Price Check On Monogamy

Everything was just so damned... surreal.

The second he'd assumed that I was going to call of the bet, I knew that he was worth the risk. I have no idea how one night can make so much of a difference, but... so far, it's been... good.

How is that even possible?

We'd gone down to some far off lake and spent the entire day there, getting to know each other. We liked all the same movies, video games... I discovered that I actually liked Kanye West and he discovered that he had a thing for Scary Kids Scaring Kids. He tackled me into the water and then actually caught me a little fish that was swimming around by us. When we got back to town, I went to his house for the first time-- and discovered that I loved his cooking and he loved my baking. The next day, we did it all again.

I hadn't had so much fun in months-- though, to be fair, that was mostly his fault.

At school, things were still awkward. Eating with him and his friends at lunch was just... too weird, now that we were actually dating. So I just left one day, and he let me. He gave me rides to and from school, but, for whatever reason, gave me more space at school then he ever had before. We talked on the phone a couple nights a week, when he's not busy.

It's been two weeks. Neither of us has fucked up yet.

Everything is just too damned surreal.

"Why question a good thing?" Tawny asked, smiling as I grabbed everything from my locker. Her and Lexy had an infuriating habit of grinning like idiots whenever they saw me and Tandem together.

"Yeah," Lexy winked. "You two don't seem to hate each other anymore."

At that, I had to laugh. Don't get me wrong; the arguing between us hadn't stopped. It had just lost most of it's animosity. Before he realized he liked Scary Kids Scaring Kids, he'd complained about emo music messing with his head. Before I'd learned that I liked his cooking, I'd bitched the whole way to his house about how I did not want to step foot in a house where his parents were never home. Then I'd complained about how he was probably going to poison me.

"Hey--" I was about to argue when I snapped my mouth shut and smiled. "Hey, Eli," I said quickly, before Tawny and Lexy could say anything that would alarm Eli.

Eli hadn't been at school lately, so we were all pretty thrilled to see him. Not to mention the fact that Jason was right behind him, hugging Lexy from behind the second he got up to us.

"Hey, Tiger," Eli said quietly, smiling at me.

I frowned; something was wrong. Eli never missed more than three days of school, and he hadn't been at school for the past week. Jason hadn't told us what was going on-- and as he probably sensed that something was about to go down, he tugged Lexy awkwardly away, a timid, "Bye, Tigon; Tawny, Jason's looking for you."

Tawny nodded at Eli before hustling off to find her beloved slimeball.

Meaning that I'd been set up into being alone with Eli. Something was definitely wrong.

"Where have you been, Eli?" I asked hesitantly, trying to edge into the subject of... whatever it was subtly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Tiger, something's really wrong," And that was Eli, never beating around the bush. It was something I had learned to love-- and hate-- about him. Eli turned to look at me, and my breath caught; there was so much pain in his eyes. "Have you heard from Milo at all lately?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. Nope, and that was something I really didn't want to think about. He was probably still pissed at me; but... my eyes flew open. "Is Milo hurt?"

Eli winced. Winced! What the hell had happened?! "Milo's fine... sort of. Tiger, he's... he's been acting strangely, lately."

I sighed and nodded. "I know--"

"No, you don't," Eli shook his head. "Tiger, you can't get mad at him for this. I know that it really isn't your fault that this all happened; and I know that you never meant to hurt him. But he doesn't know that."

"Eli... what did he do...?"

"He..." Eli sighed and shook his head. "Look, he's just been... talking about you. Random people, sure, most of them people that already didn't like you, but... he's been telling people that you're a slut, and that you slept with him. That you were cheating on Tandem with him. Just shit like that."

I blanched. "'Just shit like that'? JUST shit like that? Are you kidding? That's fucking... oh my fucking God, Eli, why is he doing this to me?"

Eli hugged me tight, trying to calm me down. "Look, I'd tell you to talk to him, but he went back to the Alps to train. And, probably, to cool down. He only ever told people things like that when they asked what happened to you two. It's pathetic, Tiger. We both know that it's more pathetic than it is hurtful. He probably knows that, too. So, for now, just let it go, okay?"

I gritted my teeth and nodded my head slowly. "Fine. Fine. But I'm not going to class today."

Eli nodded, still holding me tight. "Look, I think that it's just the wrong day for school. We haven't done anything in a long time. I'll go get Lexy, Tawny, Jason, and Kip, and we can go do something together, alright?" Eli let go and tossed me his keys. "Just go wait in my car, alright? And stay out of trouble."

I sighed and shook my head, already on my way to go wait in the car.