Page 33 of Ruthless Rose

Me:I have no self-respect.

Scarlett:What the hell?

Max:Whoa.

Me:I’m just going to say this, and then I need for you to tell me I’m an idiot.

Me:Because, clearly, I can’t—won’t?—listen to my own good judgment.

Max:What do you mean?

Me:I might kind of have a thing for Micah.

Scarlett:And I kind of saw that coming …

Max:Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything, but…

Scarlett:You say he freaks you out, but every time he’s in the same room, you can’t peel your eyes away from him.

Me:Am I that obvious?

Max:In a word, YES.

Scarlett:So, why’d you bring this up?

Me:We were having fun at the coffee shop.

Max:You mean, “I was tutoring him at the coffee shop.”

Me:Well, I was. But we were having fun.

Me: And we kind of made a bet.

Max:Ohhh. Nooo. No, no, no.

Do they think I really am crazy? Maybe. Do I feel crazy? Definitely. Finally, I quickly type out a response.

Me:I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.

Scarlett:Wait, wait. I want to hear what the bet was all about.

I take a deep breath. Look around. It’s not a big deal.

Me: I bet him that if he got at least a B on his physics test on Thursday that I’d go to the game to watch him play.

Scarlett: Huh. Interesting. Well, I’ll be going, so we can stick together.

Scarlett:Do you think he’ll be able to do it?

Scarlett:Although I’ve heard his grades are shit right now, I don’t think he’s stupid.

Me:Yeah. I think he’ll do it.

Max:And what if he doesn’t?

Me:That’s a good question. We didn’t discuss what happens if he doesn’t get a B.

Max:You should bring it up.

---