Page 131 of Counter Bet

Emily.

The next two months pass by in a blur. Hailey has been to visit, and I keep in regular contact with Rick. Landon and I have become close friends despite our butchered date. Scarlett is her usual crazy self, dragging me to parties and keeping me up watching movies until the early hours.

I haven’t been back to the restaurant, but my thoughts keep straying to Dallas and her whispered words in the bathroom.

“You’re thinking again. Spill!” Scarlett says, turning a page in her book.

I lean back against the headboard. We’re in our dorm room. “I miss two people. We used to be close, and I wonder if it was a mistake to let them go?”

She closes the book and gives me her full attention. “Have you tried reaching out?”

I shake my head. “No. It’s complicated. They hurt me, and so much time has passed. I don’t know if it’s too late.” I chance a look at Scarlett.

She’s watching me with a soft smile. “Babe, you won’t know if it’s too late unless you try.”

I nod in thought, dropping my eyes to the bedspread. Scarlett is right, but I don’t even know where to start? I still remember Ben’s last words to me. He told me not to come back.

“Do you believe in fate?” I ask, feeling a blush creep up my neck. The question feels so juvenile.

Scarlett purses her mouth in thought. “I think I do. If two people are meant to be together, then the universe will conspire to bring them together. Sounds cheesy, but yes, I do believe that.”

“I hope you’re right,” I whisper quietly.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

I cringe. “It’s a long story, Scar. Besides, you’ll think I’m weird.”

She snorts a laugh, moving off her bed and joining me on mine. “Have you met me? If anyone here is weird, it’s me. I would never judge you. I’m curious about these mystery people.” She winks.

I chuckle, shaking my head. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but it’s a long story.”

She beams. “Great! But wait.” She scans the room. “Do we have snacks?” She jumps off the bed and rummages through her bag. I watch on in amusement. “Bingo!” She throws a packet of Skittles in my lap. The bed dips when she sits back down and rips into her own packet. She throws a handful of Skittles in her mouth, chewing loudly. “Right, where were we?” She clicks her fingers. “Mystery people. Drama.”

I can’t help but laugh. Scarlett always knows how to lighten the mood. I tell her the whole story from beginning to end. It’s nice to share this part of myself with her, and it makes me wonder why I waited this long.

“You said you have pictures of them?”

“Yeah, in my bedside table,” I reply, digging through my bag of Skittles for the red ones. My favorite.

Scarlett retrieves the photographs and sits back down, leafing through the pile. There aren’t that many, only a handful.

She traces her fingers over one and murmurs, “You look so happy here.”

My chest aches. “I was. Until I found about the bet.”

“Don’t you think it started out as a bet and then became real?”

I pick at the bedspread and whisper, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Scarlett puts a photograph in my lap. It’s the one of Ben kissing me on the cheek at the skatepark. “He’s in love with you, or at least he was when this photograph was taken,” she says, pointing to Ben.

“What makes you say that?”

Scarlett tuts. “Babe, are you blind? Can’t you see how he looks at you?” She puts another photograph in my lap.

I squeeze my eyes shut. I can see it. So, why am I in denial?

It’s simple. If Ben was in love with me, I ruined it all because of my own fear and inability to look past my own hurt feelings.

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