The Bet || l.h.

- 33 -

"Emmmm," Lindsay says, leaning against my doorway. "C'mon. You're gonna have to go back sometime. Might as well get it over with."

I pout as I pull the hood of my sweatshirt up over my head, yanking the strings tight so I can't see her disapproving eyes. 

"I can't go back. What if... what if he's there?"

Lindsay sighs, gently pulling the hood off my head. "It doesn't matter whether he's there or not. Forget about him, Emmy. He lied to you, he used you like you were just some game to him."

That's when I break down into tears, clinging to her tightly. "I know," I sob. "But I still love him. I've tried hating him, but I just can't."

"You don't have to get over him now," she says. "But stop hiding in your room. Your life isn't over just because Luke's not in it anymore."

I nod, but there's a little voice in my head that screams, Then why does it feel like it's over?

I'll go to school. I'll get up and pretend like nothing ever happened, that there wasn't another part of me that could make all my worries disappear with just a smile. 

I'll act like I'm ok, because that's the only option.

But deep down, I know the truth. There's nothing that can make me forget. And, if I'm being honest, I don't know if I even want to.

*

I push around the food I bought in line, but I'm not hungry. How could I eat knowing that it's supposed to be Luke eating beside me instead of Lindsay?

I haven't seen him yet but there's a part of me that desperately wants him to be here. I haven't seen him since the night everything was revealed. Is the same gleam still there in his ocean blue eyes, the look that I thought he saved for me?

Every time I turn a corner, my heart pounds in anticipation. I can't explain the disappointment that floods my chest every time my eyes don't catch that flash of blonde hair.

"Emmy, eat something," Lindsay instructs gently.

"I'm not hungry," I mumble.

She huffs, tired of me feeling sorry for myself. "Nat, will you please tell her that she needs to eat something?"

Natalie isn't paying attention, staring over her shoulder at the table that now sits empty behind us. At the beginning of the year, four boys claimed that space, ruling over the cafeteria with lazy ease.

But any kingdom can fall.

My eyes snag on a familiar shape slinking around the back of the cafeteria, sticking to the unnoticed shadows.

Calum moves soundlessly through the tables, his dark hair messy and hanging in careless waves like he couldn't bother to run a brush through it.

As if feeling my gaze on him, his dark eyes flicker to mine. His widen in shock as his steps falter. But he acts like he never saw me, continuing on as if nothing ever happened.

I duck my head, ignoring the sting of tears in my eyes.

This is how things are now. The boys aren't my friends, they never were. They knew Luke was using me the whole time - they never warned me.

The sooner I get that through my head, the better.

Luke isn't mine either. He played me just like he's played so many other girls before, tossing them aside the second he doesn't have a use for them anymore. I was stupid to have fallen right into his trap so willingly.

But if I had the chance, I'd do it all over again.

I'd gladly let Luke Hemmings ruin my life all over again just to have five more minutes with him.

Lindsay's eyes follow Calum as he slips out of the cafeteria, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Linds..." I start softly. Even if they didn't admit it to each other, I know what Calum and Lindsay had, what they meant to each other.

"Oh, you mean Calum? It doesn't matter anymore," she says with a dismissive wave of her hand, her tone casual.

But I can see through to the underlying tension. Things are just as strained between them as Natalie and Michael.

I guess it's just another thing messed up by the bet.

We might as well start a club at this point.

A/N:

This one's a little short, but oh well!

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- A