Price Check On Monogamy

“Why didn’t you let him?!”

I sighed, punching my pillow. As soon as I’d gotten a hold of myself, I’d called Tawny and Lexy. Neither of which, by the way, were being very helpful at the moment.

“Tawny, I told you, things are just too weird right now,” I grabbed Cherry, a stuffed bear I’d had since I was five, and hugged her. In all honesty, I didn’t even really think about it when I pulled away from him. Or pushed him. Or whatever it was that I did. I can’t even really remember anything happening; just that, one minute, he was two inches away, trying to kiss me, and another minute, I was in the marsh. “It was an impulse thing.”

“You’re not dating him!” Tawny whined exasperatedly.

“She’s right,” Lexy said. “If you like Tyler, go for it. And even if you don’t, don’t let Tandem of all people stand in the way of you doing something that’ll make you happy.”

“It’s not that…” I mumbled. Well, maybe it was a little of the situation that was going on. Even though me and Tandem weren’t really dating, it still made me feel slimy to think of dating someone else; I said I’d go through with the ridiculous plan and, even if they had had to pay me and blackmail me to do it, I would. It wasn’t worth the problems that would come up if Caleb caught me. But still, the main reason was much, much more complicated than a stupid bet that my idiot brother was in.

“It’s Milo, isn’t it?” Tawny said, her incredible mind reading ability coming into play again. Taking my silence for an answer, she said softly, “Hun, what are you going to do about him?”

“You make him sound like a dog,” I forced a laugh. What was I going to do about him? Who knew. “And you seem to forget that that’s been the question on everyone’s mind for the past year and a half.”

“Everyone knows it’s going to happen eventually, Tiger,” Lexy laughed.

“Just like everyone knew about you and Derrik?” I shot back, making Tawny laugh. Derrik was a boy in our English class last year who harassed Lexy every day-- and when I was ‘every day’, I meant that he literally did not miss a single day throughout the year. He followed her back to the hang out spot a few times, but Eli, who didn’t like Derrik in the least, quickly ended that.

“Hey, shut up!” Lexy said defensively. “That was stupid, and you guys knew that it was just a joke!”

“Well, there was that time when he only came to school for first period and then left,” Tawny pointed out, still laughing. “I mean, you remember--“

“Weren’t we talking about Tiger?!” Lexy shouted to get the conversation back on track.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Tawny laughed. “So, Tiger. Is it because of Milo?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I admitted, curling into a ball on my side, arms still around Cherry. “I just… I don’t know. We just got back on normal terms. And besides, I hate it when he gets dates--“

“I thought you said you didn’t care,” Lexy interrupted me.

“I don’t,” I said defensively. Rolling my eyes at their laughter, I conceded, “Fine, I care a little. I don’t like it, alright? I don’t want to do that to him, especially since I can’t even explain why I’m ‘dating’ Tandem.”

“Why do you owe him an explanation?” Tawny asked.

Dead silence.

“Good question.”

- - -

“Tiger, eat lunch with me today.”

I turned to narrow my eyes at Tandem. I’d eaten lunch with him a grand total of twice since this whole thing had started nearly two and a half months ago. Things came up-- and, trust me, I made sure of it-- and, sometimes, Eli was just there to make sure that I was unavailable. Today, however, Eli was home sick, and I was already on my way to go grab some food.

“Why?”

“Because you’re my girlfriend, remember?” Tandem flashed me one of his bright, disgustingly charming smiles and made me cringe.

“Don’t call me that,” I mumbled. The hallway was almost empty; the bell was about to ring. “I’m not your damned girlfriend.”

Tandem shrugged. “Sure, sure. That’ll change eventually. Anyway, come on, let’s go eat.” Tandem started into the cafeteria, but I refused to move.

“What the hell does that mean?” I hissed. He didn’t even so much as flinch back. “Tandem!” Jogging after him, I grabbed his arm and was about to continue my little bitch-fest when I realized that the cafeteria was packed. I never went in without some sort of friend. Crowds terrified me.

Taking it as an opportunity to make my life even more hellish than he already had, Tandem put his arm around me, smiling broadly at some of his friends. The swim team laughed and waved back, looking at me and winking. “So, babe, looks like you are growing on me, huh?”

“Drop dead,” I snapped, pulling away. Tandem’s face flickered; his grin melted away for a second, and he grabbed my arm hard, before it came back, strong as ever.

“If you don’t want to, then you can go.” He let me go so suddenly that I almost fell back. “See you later, babe.”

I practically ran out of the cafeteria.

- - -

“Dude, I still can’t believe you’re dating her,” Jordan laughed and shoved Tandem playfully, who shoved back. “I mean, get serious. Tiger?”

“I can’t believe she’s dating you,” Benjamin, another swimmer, said, laughing. “I mean, come on, Tandem. She hasn’t dated anyone but that snowboarder kid since she started coming to this school. The girl’s a freak.”

“Watch it, man,” Tandem said, still laughing. He was used to his friends messing around about his new relationship. “Remember who you’re talking to.”

“Tandem, come on,” Jordan shoved him, laughing. “Admit it, she’s a freak.”

“At least she’s hot, though,” Benjamin mused. Winking at Tandem, he asked, “So at least we know why you’re dating her.”

The easy going smile that was always on his face suddenly melted. “Shut the fuck up,” Tandem gritted out. He glanced at Caleb, who raised an eyebrow pointedly and nodded toward the door.

“Woah, Tandem, chill out, man,” Benjamin apologized hastily. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? You really care about her, I get that.”

“I’m gonna go run a couple laps,” Tandem said stiffly, turning and leaving his tray behind him.

“Wait, hold up, man!” Benjamin had jumped up, grabbing Tandem’s sleeve. “Look, I’m really sorry. I’m having a party Friday night; my parents are gonna be out of town. Why don’t you and your chick-- Tiger, Tiger,” He correctly quickly, seeing fire flare in Tandem’s eyes, “Stop by?”

“They’ll go,” Caleb said, standing up. He hadn’t said a word throughout the entire lunch. “And I’ll be there, too, on one condition, of course.”

Benjamin grinned. “Yeah, Heather’s gonna be there. Her pretty boy new boyfriend, too.”

Caleb smiled. “We’ll be there. Friday night? No problem.”

Tandem sighed and nodded. Pulling his arm away, he walked out of the cafeteria with his hands shoved in his pockets.