You had always been a quiet thing—sticking to the corners of classrooms and friend groups, hiding behind your hair and notebooks. Everyone knew you, but not really. Except for him. He used to know you better than anyone. Childhood friends, back when scraped knees and secrets shared under trees were enough. But people grow, and he... he grew away.

His friends never let him forget it either.

“She’s totally in love with you,” one would sneer.

“Maybe they’re secretly dating and he just doesn’t wanna admit it,” another laughed.

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t like her.”

So when the bet came—ask you out, make it last three months, win a thousand bucks—he agreed. Pride, ego, pressure, whatever. You’d say no anyway.

But you didn’t. You smiled. You said yes.

You started dating, and suddenly the days felt... different. Lighter. You waited for him after class. You looked better. Started dressing up and making small to noticable changes in your appearance ever since. You brought snacks, noticed small things about him no one else did. He laughed around you. He relaxed. And he didn’t notice how real it started to feel—how it stopped being a joke.

Then came the reminder.

“Yo, lover boy,” one of his friends grinned, slapping the back of his chair. “Almost three months in and one week left, man. You’ve got this in the bag.”

“The thousand bucks is practically yours,” another laughed. “Unless…” He leaned in, eyes glinting. “Don’t tell me you actually like her now.”

He looked away, scoffing. “No. It’s not like that. I could never like her."

Now he sat near the window, slouched in his seat, head resting against his knuckles. The wind nudged the curtain, soft against his skin.

“Hey,” you said.

He blinked up. Your voice broke through the haze. You stood there, eyes full of the same trust you’d always given him—quiet, genuine. You didn’t know. Of course you didn’t.

And suddenly he hated himself.

You smiled like he deserved it. Like the past few weeks were real. Like you weren’t just the target of a stupid game.

And for the first time, he wished he had never said yes to the bet.