Price Check On Monogamy

“Tigger! Tigger, dammit, wait!”

I sighed and stopped, turning on my heel to wait as Tawny ran down the school steps to see me. I was in a terrible mood. It was Wednesday; Caleb was still pissy about that little comment on Heather. I hadn’t talked to Tyler since he’d dropped me off after the little swimming session I’d had with the ducks. Karter was being salty because of Tyler’s intervention. Kip had been having issues lately with Justin, and I was the only one crazy enough to listen. The only thing that I was grateful for was the fact that I hadn’t seen Tandem since the scene in the cafeteria; and I wasn’t altogether sure if that was a good thing or not.

Running up to me out of breath, Tawny nudged me hard with her shoulder. “Have you seen Adam?”

I scowled. “No.”

Tawny frowned, making me feel bad. “You need to give him a chance, Tigger. Anyway,” she added quickly, cutting me off before I could defend myself, “If you do see him, can you please call and tell me? I’ve been looking for him forever…”

I sighed and nodded. “Sure, Tawny. I’ll call if anything happens.”

Tawny stopped, hesitating for a second. “You know it’s been three months, right?”

I tilted my head a little. “What?”

Tawny sighed, just a hint of a smile on her face. “It’s been three months. Monday made three months. You’re half way through this ridiculous bet.”

I forced a smile and a laugh. “I can’t believe I’m still alive.”

Tawny smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “Hey, spring break’s coming up, too. Excited?”

I opened my mouth to argue, but shut it instantly. It was February; she was right. Not only was it almost Spring Break, the year was almost over.

Tawny opened her mouth to say something, probably to call me an idiot for forgetting, then shut it again. Frowning, she asked, “Why did the make the bet overlap with the summer? That doesn’t even make sense. Doesn’t Tandem leave for college or something right after school ends?”

I shrugged. Honestly, she was right; it didn’t make sense that they would make the bet go into summer, considering the whole point was to convince the school that we were dating. But seeing as I’d given up on my siblings ever thinking in terms that could even loosely be considered smart, it didn’t really matter to me. “Probably because they knew he wouldn’t last that long.”

Tawny laughed and smiled, nudging me again with her shoulder. “Hey, none of us thought he’d last this long. Who knew that Tandem could go three months without any sort of--“

“Don’t say it!” I groaned, shaking my head. “Do not dare finish that sentence. God, it makes me feel dirty just thinking about it.”

Tawny grinned, walking off back toward school. “Fine, fine. See you later, Tigger!”

I waved, feeling a little better. Maybe life wasn’t as terrible as I was making it out to be; staying away from Tyler was more than likely the best solution to the inevitable awkwardness, anyway. Shouldering my backpack and bypassing the hangout spot, I decided to start walking home already. Maybe once I got there I could make a cake or something.

Mm… yellow cake… I think we have enough eggs--

My cake filled thoughts, however, were interrupted by a rough hand on my shoulder, dragging backwards down an empty hall on the side of the school. The way our school was built, there was a chain link fence surrounding it; about five feet of space, mostly covered by dead grass, was between the outside wall of the school and the fence. Almost no one hung around there unless they were doing drugs, or…

“HOLY SHIT,” I screamed at the top of my lungs, freaking out and thrashing around. A hand went over my mouth and I started biting viciously, but whoever it was had apparently been planning this.

A laugh made it’s way through my fitful consciousness. Then, “Chill, Tiger, it’s just me.”

Roughly pulling away, I turned, face bright red to glare at Tandem. “What the fuck is your problem?!” I screamed. “Do you enjoy randomly dragging people down alleys? What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Tandem laughed, shrugging and leaning against the wall. “Hey, calm down, Tiger. I just wanted to talk.”

“I don’t want to!” I screamed. My heart was still racing from earlier-- I’d honestly been scared out of my mind, and Tandem thought it was just a game. “Just leave me the hell alone!”

In one smooth motion, Tandem grabbed my arm and swung me around, pressing me into the school wall. “Just calm down, Tiger. Nothing’s wrong, alright? It was just a joke.”

“How can you think nothing’s wrong?” I hissed. Before I could continue, though, he’d pressed his mouth over mine.

And, once again, I had to admit that Tandem was a very good kisser.

Shoving his back once he broke for air, I coughed out, “What’s your problem? What did I ever do to you? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Tandem twirled his fingers in my hair and leaned back in. “Why can’t you just accept the fact that we’re stuck together?”

“Because we’re not!” I snapped, twisting away from him, trying to put as much space between us as possible. “We’re not stuck together, we’re not together, we’re not anything! You’re the whore best friend of my idiot brother, and that’s all the connection we’ll ever have!”

Tandem slammed his palm against the wall behind me so hard that I squeaked at the sudden noise. “Dammit, Tiger! Why are you so difficult?”

I stared at him in horror. “What the hell is your problem? Are insane?”

Tandem opened his mouth to answer, than shut it instantly. I was about to start screaming again when I heard it; pounding footsteps. Shoving Tandem away, I jogged down the alleyway and looked around the corner. All I could see was sandy brown hair and a thick snow jacket. Whoever it was had dropped a bouquet of flowers.

Picking up the flowers and fingering through them gently, I gritted my teeth.

Hey, Tiger-- we need to talk. Came back just for you; Milo.