The next day at school, the first girl Troy saw was Carol. She was beaming and she approached him.

"Troy!" said Carol. "Do you have a free period now?"

"Yeah, I do," said Troy.

"Then come outside with me," she said, taking his hand.

"Why not go to Umberto's?" asked Troy.

"Where?" asked Carol.

"Oh right, you're new here. Well, then, let me introduce you to the local hangout," smiled Troy.

Carol and Troy walked to Umberto's. Carol looked at the shake menu, puzzled by all the varieties she could drink. Troy ordered a strawberry raspberry caramel fudge brownie shake.

"Ew," said Carol. "What flavor is that?"

"Oh, it's just a flavor that—"

Troy stopped. If he said that Paris had introduced it to him, she would ask who she was, and Troy would have to tell her.

"It's just a flavor that a teammate introduced to me," said Troy.

"A teammate for what?" asked Carol.

"My soccer team. I'm the forward, so I always score," said Troy, trying to impress her.

"I used to play soccer," laughed Carol. Troy looked at her, surprised. "Yeah, but I wasn't forward. I was goalie. I would've stayed, but now I'm here."

"Where are you from by the way?" asked Troy.

"Oh, well, I was born in Brazil. But we moved to Virginia and stayed there for a while. And now I'm here."

The two sat down with their shakes and talked.

"So… Troy… I've been meaning to ask you," said Carol, sipping her shake. "Um… is this a date?"

Oh great, thought Troy. Not this question again.

"Um… sure, I guess," smiled Troy nervously. "We can call it a date."

Just as Carol was about to say something, she looked at her watch.

"Troy, we have to go. The bell is going to ring in two minutes!" said Carol worriedly.

"Okay, let's hurry up then!" said Troy, standing up.

The two ran back to school.

"Look, Carol. Thanks a lot. I had fun. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, Troy," smiled Carol. He looked into her eyes and she blushed. "I have to go to algebra, or else the teacher will kill me. But we'll talk." Carol held Troy's hand for a second, and when she heard the bell, ran away.

Troy sighed. It was time for drama class.

Troy walked into the theatre, ten minutes late. He tried to sneak in undetected, but the teacher's eye was just too sharp.

"Mr. Bolton!" exclaimed Mrs. Snow. "You are ten minutes late. I expect you to take this class seriously, unlike last year, when you ridiculed the school with your rendition of the Balcony Scene in Romeo and Juliet. However, I must say that Annie did make a fabulous Juliet."

"Yes, Mrs. Snow, I'm sorry, I… I was in... the bathroom."

"Well, Mr. Bolton," said Mrs. Snow, looking at a piece of paper. "Go to the piano. You will sing with… Molly."

Troy walked over to the piano and saw Molly practicing her notes. She had a really nice voice, but Troy couldn't see her, because she was facing the piano.

"Um, hi, Molly, I'm—"

Molly turned around, and Troy stopped. Standing in front of him was yet another pretty girl. Her hazel eyes popped against her pale skin and long brown hair.

"Hi," said Molly, smiling, giving Troy a sheet of musical paper. He looked at it and frowned. There must have been at least a hundred notes on it. "Practice it in your head and we'll go over it together afterwards."

Troy couldn't believe he had yet another girl in front of him. He practiced what he thought was right in his head, and told Molly he was ready. They both stood in front of the piano and sung the words together. Troy found a high-pitched note and fumbled, hitting the wrong note.

"That's okay, I'll take that note," said Molly, scribbling on her sheet of music.

"You've got a really pretty voice," said Troy.

"Thank you," whispered Molly, smiling. "And so do you… but it wouldn't hurt to hit the right note."

Troy went to Rachel's locker.

"Rachel," said Troy. "I'm sorry about last night. I mean—"

"Save it, Troy," said Rachel, closing her locker, and walked away, books in hand. Troy ran after her and walked by her side.

"I didn't know this would happen when I made the bet. I thought I would find the perfect girl and it would be finished just like that. But now I'm wrestling between you, and Paris, and Carol, and now Molly—"

"Who now, Troy? You gonna bring another one into this? You've already broken my heart Troy, but hey, just keep piling on the girls and keep breaking hearts! Fine by me. But I can't be friends with a heart-breaking machine. What happened to the sentimental Troy I knew? Oh right, I forgot, he became a jerk. And now all those other girls are going to find out about each other, Troy, and do you know what's gonna happen? They're all going to hate you! And then you'll have not only lost me, but you'll have lost Paris, and Carol, and this new girl too!"

"I didn't know this would happen, Rachel!" said Troy helplessly.

"Just because you didn't see it coming, doesn't mean you couldn't have avoided it, Troy! And what now? You gonna find a girl in science that you like, and a girl in social studies, and second language, and in biology, and in every class you can think of?"

"No, Rachel. Look, you've just got to understand—"

"I've got no time to understand Troy," sighed Rachel. "I wish I did, Troy, but you're just no longer the Troy that used to be my best friend. You've changed, and frankly... ans frankly so have I. I'm sorry."

Rachel walked away.