Page 24 of My Rules for Revenge
“This is going to be the high school equivalent of a nuclear war, isn’t it?” Vivian remarked.
I mimicked an explosion with my hands and shot imaginary guns into the air.
“That answers my question.”
“Viv, I’m going to skin him alive. What he did to me was inexcusable. I’m going to destroy him and his little virgin squad of dumb nerds.”
Vivian scoffed.
“Oh, boy.”
“He will be annihilated,” I threatened.
As I turned towards the hall, I saw Eddy Chavez studying his chemistry textbook. He was deeply focused and wasn’t vigilant about where he walked. A couple of seconds later, he slightly tripped over himself and dropped his book. He quickly went to retrieve it and somehow grazed my butt when he shot back up. I jumped up in surprise while he stood still in horror.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I stood up too fast, and I didn’t see where my hand was. I swear. This is embarrassing. I’m really embarrassed right now,” Eddy said apologetically.
“You did that on purpose.”
“No, I swear I didn’t. I would never.”
I curled my hand into a fist and stared into the very depths of his soul. After the nonsense I had been through, this was about to be my melting point.
“You definitely saw my leaked nudes. Am I supposed to believe that you didn’t do that on purpose? The way I see it, you liked what you saw, and you wanted to get a feel for yourself,” I replied.
“Jesus, Heather. Trust me, I know what’s been happening, and I would never participate in anything like that. I’m sorry, I know you don’t deserve it,” Eddy expressed with regret.
I looked at him with a skeptical face and then glanced over at Vivian, who seemed to be falling for Eddy’s sob story.
“You’re lying, and I want you to admit it right now,” I demanded.
“Heather, he might be telling the truth. He’s a nice kid,” Vivian whispered.
“Nope, all lies. Eddy, you wanted to cop a feel, right?” I asked bluntly.
“I can say with all certainty that I didn’t,” Eddy replied.
I stared at him until my expression softened. I could tell that he was being honest. A person like that wasn’t capable of malicious intent. He was a good guy, through and through. I’ll be honest. I found him attractive. He wasn’t a loud jokester or a stuck-up star athlete, but he was kind. There weren’t a lot of those around. I figured it would have been best if I tried not to turn away all the good ones.
“Fine. I’ll let this go. I’m on edge, as you can see. I believe you didn’t do it on purpose—this time,” I said, annoyed.
“I didn’t. You can believe me. It won’t happen again,” Eddy said nervously.
“If you do it again, I’ll squeeze your head into a pickle jar.”
“Heather, don’t say that. Don’t worry, Eddy. You’re fine,” Vivian assured him.
“No, he’s not. His head will enter a jar of pickles if he decides to be a pervert again.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no, no. I’m not a pervert, I swear. I don’t do perverted things.”
“That’s something a pervert would say,” I pointed out.
“What? No, it’s not. Is it? Wait, do you guys seriously think I’m a pervert? What can I do to make you guys think I’m not a pervert? I’ll do anything,” Eddy said.
“You don’t have to do anything, Eddy. Trust me, it’s okay,” Vivian comforted him.
“Definitely don’t trust her, and it’s not okay,” I asserted.
