Price Check On Monogamy

"Why's your hand wrapped...?"

I scowled, slamming my locker as the bell rung. It was Monday, and Eli had been on my case all day.

"Because life sucks," I signed dramatically, glancing at my phone. "Speaking of which, I've gotta jet. Sorry, Eli; appointment."

Eli gave a sigh and a nod. Shouldering his bag, he nudged me down the hall. "Come on, I'll give you a ride there. I don't want you on a bus."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

He scowled. "You've been so out of it all day. I don't like you on buses to begin with; I'm not letting you get on one when you're this zoned."

I shrugged. Not that I had any particular problem with buses, but he was kind of right; it had been a particularly bad day. Milo hadn't even told me hi today; he'd practically sprinted away from me when I saw him in the halls. I really couldn't blame him-- I didn't like seeing him around his micro-length girlfriends when he had them, either. Plus, Tandem used to give Milo hell; he didn't like the fact that they were so alike, yet so insanely different, so he had to show authority, I'm guessing. Even though it had eventually stopped, Milo still got nervous around him.

I understood why he wasn't happy about the "relationship". But why did he had to punish me?

"Tiger?" I looked up at Eli, who was holding the door to his car open. Apparently, we'd walked all the way out to the parking lot without saying much.

Weird.

"I'm alright," I reassured him, getting into the car and shutting the door. Eli got in on his side and pulled out of the parking lot, glancing at me every few seconds out of the corner of his eyes worriedly. "I'm fine," I repeated. "Don't worry, alright?"

Eli just shook his head, cruising down the suburban streets without much thought. He was a natural driver; Eli had always been able to multi-task perfectly. "I don't get it," he mumbled. "It's killing you. I know it is. Why are you still with that bastard?"

I sighed again, raking a hand through my hair with frustration. "Eli, I already told you--"

"Is it worth this?" He interrupted me. We'd pulled up at a stop light, and Eli was staring at me with so much pain in his brown eyes that I almost winced. "Tiger, it's so fucking painful. Milo's avoiding you because he doesn't know what to do. He's always thought that he was... below Tandem. This is just making it worse. I think it's stupid that he's avoiding you, but even if he wasn't, it would just keep killing you," Eli almost stomped on the gas the second someone beeped at him to go once the light was green. Sticking his hand out the window and flipping them off, the car was quiet as the person who he'd flipped off pulled up next to us. This happened a lot with Eli; people pulled up pissed off and shouting, saw him, and got the hell out of the area. Today, Eli was especially pissed off. The guy almost forgot to stomp on his gas and get away.

"Why?" He stressed, looking over at me again.

I sat staring at my hands blindly until he pulled up at the huge office building where I take my appointments at. Eli took a deep breath and leaned over, opening the door. "Go, Tiger," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

Getting out of the car shakily, I sighed and walked into the office, not even flinching at the sharp snap of the door closing.

"Tiger?" I looked up blankly at the secretary sitting in the front and did my best to smile. Mrs. Plum was a nice old lady, who'd probably been working here for half her life. She smiled at me and handed me a clip board. "Welcome back."

I sat down after taking the board, filling out the paperwork by memory. Ever since the beginning of the bet, I'd been putting off doing any of the other unpleasant and stressful things in life; when my grades started to slip even more, though, I decided it was probably time to catch up.

My parents had been sending me to the best therapy sessions money could buy for the past seven years; at first, it was once a month, then in seventh grade, when all hell broke loose, it got upped to three times a month. I couldn't wait to see Mrs. Calehay's, my therapist's, face when she saw me. Missing three sessions with her was unheard of, considering how much the sessions generally cost.

"Mrs. Sparks?" I glanced up to see Mrs. Calehay. Standing and handing her the clipboard, I nodded her a silent greeting and slipped easily past her, already knowing my way around her office. Sitting down on the couch and leaning back, I stared at the roof, zoning out once again. The familiar sound of her heels clicking on the tile floor that used to scare me now just succeeded in irritating the hell out of me. Didn't the woman ever get flat shoes?

"Tiger, where were you these past three sessions?" I looked over at her and suppressed an instant grin; yep, I'd been right. Mrs. Calehay was exactly how you'd think of a teacher who'd retired too young from her job, and was thus bitter with life because she hadn't gotten all the benefits. Her greying hair was tied back in a tight bun, and her brown skirt-suit was pressed to perfection. Her modest heels were always shiny and new, as were her reading glasses. Usually, she looked overly patient and incredibly synthetic. Currently, she looked very worried. Most people would say that it was because she was worried about me; I, however, knew that was total bullshit. My parents were giving her a fourtune to try to sort through my messed up head. If I'd missed an entire month and wasn't falling apart at the seams yet, it could mean I was getting ready to stop coming in for sessions.

Selfish bitch.

"I had better things to do," I said lamely. Shrugging, I went back to staring at the roof. "Just didn't feel like coming in."

The breath she let out in relief was insultingly obvious. "That's good," she said, clearing her throat. "But you really should call in advance next time."

I looked at her drolly. "Really, now?"

Mrs. Calehay sighed. "Fine, Tiger. Did anything new happen?"

I almost laughed at the sheer irony of the question. New? New fake boyfriend. New almost-boyfriend. New problems with old almost-boyfriend. New problems in general. New obligations. New set backs. New depression falls.

"No, Mrs. Calehay. And no, I'm not lying. Next question."

- - -

"How did it go?" Lexy asked hesitantly, coming up behind me. After every therapy session, I always went to the same place; an old creek at the very edge of town, almost completely torn up, but still one of the calmest places I'd ever been to. Lexy, Tawny, and Kip knew that.

"It went alright," I said boredly. Skipping a stone across the small creek, I sighed. "Everything's just so fucked up lately. I can't... deal with it anymore. It's just too messed up."

Lexy sighed, sitting down next to me. "You can't exactly hide out here for the next... four and a half months."

I snorted. "I can sure as hell try."

Lexy laughed. "Alright, well, when you realize that I'm right, give me a call. Until then, however, it's probably best that you consider things how they are. Milo... well, Milo's been talking to another girl lately. You know how he is," she added quickly when I turned away. Milo was the sweetest guy I knew; even sweeter than I considered Tyler. He would never do anything to intentionally hurt someone else-- especially me-- but he couldn't... deal with something like this without a girl at his side and, more precisely, in his arms. It still hurt, though. It had always hurt. "And Tandem's a mood swingy, PMSy bitch. I say you spend some time with Tyler."

I shook my head. "It wouldn't be right. I'm juggling three guys right now, one that I hate, one that I like, and one that I've liked since last year. It's just not... fair."

Lexy patted me on the back and handed me my phone; apparently, I'd left it in my backpack out by the end of the path. "Just think about it, alright? I need to get home. Love you. Bye." Giving me a quick hug, she stood and started back down the path, already on the phone to ask Jason if he could give her a ride home.

I stared at my phone for a long minute before opening it and thumbing through my contacts. Stared at Tyler's name even longer. It was unfair to him. Completely unfair to him. If I called him and let him know I was interested, he'd wonder why the hell I couldn't date him if I wasn't really dating Tandem. If I called him and just tried to hang out with him, Tandem would probably find out and slaughter me. If I didn't call, I'd not only hate myself, I'd leave him completely unaware of what was really going on. Regardless, no one won.

Pressing send and holding my breath, I almost choked as he answered the phone. "Tyler, do you want to do something tomorrow after school?" I rushed the words out so fast that it winded me.

Laughter. Then, "Sure; absolutely, Tiger. When and where?"

I grinned so broadly that my jaw started to ache. Staring at my reflection in the dirty water, I winked.

Fuck you, fate. I'm taking this one.