Page 95 of My Rules for Revenge
Iunderstood why Heather did what she did, but I still felt it was really crazy. She smashed my two-thousand-dollar gaming PC into bits and pieces. She also lit my backpack on fire.
I didn’t fully comprehend the gravity of what she did until Principal Newman took me into his office and questioned me about what happened. He told me she would be properly punished and that he could force her to pay reparations for my PC. Despite every molecular fiber in my being saying otherwise, I told him, “No,” that she didn’t have to pay for it.
I knew I was being batshit insane, but I wanted yet another reason to show Heather that I wanted her forgiveness. I wanted to show her I was willing to sacrifice one of the most important things in my life to be a different person. If she was so angry with me that she destroyed that thing with no regrets, then clearly, I did something to her that deserved that.
Afterwards, I went over to Manny’s house to watch an online Worldly Wizard Quest tournament. We chilled in his basement and sat on his old futon while we ate bags of salted potato chips and drank diet soda. Manny had rows and rows of “Pop-Up” figures that he collected all over the place. Carlos always tried to touch them, and Manny always slapped his pesky hands away. It should’ve been like any other night. A great night with friends. That wasn’t the case anymore; things had changed.
“Guys, this is a very intense match!” Manny exclaimed.
“Nah, really?! It’s Raze Clan versus Pickle Squad. They hate each other more than I hate Heather,” Carlos commented.
“Really, Carlos?” I asked.
“Yeah, bro. So, what did Newman tell you? He asked me what happened, and I told him that she turned into a raging and destructive lunatic,” Carlos affirmed.
“I just told him what I saw,” I replied.
“Heather’s paying for your PC, right? That crazy-ass bitch wrecked it. You spent three months building that thing and twenty thousand dollars,” Carlos commented.
“I spent three hours building it and two thousand dollars,” I clarified.
“Yeah, same thing.”
“It’s not the same thing, Carlos.”
“Bro, are you okay? You seem annoyed or something. You good?” Carlos asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Dude, you’re not fine.”
“I am fine.”
“No, you are not.”
“Dude, I’m going to clobber you,” I threatened.
“I’m trying to talk to you, man. We’re friends, remember?”
I stayed quiet while Manny stared at me.
“What’s up, Manny? Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.
He looked away, then looked at Carlos.
“What, Manny?” Carlos asked.
“We should tell him,” Manny suggested.
“Manny, chill the hell out. Not right now!” Carlos exclaimed.
“Tell me what?” Jacob asked.
“We were responsible for what happened in the auditorium,” Manny admitted.
“Manny, shut your mouth right now.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. I was wondering when you guys were gonna come clean,” I commented.
