Chapter 10 – Wipe Out!

When Smash approached her, she was beyond upset. She just rolled her eyes. What could she say? At this point, she was to upset for a snarky comment, so she just said,

"So...?"

Smash laughed, full of ego and sperm to spread, he was all smiles,

"So you want to consummate our relationship?" he sniggered, she was appalled. Her fake smile faded, because this just brought up The Bet once more. She expected Smash, and she would've expected Tim to do it, but... she just thought he'd changed. Better yet, she thought she had had something to do with the new and improved Riggins. And the sad part was that she still hoped she did. How spineless was that?

She wanted everything to be better, to not have panned out the way it did. But now, the damage was irreversible. She'd been used. And she had let herself be used. So she turned to Smash, resisted the urge to cry and slapped him.

"Jerk," she said, stalking down the hallway.

/-/-/

Lyla had been walking down the hallway to give him the brownies she'd slaved over the stove for hours to make. The grin on her face couldn't be described. She was beyond happy, she was in love. Their first date might not have gone so well, but their second one was magic. And now everybody knew... she was the queen of the football girlfriends once more.

But then, turning down the hallway she slid behind Smash (wanting to pull him either into the janitor's closet, or just do him for everybody to see) and heard what he said,

"Do you want to consummate our relationship?"

Her heart fell. It fluttered, it fell again. Before Julie Taylor (what a slut!!!) or the man she'd trusted with her heart noticed her, she slipped away. She'd thought he'd felt the same way about her. Tears fell, sobs started.

/-/-/

Matt scampered out of the empty classroom. He pulled up quickly when he saw Smash talking to Julie and then her storm off purposefully, a look of supreme anger on her face. His anger dissipated with the realisation that this situation was going to get worse before it got better. This would erupt in a way that he hadn't necessarily considered. That more feelings had been in play than just his and Julie's. This was confirmed when he observed the stricken look on Lyla Garrity's face when Smash had propositioned Julie. He sighed. Sometimes doing the right thing was a pain in the rear.

/-/-/

Riggins was feeling pretty good as he pushed the weights above his head and then down to his chest. Sweat peppered his forehead and the exertion of the weight training had him breathing heavily too. He had heard through the grapevine that Smash has propositioned Julie and that she had turned him down flat. It felt good he had to admit, to know that she was into him and not any random, well-performing player. The thought of Smash brought The Bet to the fore of his mind. He had been feeling guilty about it for awhile now and just knowing Julie was enough. The Bet meant nothing, even if it hadn't been scrapped. He continued pushing the weights, his hair sticking to his face. Another player was acting as his spotter but suddenly Saracen's face slid into view. He looked like he was about to barf.

"Hey Seven, what's the go?" Tim continued pushing the weights, his question coming out of his mouth like a gust of air. From this angle he could see Matt almost swallow his Adam's apple, he was clearly nervous.

"Um ahh Riggins. I ah have seen you and Smash trying with uhh Julie and it hasn't errr sat well with me, ya know?" Saracen looked at him, clearly wanted him to understand. He nodded, he had no idea where this was going.

"Julie's special, she uh shouldn't have errr become part of The Bet." Saracen's voice was slowly becoming more authoritative. Tim stopped pushing the weights and sat up.

"What are you getting at Seven?" Riggins just wanted to get to the core of it already.

"I told her." Those three words sat in the air, slowly sinking in as the weight of their meaning computed. Tim shook his head.

"You told her about The Bet?" He was feeling an emotion he couldn't name move through his body. "Did you name names?" It was dread, the emotion was dread.

"I really didn't have to, she uh joined the dots pretty quickly," Matt looked at Riggins straight in the eye as if he was attempting to assess his feelings. Riggins struggled to keep his normal blank look in place.

"So she knew about Smash and me?" His stomach dropped and he knew he really didn't need to answer on this one. Matt's face was clear enough to read. There was no point in being pissed off with Matt, he was acting in Julie's best interests and that's what he should have right from the beginning. "How did she react?" he really needed to know.

"Not well man, her face kinda fell. I thought she might cry." Matt looked at him, accurately reading Tim's guilt face and Matt's changed to one of pity. "I'm sorry man but the bet wasn't cool and I couldn't let it continue with her not knowing. It was cruel." Riggins nodded as Matt departed, he couldn't disagree with that. The question now was how he'd get close enough to Julie to spare himself bodily injury. To explain himself. To perhaps secure himself another chance with her. Who was he kidding? There was no way in hell a chick like her would give someone like him another chance. He had already proven what a Class A jerk he was by being involved in The Bet. He couldn't deny agreeing to it or initially taking part in it. He was guilty. How would he explain that to a girl who would have nothing to do with his excuses, reasons or explanations?