WICKED GAMES
"I'm sorry, Brutus, I made my choice," Cashmere stated.
"You're going to do this just because I slept with another girl last night?" She nodded. "Well, how many times have you slept with someone else that's not me?"
Cashmere stayed silent. He knew more than anyone that she's been hooking up with other guys, even when we they together. They weren't necessarily together, they were just fuck buddies. "I need a break from you."
"Are you even thinking straight?" Clearly, she wasn't. Nobody breaks up with Brutus; he's the most popular guy in Panem Preparatory. Rich, handsome, quarterback of the football team, and great when it comes to bed. Every girl wants to be with him.
"Yes, I am," she said. "Goodbye, Brutus." She turned around and walked away from him, getting a couple good looks from other guys, which caused his blood to boil.
"Damn it," Brutus cursed as he made his way to the lunch table with Cato, Marvel, Finnick, and Gale. "I'm fucked."
"What's wrong, man?" Cato asked as he lit a cigarette.
"Cashmere and I are no longer a 'thing'," he said. "She just broke up with me."
"That must suck for you," Finnick teased.
"Dude, why are you upset? You said she was getting on your nerves," Gale said.
"I know, but… I kinda want her back," Brutus said. "It's crazy. But I don't want any other guy to be with her. She's still mine, I claimed her."
"Why'd she wanna break up?" Cato asked.
"She said she needed to take a break from me," Brutus told them.
Finnick chuckled. "What? Did Panem's playboy loose his touch suddenly?"
"We all know that's never going to happen," Brutus said cockily.
"Just give her some time, she'll come crawling back to you," Marvel said. "She always does."
"No, I don't think she will this time," Brutus said. "I even heard she's going out with this guy, Alexander."
"Shame," Cato said before inhaling and then releasing the smoke from the cigarette, which caused Cinna, the Dean, to stomp towards him.
"Mr. Reed, you know the rules," he said, holding up his hand for Cato to hand over the cigarette, which he unwillingly did. "Thank you. Don't let this happen again." He walked away and threw Cato's cigarette in the trashcan. Cato mumbled a curse at Cinna.
"Well, why don't you make Cashmere come to you?" Finnick suggested.
"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" Brutus asked.
"By going out with someone and making her jealous," Cato explained as if he were an idiot.
"Which girl in this school is going to make Cashmere jealous? She's the most popular girl in Panem Preparatory," Brutus stated.
"Go out with someone who is the complete opposite of Cashmere," Marvel said. "Like," – he looked around the cafeteria – "her!" He pointed at her. She was sitting all by herself in a table, her feet up on the table while listening to music on her headphones.
"No way," Brutus said. "I'm not going to go out with Enobaria Kensington; she's a freak."
"Do you want Cashmere back?" Cato asked. Brutus nodded. "Then she's the way to getting her back. It doesn't even have to be real, you can just fake it."
Brutus groaned and stood up. He raked his hand through his blonde hair before approaching her. Enobaria was wearing a black mini skirt with black fishnet tights underneath. She wore a black grey blouse with the buttons way too down than necessary. Her hair was messy and loose. Her shoes were a pair of six-inch, black, high-heel boots. Her makeup was a generous amount of black eyeliner with mascara and dark lips.
Brutus coughed to grab her attention, but she didn't even look at him. He got frustrated and took the headsets out so she could hear him.
"What the fuck is your problem?" she growled.
"I have a proposal for you," Brutus said, twirling the headsets in his hands.
"I couldn't care less," she said, trying to snatch her red headsets from him.
He chuckled. "You should be thrilled that I'm even talking to you. I am, after all, Panem Preparatory's playboy."
"You're just a guy who invites girls to his bed and then throws them away like they're trash because you get bored of them so fast," she stated.
Brutus brought his hand up to his heart and gave her a pouty face. "You're hurting my feelings."
"Quit the crap, what do you want?" She was getting feisty; Brutus loved it when girls got feisty on him.
"Go out with me," he said.
"Not a chance," she told him, trying to retrieve her headsets, again.
"I don't know if you know, but I always get what I want," Brutus stated.
"Well, I'm so sorry you're going to have to face rejection for the first time." She snatched her headsets from his hands in one quick movement. "Now, leave me alone."
"Damn you." He walked away and met up with the guys who were watching them closely during the entire conversation. "She's impossible."
"No, she's just hard to get," Finnick said.
"Well, I can't deal with hard to get," Brutus said. "I need fast and easy."
That's how relationships were like with him. He'd easily get girls and bang them, then throw them away when he got bored or tired of them. Cashmere was the only one who hadn't bored him, yet. That's why they were together; sex worked for them. It didn't have to do with emotions or feelings, so it was easy for them. None of them were very sentimental people.
"Is the famous playboy giving up?" Finnick teased him.
"You were also a playboy," Marvel stated.
"I was, but then I met Annie." Finnick had it bad for the girl. He stopped his playboy ways and changed just for her. That's what loves does to people, and Brutus wanted nothing of it. He wasn't going to change just for a girl. Especially, for a girl he had to pretend to like just to get his ex-girlfriend back.
"Dude, she changed you," Gale said.
"Yeah, she did." Finnick was looking up at the ceiling, day-dreaming of Annie Cresta, the sweet, innocent girl who Finnick went crazy for.
"I don't know how I'm going to get Kensington to go out with me," Brutus said.
"Why is it so hard for you?" Gale asked. "You can get any girl with just the snap of your fingers."
"It's not me, it's her," Brutus stated. "She has no interest in going out with me, at all."
"Come on, I know you can get whatever you want, if you really try," Finnick stated. He was right, even though Brutus got whatever he wanted easily, he's had to fight for what he wants sometimes. Only problem is, that barely happens since he's rich.
Most people in this school were rich. Marvel's dad is the owner of a diamond industry, Cato's father is owner of Windows, Gale's mother has her own line of clothing, and Finnick's dad is a famous tennis player. Brutus's family is loaded with cash because when his rich uncle died, his father took over the family business.
"I can see you're still not convinced," Finnick said. "Let's make a bet. I bet you can't get Enobaria Kensington to go out with you."
"You and I are rich, why would you and I need money?" Brutus asked.
"Because I know you never turn down bets," Finnick reminded. "Come on, how hard can it be?"
"How much are we betting?" Brutus asked.
"Let's make this a little more interesting," Finnick proposed. "I'll give you two months. Get her to go out with you, $350. Get her to smash with you; I'll add an extra $200."
Brutus was more than tempted. Not only did he want to go out with her to get Cashmere back, he wanted to get the girl who rejected him to go out with him. It gave him a satisfied feeling of still knowing he was the best. "Deal."
Brutus and Finnick shook hands and sealed the bet. "No backing out," Finnick said.
"No backing out," Brutus repeated.