Gwen and Lawrence left their final classes early and met up in the abandoned PoliSci clubroom. It was an emergency meeting. Gwen still loved Ben, that much was certain to Lawrence. And it looked like she was on the verge of breaking down over the whole situation with Zoey. The bet the two of them made that morning was, of course, the topic of this meeting, and the reason for Gwen’s renewed distress. She had naively thought that this morning’s confrontation would have been the end of it all, but unfortunately for her, it was only the beginning.
“I’m just going to get to the point. Could you throw the basketball game tomorrow?”
“Uh, no? Not a chance. Losing the game would ruin the mood at the dance, and everyone would hate us for it.”
“I’m sorry, but is the school dance really what’s important right now…?”
“Listen Gwen. I want to help you, really. I’ve been trying my ass off for you because I care. You know that. But I’m not going to sabotage everyone else’s day tomorrow just for you. That’s unfair to them. They deserve a good homecoming weekend.”
Gwen didn’t respond. It wasn’t that Lawrence’s words had gotten through to her, but she realized the futility of trying to pursue a favorable conclusion from that angle. They didn’t call him “The Law” for nothing, his impartiality was something she was quite familiar with.
“So, what options do we have then? He’s so excited about the bet that talking him out of it is a pipe dream. Am I just supposed to hope that you guys lose to a division 2 team?”
“We won’t.”
“Well, then I’m fucked.” She hung her arms in defeat and let out a frustrated groan.
In truth, Lawrence, who had a direct line of communication with Zoey, also had no idea what was going on. She hadn’t requested that he throw the game like Gwen had, so there was no way of inferring what her plan was. Just what was her line of reasoning for making such a risky bet? Did she have some idea, or was she simply submitting herself to Benjamin for a month? No matter how much he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that the pressure Benjamin had been applying must have been the source of her foolhardy bet.
“Maybe we should have invited Zoey to talk about it too. I’m sure she doesn’t want to go out with him either.”
“So that uppity bitch can make fun of me again? Uh, no thanks.”
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“I’m just throwing ideas out. We both know that Ben can’t be convinced otherwise, and we’re definitely not gonna lose the game, so what other options do we have?”
The room went quiet once more. Lawrence couldn’t tell if Gwen was thinking of a conclusion, or just finding it in herself to accept the situation. She leaned against a desk and let out a heavy sigh.
“Did you know that she’s the reason Ben and I broke up?”
“No shit? Really?”
“Mhm. It happened last year. The two of us were going strong back then. We were in love. At least, I definitely was. I don’t know if he really ever loved me, but he was definitely happy with me. We were good together. You saw us.”
Lawrence couldn’t deny it. When their relationship was stable, the two of them really did look like a happy couple.
“I’m not sure when it happened, but we started growing distant. It was a subtle change. So subtle, that I hadn’t even noticed it at first. He started responding to my texts slower and without as much energy as before. He didn’t want to hang out as much, and when we did hang out, it was like he wasn’t all there mentally. It sucked, but I kept convincing myself that he was just stressed with games and classes and all that stuff. There’s like no way that Ben would just change on me like that, right?
“But he did. And it took me a while to figure it out, but I saw him talking to Zoey one day in the halls. He had like, this smile on his face. It was a smile I remembered all too clearly. He used to show it to me all the time when we first started going out. And then Zoey, that two-faced bitch, looked so interested in him and what he had to say. She looked like the devil trying to take him away from me. With her stupidly cute face and her bullshit body, just how am I supposed to compete with someone like that if she really tries? I started hating myself after that, you know. I hated how I looked. I hated my short hair. I hated my small boobs. I hated the shape of my face. It’s all just unfair bullshit. How am I supposed to compete with someone like Zoey who just happens to have it all?
“You know, I actually tried to ignore it. I thought I was just being crazy. Maybe they just happened to be talking about something important. Or maybe she needed help with something. Like, I don’t know. I was trying really hard to be the bigger person. I loved him, so I didn’t want to be the kind of annoying girlfriend who freaks out whenever he talks to another girl. I trusted him. At least, I tried to. Even though things only got worse rather than better, I kept trying to trust him. I kept hoping that things would eventually go back to normal. Until, until one day, I just couldn’t do it anymore. We all have our breaking points, and I was at mine. So, I confronted him, and… well. You know the rest from there, right?”
The dark rumors that had spread across the school were still fresh in Lawrence’s mind. Of course he was familiar with them. However, what he felt wasn’t sadness, but responsibility and guilt. No matter what happened, he had to find a way to fix this.
“That girl, she would probably deny it if I asked her, but I think she was seducing Ben. She wanted to ruin our relationship. I don’t know what the reason for it was, but all this happening is proof of that. I mean, we were just beginning to talk again, and she goes out with him like that. And, as if to rub the salt in my wounds, she breaks up with him at my command just to show me how much of a hold she has over him. I mean, look at him. He’s lost his fucking mind. He’s like a dog chasing down a red mustang. He knows its futile, but he’s still putting his everything into something so pointless. I can’t stand her, Lawrence. That psychotic bitch that everyone thinks is so nice and sweet… you probably think so too, right? But I see through it. I see through her bullshit façade. And I promise you this: if the two of them start going out again, it’s going to be war. Not because I still love Ben. It hurts, but I could still let go if it were just that. No. The problem is, I just can’t stand the thought of a piece of shit like her getting away with it.”
Lawrence suddenly felt the reality of what tomorrow’s game meant. It was all coming down around him. The fear that their friend group would irreparably splinter was no longer fiction. He would have to change something about the situation. Whether that involved throwing the game or blackmailing Zoey with her own secret was up in the air, but the reality was that things were on an unstoppable course to something terrifying.