the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter five, A BET

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     BIANCA LARSSON LOVED THE LIBRARY. She loved the tranquility one room could bring. She loved the sound of a single page-turning and she loved how, if you listened close enough, you could hear the quills scribbling onto parchment. How she could get lost in a book, hidden away from the world, in a remote corner of the room; shielded by the towering bookshelves that surrounded her. She loved how the scent of old and new books filled her up and made her feel all warm inside. Bianca Larsson loved the library.

     Now all of that seemed lovely when Bianca decided to spend the rest of her Friday afternoon and evening, losing herself in a book. And that was until she was thrown harshly back into the real world and out of the comfort of her imagination, the book was providing her, by the heavy slam of what looked like a sketchbook on the desk in front of her.

     She glanced up from her own book to see none other than Adrian Pucey making himself comfortable in the seat opposite her own, "Oh I'm sorry. I thought we scheduled scrapbooking for Sunday?" she said sarcastically.

     "Har har," he whined.

     She knew he came here for a reason, but she decided to ignore that by reburying her head in the pages before her.

     He watched as she turned the page and pushed a strand of her yellow, shiny hair out of her eyes and he slid the book closer towards her. She looked up to see him gesturing to it and with a sigh, she reluctantly put down her own book, making sure to mark where she was up to first. She opened the book's hardback cover and read the title on the first page, written in Adrian's scruffy handwriting "The Kiss List". She once again looked up at him, "Adrian, what on earth is this?" her voice sounded fed up, as she quite clearly wanted to return to the contentment of her book.

     "It's a kiss list," he said proudly.

     Now, he said this with pride and only because he had spent all night making the same book that Bianca was currently staring at (with confusion, is important to add). Adrian Pucey had pretty much always been in love with the Gryffindor sitting before him, yet he never seemed to quite know it. Maybe it was because he didn't want it to be true, due to how much she hated him, or maybe it was because he was in denial about it all. And so this was created. A way for him to flirt with Bianca, but, in a way that was quite questionable and unlikely to succeed.

     She turned the first page, where she was met with a double-page spread of about twenty teenagers staring back at her.

     "Right there are twenty-one of Hogwarts' finest," he said.

     She scanned the pages, evaluating how she felt, and to see who she actually recognized. Angelina and Katie: her dormmates. Oliver Wood: Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Fred and George Weasley: the school's pranksters (she knew she would struggle to tell them apart). Cedric Diggory: the school's heartthrob.

     "I see you didn't put Adrian Pucey on here," she said.

     "Ah well, I thought he was a bit too good looking for something like this."

     "I'm not even gonna ask where you got these pictures."

     "I stole them. From the school's yearbook," he admitted casually.

     She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read his face. Why was he doing this? She didn't even think he knew.

     She began flicking through the pages, each with the same picture from before, except each with a fact file and a few things Adrian thought she should know about them in order to complete what he wanted her to do. "So what exactly am I meant to do with your stalker scrapbook?"

     "You have to kiss everyone in this book in six months," he leaned back into his chair as she continued to scan the pages.

     "In this order?" she asked.

     "Nope." he shrugged.

     "And what's in it for me?" she asked, still wondering to herself why she was actually considering going forward with someone like Adrian Pucey's stupid games.

     "I'll quit playing Quidditch," he stated, still exceedingly confident with his bet.

     Bianca didn't like bets. She always wondered why people wasted their money or time or whatever that had put on the line for something they could retrieve themselves if they worked hard enough. Except she couldn't get this herself.

    Her head almost shot up at the idea, intrigued as to why he would risk something so valuable to him just for some entertainment. "You wouldn't."

     "Oh but I would."

     She bit her lip, still debating if this was worth it, "Okay," she drawled, "And why would I do this?"

     "Because you hate how much pride I take from being on a team you're not good enough to be on. You hate how big it makes my ego and how entitled it makes me feel. If I quit the team, I know for a fact, you'd like me more."

     He was right. She did hate him for it. The part about liking him more? She would have to find out. But there was still something that didn't add up to her.

     "And why do you want me to like you, Adrian?"

     He didn't say anything and simply stared into her eyes, getting lost in the deep brown pools; there was an intense moment of silence as he did so.

     He eventually leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk, entwining his fingers, and rested his chin on them, "You kiss everyone on this list and I'll resign from the team."

     "And if I don't?" she queried, intrigued by this bet.

     Another pause, the tension in the room could be seen by anyone in the library, "You have to go on a date with me." he said, smirking.

     She let out a little squeak of laughter, "And why on earth would you want that? You hate me."

     He so desperately wanted to tell her that he didn't.

     "I want to prove to you, that I'm not as bad as I seem."

     She laughed again, "Oh right."

     "Or I could give you the worst date of your life." she stared at him intently, still not agreeing, or disagreeing for that matter. "I'm not as stupid as you think Larsson." he leaned back in his chair, throwing his hands behind his head, "I've thought this whole thing through. You so desperately want me to quit Quidditch and when you agree to this, which you will-"

     "Which I won't," she interjected.

     He ignored her, "You'll do anything to not go on a date with me, because to you, nothing seems worse. Except for someone that despises a man's interaction with her, as much as you, kissing, let's see," he looked over the photos again, briefly counting the heads, "Fifteen guys in three months is pretty gross. For you." She too leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm offering something you can't refuse, with a pretty awful consequence (in Bianca's opinion) and a hard way of getting it. I know you better than you know yourself, Larsson."

     She bit her nail and stared into his eyes. They were so alluring it annoyed her. They were enough for her to agree.

     "What are the rules?"

     He grinned at the hope that she was going to agree, "One: no forced kissing. You can't throw yourself onto him or her. It has to be natural."

     "I'm all for consent."

     "Two: no lying. I'll know if you claimed to kiss someone you hadn't."

     "Woah, calm down agent Pucey." she held her hands up.

     "I'm serious."

     "I don't really think you can talk about severity here. You've literally handed me the 1987 yearbook and told me to go smootch them on the playground like we're eight-year-olds." he stared at her, clearly fed up, "Okay sorry, continue."

     She didn't know how he was going to find out and she could only assume that Marcus Flint would be following her everywhere for the next six months.

     "Three: by agreeing to this, assuming you are, you cannot go back on your word."

     "Of course. Is that it, cause I'd like to evaluate the list itself with you before we agree on anything final?"

     "Take it away."

     She looked back at the list, "Okay, first, Jason Samuels and Cedric Diggory? They're way out of my league."

     "If we're talking about leagues, they're technically all out of yours, so I don't see your point."

     She smiled at him sarcastically, before looking back, "And number thirteen? Really?"

     He shrugged; his mischievous grin growing wider and wider.

     "And what about those five?" she pointed to the five boys in green, "Aren't they like your only friends? Who's to say you're not conversing with them to make them refuse to kiss me?"

     "I see your point and I, therefore, enforce rule four: you can't tell anyone. If this gets out to any of these twenty-one people, it would ruin the whole thing," he said sternly.

     Obviously, she would tell Leo and whatever he said wouldn't change that; she needed a wingman after all.

     "So, just to be clear, you haven't told anyone?" she queried even though she was certain he would lie.

     "No." he lied.

     He may know her well, but she still knew him well enough to know when he was lying through his teeth.

     She gave him a look as if to say 'really?'

     "Alright fine. I've only told Marcus. And that's only to make sure you're not lying when you do."

     "I'm not going to lie. Why would I? But, that does mean that I get to tell Leo." he gave her a look of annoyance and disbelief, "You know I was going to anyway right? Besides, you should have thought about that before you told Flint. You get a wingman, I do too."

     "Fine, Raywood can know. As long as he is sworn to secrecy."

     Secrecy. It was weird to Bianca that he would use a word like that. Secrecy. It was that important to him that her closest friend must be 'sworn to secrecy'. It was now that Bianca wondered why this was so important to him. Sure, she didn't get involved in things as entertaining and sort of exciting as this, but he did. And she almost wondered that surely it would be more exciting if people knew. But she appreciated that he wanted to make it a fair game.

     "Why are you doing this?" she asked. When and why he had decided to do this were the only two things stopping her from shaking his hand.

     "A bit of fun, don't you think?" he smirked.

     Adrian knew what he was doing. Yes, he liked her in a way that was more than friends, and no, he didn't quite know it. But Adrian knew what he was doing.

     "So?" he held out his hand, waiting for her either to shake it or dismiss him completely, ruining his entertainment and chance at a date with the girl he was unknowingly in love with and return to her book.

     Bianca's mind was running in circles. She hated the idea of kissing fifteen guys. Six girls were fine, but the men? Her initial thought was honestly just some sick way that Adrian and his friends could see Bianca kissing another girl. But then she thought that she knew she needed to let off some steam. Their exams weren't for months and this whole bet would be over by then. And one date wouldn't be too bad, would it? She knew she had to do this. To prove to him that she could handle whatever stupid games he threw at her. She was boring. It was about time she let that go.

     She shook the hand and as their skin touched, he grinned wider than ever.

     "Wonderful. Pleasure doing business with you." she watched as he stood up and walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts, her unfinished book, and now a new one, filled with information to help her steal kisses from twenty-one teenagers across the school.

     She began to wonder who she would "target" first. Who was easy? Who did she like? Who liked her?

     Bianca didn't like bets.

     Let's make her first one, exciting.

     Six months seemed like a long time. Maybe not long enough.