SETH
The coach was ecstatic. Not only had I scored the most points but I had made sure our team was selected for the Winter tournament. This was an important event for me as the big leagues were going to be out there looking for the next star player.
I had decided which university that I wanted to apply for. I'd even looked at apartments that were on my budget. I just hoped Emily would support me and readily move in. If Emily was going to live with me, she would have to learn to live without her daddy's money. I would figure something out for sure. There was also the part where I needed to pay her back.
I compartmentalized those thoughts for now.
After practice was over, I showered and dressed up for my date tonight. I'd taken a day off from the diner too and that was the reason my mood was fantastic. I was nervous as heck but also kinda excited.
I planned to tell Emily how I felt about her, and no matter what the outcome would be, I needed to face it. If I wasn't wrong at reading what we felt about each other, money or status wouldn't have to come between us.
I was not being unrealistic but hockey was the only thing that gave me purpose in life, but when Emily walked into my life, I started to want things that were far beyond my reach.
I had screwed up a lot of things in my eighteen years of life and spent the better half of the years making it right and I think I'd done enough. Wallowing up in my guilt, swimming in self-pity had gotten me where I was right now. I wanted my life to take a different direction, one that did not entail me working my ass off twenty-four-seven to make money.
I changed into a clean white t-shirt over jeans. I only had four pairs that I alternated with and hoped no one at school noticed.
I slung my backpack over my shoulders and started walking down the crowded hallway.
"Hey buddy, you dropped this."
There was a guy I didn't even recognize, standing a few feet away, holding a piece of paper towards me.
I shook my head, "That's not mine."
He shrugged, "I don't know, man. I was told to say this for fifty bucks. My job is done." He forcefully pushed the paper in my hand and walked down the hallway.
It was a check signed by Roland.
I was not in a mood for Roland's stupid games. This had to be some kind of a sick joke he was making just to show me how much money he had. His jealously about the team Captain title was getting on my fucking nerves. If he wanted the title, he could fucking have it but that wasn’t going to happen on Coach’s watch not when more than half the team would quit the second Roland was on that position.
I felt my anger boil as I stormed into the student parking lot where the jackass had his ass parked over the hood of his new Audi sports car, surrounded by two of his minion buddies.
I threw the check in his grinning face, "What the fuck is this?"
"Whoa there," He pushed down from the car to pick it up from the floor, "Is that how you treat a man who kept his promise?"
"What promise? What’s this bullshit you're spewing right now?"
"My man." He opened my palm and placed the check back into my hand, "You deserve it. It's a check of two thousand dollars for that bet we made at Mateo's party."
Mateo was a senior hockey player of our school who was now a college student. I didn't even remember the last time I went to his house much less a party or a freakin bet.
Suspicion took over, "What bet?"
Roland smiled, "The bet you agreed to, buddy. You fuck Emily-Mae and you get the money. You've kept your promise, something that none of us could pull off, so this is me keeping my word."
My blood turned to ice and I saw red. I grabbed for the front of his collar, "Do not fuck with me, Kelly." When I used his last name, he knew I wasn't joking around. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about but here's what you're going to do."
Roland and his buddies stared at me like I was a crackhead who’d run away from a Looney house. They thought I was going to burst out laughing or join in on their fun. They'd only successfully pissed me off further.
"You're not speaking a word of this to Emily, you got that?" I tore the check in half and making sure the threat had gone across, I started walking in the direction of my car.
"Why? Are you scared she's going to believe us?" He called out after me.
I ignored Roland and kept walking because if I didn’t, I’d probably be tempted to run my car over him.
I slammed the car door shut and drove around aimlessly, not having a destination in mind.
My heart was thumping against my chest. A tremor of fear bolted through my body with the thought of how badly I’d messed this up.
What the fuck was that?
I didn’t even recall a bet I made while I was high, much less one that involved Emily.
I knew Roland wasn’t going to open his mouth if he wanted to stay on this team. There weren’t many students around at that time so it was unlikely anyone else heard the conversation and yet, guilt kept poisoning my mind.
It’s stupid shit like this that had gotten me into trouble in the past and now it’s like history was repeating itself.
Emily’s innocent smile kept flashing in front of my eyes. She’d put so much trust in me, it had taken a lot of time but she’d finally broken out of her insecurities and we had our fair share of problems that we’d slowly overcome.
But something like a bet would ruin everything.
After a lot of pondering, I went home and parked the car outside. When I walked inside the house, I heard the music blasting in full volume, the steady thrum of the loud music was coming from Emily’s bedroom upstairs.
I climbed the stairs, dreading each step as I took. Standing outside the door, I knocked a few times but when she didn’t answer the door, I turned the knob and walked inside the room.
Emily was already dressed for our date in a cute green outfit that hugged her curves deliciously, and that distracted me from my dark thoughts for a moment and I let myself live in the small fantasy that everything was going great and that I hadn’t just spoiled it with a stupid bet.
Her wavy mousy brown hair was in curls, and she had minimal makeup on. I knew she’d applied so little because I liked it that way. She put in a lot of effort for someone like me, someone who didn’t deserve all this attention. I’d gone ahead and done exactly what she’d been so scared about.
I shut the music which had her attention.
She turned from her dresser to look at me, “Hey! I’m still getting ready.” She smiled adorably when she said that.
“Yeah, I can see that. I just got really impatient.” I told her.
She put the curling iron on the table and stepped towards me, “Are you tired from practice?” She went up on her toes to kiss me, her arms circling my neck. She kissed my lips softly, “I admire you for being so hardworking and positive even though you had to face tons of difficulties.” Her smile warmed me all over, “I feel so lucky to have you in my life. You’re a good influence.”
I wanted to tell her to hold that thought because I was least deserving of her praises. I pulled her closer and kissed her full on her mouth, delving my tongue deeper. I sucked her lower lip and paid the same amount of attention to her upper lip.
I didn’t want this kiss to end and face reality.
When I pulled away, all I could see was pure admiration for me in her eyes and I couldn’t hate myself more than I did at that exact moment. It was guilt and pain that made it even worse.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Emily…I need to tell you something and it’s important.” I blurted out.
She probably sensed something was wrong. “Is everything okay? Ruth? Is she fine?”
“Mom’s alright. This is not about her.”
“Then is this about the arson?” She looked worried, “You’re not going to jail, are you?”
If it wasn’t for how much fucked up this situation was, I would have laughed. “No baby, I’m not going to jail.”
She waited patiently for me to keep talking.
“My friends had made a bet with me,” I confessed.
I was going to tell her the truth. It was far better than her finding it out from Roland or someone else who would not only twist the entire situation but turn it against me.
“What bet?”
“This bet that I didn’t even remember because I’d gotten shitfaced that night, had too much to drink, and I was high on Molly. When that happens, I usually never remember the events of that particular night.”
Emily was growing wary by the second. “You’re scaring me. Is this a late April Fool’s joke? Please tell me it is.”
“It’s not, baby.” I looked straight into her eyes and swallowed.
How do I say this without breaking her heart into a million pieces?
“Roland made a bet with me.” Before I could chicken out, I continued, “He said…”
“What did he say?” Emily asked me, silently.
“That’s not important but the bet involved you, and I—”
“What did he say?” she repeated.
“He said if I could fuck you, I’d get two grand.”
I watched her chest rise and fall, her hands started shaking but even with all that she tried to smile, “This is really not a good joke.”
“I’ve always been honest with you, Emily, and I needed you to know this.” I choked, “I’m so sorry…I didn’t know what I was doing at the time and I said yes. I’m so fucking stupid.”
“Let me get this right.” She was now on the verge of tears, “You’re telling me that your teammates made a bet for two grand that involved you sleeping with me and you took it.” She placed her hand on the pendant that I’d gifted on her birthday, “…Up until now…you were pretending to like me so that I could sleep with you…You’re not making any sense.”
“I never pretended to like you, Emily. You don’t understand what I’m saying. I agreed to the bet without knowing what I was doing.”
“This is a bad dream, Emily. Wake up. This is not true.” She kept repeating that to herself while I explained.
“Baby…I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry…”
She paced back and forth. The playful dark eyes had dimmed all of a sudden. This was my fault. Emily was still under shock.
“I didn’t know of it until today, please trust me. I planned to take you out on the date to tell you how much I—”
“Leave my house.” She said softly.
“Baby, please…”
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, SETH!” She yelled, and the look she gave me almost broke me. It was pure disgust. “I don’t want to see you here. Ever!”