Summary: He lost a bet and was told to make a girl fall in love with him in 30 days as the consequence. But what he doesn’t know, what they both didn’t know, was that she had the same task too. Who will say the words ‘I love you’ first?
II.
Blanche watched Ashe over the top of her sketchbook. Ashe was over by the flowerbed, sitting on the grass as he drew. He had taken off his blazer and loosened his tie. Even disheveled, he looked really handsome.
She, on the other hand, was kneeling on the grass in front of the school’s adopted ginger cat. Or was it the cat who adopted the school? She wasn’t sure. She, too, had removed her blazer and folded her sleeves to her elbows to draw better. But she was sure she didn’t look as good as he was and probably was covered in dirt.
Their art class had taken them outside the school grounds where they were tasked to pick a subject to draw. Chairman, the cat, was sleeping peacefully under the shade of the tree when she found it and she decided to make it her subject.
Again.
The teacher would probably scold her for handing in another cat drawing but she said a subject of nature right? She couldn’t possibly fault Blanche for that.
Ashe frowned and Blanche couldn’t help but stare at him. Ashe was one of the best looking boys in school and he was also one of the smartest.
But he was lazy.
He always slept in class or stared out of the window. During PE class, he would just stand by the side or sit on the bench. One time, their class was playing basketball and he actually just stood in the middle of the court, waiting for the ball to be passed to him. He couldn’t be pushed to exert effort in anything, except in art class, and teachers always lament the fact that he was such a waste.
Blanche should never have taken that bet with Jill.
And she definitely shouldn’t have lost.
It was her first time losing their bets and Jill was such a sadist for making her do such horrible task.
Ashe yawned and she looked away.
How the heck would she get him to notice her?
Ashe observed Blanche as she gave the school cat a cuddle under a tree. Her hair was in its usual bun with various pens and pencils sticking out of it. She also had a smudge of charcoal on her cheek.
His lips twitched as he continued to stare at her.
She probably drew the cat again and he looked forward to the excuse she’ll give to their art teacher. Everytime she submitted her drawings, it was always, without fail, a drawing of a cat. That was why she was dubbed by everyone in school as the cat girl.
The cat tried to get away from her, mewling, and to his amusement, he heard her mewl back. She was really weird.
He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his gaze.
And cute.
Finn had told him a little about her. Like him, she loved to draw. And like him, she won last year’s art showcase but only coming second to his first. She was also friendly and kind but whenever she started to talk about cats, there was no stopping her so everyone would always find an excuse to get away from her.
Ashe should be feeling glad Finn didn’t choose someone annoying with a whiny voice and an attitude to match.
But damn it, but he should have listened to the rules closely when Finn suddenly made the bet so he could have won.
And, damn it, he shouldn’t have accepted the bet in the first place.
This was too much work and he’d rather sleep than do anything exhausting as this.
Blanche laughed when the cat nuzzled her neck and he dropped his gaze down to his sketchbook.
Summary: He lost a bet and was told to make a girl fall in love with him in 30 days as the consequence. But what he doesn’t know, what they both didn’t know, was that she had the same task too. Who will say the words ‘I love you’ first?
V.
“She invited you out?”
“Yeah…”
“She did? Blanche did?”
“Yeah…”
“For… cake?”
Ashe gave his best friend an irritated look. “Do you have some comprehension problem I don’t know about, Finn? I already told you everything, didn’t I?”
Finn scowled at him. “I’m still mad you skipped class to sleep and made me look for you, you lazy moron.”
“And I’m still mad at you for forcing me to come back to the classroom, you meddlesome idiot!”
“Lower your voice, geez! The teacher might hear us.”
Their heads both turned at the same time to the teacher lecturing in front of the class. Fortunately, the teacher went on, undisturbed. And fortunately, the teacher was old and almost deaf so. They weren’t the only people chatting. Most of their classmates were.
“Ashe…” Finn started again.
Ashe groaned as he planted his face back into his arms again. “Yeah?” he grumbled.
“I know you love cake but don’t just focus on eating, alright? Remember what you’re actually there for.”
Ashe twisted his head to look at him. “For the cake?”
Finn looked like he wanted to throttle him. “No, you moron. For her. You’ve got to make her fall in love with you, remember?”
“Oh. Right.”
“Don’t just ‘oh, right’ me. Remember to show her your good points alright? You have to charm the socks off her and, if you must, amaze her with all your art stuff.”
While his friend kept on hissing instructions at him, Ashe paid no heed and just closed his eyes. His dislike for this stupid punishment grew and he had a feeling Finn was only doing this because he knew Ashe didn’t like it.
And why was Finn so adamant to make her fall in love with him?
“Alright,” Jill declared as she dumped the contents of her make-up bag onto the sink in the ladies’ room. “Let’s do this. “
“If you think I’m wearing all that crap, you’ve got another thing coming, Jill,” Blanche told her friend, eyeing the assortment of tubes and compacts.
Jill put her hands on her hips and frowned at her. “You have to look at your best when you go out on a date, Blanche.”
“It’s not a date.”
“It’s so a date.”
“And besides, we’ll both be in our uniforms,” Blanche pointed out as she leaned against the edge of the sink. “I’m going to look like an idiot with my face all dolled-up while wearing this.”
“You’ve just insulted over half the population of girls in school.”
“I’m only going to treat him to cake, Jill.”
“Fine,” Jill acquiesced with a scowl. “But at least wear lip gloss, alright? And can you please remove all those pencils in your hair and let me fix it for you?”
Blanche grinned, happy she got her way, and turned around.
“And don’t play with my make-up again.”
She immediately capped the lipstick she uncapped with the intention of drawing on the tile with it.
“Make sure you act all cutesy and stuff with him, alright?” Jill continued. “Keep smiling and don’t talk too much. Let him talk about himself too. Guys like girls who listen and who aren’t chatty.”
“Speaking from experience?” Blanche teased with a grin.
Jill glared at her reflection in the mirror. “I’m serious, Blanche. This is your first date, after all.”
“It’s not a date.”
“Whatever. Just make sure he falls in love with you before you finish all the cake.”
Blanche let out a long sigh. Jill was making it seem so easy to make a person fall in love with her. Maybe she should really take this seriously so she could get this over and done with.
And why was Jill so adamant to make him fall in love with her?
Summary: He lost a bet and was told to make a girl fall in love with him in 30 days as the consequence. But what he doesn’t know, what they both didn’t know, was that she had the same task too. Who will say the words ‘I love you’ first?
IV.
The school cat was stuck up on a tree.
Ashe had been on his way to the infirmary to sleep when he heard it mewling loudly. He stopped to look at it for a while then went on his way. With a yawn, he hastened his steps so he wouldn’t be caught cutting classes. The sooner he was there, the better for him.
“Chairman, what are you doing there?” he heard a familiar voice speak.
He glanced over his shoulder. Then his eyes widened. Because it was Blanche who spoke and it was Blanche climbing the tree to get the fat cat down.
She didn’t see him. If she had she wouldn’t have climbed the tree since it was against school rules and she wouldn’t have removed her blazer, her socks and her shoes.
“Come here, Chairman,” she gently said to the cat as she sat on the branch it was lying on. “Come here.”
The cat just looked at her then licked its paw. Ashe worriedly stared at them. It irritated him that she loved cats so much she’d get up a tree to save them and he wondered how many times she’d already risked herself. And the fact that it irritated him irritated him even more. He didn’t like feeling unnecessary emotions.
The branch split just as Blanche grabbed the cat.
And Ashe, with the legs of a champion tennis player, darted toward her and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
This is such a pain, Ashe thought as he groaned in real pain.
The pull of gravity and the force of her fall had made Ashe unable to keep himself standing. They were now both lying on the ground with her body was on top of his. Her elbow was digging into his gut and she was still holding the damn cat.
She was trembling and instinctively, his arms tightened around her. He found her surprisingly cute with the way she was right now, curled up over him and scared, even though she was literally taking his breath away. She wasn’t exactly petite and her body, he noticed while he held her, was soft and curvy in all the right places.
Ashe almost punched himself when he realized where his thoughts were leading him. It wasn’t right, thinking about her this way right now.
But dang, if she didn’t smell good.
Blanche opened her eyes.
She had thought she was going to die when she fell from the tree but she was alive and feeling no pain. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at the cat in her arms and smiled.
Her smile disappeared when she saw another arm that was not hers wrapped around her and the cat.
Then she realized that she was lying on something that definitely wasn’t the grassy earth.
Alarmed, she quickly sat up and that something grunted. Rolling until she was on the grass, her eyes went to the person who’d saved her life. Her mouth dropped and her eyes grew wide. It was Ashe.
“I-I-I thought this only happens in the movies,” she blurted out.
Ashe glanced at her with an unreadable expression on his face before he rose to his feet. Dusting off his clothes, he muttered, “Apparently not.”
“Well, thank you,” she muttered into Chairman’s fur. She couldn’t look at him anymore. She was too embarrassed.
“It was nothing.”
He turned to leave and Blanche panicked. She let go of the cat, jumped to her feet and was about to run after him when he suddenly stopped. She bumped into his back, her nose bearing the brunt of the pain and she leaped back, rubbing her nose vigorously.
Ashe turned around and asked, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” Her face was probably as red as a tomato right then. “But, um. I was wondering if you like sweets?”
The question confused Ashe and he tilted his head to the side, regarding her silently.
Then he answered, “I do. Why.”
“There’s this new café and well, I was thinking, if you want, I can buy you cake as gratitude for saving me,” she hurriedly spoke before she could lose her newly-founded courage.
He didn’t even think about it when he said, “Sure.”
Her face lit up. “Cool. We can go after school if you like.”
“Okay.”
They said their goodbyes and Blanche returned to class with a skip in her step. It was just her luck that he was there. It was just her luck that he saved her. Luck was truly on her side and soon, maybe she can finish this punishment game of hers.
Blanche touched her throbbing nose and smiled to herself.
Summary: He lost a bet and was told to make a girl fall in love with him in 30 days as the consequence. But what he doesn’t know, what they both didn’t know, was that she had the same task too. Who will say the words ‘I love you’ first?
III.
“Seven days,” someone whispered creepily into Blanche’s ear and she jumped sideways, startled. Whirling around, she glared at Jill, who had doubled-over, laughing.
“You’re not funny,” she hissed.
Jill straightened and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yes, I am.”
Blanche rolled her eyes and turned to continue their trek to Biology class. Jill followed and after a while, tapped her shoulder.
“But it has been seven days, you know,” Jill told her.
“I know,” she muttered unhappily. She didn’t like being reminded of their stupid punishment game.
“What’s your plan of action?”
“Like I would tell you, you big meanie.”
Jill chuckled behind her. Blanche stopped in her tracks to glower at her. Jill raised her hands in defense and she exhaled exasperatedly. It was obvious Jill was enjoying this. It was the first time ever that she won their betting games.
“Are you fighting?” A brown-haired girl with glasses perched on her dainty nose walked over to them. “Is this about your bets again?”
Crossing her arms, Jill answered her rather hostilely, “What’s it to you, glasses?”
“Jill…” Blanche warned her.
“What? She’s butting into other people’s business again.”
“Are you never going to get over her helping me with your goo bath punishment?”
“The goo was orange. Orange! Everyone knows I hate orange.”
“Are you bullying Emmy again, Mathewson?” Another girl appeared, a rather tall girl that towered all over them. It was Cassie, Emmy’s best friend. “I’m warning you right now. If you make her cry, I’ll kill you.”
“Then why don’t you take your friend away, you soccer nut,” Jill countered.
Cassie glared at her. “You can’t tell me what to do, porn freak.”
“Just because I make naked body sculptures doesn’t mean I’m a porn freak, you titan.”
Blanche knew this was going to escalate into another screaming match. Turning to Emmy, she noted that instead of worrying, Emmy had a resigned expression on her face. Blanche bet she had the same expression too.
“So when are you really going to talk to him?” Jill asked as soon as Emmy had dragged Cassie away from them.
“Soon, okay?” Blanche sighed. “I’ll talk to him soon.”
“When the hell are you going to ask her out?” Finn asked Ashe irritably. “And get up, will you? We’re transferring classrooms.”
Ashe lifted his head from the table with a yawn. Disgruntled at having his precious nap disturbed, he gave Finn a scowl.
“Don’t scowl at me,” Finn grumbled, taking his arm and pulling him up. “Let’s go or we’ll be late. Everyone’s already left. Hurry up.”
Still with a scowl, Ashe followed Finn out of the classroom. Finn gave him the book that they’ll need for their next class and some pens too. He shouldn’t have gone through all that trouble, Ashe thought. He wasn’t going to use them anyway.
“Wow, you can’t even fix your damn tie,” Finn observed. He stopped walking and tugged on Ashe’s neck tie. “Hold still, moron. I’ll fix it for you because if you do it yourself we’ll be here all fucking day.”
“Ha. Still Ashe’s nanny, are you Finn?”
Ashe glanced behind them and saw their friend, who was wearing a sports jacket, making his way to them.
“Beat it, Nick,” Finn retorted.
Nick laughed and ruffled Ashe’s hair fondly. “Stop being lazy, Maxwell. And stop giving Finn a hard time.”
“I’m not,” Ashe mumbled, swatting Nick’s hand away.
“And when are you going to quit the arts program and come back to tennis? You were so damn good at it back in middle school.”
Ashe frowned. “It’s a pain.”
“Well, we’ll always have a spot reserved for you.”
“We’re going to be late,” Finn interrupted, pushing Ashe from the back. “And Nick, your next class is on the other side of the building you know. Let’s go, Ashe.”
“See you at lunch,” Nick called from behind them and without looking back, Finn gave him a wave.
“Won’t you really return to tennis?” Finn asked him as soon as they turned the corner. “You were pretty damn good at it.”
“I told you. It’s a pain.”
“I don’t blame you. Being on the swim team is a pain too.”
They walked into Biology and saw that the teacher had already started the class. Upon seeing them, the teacher just sighed and waved them to their chairs. Finn gave Ashe a look that said it was his fault and Ashe just shrugged. School was a pain, Biology too, and it sucked that he had to keep coming every single day.
“So when are you going to talk to her,” Finn whispered as they took their seats. “It’s been seven days already.”
Ashe lowered his head to his arms and glanced at Blanche. Her hair was down today, he noted.
Almost done with chapter 20 of Sleeping with a Bully. After the update I'll take some time off to edit chapters 11-20 like what I did with 1-10 to add some elements I missed. Hope you'll all have a wonderful Christmas season or whatever you celebrate this time of the year. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
Forgive me for not updating! It's been a busy week (yes, I always use this excuse) and I've also been doing some early Christmas shopping to avoid the mad rush. I'll try to finish chapter 19 tonight, which is about 70% done. What's the next chapter about? I'll give you a clue. It's about our very own teddy bear. (^ヮ^)
I know I've been remiss in my updates. But my brain needs rest. I was swamped with exams the past weeks and damn it, it was hell. Whenever I try to write, it screams at me, begging no more work, no more thinking. So I'm giving in. Just for a while. Sembreak is next week so I'll be free~~ Yes, to the beaches I go. I'm actually working on the 13th chapter rn, eventhough my uterus is hurting like a female dog. Dang, I also have a scrabble competition later. Really sorry, tho. I'll update next week. PROMISE.
