Price Check On Monogamy

“I’m not going.”

Jeremy and me were having a stare off; it was right after school on Friday, and I wasn’t going to go to their God forsaken party.

“You have to go. It’ll make it official that you’re dating Tandem.”

“And after the little incident on Monday night, I think you owe us,” Caleb mentioned in the background, making me turn to glare at him. They’d been acting like it was my fault that Monday night’s dinner had been a bust.

“Don’t do it,” I hissed. “You know damn well I had a reason to be completely pissed. “

Jeremy laughed, breaking his attempt at being serious. “Get used to it, Tiger, chicks are always that way around him. He’s hot and ridiculously loaded, remember?”

I raised my eyebrow at Jeremy. “Did you just call Tandem hot?”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. Anyway, you have to go to the party tonight.”

Letting out a frustrated yelp, I snapped, “I’m not going to go to your freaking party! Let it go, at least I’ve been hanging around you idiots all week. The weekend is mine. Without it, I might forget that I haven’t completely lost my damn mind yet!” After Monday night, we’d decided that I only have to pretend to be dating Tandem when we were around people from school or people who could actually jeopardize the bet. So every day I had to eat lunch with them, talk to them, pretend not to completely hate them, and every night I came home and screamed myself to sleep.

… it’s better than nothing.

“Weekend starts tomorrow. The party is tonight,” Caleb said calmly. “You’re going to the party. End of discussion. Go get dressed.”

“Don’t you dare act like you can just control me like that--“

“Will you just make this easy?” Caleb snapped. I shut my mouth; he was getting really irritated with me, apparently. God, how important was this bet to him, anyway? “All you have to do is show up at a party! No big deal, alright?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Fine. My conditions.”

Caleb nodded. “Go for it.”

“I get to wear what I want to wear.”

“Nothing that looks too stupid. Remember that this is a social party for people who generally don’t like you-- err, your type.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Nice save, Sherlock. Anyway, I want either Lexy or Tawny to be there.”

“Hell no!” Jeremy gasped. “Social party! You’re not going to be avoiding the people with your two weird friends!”

“Shut the hell up, asshole,” I hissed.

“They can’t come, Tiger. Invitation only.”

“Oh, so you’re honestly saying that I was invited?”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “You’re dating Tandem. You’re my sister. You’re showing up with Tandem, Jeremy, and me. You seriously think you need an invitation?”

I scoffed. “You’re so self-absorbed.”

Jeremy smiled. “Because we can be. Anyway, back on point, they can’t come.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Fine, but I get to bring my iPod.”

Jeremy and Caleb looked at each other and sighed. “Deal. Now go get ready.”

- - -

So the party was pretty much every stereotype about teenagers that I hate.

Walking into it, I found out that I was overdressed. Wearing skinny jeans, Vans, and a black tank top, I was probably wearing twice as much clothes as most of the girls there. I guess wearing the uniform makes them feel they should rebel while they could.

The typical grinding and making out was going on, along with people drinking and getting high throughout the house. The music was loud, which actually calmed me down; the neighbors would call the police by at least midnight if they wanted any sort of sleep, so at least I’d be out of here before then.

“Tiger, you look weird,” Tandem observed, looking down at me. His arm was around me, which I had more or less gotten used to; at least now I didn’t always have the sudden urge to pull away. No, that only happened when I remembered he was there.

“You have such a way with words.”

“Not what I meant,” he squeezed my shoulder a little. “Are you alright?”

I scowled. “I don’t want to be here. That’s it.”

Tandem shrugged. “Alright. Well, I have friends that I’m going to go see, so…” Tandem leaned down, and almost kissed me; I turned my head and pulled away, walking off into the house instead. Everyday, he tried to kiss me, and everyday, I did the same thing. When was he going to get it? Bet or not bet, I don’t want him touching me, much less kissing me.

Wandering into a darker corner of the house, I leaned against a wall and pulled out my headphones and iPod. Putting it on shuffle, I closed my eyes and sunk into a different world.

”Hey there, sugar baby, saw you twice at the pop show,
You taste just like glitter mixed with rock and roll…”

Skip.

”If I die and go to hell real soon,
It will appear to me as this room…”

Skip.

”This could never start,
We could fall apart…”

God enjoys teasing me, doesn’t he?

SKIP.

”Yeah, the child in the mirror was homely,
So he learned early on how to switch into low key…

… good enough.

”Little person-- observant and accurate,
Grew the skills to argue and the passion to back it with…”

“Hey.”

”Kick over the blocks just to rebuild them,
‘Cause mom and pop used to pop-- sound familiar?”

“Um… are you alright?”

”Daddy had to leave-- but mama kept hurting,
So we stepped up to help-- be an anger and a burden…”

“Hello? Miss!”

My eyes flew open and I looked blankly at the person in front of me, not really registering him at first. Blinking, he slowly came into view; short, black, spiked hair with piercing ice blue eyes. Slightly tanned skin, mouth drawn into something like… worry.

“Oh, sorry,” I said, snapping out of it. Pulling my headphones off and straightening, I laughed nervously. I’d never been really good at talking to new people, and he’d caught me off guard. “Um, am I not supposed to be in this area?”

He laughed and shrugged. “I have no idea. I just got here, and you looked kind of out of it. Are you sure you’re okay?” Strangely enough, his care actually made me smile; his care and that adorably strange southern accent.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

He nodded, smiling, and leaned back against the wall next to me. I didn’t realize until he’d decided to stay that I didn’t really want him to leave. “So… enjoying the party?”

I laughed out loud, unable to stop myself. “Please. I’d rather be in school, slowly dying.”

The guy laughed. “Can’t really argue with that. Why are you here?”

I bit my lip. Suddenly, I was feeling the full force of why Katy hadn’t been chosen to do this ridiculous task-- I didn’t want to say that I had a boyfriend. “I came as my brother’s friend’s date,” I confessed. Not a lie; feh, not a lie in the least. When he started laughing, though, I said huffily, “So? Why are you here?”

He held up his hands in surrender, saying between laughs, “Because my cousin didn’t want to come alone. He can be really jumpy, poor guy. Kind of like you.”

“Hey!” I punched him playfully in the arm, laughing. “I’m not jumpy, just out of place.”

“Well… can’t really argue with that,” he said, looking around.

“You should talk,” I snorted, looking him up and down. He was tall, but then again, everyone looked tall to me; at about Caleb’s height, maybe an inch taller, he was wearing jeans, converse low-cuts, and a long sleeved black shirt under a white polo shirt. “You don’t exactly look like you frequent these types of parties.”

“You’re right,” he said seriously, making me gulp; shit, I’d probably said the wrong thing. He broke into a smile and I decided it was safe to breath again. “I’m usually at parties much more high class than this. Oh, hey, what’s your name, by the way? I’m Tyler.”

I chuckled self consciously, playing with my necklace; it was a really, really bad nervous habit that I’ve had since middle school. “Oh, sorry. I’m Tiger.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow and smirked. “If you don’t want to tell me your real name, you could just say so, you know.”

I could feel myself blushing; that was something I hadn’t thought about. No one’s teased me about my name in years, and I wasn’t looking forward to it happening now. “No, I promise, I’m not lying; my name’s Tiger Sparks.”

Tyler broke into a smile once again. “I’m joking. Tiger’s a pretty name.” He winked at me, nudging me with his shoulder. “You’re cute when you blush, by the way.”

I could feel myself getting even redder. “Um… thanks…” I mumbled, staring at my feet. “You’re, err, pretty cute yourself, mister.”

Tyler laughed, putting his arm around me. “Hey, so, I was wondering--“

“Tiger!” My head snapped up and I glared angrily at my brother. Caleb was walking toward me, his arm around his girlfriend, Heather’s, waist. He looked ridiculously pissed.

I was going to kill him for ruining this.

“Excuse me,” he said smoothly, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Tyler. “My sister has to go.”

Tyler smiled and nodded. “Nah, I’ve gotta jet, too. See ya later, Tiger,” he said quietly, leaning in and kissing me lightly on the cheek before walking away; taking every ounce of my sudden happiness with him, it seemed.

Oh my God, was I going to kill Caleb.