Revenge

by Rita Cain

  “No, they’re not.”

  “Well, what’s not going well?”

  “For starters, you’re annoying.”

  “I’m...what?

  “Annoying. Do I need to spell it out for you?”

  “No. What else?”

  “You’re stupid!”

  “Could I have an example please?

  “Sure! You thought Gabriella shared pictures of you in your footy pajamas. Why would Gabriella ever spread that? She loves you and was willing to do anything to get you back. I posted those pictures of you everywhere, not her.”

  “You did what? And wait, that means she’s innocent!”

  “Well, you catch on real fast, huh?”

  “She was so desperate to win you back she completely changed herself.”

  “She shouldn’t have changed for me! And you told me she was the bad guy and you would help me!”

  “I did help you. Heck, I just helped you right now. Do you think you would have figured this out without my help?”

  “Well, probably not....”

  “Exactly. Now if you want to go find her, I know exactly where she is.”

  “Where?”

  “Josh’s party. You know, the hottest party in town? Where all the popular kids party?”

  “Why aren’t you there?”

  “Gabriella took my popularity.”

  “Well, I guess that’s revenge.”

  “I guess so. Now do you want my help or what?”

  “Sure. Lead the way.” Ally smirked. This was absolutely perfect. Not only did she get Wesley off her back but she was about to make Gabriella look bad. Real bad. If Ally’s deductions were correct, Jessica and Christina probably set Gabriella up with someone to hook-up with. This would be the prefect surprise for Wesley when he sees this.

  Chapter 22: It’s Party Time

  Gabriella had arrived to Josh’s party with Jessica and Christina around eight thirty. The first half an hour was spent introducing Gabriella to everybody. Jessica and Christina dragged Gabriella around like a rag doll. They believed that it was a nessecity that Gabriella knew everyone.

  “Now that we’re finished showing you off to everyone, we need to find you a hook-up,” Jessica said.

  “Why?” Gabriella asked.

  “Everyone knows that popular girls hook up at parties!” Christina said.

  “So, I have to?” Gabriella asked.

  “Obviously,” Jessica said. “Now do you like tall guys or short guys?”

  “I haven’t really thought about it. I mean I only think about this one guy...,” Gabriella said, her voice trailing off.

  “Oh my gosh! Who is it?” Christina said.

  “It’s no one,” Gabriella said.

  “Well, you can’t just tease us like this! You have to tell us who it is now,” Jessica said.

  “Fine. It’s uhh this guy named Wesley,” Gabriella said. Instantly Jessica and Christina looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Only a week ago they had talked to Ally about Ally dating Wesley. Ally knew how Gabriella thought about Ally and wanted to seek revenge. Ally had been successful in winning over Wesley. Then Gabriella was alone with no friends.

  “Oh, you don’t want Wesley!” Christina said.

  “I don’t?” Gabriella said confused.

  “No! We’ll introduce you to someone who will make you forget all about Wesley!” Jessica said. After all, it was the least they could do. They both had a hand in destroying Gabriella’s friendship with Wesley.

  Chapter 23: That Awkward Moment When...

  “We’re here,” Ally chirped as she pulled into Josh’s driveway. There were cars everywhere. Ally could hear music being blasted from the inside of the house. She looked over at Wesley who looked like he was going to be sick. “You ready?” she asked him as she hopped out of her car.

  Slowly getting out, he murmured, “yes.”

  “Well, come on! We don’t have all night,” Ally said. She couldn’t wait much longer to see the look on Wesley’s face when Gabriella hurts him again.

  “You forgot your crutches,” Wesley said.

  “Oh please, like I’m going to be able to use them at a party,” Ally said.

  Ally led Wesley up the stairs to Josh’s front door. She opened it up, watching Wesley’s expression carefully. He was expressionless and just took the party in. Inside there were people everywhere, dancing, sitting, laughing and drinking. Ally and Wesley had to push their way through the crowd. All of the sudden Ally heard a loud “ew” from behind her. She spun around to see a girl named Julia staring at her.

  “Excuse me?” Ally said to Julia.

  “You heard me,” Julia said tossing back her sleek blond hair, “I said ew.”

  “Yeah, I heard you. Would you like to explain yourself?” Ally challenged.

  “Sure. I thought only cool kids were allowed at Josh’s parties and you don’t quite make the cut, Ally.” Julia said coldly.

  “Girl, do I need to set you straight?” Ally said but before she could do anything Wesley pulled her away.

  “Come on,” Wesley said urgently, “we need to find Gabriella.”

  “Oh, yeah, of course,” Ally said. From then on they check inside, outside, the basement and bathrooms. Gabriella didn’t seem to be there but she had to be. Wesley and Ally had seen Jessica and Christina multiple times. They surely had taken Gabriella with them, which meant one thing: Gabriella was hooking up with someone in a bedroom.

  “Hey, Wesley,” Ally said, “We never did check the bedrooms, did we?”

  “Umm, no, we didn’t, why?” Wesley asked.

  “What if she’s in there,” Ally said.

  “Why would she be in a bedroom?” Wesley said.

  “Oh, Wesley. You’re so naive. Popularity code basically states that if you’re a single girl at a party, you have to find someone to hook-up with.”

  “You’re lying!”

  “I am not! Remember the last party you went to? I was single and we hooked up. The goal of this rule is to get popular to date popular.”

  “That’s a terrible rule.”

  “But those are the rules. Now c’mon, we need to find her!” Ally led Wesley upstairs to the bedrooms. They checked bedroom and bedroom until finally the only bedroom that was left was Josh’s. “C’mon, Wesley! Just one more bedroom! You can do it!” Then Ally pushed the door open slowly and allowed Wesley to look in first. He gasped. Sure enough, Gabriella was in there with the host himself. They were closely embraced, too busy to notice Ally and Wesley at first. However, Wesley was whimpering and the couple broke apart. Josh flipped his hair out of his eyes and looked confused. Gabriella on the other hand looked mortified. Ally just stood there enjoying the tradegy. Oh, how Ally enjoyed the sight of revenge.

  “Gabriella...,” Wesley said quietly.

  “Uhhh...,” Gabriella said.

  “How could you?” Wesley said fighting back tears.

  “Wesley! Wait, I can explain,” Gabriella said.

  “There’s nothing to explain! C’mon, Ally, let’s go,” Wesley breathed. Wesley then left, running down the stairs. Ally turned gracefully, and happily followed Wesley. Ally’s mission was accomplished; she had made Gabriella miserable again.

  Chapter 24: Revenge

  “Gabriella, you need to stop crying so we can understand what you’re trying to say,” Jessica urged Gabriella just minutes after her encounter with Wesley.

  “It’s okay, Gabriella,” Christina said softly “Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

  “It’s over,” Gabriella sobbed.

  “What is?” Jessica asked.

  “Wesley and I...,” Gabriella said.

  “I thought that was already over,” Christina said then Gabriella began to cry harder.

  “Way to go,” Jessica whispered to Christina “Seriously though, what happened tonight?”

  “I...I...I was with Joo..Joshhh, the the guy you introduced me to. We were having a gr..great time. Then Wes..Wesley walk
ed in on us,” Gabriella sobbed.

  “Oh my god,” Christina breathed.

  “How did he know about this party or where you’d be?” Jessica asked.

  “I don’t know...,” Gabriella sobbed “But he was with Ally.”

  “Ally? Of course!” Jessica said, “Ally would know about this party! She’d know about the single girls rule and set Wesley up.”

  “Poor Wesley,” Christina said.

  “Look, Gabriella, we’ll get her back! I promise,” Jessica said.

  “I don’t want to play revenge anymore,” Gabriella sobbed.

  “Well, sometimes it’s completely necessary,” Jessica said.

  Chapter 25: Blame Ally

  “Ally Andrews to the principals office immediately,” a voice over the loud speakers said. Ally sighed. Couldn’t she have a break? All week she had been battling people to try to set them in their place. She had been successful last night when she ruined Wesley and Gabriella’s relationship for good.

  Ally knocked on the door of the principal’s office and waited. Then she heard a voice call, “come in!” She came in and sat down in one of the plush chairs looking around the office innocently.

  “Do you know why I called you in here?” The principal said.

  “Nope,” Ally said sweetly.

  “Are you sure?” The principal said.

  “I have no idea but maybe I’m about to find out?” Ally asked.

  “Yes, you are. Ms. Andrew you are in trouble for vandalizing school property. The bathroom you wrecked is going to take hours and possibly days to restore.”

  “The what?”

  “The bathroom on the second floor. The one you vandalized.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Of course, you do! You signed your name all over the walls in red lipstick!”

  “I did not!”

  “You wrote about how you are the best and everyone else is below you. And based on your record of previous offenses, you seem guilty.”

  “How could I vandalize a bathroom when I’m on crutches?”

  “Just because you’re injured, does not mean that you’re above the rules, Ally. We will have to call your parents to find the proper punishment for you.”

  “This isn’t fair.”

  “Life isn’t fair, Ally.”

  Chapter 26: Confession

  Gabriella was standing by her locker with her new best friends, Christina and Jessica. They were filling Gabriella in on the amazing prank they pulled on Ally this morning.

  “We completely covered the walls,” Jessica said.

  “Yeah, and we wrote her name all over the place in the exact color of lipstick she always wears!” Christina gushed.

  “Yeah, it was perfect! So many girls recognize that Ally wears that color and will totally say she did it,” Jessica said.

  “Aren’t you thrilled? It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet and revenge has already been completed,” Christina said.

  “Guys, I’m glad you have my back an everything but this isn’t what I wanted. I said no revenge!” Gabriella said.

  “But we had to,” Jessica said. “Ally burned you so we had to burn her back!”

  “It wasn’t right! Revenge just leads to more revenge. I’m sick of this game,” Gabriella said.

  “This is how things are when you’re popular,” Christina said.

  “Then who wants to be popular if you’re constantly being burned?” Gabriella said. “I got to go.”

  “Bye, Gabriella! You’ll see what we did is right,” Jessica said. Gabriella walked away knowing that she would never see what they did as right. Now she saw that two wrongs don’t make a right and she had to fix that starting now.

  Chapter 27: Correction

  Ally was standing up from a chair in the principal’s office when Gabriella barged in.

  “Ms. Marcs, what are you doing barging into my room?” The principal said alarmed.

  “I have to tell you something,” Gabriella said.

  “Okay,” said The Principal.

  “I did it. I’m the one who destroyed that bathroom on the second floor. I blamed Ally. It was all me,” Gabriella said.

  Raising one eyebrow, the principal said, “are you sure?”

  “Yes,” Gabriella breathed.

  “Well then, in that case, Ms. Andrews, you are free to go.” The Principal said. Ally stared at Gabriella in amazement. What just happened? Gabriella could have easily let Ally taken the fall. Gabriella was a perfect student and no one would have questioned her. “As for you, Ms. Marcs, take a seat and get comfortable. You’re going to be here for a while.”

  ***

  Ally saw Gabriella later in the day and ran up to her. Well, she didn’t run exactly because of the crutches but she hurried over to Gabriella.

  “Thank-you,” Ally said to Gabriella.

  “No problem,” Gabriella said quietly.

  “Sure it is! You could have easily of gotten away with the prank but you told the truth,” Ally said.

  “Yeah, because I’m already tired of fighting the popular girl battle. I’m ready to just be my old self again,” Gabriella said.

  “Well,” Ally said, “Wesley sure did like the old you. Good luck!”

  “Yeah, like he’ll ever speak to me again after last night,” Gabriella said hopelessly.

  “I’ll talk to him. I promise and thanks again!”

  Chapter 28: Awe

  Gabriella heard a knocking on her door and ran downstairs. She was hoping it was Wesley but it was never good to hope too much. Sure enough, it was Wesley. He was standing on her porch in his adorable hipster clothes giving her a sad smile.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” she echoed.

  “So about last night...Ally explained everything to me. She set me up on purpose because she hated you. She said her hate for you goes all the way back to elementary school when you got the part in the play she wanted. That’s kind of weird, but, uhh, I guess she wanted revenge. So she took me from you. She said that you were upset and thought you could win me back by being popular. You guys basically kept seeking revenge upon each other. When she first told me that, I was still really angry with you because you thought revenge would work. But then she told me how you took the blame for something that you didn’t do and saved Ally from being expelled. That was pretty great of you. It took real courage to do that. It shows how much you’ve changed but in a good way. Now I feel like you can really see who are and how amazing you are. You make such an impact on everyone’s lives. I love you, Gabriella.”