I just want to forget all about Noah and Luke, the indecision between my head and my heart-

I freeze, my eyes locked on the couple making out against the trophy case.

Amber Davis has Luke pressed up against the wall, her leg wrapped suggestively around his hip. One of Luke's hands is tangled in her hair while the other slides down to her ass. I feel like throwing up when he opens his eyes and sees me frozen in place, unable to look away.

His blue eyes widen and Amber frowns when he stops kissing her, desperate for his attention.

My head spins as I quickly back up and start running down the hallway, not sure where to go anymore. Everywhere I turn, something falls apart.

I'm tired of picking up the pieces. 

A/N: 

Hey guys! :)

I'm surprised that people actually like this story. I wasn't expecting that. 

Thanks so much for over 700 reads, it really means a lot to me. You guys are the fucking best <33

Three days til Christmas, who's exciteddddd??!!!

Aight, Imma make like a teenage boy and pull out

- A