Chapter Eleven – Score To A Tie

What have I done?

I watched in horror as the crowd slowly dispersed to the cafeteria, Sean moving along with it while I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, too stunned to speak but miffed enough to internally curse at myself.

"I can't believe you just accepted that," Meera muttered.

"Me neither." I exhaled and threw a glance at Will and Parker, who were watching me warily from a distance as if weighing the odds of me biting them if they came any closer.

"What the hell was that, guys?" I demanded. "Where did that condition come from?"

"I'm sorry, Rebekah," Will started. "It was an impulsive decision. I saw a chance to kick her out of the music event and took it."

"Why would you want that?"

"Why would I not want that? Have you not met her?" He curled his lips in distaste. "She's insufferable. She calls herself the music club queen and bosses people around like she means it. Now you get used to tuning it out on a regular basis but the music event is different. We can't have her ruining it like she did last time just because she can't follow a damn routine. Not with our college futures on the line."

I took about half a minute to process before asking, "so you guys used me?"

"No!" he said quickly, then hesitated, "not intentionally at least. I wasn't sure you were going to accept the challenge but if you did, I knew you got a shot at defeating her so I felt it was harmless to add a little condition that would help us too. That's it. I'm sorry if you feel like I used you."

I shook my head. "I wasn't going to accept, Will. I didn't want to."

He blinked. "Then why did you?"

"Exactly," Cheryl cut in. "Why would you accept something like that, Becks?"

I gulped, too embarrassed to admit I did it just because Sean was cheering for me. Oh God! Did I just sign up six weeks of my junior year for something I don't even care about—music?

"B-because..." I stammered. "I was under a lot of pressure, okay? Imagine saying no when everyone was cheering for me to say yes."

"I hear ya," Meera said. "It wasn't even directed at me and I was shaking."

"Oh God!" I ran my fingers through my hair. "I can't even back out now. I said yes in front of the entire school. And even if I go through with the challenge, I'm definitely losing it. It's Rebecca. She's too good. This is gonna be so embarrassing after six weeks."

"Hey!" Will argued. "I have faith in you or I wouldn't have cut in like that. You can do this. And we'll help you."

"How?"

"We can train you." He smiled reassuringly. "Not me or Parker, I mean Matt. He's the best."

My fleetingly rising hope was snuffed out at the mention of his name and I scoffed loudly, "Matt?"

Will seemed confused for a moment. "What's wrong—"

"Matt and her. Not on the best terms," Meera explained.

"Yeah." I nodded. "He would never agree to that."

Will's hope slowly faded over ruling out the possibility of Matt teaching me music and that sight really ticked me off. Why was my enemy being given so much importance? Will blew out air, lips flapping. "That was our best shot."

I opened my mouth to defend with something like no way! There has to be something else but was cut off.

"It still could be," Meera said, making us all turn to her questioningly but she raised her brows at me like I was missing something.

He owes me. It suddenly clicked and my jaw dropped.

"What are we missing?" Mack asked.

"Matt owes her after she helped with the performance yesterday. She can make him agree to train her."

"Whoa!" Parker grinned. "You're telling me we don't even have to convince him? That completes like ninety percent of the task already."

Seriously? Ninety percent? Could he give Matt anymore credit? Especially when he wasn't even involved yet.

"Wait." I frowned. "What about me? Did anyone ask me if I wanna be trained by that asshole? Hell no! And the answer's no, too. I don't. God, no!"

"What?" Will's face dropped.

"I hate him. I can't stand him for six seconds, let alone have him train me for six weeks."

"That is true," Meera started and walked up to me to whisper, "but think about Sean. He talked to you today because of music. Maybe you need this more than you think you do."

My mind started replaying the moment I'd said you're on to Rebecca. The way my Prince Charming's eyes had lit up with approval the second I'd uttered those two words. It all made me reconsider my decision about learning music from my enemy.

Besides, Rebecca's face had become priceless when I had accepted her challenge and right before she'd grimaced at me and stomped away, I'd seen the fear in her eyes. The fear of losing her spot next to her precious Matt at the annual music event and her reputation if I won. So maybe I actually had a shot at winning if there was even a teensy bit of agitation on her end, right?

Wouldn't it be nice to defeat her for once? To show her that she couldn't have everything her own way?

"This is so unfair." I groaned as I made my decision, then nodded without a second thought. "Fine. I'll do it."

Will exhaled loudly and passed me a confident smile, not just to make me feel better but like he meant it.

"You're gonna win this," he said.

I am. And I'm gonna impress Sean even more while I'm at it.

*****

I increased my pace to catch up with the guy jogging along the pavement, his earphones plugged in, hence he couldn't hear me.

"Aiden," I shouted anyway before giving a tap on his shoulder.

Startled, he flipped around and pulled his earphones, saying breathlessly, "Becks, hey! What are you doing here?"

"Is Matt home?" I pointed down to their house a few feet away. I was hesitant about simply showing up at my enemy's front door but thankfully, I had spotted Aiden jogging down the street so it had felt like a better idea to talk to him first and hopefully, have him invite me in himself.

He smirked, wiggling his brows as he asked teasingly, "missing him?"

"Aiden," I warned.

"Alright!" He looked down at his watch. "It's 5. He's probably at the gym."

"Could you share the location of this gym?"

"I'm heading that way. Do you need a ride?"

Wow! He was so much better than his brother.

"Appreciate it. Thanks!"

The moment we got into his car, he turned the AC on full blast and to answer my questioning, weirded out look, he pointed to his sweaty t-shirt, fanning himself.

"You could get sick by doing that, you know?"

"Huh?"

"Going from hot to cold so suddenly," I explained.

"Oh please," he scoffed. "I'm always hot."

I rolled my eyes. Not that different from his brother after all. He started driving.

"Are you headed to the gym as well?" I asked.

"No, I'm going on a date nearby—oh! Thanks for the reminder, Becks."

"What reminder..." I trailed off when he grabbed a can of deodorant out of the glove compartment and sprayed it all over himself, literally all over himself, even pulled his feet out of his running shoes to spray in them at a traffic signal. He couldn't spare five minutes for a shower after his run?

"Guys," I said under my breath, glowering in disgust.

If my date is that effort phobic, I'll just do him a favour and ask him to never see me again. Save the effort.

Unless it's Sean. He's got a pass for almost everything.

"That's his car." Aiden pointed to the matte black car parked across the street once he came to a stop. "He's still at the gym."

"Great! Thanks a lot."

"No problem."

"And best of luck for your date," I said unsurely and scrunched my nose, wondering who needed that more—him or the girl?

"Thank you, Becks." He nodded.

I stepped out of the car and made my way to the gym, taking in its advertising banner displaying really attractive male and female models posing with weights. Scoffing, I pushed open the double doors.

Do all gyms have to be so ridiculously cold? I folded my arms over my chest just in time for a few guys working out, to stop and stare, one of them throwing me the ssup look before going back to his business when I did not respond. Maybe I had unknowingly shot him a dirty look.

"Hi!"

A perky voice made me flip around. A brunette stood there in a hot pink sports bra and black yoga pants, her hair bunched up in a high pony as she curled the ends around one of her fingers and smiled brightly at me.

"Are you looking to get a membership?"

"Um no. I'm actually looking for someone."

"Oh," she replied, a little disappointed but smiled nonetheless. "We have excellent offers if you wanna check them out. If you sign up for a quarter, you get an additional discount. A full year membership grants you personal training by one of our best at a very reasonable price."

"That's nice. I'll consider but not right now. Hope that's okay."

I knew better than to fall for that. Were they seriously expecting me to pay them for shedding my own sweat in here when I can easily do that during P.E. class? And cut on my diet on top of that? Hell no.

"Oh sure. I'll be over there." She pointed to the counter in the corner. "Just in case you change your mind."

"Alright."

I started looking around for Matt and since the gym wasn't very crowded, I easily spotted him near the dumbbell rack, bench pressing a barbell with more plates than I'd seen my older brother do, his arm muscles expanding to an unbelievable measure every time he lowered it.

I quietly walked over, not wanting to interrupt but the ridiculous number of mirrors must have served their purpose as he lifted his head to me, brows furrowing in confusion before he secured the barbell up on the holder and sat up on the bench.

"You?" His lips curled with distaste.

I rolled my eyes and almost blurted I'm not thrilled to see you either but reminded myself I needed his help and not pissing him off already would come in handy.

"Yeah, me. Shouldn't you have a spotter?"

He tilted his head in confusion. "I don't need a spotter."

"Famous last words of an ego lifter."

"I appreciate your concern," he said sarcastically. "Did you want something?"

Why else would I track you down to your gym?

Nope. Control, Becks.

"Yes." I smiled brightly, not one of my fake smiles that I usually gave him but a real one, and I meant it because it was a good day. Sean had finally noticed me. Even my enemy couldn't ruin it for me. Well, yet.

Matt grew a little wary as his brows pulled together and he scanned me up and down for God knows what.

"What?" he asked.

"I found it! A way for you to pay me back," I stated proudly, crossing my arms.

"And what is it?" He raised a brow.

"I want you to teach me music."

Once again, his head tilted to the side in confusion, lips parting but no words coming out as an incredulous look flashed in his brown eyes, which he blinked twice before coming up with a, "what?"

He had no clue what had happened at school, did he? Did he pay absolutely no attention to gossip?

"You missed what happened at school today." I rolled my eyes. "Your girlfriend's insecure ass made a huge scene in front of everyone during lunch."

"That's like my girl!" He nodded proudly. "Only, this would make a lot more sense if I actually had a girl at the moment."

"So, Rebecca Morgan is not your girlfriend?" I was confused.

"Please," he scoffed. "She wishes. And I'd die a hundred times before dating a Rebecca."

I clenched my jaw, smiling sourly. "Feelings are mutual, buddy."

With a glimmer of self-satisfaction in his eyes upon ruffling my feathers, he got up from the bench and reached for a set of dumbbells from the rack.

"Anyway." I gritted my teeth, following him. "She was really pissed about me taking her spot yesterday. So, in order to prove to everyone that she's still better than me, she challenged me to a music battle six weeks from now. I figured, since I was singing yesterday because you asked me to..."

The entire time I'd been dictating the events of the afternoon to him, he'd kept working out—slowly lifting the dumbbell up, making his muscles contract, then bringing it down and allowing them to relax and before I knew it, the dumbbell in his other hand was back up. I tried not to look at his biceps and give his ego even the slightest boost but realized I'd gotten caught up in gaping at them.

Snap out of it, Becks.

I quickly lifted my gaze to his face and thankfully, he hadn't noticed because his eyes were fixed on himself, a hint of a smirk teasing the corners of his lips. Thank you, God for my enemy's self-obsession.

"And," I continued after clearing my throat, "...since you also owe me for helping you on stage, you could help me out."

He remained silent, making me wonder if he'd even heard me. I was very close to assuming he'd completely ignored it all until his eyes averted to mine and he watched me through the mirror. Then they narrowed slightly, the dumbbells in his hands still moving nonchalantly.

Looking at those useless blocks of weight is none of your business, Becks.

"I get where Rebecca's coming from," he finally said. "But why would you accept that?"

"I-I have my reasons." I crossed my arms defensively.

"Okay. Why come to me for help?"

"Because like I said before, you owe me. So, this isn't me asking for help. This is me calling in a favour."

He raised a brow, a little amused. "Alright. What if I still say no?"

"You wouldn't, if you had any ounce of morality left to keep your word."

"Which I don't, according to you."

I frowned as he changed the position of the dumbbells and started with what I remembered was called hammer curls as my brother would do it. My enemy's eyes were locked on mine in the mirror and there was a look of challenge lodged in them. What now? Was he expecting me to apologize for saying that about him? Yeah, keep dreaming.

"I'm not apologizing for that."

"I figured."

And he went back to looking at his arms and carried on with his business like I wasn't standing there at all.

I licked my lips indecisively, gave it a thought, then instantly made up my mind. No apologizing. Yes fighting. "Listen, you assh—"

"What I mean is," he started indifferently, his voice only straining a little at the last rep and becoming even deeper, if that was even possible. I glared at him. "...you could go to anyone for help. There's Will and Parker too and you seemed to get along quite well with them. Why me?"

Oh! That's his game.

I kept a straight face, not wanting to say what I had to but ah! Screw it.

"Because you're..." I swallowed before finally saying, "...good. Do you see another singer at school besides Rebecca herself who's as talented as you? You're leads for a reason."

"Good?" He scrunched his nose.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, saying with an obviously fake smile, "you're the best."

God knows how much it hurt me to say that to him.

On the other hand, his face was crowned with pride as a slow smirk reached his lips and he turned around to face me squarely as if the mirror wasn't doing it for him when it came to beholding defeat on me.

"But I thought you couldn't stand being near me. Couldn't even stand looking at my face. Six weeks is a lot of time to be seeing your enemy every day, don't you think, Becks?"

"Well, life's all about making compromises."

"You must be living a sad life."

Before I could come up with a response, the receptionist from earlier walked up to him. Passing me a little smile, she leaned up to his ear and said something, then Matt said something back and they started laughing.

I was a bit taken aback at the sight. My enemy was capable of genuinely laughing his heart out with someone without making them feel like he was plotting to take them down? That was news to me.

And of course, he's got a thing going on with every woman in sight. I looked away, not wanting to look like I was prying.

After exchanging a few more words, she left, leaving a little spark in Matt's eyes as he ran them over me.

"Mindy thinks you're hot."

"O-oh!" I faltered. "Well, tell her thank—"

"I told her to get her eyes checked."

Of course. I gave him a sarcastic smile. "Or you should get yours checked. Because clearly, you can't see what others can, what even your football pals can. Not like I want you to see it."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Which is?"

"That I'm not so bad looking after all." I shrugged brusquely. "You know how Rebecca and you spread those nasty rumours about me?"

"Allegedly," he corrected, crossing his arms. "I don't play cheap."

I was a little relieved. I wouldn't know how to learn anything from him if he was that despicable. I mean, he still could've spread those rumours, it wasn't like I trusted his word but for now, it was good enough. I was desperate.

"Oh." I blinked with exaggerated sarcasm. "Anyway, as I was saying, you should've seen the number of guys eyeing me when Rebecca and allegedly you spread those nasty rumours about me."

A few seconds of silence ensued from him as he watched me humourlessly. "Those stares had nothing to do with your looks."

Okay, I walked into that one. I should know better. Those guys were only after one thing.

But I held my ground against my enemy nonetheless and stepped up to him. "Oh please, Williams. I know you're just upset you'll never get to tap this."

I could've sworn his eye twitched as his gaze flickered across me for a hot second before settling on my face. And with the way his deep brown eyes bored into mine, I somehow found myself locked in intangible clutches, feeling beads of sweat prickling the back of my neck.

His lips parted and he finally said, "I think you mean glad."

I blinked, then scoffed. "Right."

"Elated. Happy. Over the moon. Do you want more or is that enough?"

"I'm good."

"Considering the little bubble you live in, you'll be surprised if—no, when you come to realize I'm probably not the only one who feels that way about you."

I clicked my tongue, feeling my temper rising. "Shut up before I smack you in the head with your own dumbbell."

"Bold of you to assume—"

"Oh, I can lift it. Even if it takes all my energy and I have to crawl back home."

Once again, a stare down. This time, Matt Williams: self-satisfied and me: utterly vexed.

He broke our stares when he turned to retrieve the dumbbells he'd placed on the rack while talking to Mindy and said dismissively, "feel free to meet Mindy on your way out. She was asking me for your number. I told her I don't have it."

"Of course you don't." I scoffed. "What's a fuckboy's business with my number?"

I bit down on my tongue immediately, too late for that. Did I just call him a fuckboy to his face? Well, he deserved that but I really needed his help here.

His movements halted for a second, then resumed, unbothered. But I only realized he wasn't as unmoved and indifferent as he always appeared when his intense eyes locked with mine through the mirror and I caught his irritation. Or maybe it was just a result of my presence near him.

Without a word, he resumed lifting the dumbbell to continue building his already built arms. He'd never been scrawny as a kid but man! When did he get so buff? I kinda understood the purpose of his gray tank right then.

What, Rebekah? Remember the nasty insult he just threw?

"So?" I asked, blinking away. "Will you train me?"

Without beating around the bush, he looked me dead in the eye and uttered a straight, "no."

I was caught off guard by his blunt refusal. "What?"

"First, this is stupid and second, about paying you back, maybe if you'd asked for ice cream or something..." He shrugged.

"Seriously?"

"I can't help you with this."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to." He shrugged again indifferently and I felt a chunk of disappointment settling in, kicking out any hopes I had of getting his help.

"You know, I should've walked off the stage yesterday and left your ungrateful ass to handle things. If only I were as selfish as you are, I wouldn't be needing to ask for your help because I wouldn't have this challenge on me in the first place."

"Look, as outlandish as it sounds coming from me, I appreciate what you did but I didn't ask you to accept this challenge. Besides, your time on stage was what? Six minutes, tops. What you're asking for is six weeks. I don't think that leaves the score to a tie."

My mouth opened slightly. "It's not about how long it takes or leaving the score to a tie. It's about me helping you when you needed it, despite our differences and you choosing to not do the same, despite your debt."

"Can you stop being dramatic and using those heavy words? Debt. Owe. I'll buy you an ice cream for your help, two or even more, as many as you'd like or whatever you like. Makeup? Shoes? A silly bag? Name it, Andrews. Act like you've won the freaking lottery."

I let out a chuckle in disbelief, shaking my head. "Honestly, I'm not even surprised, Matt. It's not like I had any expectations from you."

"Then why did you come here?" He raised a brow.

"Because I'm a fucking idiot, that's why," I snapped and he nodded with another annoying shrug, agreeing.

I glared at him and stomped towards the exit but feeling like I wasn't done yet, I walked right back to him, snapping, "you know what?"

He had gone back to working out but turned back around to me, confused until I poked a finger in his hard chest. He looked down at my hand and without even attempting to take it off, he simply stared at me with an arrogant smirk like a giant dog would look at a kitten striking him, thinking 'what can she possibly do to me?'

"I don't need your help. I sang without your help yesterday; I can do it again."

"Sure," he scoffed, "if we're gonna pretend you didn't have a buttload of background to cover your dead notes. Good luck going up against Rebecca with that."

I gasped. Dead notes? And suddenly, Parker's voice started ringing in my ears. You sounded a little raw.

Could somebody just be kind enough to give me an honest and possibly brutal feedback?

"So, you're not gonna help me but you're also gonna convince me that I can't do it without you?"

"Maybe," he replied cockily, eyes gleaming at my misery.

"So, I'll let you know that from now on, I'm gonna treat everything that comes out of your mouth as bullshit and let it slide without touching me because I know that I can do anything and everything I want to. I believe in myself."

"Could you hold this for me for a second?" Before I could comprehend, he'd handed me his dumbbell. Fuck! I almost doubled over like cartoon characters when something heavy pulls them down and leaves their outline in the air with a puff.

Matt scooped it out of my hands almost immediately, sniggering at me. "You were saying?"

I could feel my face heating with anger as I grinded my teeth together, saying slowly and deliberately, "you're an asshole. A petty one on top of that."

He exhaled, giving me a bored look. "Are you done? Can I go back to working out?"

Don't kick him! Don't kick him, Becks.

Without uttering another word, I spun on my heels and stormed out of the gym.

Hello loves!

Like Becks said, could somebody just be kind enough to give me an honest and possibly brutal feedback? Hahaha

What did you think about this chapter? Do let me know in the comments and make sure you're leaving votes on the chapters. Your votes and comments truly inspire me to write more.

As always. Love,

Feisty❤