485Bet You Can't!
- Chapter 1 -
"Taaaanya!" Kyrian sang out, sliding an arm around the shoulders of his best friend.
The two were meeting at the mall's food court to discuss the upcoming school year - they were finally juniors! - and, of course, the upcoming challenge to be issued by Kyrian.
"Kyyyyy," she responded in the same tone, but looking a little distracted.
He released her and slid into the chair opposite her. "So I have the best dare for you this year," he said, his blue eyes gleaming with barely held-back enthusiasm.
"Oh yeah?" Tanya asked, her eyes focused beyond his shoulder.
"Yep! So here it is: You have to ge-" he suddenly realized that she was not focused on the conversation. Turning, he followed the direction of her eyes and realized that she was gazing at Kent Reed. Yes, the same boy from the 'kissing in a tree' song from grade 4. Of course, he was no longer a boy, having grown to be a boy-next-door type with his brown hair, brown eyes, and lean build. Not to mention he had some sort of innate niceness that made girls flock to him irregardless of his average looks.
"TANYA!" Kyrian snapped irritably, bringing her eyes back to him.
She blinked. "Huh? Oh...sorry," she said, blushing.
Kyrian stared at her. Tanya Sanchez...blushing? He shot a look over his shoulder and felt a curl of rage as his eyes rested on Kent once more. He turned back and waited until Tanya met his eyes again. "Are you ready to hear my dare, then?" he asked her with a scowl.
Tanya pushed her bangs out from her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, go ahead...I'm listening now."
He stared at the girl for a moment, taking in his best friends golden hair, soft brown eyes, and lightly tanned face.
"Ky?"
"Oh. Yeah. It's..." he paused and then uttered something he had never expected to ever say. "Your challenge this year is to seduce me." The two of them stared at each other in horror. "I bet you can't," he added lamely.
"That..." she gulped. "THAT is your 'best dare'?" she quoted.
'No, it's not...but my verbal diarrhea can't be helped,' he thought. "Yes," he said instead.
She gulped again. "Are you...are you sure?"
Kyrian was on the verge of taking back his words, but then he caught her eyes drifting over his shoulder again to land on him. "Yes, I'm sure." He grinned at her, although his insides were twisting with confusion. "So...good luck this year."
Present Day...
Tanya was mere seconds away from turning around the beating the living daylights out of the guy behind her. She was sitting in class, squinting at the bright overhead slides and trying to pay attention to the professor droning on and on about the current social crisis, while the retard sitting behind her had conveniently fallen asleep.
And he was snoring!
5...4...3...2... "DO YOU MIND?" she finally screamed, turning around to confront the guy. He jolted at the sound and lifted his head from the table, his black eyes looking panicked. "This happens to be a second year university course, and if you can't bother to stay up during class then why bother coming?" Tanya asked him snidely. "Or wait, did you discover a form of osmosis that will allow all the information to just transfer itself to your brain while you snore your way through class?"
The entire class had perked up at the shouting - nobody had glazed eyes any longer.
"Ms. Sanchez!" the professor reprimanded, reading her name off the provided namecard. "If you will not behave yourself, I will have to ask you to leave."
Tanya stared wide-eyed at the professor, while everybody else in the class held their breaths. There was fire in the girl's eyes, and the anger was not unwarranted due to the professor's clear preference for snoring-guy.
Muttering obscenities under her breath, Tanya packed up her things and slid out of her row - after giving snoring-guy and the professor dirty looks, of course. It was amazing that she had not retorted back at the professor, for she had been known for doing so previously.
Once outside, Tanya let loose by flinging her textbook against the wall while onlookers eyed her with fear and apprehension.
'You spend $180 on a textbook, $1020 on tuition for the one course, 7 hours a week on the course work...and then are forced to leave the class because the professor has a crush on the guy disrupting the class,' she thought to herself, venting.
"Umm...Tanya?"
The voice came from behind her, and she swung around to see snoring-guy watching her cautiously. He was pale, too skinny, and had black eyes and black hair that just made him look even paler.
"What do you want? And how do you know my name?" Tanya advanced on him with clenched fists.
Snoring-guy backed away, wisely. "I...ah...everybody knows you...you're Tara's sister." Evidently, he had chosen to answer the easier question first.
Tanya waited.
"I...wanted to apologize," he blurted out quickly. "I had to hand in a project this morning and so I pulled an all-nighter...that's why I fell asleep."
"And?"
"And what?"
"And why the fuck would I care?" she asked him, her voice dangerously soft. The way he way looking her up and down was putting her on the defensive; a defensive Tanya meant a bitchy one.
"You...I...I don't want you to be angry at me," he said meekly. The meekness was overruled by the fact that his eyes were trained on her chest.
Tanya narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would you care? And why the hell would you come to class if you pulled an all-nighter and would probably fall asleep anyway?"
"I...I came to see you," he said so quietly she almost thought she had imagined it. "I only enrolled in this class because you were in it."
She blinked at him. "What are you, some psycho stalker?" she demanded.
His eyes took on a panicked quality again. "Please, just hear me out," he begged. "I noticed you in first year and I...I love you."
'Oh dear Lord!' she thought, digging through her bag for her cell phone. Finding it, she flipped it open and dialed a number. "Hey, I just got kicked out of class. (...) Yes, again, but that was last year! (...) I- hell, forget it. Where are you now? (...) Fine, give me 10 minutes. Order something for me. Ciao." She flipped the phone shut and looked up to see snoring-guy still facing her. "What's your name?"
"M-M-Matthew," he stammered out.
"Okay, M-M-Matthew, here's the deal. I don't know you, and I sure as hell am not in love with you. I don't want to see you following me around, and I will sic the Brothers on you if I think you are." Tanya retrieved her textbook as she spoke and shoved it into her oversize bag. "Now, good day to you."
With those parting words, she headed for the stairs.
"You know I hate the pub," Tanya whined, plopping herself at the end of the booth. "Hello Brothers. Hello evil older sister. And hello not-so-evil other Sisters."
I believe it is time to explain. The Brothers were what the boys of the university's fraternity were called, while the Sisters were the sorority girls. The aforementioned "evil" older sister was none other than Tara Sanchez, Tanya's one-and-only biological sister.
"Why else would we eat here?" Nicholas "Nick" Trevor - one of the Brothers - teased, pulling Tanya closer so that she wasn't about to fall off the booth's edge. "We have this perpetual hope that you'd leave us alone if we keep hanging out here. And hello to you too."
The rest of the crowd chorused their hellos and then went back to their respective discussions. Just in time, the waitress appeared and placed a plate of food in front of Nick.
"Here's the food you wanted," he said, pushing it in front of Tanya. He had been the one she had called earlier.
Tanya eyed the food suspiciously. "You got me a burger?" she asked. "Really, why?"
Nick slid an arm around her waist and pinched the non-existent fat on her left hip. "Because you need to put some weight on...we don't want people to think you're anorexic, or that we don't feed you," he responded with a grin.
"All the guys think I have a hot bod," Tanya informed him, forcing herself to take a big bite out of the burger. "In fact, I got another love declaration just a few minutes ago."
"Really? Who was the poor SOB?" Nick leaned over to get ketchup off the side of Tanya's mouth. By licking it.
She giggled and pushed him away. "Eww Nick, now I have your germs on me!"
Benjamin "Ben" Sutherland leaned over Nick to grin at Tanya. "The two of you really need to stop playing your games and get together," he said. "The sexual tension is killing me."
Nick elbowed him. "You know we're just bestest buddies," he drawled. "Unless..." he wagged his eyebrows at Tanya. "Darling, would you like to bring benefits into our currently-platonic relationship? We can even move you into my place, so that we can have that much more time together."
"Leave my roomie alone," piped the girl sitting across from Nick. "She's mine, and will stay with me no matter what you boys try to say."
Tanya grinned at Aria White, her best friend and roommate at the sorority house. They had known each other since grade 7. "Darling, I am yours for eternity if you'll tolerate me that long."
Nick poked Tanya in the side. "Wanna bet?" Tanya tensed at those words and Nick looked at her in confusion. "What is it?"
She shook her head, forcing herself to relax. "Nothi-"
"Hi Tanya."
With a groan, Tanya looked up to see Matthew standing beside her. "What do you want Matthew?"
"You can call me Matt." He grinned at the fact that Tanya had remembered his name.
She ground her teeth. "What. Do. You. Want?"
Still smiling, Matthew reached into his bag and pulled a loose-leaf piece of paper from a folder. "This is yours," he said, placing it on the table. "I think it fell out when you threw your textbook at the wall."
Tanya looked at the paper and recognized it as the sheet she had been planning to use for taking class notes. However, due to having been kicked out, the only thing on the page was her name, the date, the course code, and the lecture number. She glared up at Matthew. "Thanks, but you think I would need this...why?"
Ben snorted from the other side of Nick and received another jab in the stomach.
"I..." Matthew fidgeted. "Umm...can I talk to you alone please?"
"No."
"Tanya...please..."
"No." She took another bite of the burger.
"Tanya-"
"Tanya, just go."
The girl in question glanced up at her sister. "You're not the boss of me," she retorted childishly, "and I have the right to choose who I want to talk to." Turning to Matthew: "Listen, I know we started off on the wrong foot, but I really don't appreciate being followed around."
Matthew stared at her blankly. "But I love-"
"No," Tanya said firmly. "You don't."
Nick, his arm still around Tanya's waist, pulled her against him so that he could whisper in her ear. "This guy is today's 'love declaration'?" he asked so that nobody else could hear.
Tanya nodded subtly, still watching Matthew, and saw the second his expression turned from confusion to anger. "It's all because of this guy, isn't it?" he shouted, pointing a shaky finger at Nick. "He's the reason you're not giving me a chance."
The fingers on Tanya's waist tensed, as did the body behind her. Nick did not enjoy being provoked. "You'll want to watch where you point that finger," he said dangerously. "I wouldn't be surprised if it gets cut off."
Matthew ignored him and continued ranting at Tanya. "You're been hanging off him since the beginning of the school year, and he just doesn't appreciate you! I see him with other girls all the time, and you're a whore who continues going back to him time and time again! You FUCKING WHORE!" His face was completely red by then. "You just keep fucking him, and he just keeps fucking other girls when you're not around. He's a fucking wanker filled to the brim with STI's, and you're one of his prostitutes!"
Nick became more and more tense as Matthew ranted, but Tanya watched him calmly. The others at the table - Tara, Aria, Nancy Masters, Kerry Johnson, Ben, Johnathan "Johnny" and Jerald "Jerry" Thatcher (twins) - were watching the scene with apprehension. The Brothers were ready to join in the fray, should there be one, but the Sisters were worried about the look on Tanya's face. When Tanya appeared calm outwardly, fireworks were almost always guaranteed.
"Well then, Matthew," Tanya said sweetly as he stopped and breathed deeply, "are you finished?" She put a reassuring hand on Nick's, asking him silently to keep calm.
"Bitch!" Matthew growled at her, making her laugh loudly.
"That I am," she agreed, breaking contact with Nick and standing up. "Anything else you'd like to add to my traits?"
His face had returned to its natural pale pallor, and his beady black eyes regarded her viciously. "One day, I will have you under me...groaning and begging me to put you out of your misery. It'll happen, and then we'll see who's laughing."
A wave of protest stemmed from the Brothers, but Tanya waved it away impatiently. "Oh yes, because I definitely would be groaning for you to kill me, because there's no way I'll be begging you for anything - especially not sexual release."
"Bitch!" he shouted again, making a grab for her.
Before anybody else could move, he crashed into the floor. Tanya stood over him, her hands bloodied from the punch she had thrown at his nose. "I hope it's broken," she hissed, looking down at him. "It'll add some character to your ugly mug." She flagged down the waitress who, along with everyone else at the pub, was watching the scene with shock. "You," she said, pointing at her, "where's your manager?"
The woman stuttered that he was out.
"Well then, you can call campus police on his behalf. I want this guy to face harassment charges." Tanya pulled a business card from her wallet and scribbled her name on the back of it. "This is my lawyer's number," she said, pointing at the printed contact information on the front. "Give this card to campus police and tell them my name - Tanya Sanchez - and that they can find me at the sorority house."
Leaving the woman to follow her instructions, Tanya turned back to her friends. "I'm out of here," she said. "I'll see all of you tonight at the frat party."
"I'll come with you," Aria announced, climbing out of the booth. "I need to get started on my assignment anyway."
Tanya nodded and looked at Nick, who still looked furious. "You okay?"
He nodded stiffly. "Good thing you have those black belts in karate and jujitsu," he commented lightly. Tanya could detect the undercurrents behind his words - he was not happy that he was forced to stand by while she took care of matters.
She shrugged - he just had to deal with her and stop letting his ego get bruised by her independence. "Call me," she simply said before leaving with Aria.
"That was...intense."
Tanya smiled at the other girl. "Matthew or Nick?"
Aria grinned back. "Both, really. Matthew was just creepy...made me shudder when he got to the table - even before he opened his mouth - and Nick is just too sweet for his own good. He's not happy with you right now."
"Ya think?" Tanya shot back. "The boy needs to understand that I've been taking care of myself before he slotted himself into my life. Just because he's one of my best friends doesn't mean that it obliges him to get punched in the face on my behalf."
- - - - -
"Yo man, that girl is fine!"
The other guy's wolf-whistled as they headed for their respective classes. The speaker, now alone, ambled over to Tanya.
"Hey babe," he purred, looking down her top. "Lookin' hot!"
Tanya paused in the otherwise-empty hallway, his body having blocked her way to class. "Hot enough to burn you," she responded, internally wincing at her own cheesy response. "I'm already late. Move."
The guy trailed a finger down her arm, just as she recognized him to be Neil, a popular jock; he was a senior. "Now, now," he murmured, using the voice that had swayed many a girl in the past. "We both know you don't mean that."
She gritted her teeth. "I assure you, I do."
Neil completely ignored her statement. "What's a beautiful girl like you doing all dressed up like a freak?" He pulled on the collar of her black leather jacket to force her body against his. She was dressed all in black and had the Goth look going because of her grade 9 dare. "If only you were to switch to normal wear, you would be my next girlfriend," he commented, his breathing quickening at the feeling of her breasts against his chest. "As it stands now, you'll just have to be my next...fuck-buddy."
Tanya was disgusted by the sleaziness of the boy in front of her. "Let go of me," she demanded, refusing to physically struggle. She knew that it would probably turn him on more if she did.
"Or else...?" he teased her. A shout was heard from the end of the hallway, just behind Neil, just when he brushed his lips over hers.
Tanya's knee shot up immediately, and her kneecap collided at the perfect angle with his crotch to maximize the damage - just as her instructor had taught. As Neil let go of her to clutch his...jewels...she put an arm around his neck and shoved him downwards so that his face was flat against the floor. "You ever come near me again," she hissed, crouching to his level, "and I will do more than unman you."
She stood up, dusting off her leather pants, and found herself meeting a pair of irritated blue eyes.
"You suck at playing damsel-in-distress," Kyrian complained, slinging an arm around her shoulders. He made sure he 'accidentally' kicked Neil in the side as they turned to head towards the next class, English, which they happened to share. "Next time, I'll have to get here super early to get in the first punch."
Tanya sneered at him. "Wouldn't that ruin your manicure?" she asked snidely, shrugging his shoulders off to dig in her bag. Finding what she was looking for, she held it out to Kyrian.
"What's-" he cut himself off and groaned. "Another one? Really?"
She glared at him until he took the piece of paper from her hands.
Kyrian sighed and unfolded it to read out loud, "Be like a fish." He looked up from the blood-red writing and arched an eyebrow at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Tanya grinned and paused by the classroom door. She could hear that the teacher had already started the lecture.
"Sleep with your eyes open," she explained before strolling inside.
- - - - -
Aria shrugged. "Well we all know about the male ego," she said, jolting Tanya out of her memories.
Tanya detected a little bitterness behind her friends words. "Thane still being stupid?" Thane was Aria's very overprotective older brother.
"He's still moping about Neveda and Jonah - nothing new there." She grinned as Tanya's stomach let out a loud growl. "Still hungry?" she teased, effectively changing the topic.
"I barely got in two bites of that lousy burger before I had to karate chop the bipolar moron's face," the other girl complained. "I told you - I hate that pub."
A/N: I figured - since the prologue was so short - I'd release chapter 1 today to make up for it. It would have been up last night if not for my mom forcing me (kicking and screaming) to get to bed at 1:30am because she's sick of my nocturnal ways. (I've been sleeping at around 5am and waking up around noon for the last week or so. Apparently it gives her a headache.)
Review Questions (something I figured I'd try):
(1) What'd you think of the flashback? Did it seem out-of-place?
(2) Matthew? Erm. (Make up your own question about him...)
(3) What are your overall thoughts on this chapter? On the story so far? (Yeah, I know it's early yet...)
(4) Anything else you'd like to comment on. (Includes "Omigosh you are my hero!", "Can I bear your children?", and "You suck. Eww.")