~*Chapter 7*~
Erin awoke to the sound of her alarm. 6:30. Great, Erin hated
Mondays. She always tired from the weekend and not ready to go back to
school. She got up and did her morning duties such as showering,
straightening her hair, and applying her make up. Around 7:15 she crept up
to her
cousin Lauren’s room.
Although Erin and Lauren lived together and were related, they were
much different in personality. Erin was sweet, studious and single.
She
was also very neat and organized. She had only one serious boyfriend
ever in her life and was not much of a flirt. I mean yes, she did like
guys, but she was more passive than an attention getter.
On the other hand, Lauren was very popular and went through boyfriends
like underwear. She was very much of a gossip. Although she was very
beautiful on the outside, she was extremely shallow on the inside.
Quietly, Erin opened the door to Lauren’s room. She looked around in
disgust at the clothes that had been thrown everywhere. Lauren’s room
was the only messy room in the house. It looked as if a tornado had
gone through her room only! But with Lauren’s busy schedule of party and
boys, how would she have time to clean her room?
Erin looked over at the heap of blankets that covered Lauren. Of
course, Lauren was sleeping soundly. Erin ran over and jumped on top of
the
bed. She continued to jump saying “wake up! Wake up!”
The heap of blankets groaned. A skinny leg came out from the side and
attempted to kick its enemy jumping on the bed. Erin cleverly jumped
around the swinging leg.
Erin jumped off the bed and pulled the covers off of Lauren. Quickly,
she bent over so she was close to Lauren’s ear.
“It’s Monday and you have 30 minutes to get ready for school!”
Lauren sat up slowly half asleep. “School?” she questioned as if she
had never heard the word before.
Erin grinned. “Yes, you know, the place were you flirt with guys all
day and socialize and gossip about the less fortunate.”
Lauren rolled her eyes and stood up. She tiptoed through her perfectly
made trail through her messy floor towards the bathroom.
****************
45 minutes later….
Erin sat at the kitchen table with her Aunt Nora and Uncle Tom. As she
was finishing her cereal she looked up to see Lauren rushing through
the kitchen. She grabbed an apple and motioned to Lauren that she was
ready to go. The two said goodbye and got into the Jeep Wrangler they
shared.
Today Erin agreed to drive.
“So the school carnival is in 2 weeks and we don’t have enough booths
yet. I don’t know WHAT we are going to do! Michelle is running the
pie
throwing station, Regina is doing the cakewalk—“ Erin was quickly
interrupted by a disturbed Lauren.
“Erin! Is that Jesse and Michelle riding in the same car together?”
exclaimed Lauren.
Erin looked over to her right and squinted her eyes to get a better
look.
“Yeah, actually, that is Michelle and Jesse,” she said in surprise.
“What is a girl like Michelle doing with Jesse McCartney? He doesn’t
even deserve to have a girlfriend. He is so conceited, self centered
and CHEAP. Even though he’s one of the richest guys in our school, he’s
probably going to charge her gas money at the end of the week!”
Lauren’s eyes narrowed as she looked over at the couple again.
Erin shrugged. “Well maybe he actually likes her?”
Lauren shook her head. “No way, Jesse McCartney has no room in his
heart for anyone else but himself. She will realize that and their
relationship will fail. I don’t see how ANY girl could actually find that
pig attractive!”
Erin grinned. She knew why Lauren hated Jesse so much. Lauren had
tried to date him about a year ago, but Jesse had dumped and embarrassed
her. She decided to not remind Lauren that she herself once had found
Jesse the most interesting male on the planet.
Lauren watched with her eyes wide as Jesse and Michelle pulled into the
school parking lot. Jesse got out and very politely opened Michelle’s
door for her. The two walked towards the front of the school hand in
hand after sharing a flirtatious kiss.
*******************
“Gag me,” said Lauren’s brunet friend Jessica. Jessica was Lauren’s
sidekick and partner in crime. She sat in the lunchroom with her arms
crossed as she watched Michelle and Jesse.
Michelle giggled and smiled at Jesse as he brought her lunch to her.
They sat at their own secluded table in the corner of the lunchroom.
“It won’t last long,” commented Lauren. “Once he gets bored of her
he’ll just dump her.”
Jessica raised her eyebrows at her sulking friend. “Did you know that
he bought her a gold ring?”
Jessica knew this would get to Lauren. Jesse was known for being very
cheap. He had never bought Lauren anything when they had dated.
Lauren just played it off like she didn’t think anything of it.
“It won’t last. He’s probably just trying to play it up more. I bet
you they’ll break up within two weeks.” Lauren rolled her eyes as she
focused on her pizza.
Jessica just glared over at Michelle. Jessica’s family had been the
richest in the area before Michelle’s had moved there. Instantly,
Michelle had become a threat to Jessica with her beautiful looks, nice
personality, and money. Jessica did not like Michelle one bit.
Jessica smiled slyly at Lauren. “I think he likes her,” she noted
while looking over at them. “He never bought you anything right?”
Lauren rolled her eyes in reply. “Please, he couldn’t possibly
change.”
Jessica continued. “Do you really think they’ll break up?”
Lauren looked over at Jessica with a ‘are you serious’ face. “I give
them 2 weeks tops.”
Jessica’s smile grew bigger. “Care you place a wager on that?”
Lauren thought carefully. She didn’t really have a whole lot of money.
She knew that Jessica’s allowance probably tripled her own. She already
owed her cousin Erin some money on top of that. But Lauren wasn’t one
to back down from a bet.
“How much?”
Jessica smiled ruefully. “Oh not money bone head, I don’t need any of
that. Let’s bet term papers.”
Lauren pondered this idea. It was a 15-page term paper. It would not
be easy. She couldn’t even manage writing her own, let alone have 2 of
them to do. But, a bet is a bet, and there is challenge that Lauren
can’t handle.
Lauren smiled and held her hand out. “Bet”.
Jessica smiled back. “Okay then, the school carnival is roughly two
weeks from now right? We’ll call that as the dead line. Just think,
if
they break up before then, you don’t have to worry about your term
paper!”
Lauren glanced over at Jesse and Michelle, hoping her prediction about
Jesse would be correct. People don’t change, right?
