Beautiful Disaster (The Bet)

by Francette Phal

  Jumping out of her stupor, Ellie rose and they shared a hug. "Thanks, Gabe." she murmured.

  They needed to take things one day at a time. Roadblocks would be dealt with when they came, even if Gabe had to hop in the Ridgeline to run them over.

  It was common knowledge that Nicholas Grayson made it a point to never show up to any of his classes, which was why his appearance in Ms. Spencer’s third period art class caused quite a stir among the students. As rumor had it, he seldom showed up for Physics and Calc even though those were two of his favorite classes. The fact that he was here now was quite significant. The girls were atwitter. Their curiosity peeked as they gossiped amongst themselves wondering what could’ve possibly provoked his presence.

  Ellie meanwhile mildly aware of the ongoing whispers busied herself with her easel, not completely oblivious to the conversation going on around her.

  "What’s he doing here?”

  “I don’t know, but did you hear what he did to Ashley?"

  "Yeah, I heard he gave her more than that tattoo on her hip. God, I’m so jealous.” They giggled and Ellie rolled her eyes, silently praying Ms. Spencer would haul ass.

  "Fucking bitch practically threw herself at him."

  Interesting, Ellie mused, her gaze straying to the girls conversing a few feet away from where she sat. They stood facing each other, their personalities about as charming as their pinched faces, they continued their twaddle as if the subject of their conversation wasn't in the room. Speaking of which, Ellie never would've pegged Nicholas for a tattoo artist, if that was what he really did.

  From beneath soot tinted lashes Ellie assessed the guy who had "rescued" her from impending rain nearly two weeks ago. He was handsome, there was no denying that, although his personality left a little something to be desired.

  With the way he'd treated Maddie a few weeks back and the way he comported himself now he was quickly gaining ground on Ellie's "Jerk" list, listed there with loser exes and incompetent mechanics. She knew his kind. The good looking, vainglorious assholes that treated people with little to no respect just because they had money. She’d dated guys like him back at her old school. He was a big freaking waste of her time.

  Suddenly, as if sensing her gaze on him Nicholas's mercurial gaze found her and froze Ellie to the spot. The pretty brunette on his lap blushed and giggled as he nuzzled her neck, his inscrutable gaze, however remained solely on Ellie.

  There was a challenge in that stare. Almost as if he dared her to be the first to look away.

  His hand on the brunette's thigh trailed effortless higher, another inch and the position of that hand would've seemed indecent. Ellie's cheeks involuntarily flamed, as if he knew, a smirk pulled at the seam of his lips. Daring to push propriety further he licked the girl's cheek and kissed the corner of her mouth. The poor girl, not at all accustomed to receiving attention from the school's infamous reprobate practically melted against him.

  Uncertain of whether to be flattered or offended that he would go to such lengths to get a rise out of her Ellie, feigned indifference to the debauched display unfolding before her and so she grabbed her bag from the floor. Rising from her seat, she shouldered her bag, grabbed the easel and set it down by the door on her way out. It was clear that Ms. Spencer had either flaked out on her class or had been given a very poor substitute. Ellie figured she would spend the remainder of the forty-five minute art class in the library doing something productive with her time than to bear witness to the childish antics of a moron.

  Crossing the B building overpass, Ellie entered the E building and started to enter the library but abruptly stopped at the firm hand around her wrist. She spun around and cool gray eyes greeted her.

  "What's your deal?"

  The unexpected inquiry caught Ellie off guard and bewilderingly she looked at him, his immense height causing her to crane her neck to meet his gaze. "Whatddya mean?"

  "You walk around here like you're the fucking Queen of Sheba or something. If your nose were any more up in the air you'd be smelling god's ass."

  Mortified, insulted and only just slightly amused, Ellie wrenched her wrist from his grasp, ignoring how much it hurt. She took a step back and glowered. "I can't believe you're calling me a snob, when you're the one who acts like you're the best thing to come along since sliced bread. It amazes me how you and your ego can even fit in this school."

  "And I find it very amusing how you can walk with that stick so far up your ass. Must be a real talent." He quipped, irreverent humor dancing in his eyes.

  "Seeing as how you're so fond of my ass, feel free to kiss it while I walk away." She didn't get angry too often and rarely allowed anyone to get a rise out of her. Nicholas on the other hand, the self-righteous egoist, had managed to do it without an ounce of effort. The smug bastard seemed to relish the effect he had on her. That knowing smirk on his face had her itching to smack it off. She wasn't a violent person by nature, but for a shot at him, Ellie found she could turn into murderer. Her anger lengthened her strides and halfway down the hall, she managed to calm herself enough to continue on her way at a more sedate pace.

  Unfortunately, her interaction with Nicholas was not yet over. Not seconds after leaving him behind, she found herself facing him again, only this time, he was blocking her path. He held up his hands, palms facing her in semblance of surrender and Ellie faltered at his boyish grin. Straight, pearly white teeth that would've done wonders in a toothpaste commercial gleamed back at her.

  "Let's start again?"

  Ellie's effort to side-step him was countered by Nicholas's hand on her arm, gently keeping her in place.

  "If I said I behaved like a jerk because I didn't know how to ask you out, would you give me a second chance?"

  Ellie glared and if looks could kill, he would've been a cheerfully burnt pile ash at her feet.

  "Look Ellie, I'm sorry, could we please try this again?" He grinned and her attempt to remain immune did not work in her favor. There was something about him that despite her best efforts aroused her interest. Moreover, if she had to be perfectly honest with herself, she could even go so far as to say that she was slightly attracted to him. What female wouldn't be, with looks like his?

  "Apology accepted, but really, I'm not interested." Despite his stunningly good looks and wicked appeal, there really was only room for one person in her life and she wasn't even out of diapers yet. "I have to get going." This time when she began to walk around him, he did not stop her. "I'll see you around." she said over her shoulder a few paces down the hall.

  "Ellie!" she turned and found him advancing on her, his long strides eating up the distance between them. "One date and then I promise I won't bother you again." She wavered and readily he pounced. "Come on," he wheedled, brandishing that boyish smirk once more. "I have tickets to an art gallery opening in downtown. They're showing the work of one of my favorite painters, Yves Charmant. He's an up and coming Avant-guard artist---"

  "Yeah, I know." She said, slightly bemused, her attention instantly captured. Yves Charmant was one her favorite artists. She'd learned about him in her humanities class in the first half of her freshman year and had fallen completely in love with his poignant pieces. One of her absolute favorite titled "Sadist" always brought her to tears. She'd never had the opportunity to attend any of his openings considering the price of the tickets and had given up hope of ever seeing his pieces up close---until now. She was actually contemplating the idea of saying yes, but reservation kept her muted.

  "The tickets will go to waste if I don't use them."

  Puzzled she asked, "Why don't you just go alone."

  He grinned. "I'd much rather go with you." He said it with such tender charm that Ellie almost believed he truly liked her.

  "It's not a date," she capitulated, "Just potential friends enjoying each other's company while discussing mutual interest in art." It sounded suspiciously like a date and Ellie silently cursed the sight of the witting grin on his face.

&n
bsp; "Whatever you say. I'll be at your house around eight."

  "You don't need to pick me up. I'll just meet you there."

  "I pick you up, I buy dinner, I drop you off." he said with finality and if Ellie were in any position to say so, she would've rightfully told him to go to hell, only, she really wanted to go to that gallery opening and the arrogant jerk knew it too.

  "Fine. Do you want a pen to write down my address?"

  "Nope, I remember. Only brick house on the block. Do I get a number, too?"

  Ellie pursed her lips. "Don't push your luck." With that she walked away and absolutely refused to look back, knowing that he was probably still standing there watching her with that stupid grin on his face.

  Chapter Four

  Friday afternoon found Ellie in her fifth period gym class seated on the school bleachers waiting for Maddie to make an appearance. They were required to run two laps around the small track before they began class and she didn't feel like running alone. She spotted Maddie exiting the girl's locker room and rose to meet her halfway. Upon closer inspection, Ellie found her friend to be a little more pale than usual with a fine sheen of sweat glistening across her forehead. Concerned, Ellie quickly asked if she was all right.

  Maddie's wan smile and comforting hand on Ellie's shoulder did nothing in allaying her fear. "I'm fine. I'm just a little hot. Come on let's start our lap before hatchet face pops a vessel." As if to indicate of whom she spoke, Maddie cocked her head behind Ellie's left shoulder at their P.E teacher who happened to be sending rays of murderous glares their way at the precise moment.

  Ellie and Maddie fell into step, following the one-two cadence of their peers they ran quietly side by side, until Ellie's underlying concern gained the better of her. "Are you sure you're OK? I'm kinda worried."

  "Don't be, I get like this from time to time, all a part of having all this wonderfully smooth flesh." Maddie turned her head with a smile easing a reluctant smile from Ellie.

  "As if your skin is that smooth."

  "It's a proven fact that fat people have incredibly smooth skin."

  Ellie rolled her eyes. "You're not fat, Maddie, just curvy. Pleasantly plump even." Maddie's laughter caused Ellie to burst into her own fits of giggles.

  "My Gran used to say that to me all the time." Maddie answered as they rounded the track and began their second lap. "So, doing anything special this weekend?"

  "Special no, but I do have plans."

  "That's cool. What're you doing?"

  "Okay, so you remember how I was telling you about that really great painter and how I couldn't get tickets to his gallery opening?"

  Maddie nodded. "Yeah, his name was something like charming, right?"

  Ellie grinned. "Yeah, Yves Charmant. Anyway, I was invited to the opening by Nicholas Grayson of all people, who comes out of nowhere and tells me that he's a fan of Charmant's works..." Ellie stopped, turned around to find that Maddie had come to a complete stop on the track, while their peers ran past her. "Maddie, what's wrong...?"Ellie warily approached her.

  Maddie stood stock-still, her face drained of color, while her thoughts lingered on Ellie's last sentence, mainly the part where Nicholas's name was mentioned and the painful fact that he was taking Ellie to this gallery opening. Her stomach clenched in fits of bubbling anxiety and indignation. The memories of Nicholas drilling her for information on Ellie while he'd sinfully toyed with her returned with vengeance. She felt as though she would be violently ill as sorrow quickly overcame her rising ire.

  "Maddie? Maddie!" Impervious to the alarm in Ellie's voice, Maddie lost herself to her morbid thoughts. Ellie was pretty, she thought, Ellie was skinny. Ellie was smart and unknowingly sexy; she was everything Maddie was not. She was everything Nicholas wanted and nothing at all like the fleshy, low self-esteem girl he'd so pitilessly seduced and cast off, her mind maliciously supplied, further adding to Maddie's despair.

  She heaved a doleful sigh. She'd been in love with Nicholas, was still in fact in love with him and it just wasn't fair that her feelings weren't reciprocated. Even after discovering that she'd been used and easily duped into giving her virginity for the sick amusement of his and his friends, she still craved his touch. He'd humiliated her in front of half the school, he'd callously cast aside her feelings even after taking pleasure from her. She'd become a masochist for him, played the wounded lover so eagerly to his wicked sadism. But he didn't want her.

  Now the realization that Ellie could be in danger of becoming victim to those monthly bets, greatly disturbed her. She had to get Ellie to stay away from him and vice versa. She had to protect Ellie; Maddie silently rationalized, because that's what friends did for each other, never mind that jealousy was slowly rearing its ugly head, Maddie almost convinced herself that her intentions were honorable.

  "You said no, right?" She asked as if no time had passed since Ellie told her of the impending date. At Ellie's quizzical look, Maddie elaborated, looking anywhere but Ellie's face. "To the date…with Nicholas…you said no, right?"

  "Well, no, but then it's not really a date…should I have? I mean we're going just as friends, I told him that."

  Maddie scoffed. "The word 'friend' is not in Nicholas’s vocabulary. Look, Ellie, you've been really nice to me since you got here and I don’t want to see you hurt. Nicholas is bad news. There’s always an ulterior motive with him.”

  "Maddie…"

  "Holbrook! Tate! This is not social hour! You want to talk, do it on your own damn time, but not in my class! Now, move your carcasses or it's the principal's office for the both of you!" 'Hatchet face', as she was called by her students, was a no nonsense woman with a voice to match her dour countenance. She continued to scowl at them even after they joined the rest of their classmates.

  "There's a reason why a great amount, if not all the kids at school hate him and his group. He may be suave and charming, but behind that pearly white smile, he's a heartless asshole."

  Ellie was stunned, never having pegged Maddie to be the malicious sort. The way she spoke, with such venom and hate, one would think he'd ripped her heart---

  "Oh my God! Maddie, was Nicholas the reason why you were crying the day we met?" Dawning smacked her across the face and Ellie regarded her friend with new eyes, finally able to see the hurt beneath the hatred. "Oh, Maddie, why didn't you tell me?" She kept her voice low, while aware that they were one of the very few still talking.

  Maddie shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal." Yeah, and the Taj Mahal was only a grave. "Ellie, just try to stay away from him, he's only after one thing and once he gets it, he won't even give you a second glance. There are trails of bleeding hearts behind him and I'm thinking he wants to add you to the bunch."

  "I'm not stupid, Maddie, I know what guys like Nicholas want and I'm not about to let myself fall for his stupid pick up lines and tactless come-ons. The only reason I agreed to go with him was because he had these tickets and even then it was strictly on the basis of friendship." Completing their last lap, they headed back to the bleachers, walked up the four flights of stairs and sat among their classmates, awaiting Ms. Hatcher's game plan. "Besides," Ellie continued, turning so that she faced Maddie. "I'm not looking for a relationship with him or anyone else right now."

  "Why not?"

  "Well, having a baby doesn't exactly allow you a social life."

  Maddie's reaction wasn't as bad as Ellie anticipated, only the sight of her slacked jaw and rounded eyes did present a comical image and because she couldn't help herself, Ellie burst into laughter.

  "Shut. Up." Her incredulity was followed by a shove to Ellie's shoulder. "You're kidding...Jesus! You're not kidding, you actually have a baby!" she bellowed loud enough for half the student body to hear her.

  "Wow, Maddie, might wanna say that louder, I don't think they heard you in China." Ellie deadpanned, glaring at her red-haired friend.

  "I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. "But, God, Ellie, you actually have a baby."

  "I kn
ow, kinda shocked the hell out of me too, when I found out, but I wouldn't trade Sophie in for the world. I love that chubby little monster." She said with mother's pride, her hazel eyes gleaming.

  Maddie’s heart softened at the sight, her earlier misgivings set momentarily aside at this newly found discovery of the girl she was beginning to consider her best friend. Ellie, Maddie was finding out, was a very private person, who didn't seem at all eager to share the intricacies of her life with anyone. The fact that she'd found reason enough to share something this big with her meant that their fledgling friendship was growing and Maddie couldn't have felt more honored.

  "I know you're dying to know, so go ahead and ask me." Ellie said with a smile.

  "How…how did it happen? I mean I know how it happened, but…"she flushed, Ellie took pity on her.

  She shrugged, "I met a guy I thought was the one, you know, perfect everything. But he turned out to not be so great for me, so I left when I found out I was pregnant."

  "Oh Ellie," Maddie quickly empathized she reached out her arm around Ellie's shoulder and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry."

  Ellie shrugged again, released the sigh she hadn't known she was holding and peered at Maddie. "Don't be, I'm not. Mistakes are made to be learned from and I've learned mine in spades. Sophie, despite how she came into the world, is the best thing to happen to me, hands down one of the best mistakes of my life." She smiled, leaning into Maddie's embrace. "You should come over sometime. I'll introduce you."

  "I think I might just take you up on that offer." The sound of a bouncing basketball drew their attention to the center of the gym where Ms. Hatcher stood and bounced the ball a few times, before tucking it beneath her right arm. She blew a whistle to direct the rest of her wayward class to her.

  "Alright, everyone on the court! I want you in three groups of five, one group to my right, the second to the left hoop. The third and first team will alternate every ten minutes. Give me layups!" The remainder of gym class was spent practicing basketball drills to Hatchet face's whistle. The only positive event for both Ellie and Maddie was that they were both chosen to be on third team, which meant they had a full ten minute break before they were due on the court.