Chapter 4

Bet On It!

The next day…

"Of course they'd be at war. Hitler is a monster! Just 'cause they met each other doesn't mean everything is going to be a-okay." Jayden stated loudly. His hand brushed against his dark hair as he stood facing the girls.

"I think they wouldn't be in war because maybe Franklin Roosevelt would have persuaded Hitler to choose peace instead of war." I said civilly to Jayden’s direction.

I’m pretty sure I know what I’m talking about. Doing debates in the 8th grade aided me to stand up for what is right. Okay, so I wasn’t the star pupil in debates, but hey, at least I feel more comfortable speaking directly to the opponent, for example, Jayden.

"Oh please, Franklin Roosevelt did a lot of things to help the world, but that doesn't mean he would be able to put an end on a human-killing guy." He retorted. Jayden leaned beside his desk as his elbow touched the surface of the one behind it. The rest of the guys, however, were just pretending to know what the hell we were debating about and nodded their heads in agreement to whatever Jayden spoke of.

"You sound like it's impossible for Hitler to actually be a decent person." I said, shaking my head. “I mean, do you honestly believe that citizens of a country cannot change? No matter how bad-“ He cut me off. That ass. Oh well, I seriously didn’t know how I was going to finish that sentence anyway.

"What makes you think he's actually being a decent person with all the people he killed?" He questioned. “No one, and I mean no one can be regretful about that. Temptation was something that went through Hitler’s conscience. There is no way-“ Ha! I cut him off. Now we’re even.

Melanie: 1, Jayden: 1

"Well you’ll never know. There could have possibly been hope! "My voice slightly raised. I walked around to keep my body going and said, “Everyone has some good in them right?” I inquired assertively.

“Right!” A diversity of girls behind me exclaimed. They were all ready for my next progressive debating skill with their eyes attached to Jayden and me. At this very moment, I can inform that Jayden is currently confident about winning this.

"Right, of course. Especially with a guy that killed how many people? Oh yeah more than you can count!" He yelled, raising his hands above his head rather enraged.

Ouch. Good one. The class 'ooo'ed to that comeback. Hell, I would have done too. C’mon Melanie! Get it together!

"Well excuse me for having a little bit of faith in someone. And well, Hitler did kill a lot of people but he was forgetting one person." I said with a smile, as I leaned against the classroom counter.

"Oh really, and who'd that be?" He said sounding interested, returning the smile.

"You!" I shouted, with a loud bang from both hands as I slammed them on the desk in front of me.

Ha. Melanie: 2, Jayden: 2

"That's not even possible because I wasn't even born!" He yelled back, rolling his eyes at me. He stood up straight, rubbed his chin with his right hand, and leaned on his desk all over again. Jayden high fived a horde of his friends around him, while laughing franticly.

Damn it. Melanie: 2, Jayden: 3

"But he was a good man to his children and his family! And the reason he killed so many people was because he thought they were evil." I confirmed, crossing my arms with a grin.

"Oh yeah, great reason." He rolled his eyes. “If he thought they were so evil, why did he end up becoming the evil one?” Jayden finished walking slowly to my direction. His eyes were glued to mine, waiting for a response. The fast beating of my heart returned with his every step. For a second, I thought about what I was going to say subsequently. Finally, I said…

"Better reasons than you have." I murmured, keeping away my eye contact.

I just realized, it was pretty much just Jayden and me debating against each other, while the other students nearly did anything. Gee, thanks guys.

“I don’t see you coming up with any good reasons either.” Jayden protested.

“Okay that’s about it for today class.” Mr. Reese announced as he stood up from his desk. He was writing something down on a piece of paper on top of his clipboard before saying, “The winner of the debate is…” He waited, trying to catch our attention.

I was crossing my fingers for Mr. Reese to say girls, but then…

“The guys!” He proclaimed while clapping his hands in amusement.

I, including the rest of the girls groaned in defeat, while the guys, being the arrogant jerks they are, gloated in triumph. Fuck him! I bet he didn’t even know what he was talking about.

‘ring ring ring’ Oh dear, the bell.

Everyone, as well as me, exited our World History class fervent to get out, but Jayden, on the other hand, stayed behind for a while to thank Mr. Reese for his latest victory. I shook my head in disappointment and walked, eager to get to my locker.

“So…” Someone said from the back of my locker door.

I slightly closed my blue locker door to see who was there, and came to find familiar piercing blue eyes staring at my hazel brown ones.

Chris.

I felt my cheeks redden and said, “Oh hey!” I smiled cheekily.

“How’s it going?” He asked. He wore a black collared shirt, with baggy light blue jeans, and was clearly looking very attractive. I’d so totally date him.

“It’s going good, but we lost the debate in World History class against-“ I was cut off.

“Jayden!” Chris exclaimed. He turned his direction to someone other than me and signaled a wave.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” I questioned. “Oh…” I grunted.

“Hey what’s up man?” A familiar voice said, getting closer to where Chris and I stood.

I cleared my throat intentionally to catch Chris’ attention. I didn’t want to be ignored because Jayden had to come over, steal Chris away from me, and must I say? Be the aggravating ass he is.

“Oh yeah. By the way, Jayden, this is-“

“Hey loser.” Jayden said, giving me a slight glance before returning to his conversation with Chris.

“Anyway, I was thinking-“

“Wait, you two know each other?” Chris questioned, turning his head to both of us.

“Barely.” I whispered.

“Unfortunately.” Jayden sighed.

“Okay… I’m going to go to my locker before my next class starts.” Chris said, sensing the awkwardness between us. “See you guys later!” He waved, before turning away.

Why Chris! Why! I totally hate you right now for leaving me with Jayden, but you’re so cute! So I guess I’m left with an ass, who is undoubtedly standing before me, waiting for someone to break the silence.

“So where’s Kayla?” I asked Jayden, attempting to start a decent conversation.

“Oh, her. Yeah, she’s yesterday’s news.” He answered, with his shoulder leaning on the locker beside mine.

“You broke up with her?” I asked sounding interested.

“You care why?” Jayden pointed out, as he crossed his arms.

Well I’m curious aren’t I? Not that I care or anything, but I’m basically Kayla’s victim for crying out loud! I’m practically Jayden’s too. Double the torture! I have to know these things because for me, it’s a must. Who knows what crazy, evil plans are lurking in their minds at this very moment.

“No one ever said that I cared." I answered back, looking at him with disbelief. Geez, can't anyone ask around here.

With an annoyed groan he said, "Whatever, loser." He turned away walking, leaving me with my slightly closed locker door with no single sign of Chris awaiting me to talk to him. Well, how mean. He only won once, and it’s not likely that he’ll win again. I hope.

As I returned home from school, I ran quickly up the steps of the stairs, and into my room. I groaned when I placed my backpack down, turned up my radio, and plopped down on my bed. Damn, I’m tired. I was letting the music sink into my head as I sang along to the words:

You wanna know more, more, more about me
I'm the girl who's kicking the coke machine
I'm the one that's honking at you ‘cause I left late again

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Could you see I want you by the way I push you away, Yeah!
Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today
Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction Yeah!
Hey! Hey!

Get tangled up in me

God, I really am a loser. Feeling absolutely bummed out I-

Was interrupted. Oh, the joys of not using the lock on your door. Apparently, my horrible-completely-out-of-her-league older sister Megan stepped inside my room with an annoyed expression on her face. You see, Megan has always been the same intolerable girl over the years we’ve been sisters. I’ve always attempted to give her a shot, but once I was 12 and she turned 13, I practically gave up. Not that I’m a giver-upper or anything, but I guess becoming a teenager really does change peoples’ lives.

I sighed for a moment before facing her. “Yes, sister dearest?” I responded as I sat up and faced her.

“Let me use your laptop.” She said harshly as she walked over to my desk to pick it up.

“Use your own.” I mumbled.

“Can’t. It’s broken, so I need to use yours.” She said crossing her arms, avoiding eye contact.

Gosh! Her laptop always breaks out of nowhere. About a month before we moved here, she broke her laptop purposely just so she could convince our parents to buy her the new latest form of technology.

“Again? Jeez, pretty soon we’re all going to become poor ‘cause you’re so good at purposely breaking laptops.” I muttered as I grabbed a pillow from my bed and placed it behind my head.

“Watch it little sister.” She hissed. “I didn’t break it this time. When I flew in from Chicago last night and took out my luggage, my laptop apparently got slammed by the other peoples’ damn things.”

Oh yeah, right. My sister flew in from Chicago only last night and missed the entire first week of school because she refused to leave her boyfriend. Scratch that- I mean ex-boyfriend.I didn’t exactly care, I mean, seriously. The guy was utterly peculiar. Megan had many boyfriends before, but compared to the others, this one was so out of the ordinary. The guy is really hot, but he always seemed uninterested in her unlike her other boyfriends. Megan wanted to stay in Chicago for a week more to make him fall in love with her, and in fact, our parents were completely tired of her complaints that she was able to stay at our Grandma Linda’s place for a while. It was pretty much a waste of time since she would eventually have to break up with him. It’s just too little too late for him to fall for her now.

“Uh-huh. Whatever.” I said as I took a magazine from my nightstand.

Again, I was interrupted. My youngest sister, Madeline, barged into my room with a cheery smile on her face. She held her teddy bear and was begging me to take her to the park. I picked her up and studied her for a second. She has my eyes and the hair color of my sister. Her nose looks exactly like my dad’s, and she has the smile of my mom.

I gave Maddie a grin and answered, “Of course.” I put her down and told her to tell our parents that we would be going to the park in a few minutes. She immediately rushed down the stairs nearly tripping, as she held the right leg of her bear.

Megan muttered something under her breath and carried my laptop with her, as she was about to exit my room. Remind me to burn my laptop once she gives it back. Before she could leave, I asked her, “You want to come too?”

“Ha, No. I don’t want to take care of her.” She stomped off to her room and closed her door.

I smiled without even knowing and went to my closet to grab a warm jacket. I left my room in an instant and said bye to Mom and Dad. They were preparing dinner and my mom said,” Be home soon and watch out for Maddie!” I nodded in agreement and left with my sister without a trace.

The park isn’t so far from where I live. It’s only a block away, so it doesn’t cause me trouble. The weather at this hour isn’t hot, nor is it cold. It’s freezing. I was shivering as I put both hands in the pockets of my jacket. Maddie was skipping elegantly to the sandbox, and I watched as she laughed and played around with her teddy bear. I decided to sit down on the nearest bench and watch.

God, it’s so cold. I was rubbing my arms for warmth, and then I heard footsteps. Oh crap! I better get Maddie.

"Maddie! Let's go!" I called. My voice sounded somewhat raspy form the chilliness of the air.

"No wait!" she whined. "I want to make Teddy a castle." Teddy, referring to her teddy bear.

I then heard a little voice.

"Jayden! Let’s go on the swings." A little girl said. Aw fuck. Please don't tell me it’s the Jayden I know.

The voice sighed. “Okay Jasmine.” A male voice chuckled. Well that answered my question. It is the Jayden I know. Life as I know it just keeps getting better and better by the second.

I stayed in place and watched as Jayden carried the little girl onto the swing. He was steadily pushing her until he noticed Maddie running in front of the swing Jasmine was in. I immediately stood up and gasped. It appeared that Jayden heard me, so he took the little girl out from the swing and held her and Maddie’s hand. I didn’t make a move as he was heading my way.

“Here to gloat about your latest victory?” I said to him.

"No, I didn't plan on seeing you here." He said sounding uninterested in this conversation. “I’m guessing this is your little sister though. So…here.” Jayden included. He was wearing black sweats and a gray jacket over his plain white t-shirt. He let Maddie go, and she directly jumped on my lap.

“Thanks.” I whispered as I was holding Maddie close. She jumped off my lap and said to the little girl, “Hi! What’s your name?”

“Jasmine.” She answered looking oh so terribly shy. God, she’s adorable.

“Wanna go make a castle with Teddy?" Maddie said with a big smile across her face.

Before Jasmine could answer, Maddie grabbed her wrist lightly and they both skipped to the sandbox. As far as I knew, it was just Jayden and me. I continued to stay still with my hands in my pockets.

“Uh, hi.” I let out. That’s all I was able to muster because I barely know this dude.

"Hey.” He replied glancing towards our sisters and back at me.

"Yup." Now this is a heated conversation. I rolled my eyes.

He let out a huge sigh and said, “So, some conversation this is.” He smirked.

“Look, I let you win earlier this morning during that damn debate.” I managed to blurt. I instantly covered my mouth, surprised at myself for even saying that. God, what’s the matter with me? Divulging something that should have been over and done with hours ago.

"Oh? So you think you can beat me in anything, eh?" Jayden crossed his arms and waited for my response with an eyebrow raised.

What to say. What to say.

"Ha! Think? Honey, I know for a fact." I said sounding somewhat challenging. Dear Lord, only you know what I’m getting myself into.

"Oh, well you know what honey?" he said mimicking me.

I’m really starting to hate that seductive voice of his.

“And what’s that?” I said leaning closer.

"You're just jealous that I won." He said softly, leaning in as well.

Pretty soon, we were so close that I could feel his icy breath against my neck.

"No, I'm not!" I exclaimed. Apparently, I sounded a bit too loud that Maddie and Jasmine stopped giggling and turned to face us.

"No, I'm not." I repeated, keeping my voice down.

"You wanna bet on it, sweetie?" He asked forming a slight smile on the corner of his lips.

“Hell yeah I do!” I answered, taking my hands out of my pockets. Shit, smooth move. It’s still so freaking cold.

"Done." He said, almost in a whisper. Then, we shook on it.

A/N: Sorry people! We know it took FOREVER for us to post up this chapter. A lot of events happening lately haha. So, we apologize once more.

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- lost until now