Page 98 of My Rules for Revenge
“You’re a strong girl. I know you are. You’re just like me.”
I fought back the tears welling up within me and solemnly nodded.
“I am. I will be strong.”
“But don’t be afraid to forgive, Heather. That’s the whole reason your mother and I got together in high school. She’ll tell you that story one day. I know I’ve taken the easy route for most of my life, but…it’s funny that I’ve been thinking about everything ever since I’ve been stuck here. Sometimes I wonder if there were better ways to handle the situations I’ve been in.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” he chuckled.
We both began to laugh until we grew quiet.
“Sweetheart, I want you to be happy. I think at the end of the day, only you know what makes you happy and what will give you peace. Don’t you ever forget that!"
“I won’t.”
I never forgot that, but I may have been wrong all along about what made me happy and what gave me peace. I lay down in mybed in deep thought for hours. A soft knock on the door woke me up… It was Vivian. I shot up and let her in.
“Are you okay?” Vivian asked.
“No, not really. I messed up,” I assured.
“You may have gone a bit far this time. Are you really suspended for a month?”
“Yep, and I have a thousand million community service hours I have to complete before graduation. Yippee.”
“Wow! That sucks. I’m sorry,” Vivian said empathetically.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
“Did you ever find out who did it?”
“I still think it’s Jacob, but I don’t know. I could be wrong. Maybe he does feel sorry for what he did.”
“I know it sounds crazy, but even a complete asshole like him is human,” Vivian pointed out.
“Eddy has been trying to get me to forgive him, to end this ‘feud’ between us. I don’t want Eddy to hate me, but I don’t think I’m capable of doing something like that. I feel that even if I try to get the words out, I’ll spontaneously combust,” I remarked.
“Well, look, did he do something terrible? Absolutely, one hundred percent, ‘Yes.’ But does it make you feel any better doing these terrible things?”
“I’ve been telling myself for a long time that it does. Not just to him, but to anyone. The truth is it doesn’t. I’ve always thought that getting back at people for the bad things they did to me would bring me peace. In reality, it never does,” I confessed.
“Wow. I can’t believe you said that. Is that really you?” Vivian asked.
We smiled at each other.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It sounds crazy, but it’s true,” I affirmed.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I need to fix things. Jacob messaged me that he wants to talk,” I said.
“Are you going to?” Vivian asked.
“Yep. I want to end this. Eddy was right. I need to find out the truth about what happened and then move on with my life,” I explained.
“That’s great, Heather. You’re taking the high road. I’m proud of you,” Vivian expressed.
