49. Montana

“That was weird,” Natalie muttered.

“I know,” Pearl agreed, her eyes massive in her stunned face.

“Ten freaking thousand dollars!” Kelly screamed. “What the hell was that all about?”

“He’s rich, isn’t he? That story Tiffany told me about his daughter’s designer Gucci shoes is real. He’s rich, but he’s pretending to be a poor accountant driving a beat-up car. The question is why is he doing it? What’s actually going on?” Natalie turned on me. “Well, do you know?”

“No, I don’t. He told me and my father he’s an accountant. My father even offered for him to be the school accountant, and he accepted. As for the beat-up car, I believe, he finds it interesting to soup up a car and see how well it can go.”

“This is getting creepy now. To think he bid ten thousand dollars and then he pecked your cheek and walked away. What the hell is that all about?”

“Well, that sure pissed Jesse off though. His little face. Poor guy thought he had a clear road to victory,” Kelly noted with amusement.

I stared at my friends. I felt so confused I couldn’t think anymore. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on. I think I’m just going to enter the waffle-eating competition and just forget all this bizarre stuff had ever happened. I’ll sort it out in my head when I get home.”

“I … really don’t think you should enter the contest,” Kelly said.

I took a big gulp of the cup of alcoholic punch she was holding and spluttered with the strength of it. “God, how much vodka did you put in there?”

She grinned. “Most of the bottle.”

I shook my head. “How you don’t fall down drunk I’ll never know. Right, I’m off to the competition.”

“You shouldn’t go, Montana.”

I turned to her. “Why? I’ve been doing it for years and winning.”

“It’s so unladylike.”

“My dad does it. He thinks he’s cool?”

Pearl laughed as she adjusted her straw hat further down her head. “Cole might not think it’s all that hot to see you gobbling down twenty waffles.”

“Fuck Cole,” I said aggressively. I felt angry with him. True, he had not led me on, but he had definitely lied to me, and he had ruined my life. I was a shadow of the person I was before I met him.

“She’ll never give up that crazy contest,” Pearl said.

“Your dad’s not participating this year, is he?” Natalie asked

“That’s not out of choice; that’s because of his health.”

“And you don’t think you should look out for your health as well?” Natalie asked.

They continued yapping on about it, but my mind was determined. I could have easily skipped out on it, but we had invited all the kids and parents to the funfair. There were rides and stalls and contests and all in all, it was the best summer event in town. Everything was brightly lit and in colors; it wasn’t rainy, thank God, and not too hot either. It was a perfect day, and I wasn’t going to let Cole spoil it.

“What’s the prize?” Natalie asked.

“A $200 grocery certificate.”

“I’ll give you the two hundred dollars,” Natalie said.

I smiled, turning to her. “You”re one to talk; your boyfriend participated last year.”

“And I almost broke up with him because of such behavior. As you can see, he has turned over a new leaf and lost ten pounds. He will not be found near that sloppiness.”

“Well, I’m going,” I rose to my feet.

“Let her be,” I heard Kelly say.

I headed over to the waffle contest stand. They would be starting shortly, and I was ready. I was determined to win it this year. I didn’t even know why, since I didn’t particularly need that $200 grocery certificate, but I needed a win in something after the very rough time I’d had, so I planned to throw myself into it.

“We begin in ten minutes,” Mr. Vaughn, the librarian, said.

I nodded and took my place, but when I saw who had slid in next to me, I was immediately irritated. I didn’t know him, but over the years, I had seen him in town, of course. He was the nephew of another one of the locals and was always causing trouble at the bar. He wasn’t exactly a bum, but there was just something always messy, loud and upsetting about him.

Instantly, I lost my interest in participating, but I was already here, so I decided to just suck it up.

“Go for it, Montana,” I heard a shout and looked to see the crowd slowly gathering.

Of course, it was my dad. He had brought a chair over. I was amused, knowing he was going to have a blast watching me while complaining for the next week or so that he wasn’t allowed to join in.

I shot him a look, and then we were ready to begin.

“Don’t choke,” the man beside me said. “It’ll be a shame to go out with anything down your throat other than a dick. The only thing a girl should ever choke on is a big dick.”

It must have been because of the confusion I felt about my life, but I experienced the kind of black rage I’d never before felt. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The show was about to start, and I had to make the decision to either give him the hardest, dirtiest slap I could and make a beeline for it or just continue on with the game and ignore him.

It was extremely difficult to choose the latter option, but for the sake of my dad and the gathering crowd, I conceded. I would totally and absolutely ignore him. The asshole was not worth one second of my time.

“Ready?” Mr. Vaughn announced on his microphone.

I got ready.

The whistle was blown, and I began wolfing down the waffles. I loved the waffles. They were provided by Mrs. Sherman’s bakery and they were incredibly delicious. I didn’t look to my left or right despite the grunting ridiculous noises everyone was making. I just tried to chew mine properly so they would go down easier. I had a bottle of water in my hand to facilitate this.

I kept going, but I was sure I wasn’t going to win this time around because the monster by my side was barely swallowing. It made me realize that the only reason I had succeeded in the past was that I had been playing with lightweights: older people in the town with absolutely no stamina and, of course, my dad, who I was sure now allowed me to win. Suddenly it all seemed so pointless. I didn’t want to sit with this asshole next to me. I didn’t care to win. The waffles tasted like mud in my mouth.

I stopped, unable to go forward. There were tears in my eyes. I was crying for Cole. He was supposed to meet me at the waffle stand and he never showed up. I felt disappointed, sad, and confused all at once. Why on earth did he bid ten thousand dollars for a kiss from me? It was all so baffling. I jumped to my feet and the idiot next to me sniggered and continued to chomp down on his pile of waffles. Looked like he was going home with the prize.

“Maybe next year, Montana?” Mr. Vaughn said consolingly. He was a kind middle-aged man and I had a soft spot for him.

“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe next year.”

My dad stood and came towards me, his forehead creased with worry lines. “What’s wrong, Buttercup?”

I hid my hurting tears from his searching eyes. “Nothing, Dad. I’m just tired. I think I’ll go straight home.”

“Want me to take you home?”

“Nah, you stay and have fun. I’ll give Lola a ride. She’ll like that.”