"So, have you decided yet?"

Riley looked up at him, not entirely understanding what he was asking about until she remembered his offer.

"Oh! Well, uh…"

Riley didn't know what to do. You see, she hadn't had the best of luck in her past relationships. The last guy she had gone out with ended up dumping her for her best friend and the previous ones had hurt her just as much, but in different ways. It just wasn't something she enjoyed anymore; putting herself out there to be ripped apart and thrown to the back of the pile like a ratty old doll.

"Riley, if you don't want to, you just have to say so, I won't be offended or anything," Liam sighed sadly.

"No, Liam, it's not that I don't want to, because I do! I just have a bad past with certain relationships and I don't…well, it just gets to the point where it seems pointless, you know what I mean?" she tried her best to explain.

"I guess so. Well, we'll still be friends, right?" he said.

Riley smiled, "Yes, we will most definitely still be friends. Thanks for understanding." She stopped walking to give him a hug and then told him she should probably go find out where Ben had gone off to.

"See you later then," he waved, walking the other way.

Riley waved back and jogged all the way up to the double doors that led into the North Tower dorms. Throwing a towel over her shoulder and chugging down a large gulp of water, she pushed through the doors and ran right into someone. Right before she was sent flying to the floor, the person caught her and she righted her footing.

"You alright? Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," he said. "Wait, Riley?"

Riley looked up to see a familiar face. "Ty! Hey, it's been a while since I've seen you!"

"I know! What's been going on with you? I got switched out of your health class for athletics, so I haven't been there lately," he explained.

"Yeah, I was wondering where you had gone. I would have asked Liam, but we've been kind of distant lately." She answered. Now, Riley knew this wasn't true, that she and Liam had been distant, but she didn't want to explain the weird situation they were in to Ty, after all, he hardly knew anything about her. So she figured it would just be easier to say they weren't very close anymore.

"Oh, yeah, I thought you guys would have hooked up by now. You're all Liam talks about, all day, every day. It actually gets really annoying…," Ty joked. Riley laughed along with him although that was the last thing she wanted to do at the time. Poor Liam! She thought. All he ever did was like me, and now I hurt any chance I had with him. I feel awful!

"Well, it just didn't fit, you know? He's really nice and all, but I have some problems of my own to work out before I get into a relationship," she said. "But, hey, it was nice talking to you, I really need to hit the showers and catch up with a friend, ok?"

"Sure, talk to you later!" Ty replied as he headed off in the direction Liam had gone. Riley guessed it was the path that led to their dorms. She was going to go up to the showers, but realized that she had hardly worked up a sweat. So, walking back to the gravel path, she began the run she had originally planned. About three hours had passed until Riley finally got back to her room just as it was getting dark.

Ben walked in through the bathroom and immediately backed up a few steps.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" he said, waving a hand in front of his nose. "Did you land on a dead skunk or something?"

"Very funny, Ben. No, I went back to finish my run, thank you very much," She replied. "I'm gunna go get a shower before I intrude upon you any more."

"Thank you. Man that is ripe!" he said in disgust.

"Will you shut up!" Riley growled, smacking him across the head. "Don't forget you have to do my homework for the next week. So, I wouldn't be cracking any more jokes, if you get what I'm saying." She smirked happily at this thought.

"I am not doing any of your homework, you're the one who cheated, remember?" he laughed back.

"I told you Ben, I wasn't cheating, I was taking advantage of the opportunity. The two are very different and if it had been you, you'd be defending it all the same, now wouldn't you?" she said.

"Well…maybe, but that is beside the point. I'm not doing homework for a--,"

"Winner? Sorry I can't finish this, but I've got a shower calling my name," Riley smiled at his annoyed expression and disappeared around the corner.

"Hey, wha'd that guy want?" Ben's impulse failed to stop this question from leaping out of his mouth. Riley walked back into the room to take off her sneakers.

"Oh, he just wanted to ask—uh, he wanted some help on homework. I ended up not sharing his teacher so I couldn't help." She glanced his way to see his reaction; it was skeptical, but fleeting.

"Riley, please go shower. I think I'm getting nauseous," Ben covered his doubtful feelings.

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Riley headed into the bathroom. She looked back around it one last time, "On my desk is that report for Johnson. You might want to get started. Thanks again!" Ben scowled under his breath for letting himself get beat by a girl as he heard the water in the shower being turned on. He knew she was right though, she had won, and he had made a bet that Riley would keep if she was in his shoes…he picked up the report syllabus and brought it into his room, setting it down by his laptop. This would be a long, tiring night. And all of this for one little race. So not worth it.