Price Check On Monogamy

"Tiger!"

I cringed, not wanting to face more people. Apparently, I'd been totally wrong to expect that people wouldn't ask me what the hell had happened with Tandem; but they were probably just asking me because Tandem hadn't been at school all week.

Pussy. Even Kip had come to face the music.

"Tiger, you know I'd never--"

"I get it, Kip," I'd cut her off fast. I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't want to see her. And I most definitely didn't want to listen to her bullshit. "We're solid, okay?"

"B-but," Kip was following me to my class, and it was starting to piss me off. Apparently, she couldn't take the hint.

I stopped short and turned to face her. "Kip, I get it. You kissed Tandem because of a misunderstanding. I don't care anymore. Me and him wouldn't have worked out, anyway. I don't want to discuss this. Talking about it doesn't change the fact that I don't want to speak to either of you."

The look on her face had made me feel a little better, at least, until I'd walked into History and found out that I'd failed my project because Jeremy hadn't done our display.

Wasn't my week. It just wasn't my week.

Now it was Thursday and, between dodging people asking about me and Tandem, dodging Caleb's weird, unexplainable moodiness, and dodging Kip's continued attempts to talk to me about it, I'd forgotten all about calling Tyler.

Apparently, Tawny and Lexy hadn't.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in class?" I asked, turning to smile wearily at them both. It wasn't that I wasn't happy to see my friends-- I was just too tired to be happy about anything.

"Released early," Lexy laughed. She hooked her arm through mine and smiled sneakily at me. "So, how's Tyler?"

I tensed up and repressed a groan. I couldn't let them know that I'd totally blown off calling him, but I didn't want to have to lie and pretend that he'd been uninterested in talking to me. "He, err, didn't pick up the phone."

"Liar," Tawny stuck her tongue out at me and linked her arm through my other arm. Stuck in the middle of them two of them, I realized too late that I was trapped. "You didn't call him yet, did you?"

"Well, I've been busy," I said defensively. "I had other things to do."

"Fine, if you're so busy, you'll be happy to hear this, then," Lexy said, her voice happy.

I didn't like where this was going. Not one bit.

"I called up Tyler last night for you," Tawny sang out, batting her big eyes at me.

"You did WHAT?" I yelped, breaking away from them. Their smiles didn't waver one bit.

"You have a date with him tomorrow night," Lexy finished, her smile huge. And blinding.

Oh, yes. This just wasn't my week.

- - -

"You're happy we did it," Lexy laughed, her laugh crackling over the phone line and making me cringe. Happy. There wasn't a single bone in my body that wasn't dreading what was coming next.

"No, actually, I'm really confused, dammit." My phone was on the bed, on speaker once again, as I tried to figure out what to wear. I hadn't spoken to Tyler myself about this supposed date yet; it felt like going on a blind date. Except I knew him. Which just made it confusing.

All I knew at this point was that, if I got stood up, I was going to burn down his house. No hard feelings.

"What are you doing now?" Tawny asked, probably hoping to break up a fight before it started.

"Trying to figure out what I'm supposed to wear."

"Why do you care if you don't like him?" Lexy's tone made me go bright red. I don't care. I don't care at all.

I just care about how I look in general, dammit.

"I gotta jet, guys," I cut off suddenly. Both Tawny and Lexy laughed, making me smile. Even if they were being huge assholes right now, they were still my best friends, and I still loved them to death. "Bye, I'll call you both later."

I stared at my clothes sullenly after hanging up, Lexy's words playing over and over in my head. Almost defiantly, I pulled on cargo pants and a white tank top, putting my boots on fast and clomping down to the kitchen. To avoid looking at my phone and checking the time, I pulled a can of Coke out of the refrigerator fast and started sipping on it.

Psh, I don't care. He doesn't have to come. Whatever. I don't care.

Exactly at eight, the doorbell rang and nearly knocked me out of my seat. It felt like walking the fucking Green Mile toward the door while still trying my best to not expect Tyler behind it. I closed my eyes and counted to ten before I opened it...

One, two, three, four...

"Tiger!"

Tyler hugged me before I could even respond, and it made me... well, it made me happy-- just a little bit.

"Hey, Tyler," I said softly, pulling out of his hug. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I couldn't help but return his big, goofy smile-- just a little bit. "Well, umm... where are we off to now?"

Tyler's smile didn't waver at all. Grabbing my wrist and pulling me out the door, we were off.