BET BEGINS
1228 Words
Damian Hayes was not used to rejections,especially not from girls. He had charm, looks, and confidence wrapped in an expensive hoodie. Usually, that was always enough. But Aria Rivera? She was not impressed, not in the slightest bit. She turned him down too fast.
The next day, he made his move again.
Homeroom, the seat next to her was open. Damian took it. She did not even look up.
“Reading again?” he asked casually.
“Yes,” she said flatly, eyes glued to the page she was reading.
“What is it this time?”
She sighed. “The picture of Dorian Grey.
”He raised an eyebrow. “Classic.”
She finally looked at him.”You have read it?”
“I am not just a pretty face”
“And who made you believe that lie?” she asked mischieviously.
Aria gave the faintest smirk. He noticed, and she noticed that he noticed.
“Why are you trying so hard?” she asked.
He tilted his head to the side. “Maybe I am just curious.”
“About what?”
“Why do you act like you have already decided you do not like me?”
“Maybe i have”
“Ouch”
Silence stretched for a moment. Then she said, “Or maybe I have just met too many guys like you.”
He leaned in closer. “Then maybe I will surprise you.”
She looked away, not answering, but she did not move. And she did not ask him to leave.
Later that afternoon, Aria was sketching behind the school gym, the one quiet place she could be alone. She was halfway through shading a drawing of a bird when she heard footsteps.She did not have to look up before knowing who it was.
“You again?” She said without glancing up.
“I like how you say that like I am some kind of stray.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t”
Damian laughed and sat beside her on the stone bench.
“What are you drawing?”
She shut her sketchpad instantly.
“Nothing”
He raised an eyebrow. “Secret artist?”
“No, just private.”
He looked at her for a moment, noticing how she played with her fingers when she was uncomfortable.
“You always keep people this far away?”
“It is safer that way”
“Safer from what?”
She hesitated, then said, “From people who pretend to care just to get something”
That hit deeper than anything else. And right there, he could have told her the truth. Could have said I want to win a stupid bet. But the words would not come.
Instead, he chose to lie to her, “I do not want anything from you other than your number, I want to be a friend”
Aria stood up and left, uttering no words to him.
Noah, Jace, and Aiden walked up to him, already waiting for Aria to leave her.
“So, did you get her number this time?” Aiden asked him.
“No, but I made progress with her”
“You have got three days left,” Jace said, smirking as he settled on the stone bench next to him.
Damian twirled his pen between his fingers, eyes drifting to where Aria passed.
“You are scared you will lose?” Noah teased.
“I do not lose,” Damian replied, lips curling into a smirk.
Aiden grinned. “Do not forget dinner is on us. Just get her number by Friday”
“Fine,” he said. “Pizza and coke, but it won’t just be about getting her number anymore”
Jace raised an eyebrow. “Planning to fall in love or something?”
“Of course not,” Damian said. “This is just a game.”
But something in his tone did not match his words.
Wednesday came, and the deadline for the bet drew closer.
Aria sat beneath the old oak tree sketchbook open on her lap. The quiet hum of the wind calmed her. It was the one place she felt like she could breathe.
She had drawn half of Damian’s face before she even realized it.
“Interesting choice,” a familiar voice said behind her.
She looked up. Damian stood there,hands in his pockets, a casual smile on his face.
“Let me guess,” she said. “Here to charm me into giving you my number?”
“Not unless you are offering,” he said easily.
She arched her brow. “I am not.”
He sat on the grass beside her without asking. “So….what are you drawing now?”
“Nothing,” she said, flipping the sketchpad closed.
“You always shut people out like this?”
“I do not shut everyone out,” she replied
"Just the ones who disturb me for my number.”
She glanced sideways at him. “Not used to people refusing to favour you, huh?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I am not as bad as you think.”
“Maybe,” she said quietly, “but I know your type.”
“And what type is that?”
She looked at him, really looked at him.
“The kind who plays with people until he is bored”
Damian opened his mouth to respond but stopped himself. He wanted to tell her she was wrong. That he was not like that. But the truth was that she was not entirely wrong.
The final bell echoed in the halls, signalling the close of another school day.
Aria was walking home when a car pulled up beside her. Damian.
“You walk home?” he asked.
“Usually”
“Hop in”
She hesitated. “Why?”
“I am not kidnapping you if that’s what you are worried about”
He drove her through town, music low, windows open. They did not speak for a while, but it was not awkward. It was easy.
“Why me?” she suddenly asked.
He glanced over. “What do you mean?”
“Why are you talking to me? I am not exactly your type.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Maybe I don’t know what my type is anymore.”
She looked at him like she was trying to decide whether to believe that.
He parked near a quiet park , and they walked together along the path.
“You know,” he said, “the first time I saw you, I thought, “She is going to make me work for it,”
“And that did not scare you off?”
“No,” he said. “It made me try harder”
She smiled then. Not wide, but real.
“Thanks for walking me,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
His hands were in his pockets, but his eyes stayed on her. “Anytime.”
She smiled, shy and genuine. “Goodnight Damian”
He hesitated, like he didn’t want the moment to end. “Goodnight Aria”
She slipped inside, the gate clicking shut between them. He stood there for a moment longer, watching her disappear into the house, his heart heavier than it should have been.
- Writer
