Wanna Bet?

Chapter nine: Planting Seeds of Scepticism

The sun was shining vividly, casting a warm, golden glow onto her body as she sat on the sturdy wooden bleachers, waiting for the time when the coach would call her onto the pitch. She smiled blissfully; as she avidly watched her fellow students dash and dodge past each other, most heading in one main direction, towards the black and white, patched football, and the rest dispersing on the field, in order to free themselves from their markers.

In her daze she was unaware of anything else that was going on around her, in fact, in a way, she almost seemed isolated in her own deliriously content world.

"Hey there," a suave voice suddenly interrupted her segregation, and she whirled around, to find herself staring into a pair of sparkling cobalt blue eyes. "How ya doing?"

Hilde smiled as she watched the braided boy place himself onto the bench beside her, grinning happily, and almost, she mused silently, maniacally.

"Fine thanks and you?"

"Awesome." He replied, calmly, his dominant American accent overriding whatever English one he had picked up in his time here. He nodded his head and smiled, lopsidedly before turning to watch the game.

After a while of tranquil silence and watching the football game grow more intense, Duo turned to her, giving her a strange glance before turning away again.

"What?" Hilde asked in an almost bored manner, not moving her eyes from the bibbed students on the grassy field.

"Nothing," Hilde noticed that he was grinning again from the corner of her eye, but instead decided to focus on the fact that the coach was sending payers off the pitch.

'Call me on, call me on, please call me on …'

"No really," she pressed, "tell me."

Duo sighed, "It's just about the Christmas dance."

A spark of hope ignited within her chest, and before she could extinguish it, Duo had flashed a vibrant grin, causing the tiny flame to combust riotously, preparing to explode. "What about it?" she asked, feeling nervous now.

"Well … I was wondering whether …" he paused, frowning slightly before staring off into the distance.

"Maxwell!" The coach hollered from the pitch, "Get your ass up here now, I need you on attack!"

Hilde bit her lip, still staring at the braided boy, apprehensively, when she felt something brush past her shoulder.

"Duo…" Aimee sidled up to him, wrapping her arms firmly around Duo's waist before planting her painted lips onto his cheek.

"Aimee, babe. I was just thinking about you," Duo cooed, smiling dopily. Hilde frowned, feeling that something wasn't quite right in the scene.

"Really?"

"Yeah … I just wanted to check something; we're going to the dance together, right?" Duo questioned, staring at her profoundly.

"Of course, Duey, we couldn't have it any other way now, could we?"

Duo grinned and shook his head. "Nope, not any other way." His eyes skittered over to Hilde's, locking for a second before he turned his head away.

She blinked rapidly, feeling dizzy as she watched the football pitch miraculously transform into one of the school corridors. Suddenly, people were hastily scurrying past, bumping into her and brushing past, yet, Duo and Aimee were still in front of her, acting sickeningly in love and causing the hope in her chest vanish instantly, leaving behind it a sharp, suffocating pain.

"Hilde, what's wrong?" Aimee asked, somewhat mockingly, tossing her blonde locks over her shoulder.

"You know," Duo chuckled, his bright grin turning into a daunting sneer, "I think she was expecting me to ask her to the dance."

Aimee laughed, maliciously, "Oh sweetie … you didn't really think that, did you?"

Hilde was breathing deeply now, the pain in her chest becoming bindingly tight with each new breath. The people surrounding her had stopped scurrying about and now gathered around her, jeering and laughing tauntingly, forming a tight ring around her, enclosing her from the outside world.

"What, are you in love with him or something?" Aimee teased, wrapping her arm even tighter around the derisive Duo's waist.

"Now Hilde," Tiffany jumped into the centre of the crowd, making her way towards her, smirking callously in cruel amusement. A true schadenfreude if there ever was one, "That would be a direct violation of the rules now … wouldn't it? I'll take it that you're forfeiting then, huh?"

She was feeling smothered by the mockingly cruel laughter emerging from the crowds, the room was becoming unbearably hot and she tugged at the neck of her polo shirt awkwardly. She shifted uncomfortably, underneath the unwavering stares that were focused so heavily upon her and wanted nothing more than to run away.

"Too bad," Lani goaded, also stepping into the scene, "that's a lot of money to lose." She shook her head slowly before shrugging.

"That's what you get," Tiffany sang in a mocking voice, "for breaking the rules."

Hilde looked up at Duo, and he smirked down at her, condescendingly. "Why Hilde, you really shouldn't have. I mean, giving up all of that money for me. I'm flattered, honestly, but did you really think that a guy like me," he pointed his index finger at himself, "would actually fall for a girl like you?" he gestured to her with the same finger, before bursting into fits of laughter. "That's priceless."

As if on cue, the crowds around them joined in with laughter and Hilde spun around to watch them all, each hazy faceless body pointing at her with accusing fingers, laughing and laughing … she continued to spin; around and around as a nauseating feeling rose in her chest. Her breaths were tight and constricted, becoming short and uneven as sobs broke out in her throat. She felt as though she were shrinking, growing smaller and smaller with each burst if laughter and each contemptuous jeer.

"You thought he'd fall for you?"

"Please …"

"As if …"

"I think you need a reality check, little girl."

"Duo's way out of you league."

By now, Duo and Aimee were towering above her. She was an insignificant little insect compared to them, a worthless unimportant pest for them to step upon, to squish, to eliminate from their lives and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"You shouldn't have even bothered, Hilde," Aimee said, almost sympathetically, clicking her tongue, "you should have just given up. You had no chance of winning him … no chance at all."

"He's too good for a little bug like you."

"… too good …"

Duo smiled. His mesmerizing blue eyes sparkling with malice, "They're right you know. I am too good for you."

He then raised his foot from the ground, his large, dominating Etnie hovering just over her head, ready to crash down on her … and break her to pieces.

--

Hilde bolted upright, her eyes snapping open to the stifling darkness of the room, her breaths ragged and sharp as her chest heaved rapidly in and out. She wriggled her legs out of the tangled bed sheets and threw them over the edge of the bed, exhaling deeply and sinking her head into her hands. She could feel the beads of sweat, layered upon her forehead as her hands swept across her head.

'It was only a bad dream, Hilde … only a dream.' But even still, she couldn't help thinking about it. Was this a sign … a warning? Was this her brain giving her some sort of hindsight into the future?

Maybe she was getting too involved with Duo, maybe that was a dangerous path to take, one that would ultimately, lead to her destruction.

She sighed. 'I need to form a plan … I need to ensure that no matter what happens, there's no way that I'm going to get hurt.' She bit down on her lip, so hard that she was sure that she would soon draw blood. 'I need to make sure that I don't grow too attached, and yet am still close enough to him to win the bet."

She shivered, starting to feel the cold nights chill cooling her body, and tucked herself back under the covers. She would think about it in the morning, and Dagger would help her of course … he was always there for her, to help her through hard times and catch her when she fell.

She snuggled deeply into the covers … yes, he was her solid rock … her support … he was sturdy and strong and he was always there for her.

-x- -x- -x-

"Morning," Relena greeted brightly as Heero emerged from his room, a large baggy sweater pulled over his upper torso and his hair ruffled and sticking out at all angles from his head. She smiled, pursing her lips slightly to muffle her giggles. He looked slightly rough, as though he hadn't received much sleep and had stayed up tossing and turning in the night.

He grunted in return before settling down at the island counter, perching himself upon one of the stools and sinking his head into his arms.

"Why are you so tired?" She asked, inquisitively.

"Why are you so chipper?" He retorted, lifting his head to stare at her as she fidgeted with the settings on the toaster.

She shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe because Christmas is approaching quickly, and I'm rather excited about the fact that my parents have actually permitted me to stay for the holidays this year or maybe it's because they elect the head chairperson for the Christmas ball committee today." She grabbed a few slices of bread, stuffing them into the toaster and pressing down the lever, "But I guess it's a bit of both, really. Do you want some toast?"

Heero shook his head, and Relena turned around, leaning her back against the counter and studying Heero curiously, "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"What quest-" he started, and then, as it dawned upon him, he groaned tiredly, "I didn't sleep well last night, is all."

Relena nodded sympathetically. "Okay, well," she glanced around the room, "Would you like some coffee?"

Heero smiled, genuinely, and Relena moved towards the machine, her heart thumping in her chest.

"You should smile more often."

"Hmm?"

Relena's eyes widened and she thanked God that she wasn't facing him, for she knew that she would undoubtedly be morphing a very unattractive shade of red. 'Did I say that out loud?'

"Umm … well … I just said that you should smile more often. I mean, sincerely smile, none of that smirking business that you seem to have perfected."

She turned towards him, noting that his eyebrows were raised, amusedly.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because, well … it suits you better."

There was a strange silence between them, and then the click of the coffee machine, signalling to them that the coffee was ready.

Relena pushed the mug into his hands before grabbing the paper from the counter top, and studying it with a passionate concentration, trying to give herself something to do.

"So do you reckon the school will have anything to say about the mess that was made yesterday?" she asked, trying to ease the thick tension in the room. "I mean, when I came in last night, there was slush everywhere … it was all over the corridors, melting into carpets – which were already stained with muddy footprints – and I think I even seen some water dripping from the ceilings in a few places."

She glanced up from the paper, her breath catching in her throat at the intensity of Heero's stare; his dark Prussian blues trained intently onto hers. He set his mug down on the counter, and Relena noticed that he was already starting to look more awake.

"They probably will. And I imagine that the Mrs Neill will have something to say to us, considering that we're the head students and all." Mrs Neill was the vice principle of Harrison College, and much less easy-going than Dr. Steiner. She was the one who dealt with all of the minor disciplinary procedures in the school, and her stern punishment methods had the majority of the junior year students cowering in her presence.

"Oh God."

An unexpected heavy hammering at their common room door had both of their attentions averted towards it. Heero moaned, grimacing from the noise before reluctantly slipping out of his chair and sauntering towards the door, his hand clasped over his head.

As soon as he'd unlocked it, the door swung open hastily, almost knocking the oblivious boy off his feet.

"Duo," Heero growled, irritated, "What the hell's wrong with you?"

Duo scowled at Heero, looking somewhat impatient, "Dude, you were meant to meet me at the locker room twenty minutes ago!" He looked his friend up and down and then stepped back, his shoulder's drooping and his jaw dropping, agape. "Why aren't you ready?"

Heero blinked, unfocused, before shrugging, "What for?" He asked, nonchalantly.

"The tryouts! For the inter-schools Rugby cup!" Duo ran a hand down his face, anxiously, and Relena peered over at them from her position at the counter, curious as to what was going on.

"MAN! We've been working towards this all year; how the hell could you forget?"

"Shit, the tryouts …" Heero cursed, his eyes flickering towards Relena before jumping back to Duo. "Two minutes." He told Duo, before dashing back to his room, the door slamming shut behind him, and wavering on its hinges.

Duo groaned, muttering incoherently under his breath before walking into the room, closing the door behind him, and sinking into the armchair that was closest to the door as he dropped his kitbag onto the floor with a heavy 'thud'. He leant his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, still muttering under his breath with an irate scowl plastered upon his handsome, tanned face.

Relena cocked her head to the side, watching the boy interestedly and concluding the fact that he truly wasn't aware of her presence. She cleared her throat, hesitantly.

Duo started, jumping forward in the chair as his eyes opened widely, scanning swiftly across the room before falling upon her. He heaved a sigh of relief, the muscles in his body easing as he sunk back into the chair's cushion.

"Hey there, sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't alone," He grinned, sheepishly and jerked his head towards Heero's door, "I could kill him-"

'Me too,' Relena agreed, silently.

"-I swear … if we miss these trials …" His fists clenched, and then unclenched as he exhaled, exaggeratedly, "I've worked so hard for this, ya know … we both have. It's the one thing that really keeps me going throughout the year, and this year, we've even got scouts coming over and monitoring our matches. It's like a dream come true, really, the chance of a lifetime." He sighed, and Relena leant forward, listening carefully, "If we make it to the trials on time, it's a sure thing that we'll get onto the team; we're the two top players, you see, and Coach says that we're really talented … and that we could go far." His eyes glazed over as he stared at the walls, dazedly. "Really far."

Relena wasn't sure whether or not he was talking to her at this point, but she sat silently, not wanting to disturb him.

The door slammed again and Heero ran towards Duo, kicking the American boy's shins and waking him from his daze before turning back to Relena, and nodding his head at her, "Thanks for the coffee, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, nice to meet ya, head girl!" Duo winked, and Heero smacked him across the back of the head, causing him to wince and dart out of the room.

Relena watched the door close behind them and sat, motionless, staring at the door for a few moments longer, wondering whether it was just her imagination, or was Heero starting to lose his cool exterior?

-x- -x- -x-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Hilde groaned and twisted over onto her side, wrenching the covers up over her head as she did so, not wishing to rouse from her sleep.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE- SLAM! SLAM!SLAM!

She smiled and groggily murmured, "Thank God," before rolling over the other way.

"ARGH!"

Hilde stirred, but as soon as she attempted to open her eyes, she found herself being shoved by some unknown force, off the bed, and landing with a hard thump on the wooden floors beneath her.

She then heard a sequence of horrified yells, which were soon subsided, with a heavy sigh of relief. Groaning, she opened her eyes to see Dagger peering down at her from the bed with a confused and yet eased expression.

"You're not naked." He breathed huskily, shaking his head. Hilde frowned at his comment and looked down at herself.

"Why would I be?"

Dagger lifted his eyebrows and stared down at her.

"Huh?" Hilde asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "Oh" her eyes widened, "You thought that we had … No."

Dagger laughed, "Yeah, I can see that now. It's just a bit shocking waking up and seeing you lying there, right in front of me."

"I look that bad, huh?" she sat up, stretching her arms above her head and yawning drowsily.

"No," Dagger shook his head ruefully, his hair falling across his face, "no, you look beautiful."

Hilde glanced up at him, catching the sincerity in his tone. His golden blonde hair was dishevelled, his hazel eyes heavily lidded from exhaustion, and yet somehow, he was still breathtaking, in all ways possible.

She eventually tore her eyes away. She couldn't think about him like that … she shouldn't.

"How did I end up staying here anyway?" Hilde inquired, avoiding his comment and running a hand through her locks in an attempt to flatten her unkempt hair.

Dagger looked thoughtful for a few moments; his lethargic gaze directed steadily towards his window before he answered, "I'm not sure," he faltered, "The last thing that I remember was you leaning against me on the bed and thinking of how perfect we felt together."

Hilde could feel her face reddening, as a heated blush rushed to her face. She stared at him, waiting for his roguish grin to appear on his face, and his ludicrously infectious laugh to explode from his soft lips … but they never came, his face remained serious as he stared down at her from the bed, his eyes sharp and pinning, in a slightly unnerving manner.

Hilde bit her lip, unsurely, a trait that was fast becoming a bad habit.

"Listen, never mind that," Dagger said, smiling ever so lightly as he brushed the topic astray, "I've got to get down to practice; we have trials for the team today." Sliding off the bed, he knelt down closely beside her, his fingers brushing a few strands of dark hair away from her face, "You can sleep for a bit longer, but make sure you're out of here by twelve, that's when Avery, my dorm mate gets back from his vacation." With that said he stood up, his eyes slowly drifting away from hers before he walked over to his dresser, pulled upon the doors and grabbed his kitbag. "Later." He called as he walked out, leaving Hilde sitting in the middle of his room, curled up on the ground, and staring, mystified and bewildered at the back of the door.

-x- -x- -x-

"All right, girlies, listen up," Coach Phillips hollered from the front of the locker rooms, a few boys mumbled indignantly at his insult, but the majority of them were well used to it by now and remained silent, "Today, as you all know, is the day that I have designated for the trials of the official Harrison College Rugby team. I will choose the best, and only the best for my team, so I want you sissies to do your best out on the pitch, you hear me?"

There were a few murmurs of "Yes Coach" echoing throughout the small, damp room.

"Right well, get changed and be out on the field in -"

BANG!

The locker room door flew open haphazardly, slamming off the end locker and rattling noisily as a flustered Duo Maxwell appeared in the doorframe, grinning manically.

"Alright, we made it on time."

Heero emerged from the background to stand beside him, his arms crossed casually across his chest and his eyes sweeping alertly over the room, before settling airily on the coach, who growled irately.

"Maxwell," he barked, "Yuy! What the hell do you two think you're playing at?"

Duo grinned, "Coach, hey! Sorry we're late we-"

"Save it for someone who cares, Maxwell. Now get in line, quickly!" The coach ordered, and Duo and Heero both moved into the room, settling down beside their lockers. "I want all of you changed and out on the field in five." He finished, glaring, irritated, at Heero and Duo, before leaving the room.

Out on the pitch, the boys, in their green and white rugby kits shivered against the cold winds as they sat, side by side at the edge of the field, listening alertly to the rumbling voice of their coach.

"On a team, you have to learn to work ably with one another. This is a vital attribute of any boy who is going to be on my team, so to test this, I'm going to pair you up and see just how well you guys can cope with working together."

Duo turned to Heero, rolling his eyes, "This should be easy enough." Heero blinked, ignoring his friend.

They listened as the coach began to pair off students, and send them off onto the field to practice techniques, as their teeth chattered noisily in their mouths.

"Yuy and Jamison," Coach Phillips bellowed out, and Heero stood, looking across the bench to see Landon Jamison rising at the other side. He nodded in silent agreement, and they left for the field.

"Maxwell, you go with Stryker," Duo's jaw dropped open, and he stared at his coach in astonishment, completely immobile. "NOW, Maxwell!"

Duo rose from the bench and sauntered slowly towards Dagger who was scowling maliciously at him, his hazel eyes dark and incensed.

"Hey," Duo greeted, politely, only to be met with a furious glare, "Guess we should get this over with."

Dagger scoffed and grabbing one of the oval shaped rugby balls from the crate, jogged out onto the field. Duo reluctantly followed the blonde haired boy.

Dagger immediately tossed him the ball as soon as he had caught up and Duo had to sprint to catch it.

"What's your problem, Stryker?" Duo barked, tossing his hair out of his eyes, and throwing the ball back.

"What do you think?" Dagger asked as he caught the ball easily with one hand, "You." He thrust it back to Duo, with so much force that it sent Duo backwards a few steps.

"What the hell did I do?"

"Everything."

Duo sighed. That was helpful, how was he to know why this guy held such a firm grudge against him? As far as he could recall, he hadn't done anything to instigate such malice.

"TEAM WORK!" The coach hollered at them from the sidelines, "I don't see any team work over there!"

Dagger grimaced, "Just stay away from her, Maxwell. Stop playing games."

Duo stared at his partner, the ball tucked neatly underneath his arm, "Who?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

"Hilde, you idiot. I mean it, just leave her be."

Duo shook his head and answered, silently, 'I'm afraid I can't do that.'


A/N - Thanks so much for all the reviews. They were greatly appreciated! I'm so busy at the minute, so I barely ever get time to write, sorry about that. I think you guys will really like what I've got planned for the next chapter. And yay … the Christmas dance is approaching! That should be an exciting event hehe, I can't wait till I get to write that.