Price Check On Monogamy

“You’re riding to school with Tandem, right?”

I glared up at Caleb, irritated that the only time he had bothered to wait for me before school was because of his stupid bet. “No, I will not be riding to school with your whore of a best friend.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Actually, after Friday, he’s no longer allowed to be a whore, remember?”

I laughed sardonically. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. Six months without getting head. Whoopee. You know he’s not going to make it, right?”

Caleb’s face distorted in irritation. “Shut up and get ready, Tiger, you’re going to school with Tandem.”

Have I ever mention how I hate Mondays?

So long, weekend of freedom, I thought mournfully, running gel through my hair. I’ll miss you and your good times.

Grabbing my bag and locking the door on the way out, I stifled a groan. Caleb hadn’t been joking; Tandem was actually waiting for me on the curb, leaning against his car and looking extremely awkward with Tawny, Lexy, and Kip standing next to him.

“You’re not riding with him, are you?” Tawny asked hesitantly, her eyes mirroring the question that she couldn’t say out loud: Is this some new type of torture they involved in the bet?

I shook my head firmly. “No, I am not riding to school with him.”

Tandem flashed me a smile. “Yes, she is.”

“You don’t control me,” I bit out, eyes narrowed. “And I’m not going to school with you.”

“You two argue like crazy!” Kip laughed in the background, making Tandem wince. “It’s so funny. It’s like me and Justin; but hey, the boy sure is good when he wants to be,” she added, winking at me. I could almost feel Lexy rolling her eyes.

“Uh-huh,” Tandem said blandly. “Anyway, you’re coming to school with me. You’ll get there faster this way.”

“No,” I stood my ground firmly; this bet was already taking control of way too much of my life. There was no way I was going to sacrifice even something so small as a fifteen minute walk to school. “I’m not riding to school with you, I’m walking with my friends. Now get your ass to school and leave me alone.”

Tandem raised an eyebrow and coughed, flicking his head pointedly at Kip. I would have groaned if I had had the energy; Kip didn’t know about the bet. I said that I would pretend to be dating him when we were around people who didn’t know and who could have any sort of impact on other people knowing. As much as I love Kip, there was no way she’d be able to keep this a secret; I’d found that out the minute the entire freshmen class knew that I was ‘dating’ Tandem. Evidentially, she’d told Justin and all of Justin’s friends, and the ripple effect had taken its toll.

“Fine!” I consented, roughly throwing all my things into his car. Opening the door and signaling to Kip, Tawny, and Lexy, I added, “But they’re coming with us.”

“What?” Tandem asked, too shocked to stop the three as they piled into the car. Tawny and Lexy looked understandably uncomfortable, and I would apologize to them later for it, but there was no way in hell I was going anywhere with him alone. Kip, however, looked excited.

“You’ve got an awesome car,” she squealed, looking around like the car wasn’t a convertible and there was actually any sort of change in scenery.

Smirking at Tandem and sliding in, I asked innocently, “What, you don’t like my friends?”

Scowling, Tandem got into the car and started speeding down the road. The ten-minute drive took us six-minutes, and by the time we were at the school, Lexy looked like she was going to throw up. Scrambling to get out of the car, she nearly ran to the corner of the school where we usually hang out, and into the arms of her boyfriend.

Kip hopped out of the car, still laughing, and chattering away to Tawny, who was glaring at Tandem like he had deliberately almost killed us; currently, that was looking very, very possible.

“What the hell is your problem?” I seethed. “Do you enjoy scaring the hell out of my friends?”

Tandem shrugged. “Next time, don’t try to get them to come with us,” grinning, he put his arm around me. “You’re my girlfriend, remember? And I like to spend… quality time with my girlfriend.” Tandem leaned down to kiss me and frowned when I pulled away. “You know, you’ve got to stop doing that.”

“I’m not your girlfriend!” I whispered angrily. “You have no right to kiss me, and I don’t want you to even come close to kissing me!”

Tandem laughed and shook his head. “Sure, sure, whatever you say. You’ll come around eventually.”

I stared at him, complete disgust taking over every feeling of anger and worry about my friends that I was currently having. “You’re all the same,” I mumbled. When he quirked a curious brow at me, I shook my head furiously. “No. I won’t come around, because the only reason I mattered before is because you need me to win your stupid bet. The only reason I matter slightly more now is because you can’t touch anyone but me without losing said bet, and, face it, you could never go a day without touching anyone. You’re codependent to the max, and you don’t even get it. You disgust me.”

Tandem stared at me, eyes wide and jaw slack. Shouldering my bag, I walked over to the corner where we usually hang out before and after school.

“Tiger, what happened?” I smiled wearily as I dropped my bag and Eli hugged me in greeting. Elisha Carton was a Seniour at our school, and had been acting like my big brother since I met him. He’s kind of burly, with broad shoulders and a mass of curly black hair, and about the same height as Tandem and Jeremy; because he has a thicker build, however, he’s always looked taller at a glance. Eli is the most over protective person I know, and he hated the fact that I was ‘dating’ Tandem.

“Nothing, Eli,” I sighed, sliding down against the wall and staring at my friends. We weren’t exactly the most popular kids, but we sure as hell had always had the most fun. Up until Sophomore year, it had only been Tawny, Lexy, Kip, and me. In the middle of Sophomore year, though, I’d met Eli at a party, then a few other people, and we’d just kind of joined into a pretty tight group of friends.

Eli glared at Tandem, who was talking to some friends by his car. “Do you want me to talk to him, Tiger?” Suddenly, it was hard to swallow; when Eli said he’d talk to someone for me, it usually meant that they wouldn’t be walking for another two weeks.

“Hey, what’s happenin’?”

Thankful for the interruption, I smiled at Milo. Milo Darik has been my on-again-off-again-almost-boyfriend since Eli introduced us last year. Milo has a pretty deep tan, and curly light brown hair with the prettiest hazel eyes you’ll ever see on a guy. At 5’10”, he’s pretty tall and slimmed down, and he’s been winning awards for his snowboarding skills since seventh grade.

“Hey, Milo. Life’s just exceptionally lame today.”

Milo laughed and shrugged, hands in his pockets. “Whatever you say, Tiger,” Glancing over at Tandem and suddenly stiffening a bit awkwardly, Milo added, “Err… yeah… I’m gonna go do my math. See ya, Tiger.”

Eli sighed, sitting down next to me. “Why couldn’t you have dated Milo, again? You hate Tandem.”

Eli and me have had this conversation pretty much everyday for the last week. Well, technically, he’s been asking me why I wasn’t dating Milo since he introduced the two of us; it just so happens that since the start of the bet, he’s gotten a hell of a lot more persistent.

“Eli, I told you, I lost a bet with my brother. I have to date Tandem for now.”

Eli scowled. “I hate Caleb, too. He used to be alright before he met Tandem and that whore Heather.”

I laughed, patting Eli on the head. “Don’t sweat it, man. It won’t last too long, alright?”

“You and Milo would have been so perfect together, though…” Eli shook his head. “Just don’t get it, Tiger. You know he still likes you, right?”

I sighed, closing my eyes. Yeah, I did. It was pretty hard to not know, considering Milo told me that at least once every two weeks. He was extremely sweet; Milo would probably give me anything I asked for if I ever asked him for anything, and he knew me almost as well as Tawny and Lexy did. The only problem, however, is that Milo didn’t really know what the hell he wanted. He told me that he still liked me at least once every two weeks in between his microscopic relationships. He was almost as bad as Tandem, except that he actually had respect for the girls he dated; he’d never cheat on anyone. Even with his extreme fidelity, however, I wouldn’t be able to live in the constant fear of him randomly waking up one day and deciding that he doesn’t like me anymore. Every time he asked me out, I told him the same thing, and I guess a part of me was still hoping that he’d find a way to prove that I had nothing to worry about, because we still just couldn’t seem to get enough of each other.

“Yeah, I guess. I just don’t know.”

Eli sighed. “He’ll change for you, Tiger. I know he will.”

“Heart to heart conversation block!” I laughed as Jason, Lexy’s boyfriend, dropped down in front of us. Eli rolled his eyes and sighed; Jason was Eli’s little brother, and, even though Eli loved him to death, Jason was still almost as annoying as he was perverted. Almost.

“Hey, Jaser,” I smiled, kicking him in the shin. Jason has his brother’s curly black hair, and tough build; the only difference was that Jason barely ever left his house unless it was to hang out with us. And even then, it was only a 50/50 shot that he’d actually leave; the only time he was guaranteed to get out of the house was if Lexy wanted to hang out.

“Tigon, are you okay?” Jason was adorable when he wanted to be, I swear. As far as personalities went, him and Eli were complete opposites. Eli was the responsible, mature one, who took responsibility for his friends on himself. If you mess with his friends, I can guarantee you will not get away without some sort of punishment. Jason, however, was a pacifist. He could get a little crazy, and he played tons of immature pranks, but he didn’t like to see people fighting. It bothered him when people were hurt or sad or angry, and he seemed to have a ridiculously sharp sense for it.

“I’m fine, Jaser,” I assured him, smiling. He was the type of person you couldn’t help wanting to protect, even if they weren’t actually younger than you; a lot like Tawny. Tousling his hair, I laughed, “Go back and keep Lexy company. You’re one year anniversary is coming up, right?” Winking at his excited face, I smiled as he nearly ran back to hug his girlfriend. The two were just so adorable together.

Eli looked like he was about to say something else when he scowled. “Hey Elly, hey Tawny’s chick friend.”

With all the effort I had left in my body, I forced myself to turn around without rolling my eyes. Adam Wong was Tawny’s boyfriend, and I absolutely could not stand him. Adam had straight black hair falling around his face and brown eyes behind his glasses. He was tall and thin, standing at about 5’9”. Don’t let his ridiculously geeky Asian nerd appearance fool you, the boy is a complete idiot, and he had a very special way of getting under my skin. It’s not even necessarily that he’s a bad person; he’s just fucking dumb. He’s also, however, been Tawny’s boyfriend since she broke up with the boy who introduced us; meaning that I have to bite my tongue and pretend to not despise his very essence.

Eli, however, didn’t seem to care as much.

“My name’s Eli, and you best remember that, bitch.”

Adam laughed, until Eli stood up. Swallowing his laugh quickly, he added, “Funny, man, funny. We’re friends, remember?”

Glancing at Tawny, who was staring at him imploringly, Eli sighed. “Whatever. You’re lucky to have her, asshole.”

Hearing a bell ring and nodding at me, Eli sighed. “I’ve got woodwork, Tiger. See ya later. Be safe, alright?”

I smiled wearily as Eli grabbed his things and stalked off to his first class. I swear, he was way too serious. Standing up and brushing myself off, I grabbed my stuff and smiled at Tawny. “Looks like I can’t avoid him forever.”

Tawny gave me a sympathetic look, leaning into Adam and making me repress a gag. Ugh, the guy was so slimy. How could she not see that?

“Avoid Tandem?” Adam laughed obnoxiously. Feh, like he did things any other way. “Aren’t you supposed to be stripping in the halls for him and begging him to suck his--“

“Finish that sentence and you will never have children,” I growled, making Adam’s eyes get big.

“Chill, I was just joking.”

“Too bad I’m not, huh, dumb ass?”

“Please!” Tawny pleaded, stepping between the two of us. Biting my lip and narrowing my eyes at Adam, I sighed.

“Only because I love you. I gotta go meet the jack ass; see you later, Tawny.”

Giving her a quick hug and grabbing my stuff, I ran down the hall to meet Tandem before class started--

-- and, evidentially, running straight into someone.

“Holy shit, sorry,” I apologized quickly, bending to grab my things. Whoever it was didn’t move, which was going to be really irritating if that didn’t change by the time I straightened. Getting up, I rolled my eyes at Stephanie Gardener. She had been hopelessly in love with Tandem since he first transferred in, and why I was surprised that she was being a bitch was beyond me. “Please get out of my way,” I asked tiredly.

“Will you back off?” She snapped shrilly.

I rolled my eyes. “Get off my ass and get over yourself.”

“You don’t deserve him!” She shouted, stomping. “I’ve been working to get him for years, how did you beat me! I’m prettier! I’m better!”

“Hey, Steph.”

Stephanie froze as Tandem breezed past her, putting his arm around my shoulder. For the first time, I was irritated about that. “Hey, babe. I was going to ask you during lunch, but I need to leave early. Do you want to go to prom with me? Just a formality,” he said to Stephanie, winking.

“Sure,” I said quietly.

I’ve never seen Stephanie more pissed in my life; it was almost enough to distract me from the fact that I was going to another party with Tandem.