The Bet

She leaned in close, focusing her eyes on the reddish purple circle that had formed where he had struck. Her mind wandered, and if she closed her eyes and focused hard enough, she could hear the impact against her skin.

"Shayla, honey? How do you like the dress?" A high-pitched voice asked outside the white door. Shayla opened her eyes, stepping back as she stared at her exposed body.

She held the dress up against herself. It was knee length, white with a black strap across the middle, and elegant. Too much for her.

"This was the only one you had found?" she asked back, turning toward the dressing room door.

Her mother had picked her up from school that day. She had to pick out a dress for a dinner party her mother was having in honor of purchasing a new house. As much as Shayla didn't want to attend, she thought it'd be best to make her mother happy, for she barely got to see her.

"I thought it had your name written all over it. Why, don't you like it?"

"No, I do. I was just curious."

"Well put it on and let me see." Her mother urged, losing patience.

Shayla sighed. "Alright."

Her mother stepped back as she pushed the dressing room door open, revealing herself in the dress.

Her mother smiled, holding her hands to her heart.

"You are beautiful, my dear."

"That's nice to hear sometimes," she admitted, bringing her hand softly to her cheek.

"Forget him, Shayla. You need to find someone who will love you for you, and nothing less."

Shayla could only scold for letting herself think of Billie Joe.

*

She bucked her hips as she leaned forward, nuzzling her lips into the crook of his neck. He let a soft moan escape through his lips.

"Ready for the best ride of your life?" she murmured in his ear, her hot breath hitting exactly the right spot, making him squirm.

"Yes," his voice croaked, but he didn't care.

He rolled slightly onto his side, reaching into the top drawer of his nightstand for condoms he had strewn about earlier in the week. He bit down on his lip lightly, becoming impatient as he dug around the various contents for a familiar packet.

As his fingers wrapped around one, he glanced down at all their clothing crumpled next to the queen size bed. He noticed an Agent Orange flier under his rumpled boxers shorts. Furrowing his eyebrows, he let go of the packet and brought his hand out, and rolling further onto his side as he silently urged his hand to extend the needed centimeters.

"Ah!" He exclaimed, pulling the flier toward him as he rolled back onto his back.

"Ah?" The girl asked, furrowing her eyebrows as well.

He ignored her, however, as he studied the flier. He must have grabbed it the last time he was at Gilman. He had a sudden mood change, remembering the shirt that Shayla had been wearing when he visited her at her house.

"Oh, fuck," he growled, silently cursing himself for thinking of Shayla at a this like this.

*

The next day, Shayla made sure she got to school later than usual in hopes of avoiding Dave. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do about the situation just yet, but she knew she needed to avoid him for a while. See how she felt after a few days of pretending he didn't even exist.

She turned her knob of her locker swiftly, not wanting to be late to first period. She was never late to class unless she had a valid excuse. That was what she was lacking today.

"I never see you in the halls at this time." She recognized the voice immediately and turned to see an unusually cheerful Billie standing in front of her.

"I just got here," she vaguely explained, turning her attention back on her combination.

"Ah." He sighed. "I see your cheek decided to bruise after all."

When she didn't answer, Billie figured she was ignoring him. He decided it was best to leave her alone, and as he took a step to leave, she turned back toward him.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens. I don't really care, though, maybe people will see that my life isn't so perfect and I can suddenly be human to my peers."

"Fuck them. If they are ignorant enough to live under the assumption they believe, they aren't worth your time. You're better than them, Shayla."

There he went, surprising her more than she was comfortable with.

Before she could answer, Billie started talking.

"So, how's Captain Douche Bag? You still with that loser?"

"I am." She noted that he seemed genuinely shocked.

"Why?" He hollered.

"Because he's my boyfriend and he loves me," she lied.

Billie couldn't believe what he was hearing. All this time when he thought he was learning a different side of her, she hits him with the same old shit.

"Someone who loves you would never do that to you," he explained, his voice soft, pointing to her cheek.

He walked away then, leaving her to strike the locker when she made sure he was truly gone.