[Age 17] Harvey: "Win."

I stared at Gideon across the crowded cafeteria, my eyes locked onto his with unwavering hatred that didn't get interrupted despite the numerous people crossing in between. Gideon didn't break our gaze either, regardless of the fact that I could clearly see his friends trying to get his attention for something. The guy just smirked in response, quirking one brow sardonically as if to say, 'Now who's the winner?'

I threw up my middle finger in response and twisted away, breaking our staring match.

Childish, I know. But it was the most I could come up with when he riled me up like this.

"You're still hung up on that bet of yours?" Axel scoffed, taking a sip of coke to wash down the jumbo burger he was devouring that afternoon. "Just give up already. It's been two years and no one knows who he goes out with until it's over. How many girls has it been now? Five, including Carly this morning?" I looked down into my food, too ashamed to admit defeat. "All you've done is made them cry by bringing up Gideon just after he's broken up with them. I don't think it counts as a win if you date the girl he's just dumped."

"I didn't date anyone he's dumped, though, did I?" I scowled, "When it becomes clear that it's over I've always backed off. Somehow, word never gets out. Which is a wonder because girls love to brag about these things and he's quote-unquote the biggest catch of our school according to Ria." I rolled my eyes, "But how he manages to keep them from talking is beyond me."

Ria, who was sitting beside her boyfriend Nash, perked up at the mention of her name, "He most definitely is." At Nash's glare, she made a cute face at him and kissed his cheek, laughing, "That doesn't mean I love you any less, babe. He's not for me. He's for those people who like the whole 'high-maintenance' thing. Say, like Harvey. All of his girlfriends are as high maintenance as they come." 

I shot daggers at her with my eyes, trying to hide the familiar panic that she might've somehow guessed I swung both ways, "I don't see why I had to be brought into this for no reason."

She was just joking.

And I didn't think Gideon was really a high maintenance kinda guy, but I wisely kept that to myself.

"So you'll quit?" Axel urged, still waiting for an answer.

"I'll think about it?" Which we all knew meant 'never in a million years.'

"Ria, just please find out who he's dating and put an end to this crap." Axel put his hands together as if in prayer and bowed to the cheerleader, "I can't take this anymore."

She laughed, "I'll see what I can do."

~

"Finally." Axel messaged me during French that afternoon.

"What?" I sent back covertly hiding my phone below the desk.

"Here's the info. He might be going out with Taylor Greene. It's unconfirmed but it's as close to the truth as it can possibly get because for the first time ever, it's a cheerleader, and that's the only reason why Ria was able to get this much."

"Huh. Okay."

Huh.

A cheerleader. Not to stereotype, because plenty of my friends were cheerleaders and they were all super nice, but it generally wasn't his type. He didn't like to associate much with the popular crowd, or the 'Dumb and Dumber' crowd as he liked to call it.

This almost feels like a challenge. To date someone he knew I'd definitely find out about—I stopped that thought right there because that was the most narcissistic thing I'd ever thought and I couldn't believe I'd stooped that low. Even if I had a bet with him, the girls involved weren't our playthings and I had to make sure no one got hurt.

Yeah, good luck with that.

~

The next day, I found Taylor after school at the eastern corner of the football field—the same place the cheerleaders used for their practice always. For a second, I hesitated, because I knew this was a seriously assholish thing to do, but a bet was a bet and I hoped to make it clear to Taylor that I just wanted to go on one date to see where things went.

Who knew. Maybe she'd end up being the one I fall for and marry.

"Hey," I turned on the charm, giving her a glimpse of the dimples many girls had complimented, "How's it going?"

Taylor seemed surprised. It was justified because while we ran in the same circles, I hadn't spoken to her previously beyond basic niceties. She was a petite brunette with soft blue eyes, and I wondered now why I hadn't really shown any interest in her before. "Hi, Harvey. What's the matter?"

Straight to the point, okay. "Uh, well. Can I talk to you?" At her expectant look, I clarified, "Alone?"

Her friends, who were all pretending not to overhear, giggled, and shoved her closer to me. "Uh." Taylor seemed genuinely confused, "Sure?"

God, this girl wasn't giving me any player vibes yet, and that just made my stomach churn uncomfortably.

There were a million different ways this could go wrong.

"Cool. This way." I gestured to the bleachers. We walked in silence until we were far enough away from the other people, and I waved at the bench, smiling. "After you."

She smiled back, and I sat down, putting a foot of space between us.

"So," I decided it was pointless to beat around the bush. "I was wondering if you'd wanna go out with me sometime?"

The surprise on her face was muted this time, but it was there nonetheless. "Are you asking me out, Harvey?"

"Yeah." I turned to fully face her, "I mean, despite the fact that we have tonnes of mutual friends, we haven't really hung out much. It'd be nice to get to know you, and I think you're really pretty."

Well. All of those things were the truth, so good job, Harvey.

"Um." Taylor exhaled, seemingly totally at a loss for words, "But I'm kind of seeing someone."

Jackpot.

"It's Kincaid, isn't it?"

Her silence was answer enough.

"Is it official between you guys?"

"Not really." She shrugged, but the expression on her face made it clear she'd like it to be.

Okay. This was bad. She wasn't gonna say yes just like that.

"So it's cool, right?" I leaned closer, my smile intimate. "You could date other people."

"Technically, yeah." She shrugged again, leaving her answer open for interpretation.

"And?" I prompted, slowly reaching out to take the hand she was resting on the bench between us, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to. When I gently took her small wrist and traced the back of her hand with my fingers, she didn't resist. "Is that a yes?"

"I don't know . . ." She smiled playfully, scooting an inch closer to finally meet my eyes head-on.

That was better.

"Need more convincing?" I interlinked my fingers with hers, using my other hand to cover the back of her hand as well. "What do you see in him, anyway?" I lowered my voice, kissing her fingers lightly, "Besides the whole 'I own half the town' thing, he doesn't have much depth. If it weren't for pity, I wouldn't even talk to the guy."

Lies, lies. All lies.

"Oh?" Taylor's eyebrows went up. "I thought you guys avoided each other? You sound like you know him."

"Yeah, I've known him forever." I shrugged, uncomfortable discussing this matter that not many people knew. "Our families are close, I guess."

"So you've been to his house?"

"Many times." I wanted to stop talking about this, but I'd started it, and now I had to pay the price. "But that's beside the point. Do you really like him? Because I don't wanna get in between anything."

She was silent for a couple of beats. "He barely talks to me."

Thought so.

"I know I can't take you to expensive restaurants like he probably does," I smiled, "but I guarantee you it'll be fun."

"Please." She rolled her eyes, "He never wants to go out. All that money and he barely spends it on anything."

So you are dating him for his money.

Suddenly, it felt like ants were crawling all over me. I wanted to pull away and put an end to this conversation because I most definitely didn't want to go out with someone like this. But I justified to myself that it was killing two birds with one stone.

I could win the bet and Gideon could also stop dating someone who doesn't see anything in him.

"So it's a date then." My smile was forced, but I didn't think Taylor would be able to tell. "Can I pick you up this Saturday?"

"It's a date." Taylor winked.

[ G I D E O N ]

I couldn't believe this shit.

Money was a sore spot I had that not many knew about.

As a kid, it'd been the main reason I'd befriended Lyle and Ryker, after that terrible incident at camp that'd made me realize the world saw everything in terms of money. Initially, I'd been so hurt after camp that I hadn't wanted to make any new friends ever, but when the summer had ended and third grade had begun, and when two boys who were each other's best friends had been dropped off with drivers and expensive cars similar to the ones at my house, I'd known I'd probably belong with them.

Because they wouldn't betray me for money. They had plenty already.

But I'd soon come to realize that Lyle and Ryker had so much more to them than money, and that I'd really do anything for those two idiots in spite of all the trouble they got up to. A year later, when I'd finally confessed to them why I'd chosen to hang out with them in the first place, they'd hugged me despite my protests and promised to stick with me forever.

And they'd kept that promise.

What I hadn't realized was that somewhere along the way, I'd kind of unconsciously lumped Harvey fucking Remington into the same category of people who didn't immediately see dollar signs when they heard my name.

I'd honestly never thought he pitied me.

And I wouldn't have known all this if I hadn't, for once in my life, decided to make the tiniest effort to go visit the girl I was seeing at her cheerleading practice. Admittedly, I'd only started dating her because I'd known he'd get word of it before things escalated to a breakup, but Taylor had seemed okay. Fun, even.

Never had I foreseen things would turn out like this.

Fuck you, asshole.

If you thought you could pity me and get away with it, you've got another thing coming.

[ H A R V E Y ]

The next Monday when I walked up to Gideon's desk, it was like the Arctic Tundra. I'd received some very unfriendly and hateful looks from him before, gotten punched and punched him back too many times to count, insulted each other to the point where it'd gotten way out of hand, but none of those things compared to the expression on his face at that moment. Before I could get a word out, he shot me a look that made me feel about two inches tall, his eyes two chips of ice that would literally freeze me alive if they could.

What the hell? Had he actually been serious about Taylor or something?

"Just fuck off, asshole." He mumbled, standing up to swing his bag over one shoulder, and walked away, leaving me totally confused.

What have I done?

So that's the beginning of the end. The reason why things turned so ugly. After all that, Gideon just continued being colder for no reason, and Harvey just responded to it having no real clue as to why.

At first, I'd planned on writing this scene when this conversation happens between them, but I've now decided to change it into a flashback so that it's more detailed.

I'm in the process of writing ch 47 now, so you can expect an update in 2 days.

Hope y'all liked it! <3

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