SECOND BET
1177 Words
“What do you mean by a second bet?”
Damian’s voice cut through the laughter, sharper than he intended. The room quieted for a beat as his friends looked at each other, exchanging smirks.
Jace leaned back in his chair, tossing a pen between his fingers. “You heard me.”
“No.” Damian said, folding his arms. “I want you to say it again.”
Jace’s eyes gleamed. “Same girl. New bet. The first one was an appetizer.”
Noah laughed. “You want the real prize now?”
Damian’s heart sank. “Don’t.”
“Come on,” Jace said. “You are already half there. She trusts you. Hell, she probably likes you.”
Damian blinked, unable to say a word, “what is the new bet?”
Jace’s mouth curved into a sinister grin. “If you can get her to hook up with you before the semester ends, the camaro is yours.”
Aiden added with a lazy smile, “clean title. No strings attached. Just one night with the untouchable Aria Rivera.”
Damian froze, the words hitting harder than expected. His fingers flexed around his can of coke as he tried to act unfazed. But the knot in his chest said otherwise.
“I am not doing that to her.”
“You scared?”
“You guys are insane, I am not using her like that.”
Jace raised a brow. “Whoa, using her? Sounds like someone is catching feelings.”
The group stilled for a beat before Noah broke the silence with a low chuckle. “No way. Damian Hayes? Falling for the new girl?”
“I am not,” Damian said too quickly, but his voice was too defensive.
“Bro,” Aiden laughed. “You are, look at him.”
“I am not falling for anyone,” Damian snapped.
“Prove it, then,” Jace said, sitting up straighter. “End of the semester. Same girl. If you can get her to hook up with you, hell, even halfway there, I will put my keys on the line.”
“My dad’s old car,” Jace said. “The BMW M4 Competition. I will hand it over to you. That is the new prize.”
Noah whistled. “That is serious.”
“And if I say no?” Damian asked.
Jace shrugged. “Then maybe the new girl got to you. Maybe you actually fell for the girl you are supposed to play.”
Their laughter stung more than it should have.
Damian looked away, jaw clenched tight. This was not who he was, or maybe it was, and he just did not want to admit it anymore.
It was one thing to chase Aria for her number, but this felt like he was crossing a line.
He thought of her smile, rare and beautiful. Of how she had just started talking to him more, even laughing softly at something he said in class the day before. How her voice dropped when she opened up about her father, how he had noticed the sadness she tried so hard to hide.
He also thought of the way his friends looked at him now, expecting him to win, daring him to fold.
And still, a part of him hated how smug they looked. How convinced they were that he had changed. That she had changed him.
“Just forget it,” Noah said. “He has gone soft, I bet he dreams of her in his sleep.”
“I am not soft,” Damian muttered beneath his breath.
“Then prove it, I have the keys in my pockets,” Jace said as he tossed him the key.
Silence hung in the air.
He looked down at the keys in his hand, shiny, heavy, real.
Deep down, he knew that he wanted the car. He gushed about it to them two weeks ago.
“Fine,” he said flatly. “I will do it.”
Aiden grinned, clapping his back. “That is the Damian we know.”
Damian did not smile.
“When I win, you can hand the keys over.” Damian said as he stretched his hands out to Jace with the keys in his hand.
"Hold those, you will need motivation. It will be yours soon, unless you are planning on losing.” Jace said.
Damian pocketed them, expression unreadable.
The next day, Aria was sitting on the grass outside the library, and her sketchbook opened in her lap. The afternoon sun cast a golden glow around her, making her hair look like strands of bronze.
He walked up slowly.
“Hey, can I join you?” he said.
She looked up and smiled at him. “Hiya, yes, you can join me.”
Damian sat beside her, heart heavy under his cold demeanour.
“What are you drawing?” he asked.
“Nothing specific,” she murmured, tilting the pad so he could see. “Just nature.”
“It is beautiful,” he said, looking at her.
“You are not looking at the drawing,”
“I am looking at you. You are beautiful.”
Aria burst into an ugly laughter. “That was so cliche.”
“Did you run out of lines?”
“It is the effort that matters,” he said as he huffed dramatically.
They spent the rest of the luch period together, laughing at Damian’s terrible pick-up lines.
After the chime of the last bell, Damian was already waiting for Aria, leaning by her locker.
He approached her quickly, seeing her arms full of books, helping her carry them.
“You do not have to do that,” she said.
“I want to.”
She gave a curious look. “Why?”
He hesitated. “Because I like being around you.”
For a second, her defences faltered. “Even if I am mean to you?”
“Especially because you are mean.”
She laughed, genuine and soft.
He smiled, but guilt twisted in his gut.
“You free Saturday night?”
She paused. “I will ask my mom for her approval.”
“Oh why?”
“I have never gone out with someone other than her.”
He nodded. “I hope she agrees, I just want us to grab something to eat. Talk. just you and me.”
Damian drove her home, parked at the park, and they both walked to her house. Making small talks along the way.
That night, Aria lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, Damian’s sudden request churning in her mind. She wondered how she would ask her mother and imagined her mother’s response.Something inside her screamed not to trust him, but another foolish and fragile part kept wondering that maybe he was different.
Maybe he saw her the way no one had.
She reached her sketchbook and flipped to a blank page.
For the first time in days, she began to draw him.
- Writer
