Price Check On Monogamy

They had me cornered.

Have you ever had those mornings, where just about everything that could go wrong goes wrong-- or, at least, you think everything goes wrong, then it all gets significantly worse?

Yep. That’s where I’m currently standing, as far as mornings go.

More specifically, I’m standing in the middle of my kitchen, with my brother, sister, and their two friends standing between me and the door to freedom.

Waking up through means of falling out of my bed and hitting my head on my bed stand had been a daunting start to my day. Remembering that it was Saturday and realizing that I’d woken up at seven in the morning had been a bit depressing. Going down to the kitchen to find them waiting for me had been a red flag. Seeing the looks in their eyes had been cause for alarm. The second my sister locked the door behind her, however, had been the sign that I’d gotten enough warnings, and now it was too late to call for help.

“What do you freaks want from me?” I snapped instantly. Might as well skip all of the awkward small talk and get to the point, right?

My sister, Katy, laughed and ran a hand through her platinum blonde hair. “Tiger, I don’t think that we’re the freaks here.”

I didn’t even bother to wince as the group laughed at me. Okay, fine, I’ll admit they were right-- in a general sort of way, at least. You see, even though we’re siblings, blood is about all we have in common. My sister Katy is a shopaholic, and a year younger than me; as a sophomore in high school, she’s become addicted to bleaching her hair, dating older guys, and maxing out credit cards. My brother Caleb is a major jockey, and, once upon a time, used to be my best friend-- that’s what happens when you’re twins, right? A lot’s changed since elementary school, though; he got into swimming and water polo, I didn’t show the same physical prowess. He ditched me for Katy’s group of friends, and we grew apart. High school sucks when you don’t know anyone; it sucks even more when you do know someone, they just choose not to acknowledge your existence. Trust me, I have a lot of unresolved animosity towards him for doing that to me.

“If you’re done being obnoxious,” I said irritably, “Then will you idiots please get out of my way? Believe it or not, even I have plans on Saturdays.”

“We just want to ask you something,” Caleb said smoothly, leaning against the door.

“Jesus, you two have been thinking again?” I groaned, rolling my eyes. This couldn’t be good. The last time Katy had spent time thinking, she’d decided she wanted to study to be a hair stylist. That was two years ago, and she’d hacked my hair so badly I still don’t let it grow any longer just below my shoulder blades for fear that she’d decide she wanted to give hair styling another shot. The last time Caleb had spent time thinking, he’d decided to practice drifting in our parents new Mercedes. I’d spent all summer watching after him because he’d crashed the car and broken both his legs in the wreck. God only knows what both of them thinking could mean.

“Don’t make it sound like such a bad thing,” Caleb said, pushing off the door and laughing. “C’mon, Tiger, just listen, alright? We’ll let you go if you just listen.”

Sighing and nodding wearily, I grabbed a chair from the dining table and dragged it over, falling into it. “Alright. Hurry up, I’m meeting Kip at the mall.”

Caleb’s best friend, Tandem, twitched. Noticeably. The two other boys in the room that have yet to say anything are both Caleb’s friends, one more tolerable than the other. Jeremy West is almost like one of the family; not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but you get the point. He’s been hanging around our house since Caleb and I were in seventh grade. He’s also the one who convinced Caleb to join the water polo team. That’s always been my secret grudge against him, but Jeremy isn’t all that bad; he can just get very, very irritating. Tandem, however, I cannot, for the life of me, stand to be around. He moved here from California in our freshmen year, and he’s been driving me crazy ever since. I never really talk to him, but he’s always around the house-- usually with the girl of the week. He’s been playing girls since he moved here, and took a sick satisfaction through it. Sadly, him and my brother are basically attached at the hip.

“Kip is waiting,” I snapped again, irritated. Tandem didn’t like her at all, and it irritated me to no end. “So hurry up.”

“Alright, so here’s the deal, Tiger,” Jeremy said, pulling a chair up against the wall. “We all know how little Tandem’s grown up to be such a big ladies man,” he winked at Tandem, who rolled his eyes and shoved Jeremy back, the two getting into a mini shoving contest until I coughed into my hand. “Um, anyway, so we were talking about it last night, and it brought up the question of how long he’s actually been in a steady, serious relationship.”

I snorted. “And how long was it? Two months?”

“Three!” Tandem said defensively, crossing his arms.

“I’m so sorry. Three.”

He decided not to respond; good. He was finally learning something about me.

“Now, play nice, kids,” Caleb chuckled. “You’ll be spending a lot of time together for the next six months.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, suspicious. He was always at my house; I spent a lot of time around him as it was.

“Anyway,” Jeremy cut in. “If you would listen to me, I could explain that. See, it got us thinking that maybe Tandem can’t hold a serious relationship. So we struck up a bet; Tandem has to date someone for six months. Six straight months of dating one person, starting Monday. I say he can’t do it, but Caleb has some sort of misplaced faith in him,” Jeremy faked a heavy, overly dramatic sigh as Tandem kicked at his chair, the two getting into yet another fake little shoving match.

“Sorry to interrupt your strange wrestling match,” I interrupted, “But I seriously want to leave. So what the hell does your bet have anything to do with me?” When no one answered me, I rolled my eyes. “Well?” Still no answer. Just irritating little smirks on everyone’s face but Tandem’s. I’m not sure when I realized it, but I think I started to pale when I did. “You can’t be serious!” I shouted, jumping out of the chair.

“You always were a smart girl, Tiger,” Caleb smirked. “Yeah, we want you to be the one to date him.”

“Why me?” I shouted. This was ridiculous! Of all their stupid plans, this has got to be the worst. “Make Katy do it!”

“No,” Katy said simply, pulling out her cell phone and giggling at the text she’d gotten. “I have a boyfriend. Besides, that would mean that I have to stay with him for six months, too. Not that he’s not a fine man to be staying with,” she giggled again and leaned over to wink at Tandem, who smiled. “But I don’t want to be chained to anyone for six months. It’s not even believable.”

“Find a different girl,” I said firmly. “Because it’s not going to be me.”

“Hold on, you haven’t even heard all the details!” Jeremy whined. “First, we’ll pay you.”

“Twenty bucks ain’t gonna cut it.”

“Who said anything about that?” Jeremy smiled mischievously. “You forget that we’re not broke like you, Tiger.”

Ouch. That one hurt, even if it was true. Jeremy’s parents are both high-class lawyers and, as their only son, Jeremy was spoiled freaking rotten. Tandem’s dad was the CEO of some major company back in California, and his mom was a famous chief; she had a show on Food Network or something, I never paid enough attention to him to notice. My family wasn’t exactly poor, either-- or middle class, or lower upper class, for that matter. My mom’s a renowned surgeon, and my dad’s a political lawyer. Why am I broke? Well, I have ADHD and post traumatic stress disorder. My parents fund my unwanted therapy sessions, meaning I’m left broke because I don’t want to ask for money, and they don’t want to give it to me. I’ve got a job, but being in high school hinders actually making money. My parents fund my sister’s ridiculous amounts of shopping, and give my brother money that he never actually spends. So, in summary, Jeremy was right; the little weasels did have enough to pay me.

“Five hundred dollars a month, Tiger,” Caleb said, smiling the same smile he wore to swim meets. Meaning, the smile he sported when he knew he was going to win.

Wow. “Too bad,” I forced out, glaring at them for actually making this entire stupid plan look tempting. “You can’t buy me. I’m not doing it.”

“Tiger, come on,” Katy said, sounding almost insulted. “He’s gorgeous, and you’ll be getting paid to do it. Just do it!”

“No,” I said firmly, now glaring specifically at Tandem, who was, what a coincidence, refusing to look at me. “I’m not going to do it. So drop it.”

“Fine,” Caleb said, turning away. Jeremy was staring at him, jaw dropped.

“What?!”

“Guys, let her through. If she doesn’t want to do it, we can’t make her.”

Jeremy moved to stare at Caleb, jaw still slack. Tandem had an eyebrow raised at Caleb, but moved aside. I couldn’t believe my luck. Not wanting to believe it, but sure as hell not about to question it, I shoved through the door, pulling out my phone to call Kip and apologize for being late. I almost had the number dialed in when I heard Caleb call behind me, “But if you don’t do it, Tiger, I’m telling mom and dad that you’re not a virgin.”

I froze. What?

Swirling on my feet and turning bright red, I almost screamed when I heard Katy laugh. “Before you go harping about how you are one, let’s just remind you that they’ll believe us.”

Perversely enough, that calmed me down a little.

Caleb raised an eyebrow and gave me his little smirk again. “So? What’s it gonna be, Tiger?”

I was furious, fighting a silent, internal war with myself for a few seconds. They would do it. I know my wonderful siblings, about as well as I knew my parents, which meant I knew that they would believe them. “FINE,” I shouted, stomping my foot. “FINE, I’ll do it, now just leave me to hell alone!” Spinning on my heel, I stomped off toward the mall, pulling my hood over my head roughly and glaring at the ground the entire way there.