Chapter 4: Dragged into the Bet

Chapter 4: Dragged into the Bet

Brandon’s P.O.V

I took a long, cold shower to help calm my temper.

By now, I was sure that Julia might have already spread the rumor all around campus that she and I were back together. The delusional woman needed to get her head out of her ass. Even after the way I had humiliated her today, I don’t think she would learn her lesson.

Truth was, there had been a time when I had thought that I was in love with Julia, but when I was in a real life crisis and when I had truly been hurting and needed her the most…she had ended up fucking my best friends instead, because she ‘couldn’t deal with my shit.’ At that time, I had gone down another downward spiral; but one thing I had learned from the experience? Trust no bitch, ever.

But not even a month later, Julia was back at my feet, begging me to take her back. The reason? No one could love her the way I did. The translation? No motherfucker was rich enough to buy her Gucci bags and Jimmy Choo heels on the daily basis.

She didn’t miss me as a boyfriend; she missed her credit card holder and her sex partner. And if that’s what she wanted, that’s what I could be for her. Her little use and throw game could go both ways. But that didn’t mean we were back together. She was a part of my past and I plan to keep her that way.

However, her ex-boy toy and my ex-best friend was surely going to get a mini-heart attack after getting the news. And that was exactly what I wanted.

Getting out of the shower, I walked over to my locker and pulled out my spare clothes to wear while I threw the other one inside my bag, to throw them in the trash later on. Pulling on the grey T-shirt over a pair of black jeans, I ran my hands through my black hair to comb it into shape.

I heard the bell ring, signaling the end of first half. It was a good thing because I wouldn’t be learning shit with the mood I was in, but I’d at least increase my attendance by getting to the next class, after lunch hours ended.

“Yo! Brandon!”

I shut my locker and turned around to face Cole and Sagar, both international students, one from Australia while the later came from India. They came to stand on either side of me, giving each other weird looks as if debating whether they should tell me or not.

“Julia announced our patch-up again?” I raised my eyebrows at them both, making their eyes widen in surprise. “Seriously? Why do you even consider that news?”

“It will be when her man goes on to punch your supermodel face into a pulp.” Cole smirked. “You should be weary.”

“Let him try.” I smirked back. “And besides, she’s been running around crying wolf for ages now. I’m surprised that people still believe her.”

“Well…this time…Julia kinda added that you got a photographer to take pictures of you guys…doing it.” Sagar scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“A photographer?” Now that was new. “Inside the girl’s washroom?”

An image came to my mind in tatters and scrapes. A girl with huge green eyes, a horrified expression on her face as she fled the bathroom and a mop of brunette hair. But I didn’t pay much attention to it… until I remembered the gold chain.

Hmmm… Reaching inside my bag, I took out the gold chain from the pocket of the jeans I had been wearing and placed it inside my pants, along with my wallet and phone that I had forgotten to take out as well.

“Is that where you guys…never mind!” Cole shook his head, suppressing a shudder. “But if word reaches the Principal, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“If the Principal wants to watch free porn, tell him to check Scott’s cell phone.” I shrugged. “He has a fetish for taking videos with the women he fucks. I’ll gladly hand over my phone to the police for inspection, if that’s what he wants.”

“But seriously though, did you hire a photographer or did someone really watch you guys get it on?” Sagar’s eyes were wide with curiosity.

“Hell, no!” I gave him an incredulous look. “Why on earth would I do that?”

“Well…” He scratched the back of his head nervously. “It’s the women’s washroom, so you should have checked the stalls at least…”

“Class had started twenty minutes ago and if anyone wanted to ditch class, the washrooms would be the last place to have a picnic in.” I told him in my deadpan voice. “I don’t care who was watching anyways. I hope they had a great show.”

Tying up my shoelaces, I walked out of the locker room and headed to the cafeteria for lunch, my friends following close behind. It was noisy as usual, with students rushing around to get to their tables and insults being hurled at the lunch lady from anonymous little bad-boy wanna-bees. I watched their efforts failing miserably as the lunch lady just plugged in her earphones and went around her day just like any other. To be honest, the quality of food in this cafeteria was a lot better than when I was in high school.

The basketball jocks were usually a part of our group, thus making us one of the largest groups in the cafeteria and we usually occupied the wall to the left from the lunch arrangement. I grabbed a couple sandwiches and a bottle of water before heading to our seats, greeting those who called out to me. One good thing about sitting with the jocks was that the seat was also at a line of sight from the main door, which is why, when a sophomore from the Literature department entered the room, with a tiny brunette in tow, I instantly narrowed my eyes at the pair.

That mop of dark brunette hair seemed incredibly familiar and after three months into the next semester, I think I had most of the fresh faces mugged up.

“Who’s that?” I asked Cole, pointing to the brunette.

Cole gave me the same frown I had on my face. “No idea. Looks like a freshman to me. Must have gotten unnoticed.” He shrugged.

“And she avoided getting noticed for this long without an invisibility cloak?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “She’s new.”

“Ah! That’s the chick from our Environment Studies class that didn’t show up!” A freshman, Nicole, I think her name was, spoke up from next to her junior cheerleading peers. “She was supposed to start today but never showed up to class.”

“Freshman.” I shrugged, taking a bite of my sandwich, but still, my attention kept going back to her as she talked to her new friends, her head lowered and her body almost curved into herself. I narrowed my eyes at the weirdo.

“Holy shit!” Jayden, another junior from the basketball team, suddenly gasped, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Is that a purity ring I see?”

Instantly, all our attention snapped to the new girl, who was showing her phone to the other girls, probably exchanging numbers and just like Jayden had pointed out; there was silver band on the ring finger of her right hand with a small cross in the middle. She was sitting only a couple tables away from us, so even if the design wasn’t entirely clear, we could all see that it definitely was a purity ring.

“Fuck, who wears a purity ring anymore?” Stefan, another junior jock, laughed out from the same table.

“Umm…Britney Spears?” Sagar raised an eyebrow at Stefan.

“That’s a twentieth century bitch you’re talking about.” Stefan mocked, pointing at the others in his circle. “This, if you haven’t noticed…is the twenty first.”

“Fine then. Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brother and Selena Gomez, amongst thousands of other celebrities.” Sagar almost looked offended. “I can continue to point out more but I don’t think your vocabulary would include any other names.”

“Chill, calculus.” Stefan smirked. “There’s no need to get your virgin panties in a twist.”

“Hey!” Sagar grit his teeth. “Say that to me when you’re thirty and counting STD’s in a hospital bed!”

Several boo’s and oohh’s and back and forth bickering ensure after that comment as I watched the drama unfold while munching on my sandwiches. There was really no point taking part in this conversation as we all knew what my stand was about virgins.

It wasn’t anything personal, honestly. But I preferred experienced women. Women who knew exactly how rough I wanted it and how to deliver. Women who were confident in their sexuality and in their bodies. Virgins were too damn shy and I didn’t have the patience to be gentle or teach them how it’s done and repeatedly tell them that they were beautiful and to stop hiding. And I spoke from experience in this matter, so it was safe to say…never again.

But even as I was tuning out the conversation around me, my eyes occasionally drifting to the brunette from under my lashes, despite my preferences. Was it because of the chain that she dropped? Was it even her chain? But if I had to guess, I’d say it probably was hers, considering the cross on the chain.

And just like that, I would’ve kept on ignoring the rest of the crowd, if…I wasn’t called out right after.

“I bet even Brandon can’t get that ring off of her finger in a month.”

Looking to my left at the senior’s table, I saw Stefan’s older brother Samuel and two other boys, I think they were from the Arts major, Daniel and Ricky, smirking at me like they just won the lottery. The girls on the table rolled their eyes, knowing that the boys had a penchant for trouble. But this was the first time I was being included in one of their betting game.

“Why am I being involved in this?” I narrowed my eyes at them. “Leave me out.”

“Oooohh! Did I just hear the bad-boy sound reluctant? Why? Too scared of a little challenge?” Samuel took out his wallet and pulled out a credit card before placing it at the centre of the table. “Ten thousand dollars. Wanna bet?”

“Holy fuck! Ten grand!”

Several whispers came from all around the table as almost everyone leaned forward to peak at the gold card.

“And that’s supposed to impress me?” I shook my head. “Keep your damn money.”

“Alright!” Samuel turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s raise the bar, shall we? Me or Brandon. Place your bets! Let’s see how much we can get going.”

“Fuck.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why was I always getting involved in these stupid bets? What were we, still in kindergarten? Nah! Kids nowadays were too mature for this shit.

Ten minutes and twenty five bets later, Samuel held out the card and a stack of hundred dollar bills on the other hand. “Looks like we got fifteen grand now. You wanna bet too, Brandon? Come on now, don’t be stingy.”

Looks like I was stuck playing this stupid game no matter what. Might as well have fun doing it, right?

“Ten.” I told him, taking out my own wallet and my credit card.

“Twenty five! Now we’re talking!” Samuel grinned. “The bet’s on people! One month and we’ll have our results! And to make it better…whoever wins that ring, gets all the money!”

Cheers went out from around the table, just as a man barged into the cafeteria doors like a tornado barely contained.

“Brandon! Come out here you scumbag!”

Scott Millar, my ex-best friend and the man my ex-girlfriend cheated on me with, roared out at the top of his lungs, making the entire cafeteria’s attention snap towards us.

“Fucking hell!” I cursed under my breath.

Here we go again.