Price Check On Monogamy

The door was locked and barred when I got home after school. Typical. My siblings are so damn immature.

“Caleb, Katy, you idiots better let me into this house now.”

Caleb opened the second story window, leaning out and grinning down at me. “No can do, Tiger. You have to answer some questions first.”

I scowled. “I’m not answering any fucking questions. Believe it or not, it’s my house, too, so open this damned door!”

Katy pushed Caleb and leaned out, too, laughing. “Mom and dad aren’t home, so it’s not like you can actually use the fact that it’s your house against us, Tiger.”

“Katy, don’t you have a boyfriend somewhere to attend to?” I hate it when they’re right. My parents are basically never home; my mom does tours throughout the U.S. teaching and speaking to aspiring surgeons, as well as doing some special case surgeries, and my dad flies between here, the White House, and wherever the hell else they want him to go too often to stop by and say hi. It’s barely my house anymore.

Katy just pouted and retreated back into the house, making Caleb sigh. “Tiger, where were you during lunch? You can’t avoid Tandem; people are starting to think that it was just a rumour that you two are going out. We can’t have that.”

“I don’t need to report to you,” I snapped, avoiding the question. Of course I was avoiding him; why the hell would I want to be paraded in front of the entire school like a piece of meat? “I don’t remember saying that I would eat lunch with you idiots.”

“Yeah, you did. You said you’d act like you were dating him, and dating someone doesn’t involve avoiding them.”

Shit. “Fine,” I almost shouted, frustrated and tired. I just wanted to get back in my bed; why was that so hard to let me do? “Now let me in the damned house!”

Caleb smiled. “Nope. You get to go eat dinner with Tandem as punishment.”

“WHAT?!” What the hell was this, some sort of twisted game of house? “You can’t just punish me like that! I’m not even changed out of uniform!” But, as expected, Caleb just pulled back into the house and closed the window. Shrieking out a groan, I rattled the front door and slammed my head against it; now was about the time I was regretting forgetting my wallet and keys at home. Pulling out a pen, I jammed it into the window frame-- I’d have to be careful, but I could get the frame to pop off without breaking if I did it right.

“Hey.”

I jumped, nearly wrenching the pen back and breaking the frame. Turning to look at Tandem, I scowled. “Yes?”

He laughed, nodding his head towards the red convertible parked in front of the house; his car. “What, a guy can’t take his chick out to dinner?”

“I’m not anyone’s chick, alright, hot shot?” I snapped.

Tandem laughed. “Last I checked, you are someone’s chick; mine. Now come on, we’re going to dinner.” Not leaving any room for argument, Tandem grabbed my hand and wriggled the pen out of the window gently, making sure to take it out correctly. Once he had it in his pocket, he pulled me close and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, walking casually back to his car. Vaulting over the door and opening it for me, he grinned at me as I dropped into the seat, arms crossed and head firmly turned to look anywhere but at him. “Aww, come on, babe, I’m not that bad.”

I scoffed. “I don’t believe you.”

Silence. The car started and pulled out, cruising down through town. “I can change that,” Tandem said smoothly. Pulling into a crowded, busy parking lot, he drove in to the nearest parking space and got out to open my door for me. Once I was out of the car, I had to wince-- Jesus, how could they stand being around so many people?

“C’mon, I’ve got a table reserved.”

Tandem grabbed my hand, and for the first time, it didn’t take much thought to not pull away. Weaving through the crowd, I stared at the ground the entire time until we were sitting down at the table.

“Hi, I’m Alexis, and I’ll be serving you tonight,” I looked up to see a perky blonde girl staring at Tandem, curling a blonde strand of hair around her finger and giggling. “May I take your order?” She didn’t look at me at all. Well, this night was going to be irritating.

“I can see some things I’d like,” Tandem said easily, sweeping a look over the girl. “But I’ll take some steak.”

“Will that be all?” She pressed.

Seeming to remember that I was sitting at the table, Tandem blinked and stumbled with, “Oh, yeah, Tiger, what do you want?”

“A coke,” I said, looking up at her flatly. The girl frowned, looking me over.

“Okay. I’ll be right back with your order.”

Flouncing away, the waitress went to go speak to some of her friends in the corner, turning to look at Tandem and scowl at me randomly. A bell rang, and Alexis was back in a hurry, carrying Tandem’s plate and my coke.

“Here you go, champ,” she said, winking at Tandem. Winking so hard, in fact, that she spilled my drink in my lap. “Oh, I’m so sorry, miss,” she said, pulling a towel out of her apron and throwing it in my lap. Grinning at Tandem, she asked innocently, “I hope I didn’t piss off your little sister.”

“No, I’m sure you didn’t,” Tandem said, not looking at me.

“Yeah, your little sister’s fine,” I snapped, tossing the soaked towel on our waitress’s head. Standing up, I walked out, pulling off my jacket as I went and trying to use it to dry the rest of my uniform. I walked into the parking lot and scowled; way too many people. I glanced around the parking lot for a second before shaking my head-- no way in hell was I waiting for a ride home from Tandem. Head held high in blind determination, I wove through the people, finally stumbling into the streets and realizing that I had no idea where the hell I was going.

Great.

Walking through the streets numbly, arms crossed against the cold, I was seething, and cursing Tandem with every single step I took. Stupid ass man slut idiot…

“Get in the car!”

I jumped, startled out of my hate-filled thoughts. Looking up and narrowing my eyes, I snapped, “What, asshole?”

Tandem rolled his eyes, opening the door. “God, do you even realize how dangerous it is to be walking around downtown at ten at night? Get in the car!”

I slammed the car door shut and kept walking. “What was I supposed to do, sit there and watch you flirt with the idiot waitress as she spills shit on me? Go to hell, Tandem.”

“Tiger, I’m not going to talk about the waitress! Get in the car!”

I stopped, turning to look at him, face burning. “How dare you act like I’m the one who ruined the entire dinner! I’m covered in soda, locked out of my house, being blackmailed into dating a total man slut, and every female in the city is going to hate me by the end of this! If I don’t want to ride in your fucking car with you, you’re not going to make me.”

And, with that, I stormed off in the general direction of my house.



Tandem leaned back in his car, jaw slack.

Never, in all his life, had anyone spoken to him like that.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Caleb fast; once his best friend picked up, he didn’t waste any time saying, “Get your ass out of the house and look for Tiger! Dammit, I fucked up, and now she’s pissed and walking around down town trying to get home without me!”

The other line crackled softly. “Alright, alright. Calm down, Tiger would be able to hold her own, anyway.”

“She’s a tiny Irish girl wandering around the streets at night in a school girl uniform. Get your ass out of the house and look for your sister.”

“Calm down, Tandem. Jesus, I’ll get on it, alright?”

Tandem grudgingly hung up the phone, still not sure what to make of anything that had happened that night.

Good job, Tandem. You’re a day into the bet and you’ve already fucked it up.