Busting Up The Bad Boys' Bet - Published!

Chapter 10

7/22/2019: Updated to the published version.

That night, I posted online. "Three guys are chasing me. Brad is out of the running. Vote for Scott or Taylor." I just wanted to punish Brad more. I was still angry with him for involving my father. That was a low blow.

The comments started coming in. My friends were split down the middle between the two. Scott and Taylor each voted for themselves of course. Brad posted, "Not going to happen." I swear every one of my friends liked that reply and oohed and aahed over it.

Brad posted again: "I'm completely in love with Ally Thompson. I want to marry her. She's only dating my best friends to make me jealous, which is totally unnecessary since I'm already hers. I am very jealous anyway. I want all her kisses! I'll put up with anything on the road to making her mine. Friends of Ally, please tell her to have mercy on me and be my girlfriend already! I'll love her forever!"

All my Florida friends proceeded to vote for Brad.

Scott posted, "I'm in love with her too! She's the hottest girl I've ever met. Smart, funny, and cool. She doesn't even care if I have money or not. She can't be bought. She's my dream girl. I think I should win her because we have more in common than her and Brad or Taylor. Marry me, Ally!"

My friends posted that they were confused and needed more information from me directly. I wasn't sure what to say. I should tell them all about the original bet and that this was probably a bet or joke as well, but I didn't want all that out online.

Meanwhile, Taylor posted, "Choose me, Ally! Marry me! God, when you pushed me up against the locker and kissed me this morning, I died and went to heaven. That was the best kiss of my life. Give me more! It's only you for me, Ally! Forever!"

My phone dinged with a text message a few minutes later. It was my friend Becky: "We're calling a meeting and will call you later tonight to discuss this mayhem!"

Me: "Okay but I can't until 8. Dinner with my dad at 7."

Becky: "8 it is. TTYT"

At dinner, my dad asked, "How did it go with Bradley last night?"

I looked at him. "Do not do that again, Dad."

He frowned. "He begged me, Ally."

"I don't care. Don't do it again." I was as firm as possible.

He sighed and nodded. "All right, sweetie."

Right at eight o'clock, my phone rang. I settled into my comfortable bed, ready for a long group chat. I expected my three core friends who would pass on the gist of things to the others. I answered, "Hello."

They chorused, "Hello, Ally Cat!"

Becky said, "Talk to us, Ally Cat!" so I launched into the entire tale. I told them everything. They were suitably shocked by the bets and cheered when I told them about tricking the boys and getting the cash. I told them everything that happened since and about my belief that all of this was a much bigger bet, that I was the unicorn, the greatest prize in the hunt.

Becky reasonably asked, "Why don't you just ignore all three of them?"

"I tried that for the first month. They kept asking me on dates, and I just said no. Then Brad came to visit my father." I told them all about that already, so I just explained, "That was harder to ignore."

Lissa said, "Okay, but your father can't actually make you marry Brad. He might invite him for dinner sometimes, but you can just ignore him even if that happens."

Angele said, "You know Brad went to your father to try to get a reaction from you. I'm really surprised you rose to that bait, Ally."

I groaned. "I know. He just made me so angry!"

Lissa said, "That's what is so shocking."

Becky insisted, "Hey, she's Ally Cat. You don't back her into a corner!"

They all giggled, and I frowned.

Angele said, "But our Ally Cat only gets mad and fights back if she actually feels threatened. I would expect that reaction if one of these guys tried to force themselves on her in any way or hurt her, but they didn't."

I interrupted, "Brad hurt my relationship with my father."

Lissa giggled. "You mean your ability to control your father. He usually gives you whatever you want, and now he's trying to talk you into something."

I grumbled. "Yeah, and I don't like it!"

Lissa said, "Your dad can't actually make you do anything. He never has before, and you're almost eighteen now."

"True... but I'm living with him now. It feels different. He's changing on me." I frowned as I thought about that.

Angele said, "He's getting to know the adult you finally. He's figuring you out."

"That's not cool!" I shuddered. I should always have the ability to control my father!

Angele chuckled. "Why? You have no problem standing up for yourself. Brad wants a reaction. Don't give him one."

I thought about it and decided she was right. "True."

Angele gently said, "Besides, you're playing with their feelings, making them think they stand a chance with you when they don't, to hurt them, punish them. How is that different from what they did to those girls?"

She quickly added, "Sure, the degree to which you are playing with and hurting them is vastly different, but it is still fundamentally the same thing. They definitely deserve to be punished, but you stooping to their level will hurt you in the long run."

I frowned at myself. "You're right. I hadn't thought about that. I don't feel threatened or frightened either. They just annoyed me, pissed me off. I shouldn't play with their feelings. I should be more mature than that." I nodded even though they couldn't see it. "Yeah... okay. I can try ignoring them all again."

"Yeah, post your decision online." Lissa giggled.

I smiled. "Okay." I got up, went to my desk, and started writing. "I'm writing the post now." I read it out to them for approval. "After a meeting with my chicas, I've decided to ignore all three boys. No more dates, no more kisses for any of you. The end." They all agreed, and I submitted it. I talked to the girls for a few more minutes, hung up, and started on my homework.

When I checked online again, several comments were in from the guys.

Brad: "Not going to happen."

Taylor: "Awww man! *facepalm* Girls! How could you do this to me?? I'm dying here!"

Scott: "No way! I was winning! *pout*"

Brad: "You are so underestimating me little girl :)"

I defriended each of them, finished my homework, and went to bed. They got the message.

The boys continued to sit next to me in classes and told me hello, but I didn't respond with more than a nod. When I checked online Tuesday night, I was appalled to realize that just because I was ignoring the boys did not mean my friends were. The boys were still 'friends' with my friends, and ongoing discussions appeared on my news feed since they were happening on my friends' pages.

At first, my friends told the boys I divulged everything, and they were disgusting perverts. The boys proceeded to explain themselves and apologize for their past actions, just as they did to me. They were successfully winning over my friends with their protestations of reform and true love. This continued over the next several days as I kept ignoring the boys in school.