Chapter 2

2

When you're young and naive, and you meet someone like that, so effortless, so confident, it draws you in. And I had seen him before. When I first came to this city, my wallet got stolen at the station. I didn't have a dime to my name, and when I got out of the police station it was raining. I was a mess, crying hard.

He drove up next to me, and in a slow, easy way asked, "Where are you headed? Hop in, I'll give you a lift."

Of course I was too wary to get in a car with a stranger.

He was persistent, though, gently convincing me, "I'm not a creep, trust me just this once. No more crying, okay?"

Later I always wanted to thank him, but we never ran into each other again.

This city has so many people, to just meet someone, even say a few words, was rare.

Soon after that day we became an item.

When my roommate found out, she was shocked. She ended up saying, "Dating a guy like that sounds kinda fun, right? But I've heard he doesn't go past two weeks with anyone."

"Just have a good time while it lasts."

I said, yeah, have a good time while it lasts.

We all have our naive moments.

At the time, I thought relationships should be casual.

When I liked him, I didn't care about his past. I only cared about our future together.

But later, I found out, it wasn't that simple.

Like the bet. Even though Ethan never went past two weeks with a girlfriend.

Why did his buddies bet on a month?

Much later, I found out the extra two weeks were because I had a three-way resemblance to his first love.

The bet was a total bust, with most of them losing.

Because, to everyone's surprise, Ethan and I were actually good together.

Unlike any of his relationships before.

He was more proactive, came to see me everyday, just for lunch or dinner. There was a time when I was super busy, so he would wait for me by the school gate, sometimes for half an hour. I felt bad about it, and asked if he wanted to grab something nice, he pulled on my sleeve, grinning, "Your boyfriend wants to eat at the cafeteria."

Then, he paused, checking with me "Is that ok?"

I knew he didn't want me to be running around, because I heard that during his time in school, he was a real snob, he would never touch the food in the cafeteria.

The Hayes's had every right to think they were better than everyone else.