Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – How to win a date

Judith Mendoza was never interested in having romantic relationships with her peers. This was not due to any past trauma, nor was it due to an inherent cowardice in approaching the person she liked. No, the truth is that such an individual did not even exist.

If she didn´t show interest in love affairs, it was because at that time in her life she preferred to focus on herself, both in her studies and in hobbies.

Hence, she did not make any move to approach someone with intentions beyond friendship. It wasn't just that she'd typecast herself as a difficult-to-treat hermit anymore, it's that her own high school classmates had given up on her years ago, not even approaching her to borrow a pen when they forgot theirs at home.

Knowing this scenario, and also that there were few occasions when someone was idle enough to approach Judith during breaks, it was unheard of that one of the most popular teenagers in the entire high school had interrupted her reading to make the following question:

“Would you like to date me?”

Leyre had barely taken the time to say hello, and now she stood before her, a beaming smile on her face, awaiting an answer.

“No, get lost”, was what Judith would have liked to reply, quickly. But she realized that she couldn't, for various reasons.

The first, because she knew Leyre's kind well. Too cheerful and bright, the kind of outgoing people who were always taking the initiative and instigating people to participate. Judith was convinced that if she refused so curtly, it would only make the other insist even more vigorously.

The second, and more important, because that didn´t smell good. Leyre hadn't spoken a word to her in over two years, hadn't even given her a glance in all that time. Why did she suddenly want to spend time with her? It did not make sense.

“Why me?” Judith asked, without knowing it, the same question that Leyre had asked herself minutes before.

“Do I need a reason to want to have a quiet conversation with someone intelligent whom I admire and respect? I just thought you could put a new friendship to good use, nothing more. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“But you used the word date. I don't think having a couple of minutes of conversation at recess is the same as what the common populace defines as going out”.

“Well, if you don't want to go out we can also meet in a classroom, or in a bar after class, or at your house...”

"No, thanks." Judith still didn't know what was going on, but just in case, she decided to be diplomatic. “Aren't your friends waiting for you? For my part, I have no problem talking to you from time to time, but I'm not planning to have a date. I don't even know you.”

While saying this, with her eyes she had looked for the usual small group with which Leyre used to spend the mornings. And she had found it, farther away than she would have liked. When would the time come when they would take this woman with them?

“No, I understand, it was all so abrupt of me! I'll tell you what. We won't meet outside school, but I'll meet you at recess... Not all of them, of course, so as not to harass you. But I will try to spend more time with you so that you can see the sincerity in my actions.”

"I'd rather you didn't, really."

"But I insist! You'll see, I'll make sure you don't regret accepting my company” Leyre said this last sentence a little louder than usual, as if she were trying to make herself heard before certain three people who remained far enough away that they couldn't hear her conversation when it was delivered in a normal tone. “Who knows, maybe in a few months it will be you who can no longer spend your breaks without having me around.”

Judith thought she had been curt enough not to give her hope. It's not that she disliked Leyre right now, but if she planned to go into stalker mode in the future, she was sure she would end up hating her.

And yet, the popular girl was still there, with her usual smile, as if she hadn't already been asked several times, actively and passively, to go and graze where she came from.

"Is this a joke?"

It hadn't escaped Judith that Leyre's little friends had glanced her way a couple of times, whispering and giggling.

“Why would it be?”

“If I let you come and talk to me once in a while,” Judith began, qualifying that very and not bothering to answer those absurd questions, “will you go away now and let me read in peace?"”

“Of course.”

“Let´s do that, then.”

“Seriously? Thank you!”

"Yeah, weren't you going to leave?"

In fact, Leyre was still planted in the same place, not even with the promise of disappearing for a while, she hadn't moved a millimeter.

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“On this subject, there is one more thing.” Leyre's smile faded in the moments that she continued, this time in a tone so low that Judith had to strain to hear it. “I'll give you fifty euros if you humor me and end up going out with me one of these days.”

“What?”

Judith didn't think she'd understood correctly.

“I've bet a hundred euros that I can, within a month, make you fall in love. It's stupid and irresponsible, I know,” she hastened to add, before the other put her opinion in the middle. “I only accepted for the money and, if I'm telling you, it's because I think we'd have more chances of winning if everything was agreed between us from the beginning and there were no misunderstandings.”

“Ah, but do you already count me as an accomplice in that scheme?”

If Judith had found Leyre's attitude suspicious before, now it was even funny. It wasn't every day that one was approached with an offer to participate in such a scam.

"Only if you want, I can't force you. If you tell me no, I'm going to have to cancel the bet and fall into a depression while I manage to steal those hundred euros of bail that I don't have.”

“Poor you. The economy is difficult even for popular people, I imagine.”

"But you, a charitable soul like few others, can help me," Leyre continued, undeterred. “Look, you wouldn't need to act, just be yourself. We can begin by tolerating each other's presence, behaving like friends over time. Near the end of the month, I'll tell my friends that I asked you to be my girlfriend and you accepted. And that's it, just say yes when asked. After the bet is over and we've been paid, you can pretend to be outraged by the deception I put you through and break up with me.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“I assure you it would be the easiest fifty euros to get!”

“But if I refuse, you'll leave me alone and not push the bet.”

"I'd have to pretend to them that I'm still trying, so I'd talk to you a couple of times a week. But I wouldn't go any further than that, and I certainly wouldn't ask you out outside of class time. The fact is that I already accepted the bet and it would be very strange that after talking to you for five minutes I turned to them and said that we aborted the mission. Especially when so much money is at stake.”

“I see.”

“Would you lend yourself to participate?” Leyre asked slowly, after a few seconds of silence.

Judith seemed to consider it seriously. Fifty euros to put up with one person for a month? It seemed like little pay, but then again, it wasn't that he hated Leyre. And if she wasn't required to show the least bit of affection toward her fellow partner, maybe it wouldn't be so terrible.

"Could you put your whole plan in writing?" she ended up asking, still not deciding on a yes or no.

"What plan are you talking about?"

A third person asked this question. The aforementioned was a certain Gisela, whom Leyre knew by sight and imagined she was one of the few friends that Judith had, since they spent a high percentage of breaks together.

Gisela had just left the cafeteria with her sandwich in hand and, as usual, she had gone to the usual corner where Judith used to sit, catching only the last words of a conversation and incidentally taking the surprise to find Leyre directing a word to someone who many considered invisible.

"Oh, is everything okay?" Gisela had added after a hasty apology for the interruption and having ascertained the awkward silence that had been created. “Did you need something?”

That last was said addressing only to Leyre. Like Judith, she was aware of how strange it was for someone popular like her to deign to converse with either of them.

“No, I was already retiring.” And before confirming that, indeed her legs still worked, she told Judith. “I can put it in writing, I have no problem.”

"In that case, I guess we'll have to meet a day after class to put the papers in order," she replied, with the same calmness.

"What papers?" Gisela put in, still confused by the exchange; she had been gone less than ten minutes, but she must have felt that she had missed two hours of movie.

“Nothing important, a task we have to do together.”

“But you're not even in the same class...”

Leyre smiled as if her proposal had already been accepted or, at least, considered in the way she thought it deserved. And, after saying goodbye to both girls, she returned excitedly to her group of friends to inform them that the experiment was succeeding and Judith had spoken amicably with her for six clock minutes.

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