Close to the Heart

Usually I love to sleep in on Saturday mornings, but today I had different plans set for me. I was woken up bright and early by none other than Shane or at least I assumed it was him. This person seemed to have a gently touch and attempted not to be so brutal on waking me up. It seems like Shane had woken up early for the first time in his life and already made his calls to Nate and Jason.

It was of course Jason who was pulling at my covers and lightly tugging at my hair. It took me a good five minutes to realize it was Jason all along and after I opened my eyes it took me almost ten minutes to get out of bed since all Jason wanted to do was talk about everything he's been up to lately. Not that I didn’t mind hearing how he managed to write a song on his guitar. Too bad he couldn’t think up any words to make a song, otherwise I would have been more intrigued by this story.

Finally after I jumped out of bed to walk over to where I kept some clothes it was Nate's turn to talk. He spoke to me briefly about how bad it was for my health to be eating a dozen doughnuts. I think he called me an idiot but in nicer, "smarter" terms.

Finally, after a quick shower Shane decided to show his face. On the table we had in the corner of our room sat a box of twelve doughnuts. I was starting to already have some doubts about this bet. I already spent most of when I should have been sleeping thinking about this stupid bet I got myself into. I wanted Shane to be nice to Mitchie, yet I wanted him to myself. I wanted to be his girlfriend so we can live on his tour bus; but even that didn't sound so glamorous. I would much rather be one of those stay at home moms than live on a rank tour bus with three guys with three completely different personalities.

“So,” Shane said pulling out the chair so I could sit down, "Are you hungry?" I smiled up at Shane as I sat down, staring at the doughnuts staring back at me.

“A bit,” I lied. Truth was even though I hadn't really eaten anything in over fourteen hours, I felt full. I couldn't even eat one doughnut without having to run into the bathroom to chuck it back out. Having Jason and Nate there didn't help at all. Jason looked excited about the whole thing and Nate wore his same expression. I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or not. Nate had already expressed his opinions on this whole bet, and I was relieved that nobody bothered to share what the purpose behind the bet was.

“Can I eat whatever you don't?” Jason asked. “I skipped breakfast thanks to Shane.”

“What do you mean thanks to me?” Shane asked. “I called Nate not you.”

"Yeah but then Nate called me," Jason said. "I was in the middle of the best dream ever. I was dreaming you guys were all birds living in my birdhouse. You know that birdhouse you were supposed to make for me." Shane rolled his eyes and Nate sighed.

"You ready Bella?" Shane asked.

"Ready to win," I replied grabbing a doughnut. I took a bite into it and immediately I didn't feel full anymore. I took another bite while Shane laughed.

"More like lose," he said. "There's no way you can eat all of these."

"Believe what you want," I replied. I quickly finished the first doughnut and grabbed the second. I decided to pace myself instead, so I wouldn't get too full quickly.

"Are you almost done?" Jason asked. "I'm getting bored. Where's your dad at? I want to talk to him." I chuckled as I took one big bite into the doughnut. I was starting to wish I had more flavors to eat than just the glazed ones. I already found then appalling.

“Dad’s probably looking for you Jason,” I replied. “You know you were always his favorite.”

“Really?” Jason asked excitedly. I nodded my head and took another large bite. “Do you have any idea where he could be at?”

“Maybe he’s in his room,” Shane suggested, causing me to laugh and Nate to crack a miniature smile.

“Maybe!” Jason said. He stood up and placed his hand on my back. “Good luck with your bet Bella. I wish I could stay to cheer you on, but your dad loves me and I can’t do anything to change that.” He waved to Shane and Nate and quickly left the cabin.

“How long do you think it’ll be until he realizes my dad’s room is in this cabin?” I asked. Shane shrugged while I laughed again. “You’re so mean Shane. Poor Jason is going to be wandering around the camp looking for my dad.”

“At least he’ll be doing something productive,” Nate said. “Now are you done eating? I was thinking we could spend the day together. It seems as if you two can actually stand being in the same room once again. I’d like to take advantage of that for once before it ends.”

“Nate,” I said with my mouth full of my second doughnut. I quickly swallowed it, “That made no sense.” I grabbed my third doughnut and I was starting to feel a little full. Maybe I was stalling a little too long between each bite. Maybe I should start shoving doughnuts into my mouth now and regret it later.

“I make no sense?” Nate asked. “Who’s the one eating twelve doughnuts just to prove Shane wrong?”

“I’m not trying to prove him wrong,” I retorted. “You’re just mad you can’t have any doughnuts.” I childishly stuck out my tongue at Nate, causing another small smile to appear on his face.

“Actually, Jason and I had a couple before we came here,” Nate said. “So I’m not really hungry.”

“Okay,” I said, “You and Jason were bonding, cute.” I bit into the third doughnut. “Wait a minute, Jason said he didn’t eat.”

“Yeah, so we were bonding,” Nate said tapping his fingers on the table, “So what? At least I don’t like Shane. And okay so maybe I ate a few doughnuts before I went to get Jason, big deal.”

“You like Shane?” I asked. “That’s even cuter!”

“No,” Nate said. He sighed loudly. “Never mind, can you just eat your doughnuts, so you can either win or lose the bet?”

“Calm down,” I said. “Go find Jason or something.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Nate said. “For me to leave so I’ll leave you and Shane alone.” I cracked a smile and casually ate what was in my hand.

“No,” I said. “You can stay or leave. Either way if I wanted to gross you out by making out with Shane, I would do it in front of you.” Nate made a face as he looked out the window that was to his right. “I’m kidding Natey. Learn to take a joke.”

“Since you’re awfully chatty right now,” Shane said, “Does that mean you’re getting full? Ready to forfeit?”

“Yeah right,” I replied. “I’m not getting full. I can talk and eat at the same time.” I took another large bite into my third doughnut. I decided to just shove the rest of it into my mouth, causing Nate to stare at me as if I were out of this world.

“Well, nine more to go,” Shane said.

“Do I get anything to drink?” I asked. “All this sugar is making me thirsty.”

“Want some lake water?” Shane asked. “I should have had Jason throw some on you this morning. It was the perfect opportunity. I was actually up before you and you were out like a light.” I scowled at Shane and reached for my fourth doughnut. “I still owe you payback you know.”

“Payback?” Nate asked. “For what exactly?”

“She dumped lake water on me,” Shane said. “Can you believe it?”

“She did that to Keith once,” Nate said. “Remember that one guy I was bunking with when I first came here? So I can believe it.” I laughed out loud and had to cover my mouth so nothing would fall out disgustingly.

“Who’s Keith?” Shane asked. “And what did he do to make you dump water on him?”

“He was annoying,” I replied. “And plus he stole my scarf and denied it.”

“He stole your scarf…”Shane repeated. I nodded my head and chewed on my fourth doughnut. Once I finished this doughnut, it would be a record. Not once have I ever eaten more than three doughnuts. Remembering this made me start feeling sick again. I felt I didn’t have it in me to eat twelve doughnuts. I don’t even think it’s possibly to eat that many doughnuts. “Getting full yet?”

“No,” I replied. “Not yet.”

By the seventh doughnut I was starting to feel it. I wasn’t even biting into the doughnuts anymore. I was just ripping small pieces and putting them into my mouth. I thought I clogged up my esophagus, since I felt like I couldn’t shallow anything anymore. Though as sick as I felt myself getting, I was not going to give Shane any satisfaction. If I did lose I wanted to lose to a number much closer to twelve and number seven wasn’t a doughnut to stop on.

“You look like you’re ready to puke,” Shane said staring at me. “Don’t you want to just quit?”

“No,” I replied. “I’m going to finish, even if I end up getting sick.” I felt something crawling in my throat and quickly covered my mouth.

“Isabella,” Shane said. “Forget the bet, you win. I don’t want you getting sick just so you can prove me wrong. If you don’t want to go out with me, you don’t have to.”

“That’s not even the point anymore,” I said taking a small bite into the heart attack in my hand. “A bet is a bet. If I quit now, it’ll feel like I lost the bet.”

“You guys bet that if she loses, she’ll go out with you?” Nate asked.

“Not a word,” I said pointing my finger as Nate.

“Bella, just forget it,” Nate said. “You’re going to wish you listened to us in a few hours.”

“Will not,” I said stubbornly. I managed to finish the seventh doughnut and I stared at the box in front of me. There were only five doughnuts left. I was five doughnuts away from winning and I was five doughnuts away from becoming a diabetic or having my heart fail at a young age.

“Hey guys!” Jason said running into the cabin. “You know what I just realized? Brown sleeps in here too!” He laughed out loud. “Anyways, I found him and he was asking what were doing here and stuff. So I told him Bella was stuffing her face with doughnuts. He laughed then said he wants you to stop.”

“I’m not going to stop,” I said. “I’m totally going to finish just for that comment.”

“Good job Jason,” Nate said sarcastically.

“Thanks!” Jason said. “Wait, what did I do? Hey are you still not done Bells? Wasn’t I gone for almost an hour?”

“Yes,” Nate said. “One great hour.” I shot Nate a glare and he slouched back in his chair.

“Oh,” Jason said sitting down next to Shane. “Are you almost done? Nate looks like he’s bored or something. And then you look like you want to cry. You’re not going to cry are you?”

“I don’t need to cry,” I replied. “I’m just tired.”

“Go take a nap Bella,” Jason said standing up. “Then we can go out or something. Doesn’t that sound like a blast?”

“Wait,” I said as Jason placed his hands on my shoulders and tried lifting me up. “I only need five more doughnuts. Then we can do something. Okay?”

“Okay!” Jason shouted. “Sounds like fun.”

“Uh, Bella,” Shane said closing the box and leaving his hand placed on the top. “Can you just stop? I officially call this bet over. You win. I’ll talk to your little friend if you want.”

“No,” I said. “You can easily break your promise.”

“I won’t,” Shane said. “Jason and Nate are witnesses. I promise not to break my promise if you please stop. You won anyways. I never thought you could eat more than four doughnuts and you’ve already eaten seven.” I bit down on my bottom lip and thought about it. To be honest this whole bet was stupid and lame. I only agreed so I could win a bet since I felt it’s been a long time since I’ve won anything worth bragging about.

“I’m still hungry,” I said. I picked up Shane’s hand and opened the box. Shane squeezed my hand and I looked at him.

“Bella, come on,” Shane said in a half whisper. “Guys, can you leave for a minute?”

“Exactly a minute?” Jason asked. “What are we supposed to do anyways? I thought we were going to go out.” Nate sighed and stood up.

“Come on Jason,” Nate said grabbing Jason’s shoulder. “We’ll be outside.” When the two left, Shane reached for my other hand and held it in his free hand.

“Quit while you’re ahead?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.

“I never wanted to do this bet,” I replied honestly.

“Why did you agree?” he asked.

“I wanted to see how far I would get,” I replied. “I don’t really care if you like Mitchie or not. Er, well I do, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Then what’s the point?” he asked. “You just wanted the thrill of getting sick?”

“Sure,” I replied sitting back in the chair and rubbing my stomach in circular motions. “Or maybe I just made that all up so I could lose on purpose.”

“Wait,” Shane said releasing my hand he was holding and placed his own on his side of the table. “I don’t get it. You wanted to lose or what?”

I reached forward and took the lid off that covered the doughnuts. I took out the eighth doughnut. I stared at it and through the hole I noticed Shane’s facial expression. He wore a sour expression, and most likely felt guilty for making this bet in the first place. I wouldn’t blame him for any reason if I ended up passed out on the floor from heart failure or clogged up arteries. I was the one that continued to eat these things; it wasn’t like he was forcing me to.

As much as I wanted to continue, I couldn’t find myself eating what was in my hand. A reason like this is why I hate Shane Gray. Only he could make me feel bad for something as useless as seeing how many doughnuts I could eat in one sitting.

“Quitting time yet?” he asked. I looked at the doughnut I held in my hand then over at Shane. “Well?”

“Well what?” I asked. “I really want to see how far I get. To be honest even though I feel like stopping, I kind of want to continue.” Shane stared at me, the same look Nate had given me a mere half hour ago.

“Do you like torturing yourself or something?” he asked. “Are you into that self torture kind of stuff?”

“No.” I stared at my doughnut once again. “I just like making you mad.”

“You’re not really making me mad,” Shane said, “You’re making me feel guilty.” I refrained from letting any sign of joy escape from my face. I stared back at him expressionless as he stared at me. Clearly he was wondering what was going through my head at that moment.

“Aw,” I replied finally. “Do you want me to stop eating?” Shane nodded his head. “But they’re really good.” Shane leaned back into his chair and sighed. “Sorry.”

“For what?” he asked.

“I promised not to get into another argument with you,” I replied. I placed the doughnut on the table and stuck my pointer finger and thumb into my mouth, removing any sticky sugars from my fingers. “I’ll stop.”

“Really?” Shane asked. “Just like that?”

“I still won though,” I said. “You said a few minutes ago you didn’t think I could get past four and I managed to eat seven.” Shane cracked a smile as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, casually resting his chin on his hands. “Let’s go do something.”

“Like what?” Shane asked. I shrugged and stood up. Immediately, I felt an extra surge of pain in my abdominal area. I took a sharp breath in and stood there with my hand on my stomach. “Are you okay?” I shook my head and Shane stood up quickly.

“No, no,” I said putting my hand up. “I don’t need help.”

“I told you to stop three doughnuts ago,” Shane said. “Can you walk?”

“Of course I can walk,” I snapped. I walked over to my bed, and had to bite down on my tongue to keep from any whimpers to escape my mouth. I was in so much pain that all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and never get up.

“You’re sick aren’t you?” Shane asked stupidly. I thought he was smarter than that. Unless he was trying to be sarcastic, he wasn’t trying hard enough. Shane sighed as I went onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. “Does this mean I win?”

“No way,” I shouted, causing Shane to laugh. I slammed my eyelids shut. “My brain hurts. Everything hurts.”

“Aw,” Shane said sitting down on my bed and rubbing my stomach for me. “You poor stupid girl.” I opened my eyes and glared at him. If my stomach didn’t hurt as much as it did, I would have greatly punched him in his face. “I’m just kidding. You know I don’t mean that. You’re such a lovely girl, not stupid.” Shane stopped talking, but continued rubbing my stomach softly in circles. “Oh and you’re just great, you know. I don’t know one person who would eat so many doughnuts and live to tell the tale.”

“Stop sucking up,” I said. “I’m still not going to go out with you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Shane asked. I shut my eyes at the worst possible time ever. Just as I stared at the back of my eyelids, I felt something soft, familiar and wet on my lips. Of course it was Shane, but if I opened my eyes and I found a fish or something, I was two seconds away from throwing up.

After that little kiss, Shane stood up and walked right out of the cabin. He just left me lying there like a five hundred pound whale. I knew what he was planning, that stupid little pop star was going to keep the bet and he was going to end up forcing me to go out with him.

Not that I’m complaining about a forceful side of Shane.