Chapter 2 - The Bet

Lance sat down on a park bench outside the front of the school. Students and teachers passed by him all morning. Not a single one stopped to talk to him. Nobody said hi. Teachers didn’t ask if he should be in class. Invisibility was normal for Lance. This was how they treated him at his last school too.

The class bell rang and suddenly Lance was alone.

Like normal.

Different school. Same result.

An older guy who looked like a faculty member walked by. Lance was expecting him to say something. Instead, he ignored Lance and just headed into the school.

Lance sighed, pulled his Gameboy from his backpack, and started playing a game.

Fifty minutes later another class bell rang and students were rushing from one class to another. Lance had zero motivation to get up and return his forms to the office. Was he really going to skip school today?

He wished he could call Mom.  He wished he could call Simone.  They always knew what to say to help him ease his anxieties.  Mom would remind him that he’s loved.  Simone would attempt to get him to make new friends and to put himself out there.

With each class bell, the day got later and later.  Lance considered leaving.  But whatever Lance did to pass the time, he still had to be back here at the end of the day so his dad could give him a ride home.

So he stayed on the park bench through the entire school day.

* * *

Zoey, Deanna, and Peggy walked out of the school at the end of the last class. Like earlier, random students were saying hi to Zoey. Except this time they were also offering their condolences.

“Sorry to hear about you and Tyler,” one girl said.

Guys would smile and give her a nod.

“Zoey, call me.” said another girl with a wink.

Zoey stopped in front of the school and watched students stream by. She held her tongue as Olivia Jones and her cheerleading friends walked past her. 

The student reporter accidentally bumped Zoey’s shoulder while running over to Olivia. “Olivia, can I interview you for the school paper?”

“Oh hi, Trudy,” Olivia smiled, “Sure. I love your stories!”

Zoey rolled her eyes and felt a pang of jealousy. That was her this morning. But now seeing all the attention Olivia was getting, Zoey was starting to feel like she was yesterday’s news.

Another girl pushed by Zoey, talking to her friend as if Zoey wasn’t there. “Oh my God, I hear Tyler Valentine is single now,” she gushed.

Zoey grunted in frustration and looked to her best friends for support. “This will all blow over.” she said, trying to convince herself also.

“I don’t know, Zoey,” Deanna said. “I think you’re underestimating how much of a big deal this whole Tyler thing is. This kinda stuff will follow you to college.”

“Yeah, remember that girl from last year who was caught having sex with the art teacher.” Peggy added. “I heard she had to drop out of college.”

The three of them stood there and watched Tyler and a few of his football friends walk by. That was until Tyler noticed Olivia and her friends, then he strutted up to them and interrupted whatever it was they were talking about.

“Hey, sexy,” Tyler said to Oliva, like they had been a couple for months.

“Ugh,” Zoey said, turning away from that scene. “Tyler is just a jock. He’s nobody. He’s going to drop out of college.” Zoey complained. “He’s totally replaceable - if I even wanted another boyfriend.”

“Whoa, Tyler Valentine is not easily replaceable.” Deanna said. “He’s the most popular guy in school.”

“Dee’s got a point there Zo.” Peggy feigned a smile. She hated taking sides.

“You’re damn right,” Deanna said, “He’s the varsity quarterback. His rock-hard abs were featured in January and February in the football booster’s fundraising calendar.”

“It’s still February in my mom’s home office.” Peggy said as both she and Deanna giggled.

“No, you’re both wrong.” Zoey replied. “He’s only the most popular guy in school because he was dating me - the most popular girl in school. Hell, he wouldn’t even be on the football team without my tutoring. He would’ve flunked out before ever making the team.”

“Ego much?” Deanna taunted.

“No, it’s a fact. Being popular takes work, but anyone can do it. Look at me. I was shy in middle school. But I came out of my shell, and believe me, I worked for it. I won class president by a landslide every year. I got voted “Most Likely to Succeed” for the yearbook. I’m fucking royalty now.”

“But if Tyler, the varsity quarterback, is dating Olivia, the head cheerleader, there’s new royalty in town - and Olivia is the one fucking it.”

“Barf!” Zoey put her finger in her mouth. “Spare me. Popularity is overrated anyway.”

“But what about all that hard work you put into it?” Peggy asked. “Just to see it all go up in smoke because of Tyler’s spring fling?”

“Now that I think of it, things were getting kinda annoying and distracting. Maybe it’s better if I let someone else become the most popular girl for a change.”

“Like Oliva?” Deanna needled.

“Oh, hell, no! That bitch needs to go down!”

“I heard she’s already a shoo-in for prom queen if they bring that back.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“But I thought you didn’t care about prom court.”

“I don’t, but you don't need to be dating Tyler to be prom queen. It’s so superficial, anyone could do it. Take Petition-Girl over there.” Zoey pointed at the girl trying unsuccessfully to get signatures from a bunch of skater guys. “With a new look and attitude, maybe a padded bra, she could be prom queen.”

“You can't be serious, Zo.” Deanna said. “You yourself wouldn’t even give her the time of day this morning. You don’t even know her name.”

“No, I'm serious.” Zoey said. “Watch this.” She faced the girl and yelled: “Hey! You with the petition!”

She looked back at Zoey. Zoey motioned to her, and she came bounding over with a great big smile.

“What’s your name?” Zoey asked.

“Pricilla.”

Zoey took her clipboard and read the title. “Petition to establish Prom Court.” It had only three signatures - the first one being Pricilla’s. Zoey took the pen and signed her name. She then shouted out loud to the crowd: “Everyone, come sign Patti’s awesome petition to bring back prom king and queen!”

Suddenly a crowd of people converged on Pricilla as Zoey, Deanna, and Peggy stepped away.

“See.” Zoey gloated. “Now twenty more people know her name, and because I've signed it, it’s all but guaranteed to succeed.”

Deanna looked at the crowd and then Zoey dumbfounded. “But that doesn’t mean she’s going to be elected prom queen.”

“No, but if I wanted, I could help her - or anyone else - become prom queen.”

Zoey and Deanna stared at each other for a pregnant moment before Peggy spoke up. “OK you two, let’s just agree to disagree. Let’s not get catty.”

“No,” Deanna said firmly. “I want Zoey to put her money where her mouth is. She thinks it's so easy to be queen bitch at this school, let her prove it.”

“Nah, don't go there, Dee,” Peggy cautioned. “She’s just angry ‘cause she got dumped in front of the whole school. And this has nothing to do with Tyler or Olivia.”

“Don’t be a square, Peg, I want her to prove herself. What do you say Zo?”

“Are you talking about another bet?” Zoey asked.

“Yeah, prove you’re not just full of shit.” Deanna responded.

“What’re the terms?”

“I’ll pick the target and you have six weeks to get them elected prom queen.”

“Alright ladies, let’s not get carried away here.” Peggy cautioned. “Remember the last time you both made a bet?”

“Yeah,” Zoey grinned. “Dee had to flash the boy’s track team.”

“Yeah, apparently boys can’t run with a raging boner.” Deanna replied. “I feel bad for that one boy who tripped and fell flat on… nevermind.”

“You mean the pole vaulter?” Peggy giggled.

“Well, this is another bet I'll be winning.” Zoey said with complete confidence. “You’re on.”

“Don’t be too sure about that.” Deanna replied. “OK, let’s find our future prom queen.”

Zoey scanned around the students in the quad. She saw a girl who was wearing cat ears and had a fabric cat tail poking out of her skirt. “How about her?”

“Nah.” Deanna responded. “I don’t want to listen to a prom queen acceptance speech full of catgirl-speak. Hey, wow about this one?” she said pointing at a goth girl. “She’s got this whole Wicked Witch of the West theme going on.”

“Ew. Are you sure we can’t pick the furry?” 

“Nah. Let’s keep looking.”

“How about her?” Zoey pointed at a girl, who had glasses, braces and was dressed like a tomboy.

“Nah. She’s actually good looking underneath all of… that. I feel like that’s been done. We can do better.” Deanna stopped in her tracks and pointed straight ahead. She had an evil smirk on her face. “Ladies, we have a winner.”

Zoey looked at where Deanna was pointing. There, sleeping on a park bench in front of the school was some unknown guy. “Who? There’s no girl over that way.”

“Who said anything about a girl?” Deanna snickered.

“You mean the homeless boy?” Zoey questioned.

“You never specifically said it had to be a girl.” Deanna laughed at her own cleverness.

“Does he even go here?” Peggy wondered out loud.

“Look, I can handle hygiene issues, off-putting personalities, crazy obsessions, and maybe even a tail. But a guy? He’s not even eligible for prom queen. Peggy, please help me out here.”

“Zo, I warned you.” Peggy responded, shrugging her shoulders and snickering.

Deanna laughed. “You’re not backing out of the bet are you?”

Peggy giggled.

“Never,” Zoey confidently asserted.

“Then you better get a move on. You only have six weeks to get that guy to be prom queen.”

Zoey walked up to the sleeping boy. She cleared her throat. He didn’t respond. She did it again, louder. She then nudged him with the tip of her shoe. “I’m not sure if he’s even alive,” she called back to her friends.

Zoey’s yelling awoke the sleeping boy. He quickly sprang up and looked around. Seeing Zoey, he shouted at her accusingly. “What? Who are you?”

“Hi, stranger.” she said seductively. “My name is-”

“What did you do to me?” he cried out, all paranoid. “Is there gum in my hair? Did you draw on my face?”

“No, I just-”

“Leave me alone.” He got up and ran off, wiping his face, glancing back to see if she was following him.

Zoey turned around to face her friends who were standing there laughing. “Shit,” she thought to herself. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

She looked down at her feet and noticed a few papers on the ground. She knelt down to pick them up and saw that they were school enrollment forms. At the top of the first form, in sloppy handwriting, was “Lance Biggs.” Below that was his address.

“Alright Lance Biggs.” Zoey whispered to herself. “It’s time to pay you a visit.”