The Importance of Getting Revenge

by Amanda Abram

  None of this was making any sense to me. “Jase,” I breathed. Absentmindedly, I reached up and placed a hand on his chest. At first, I told myself it was to keep him from getting any closer, but that just wasn't true.

  He wasn't nearly close enough.

  As if reading my mind, he closed the distance between us. “I know you hate me right now, but I had to tell you how I felt. I've been carrying this around for a really long time now, and I didn't want to miss my opportunity on the off chance you might feel the same way.” He dropped his gaze to my lips for a brief moment before returning it to mine and whispering, “Do you feel the same way?”

  I didn't respond right away. I didn't exactly know what was happening, but I knew whatever it was, I didn't want to overthink and analyze it, and I didn't want to talk about it either.

  Slowly, Jase began to lean down, allowing me just enough time to push him away if I wanted to before brushing his lips lightly against mine.

  I figured that was the perfect opportunity to give him my answer.

  “I do,” I whispered back, and it was all he needed.

  In an instant he was kissing me, and I was kissing him back with a sense of urgency I'd never experienced before. As I ran my hands through his hair, his arms snaked around my back and pulled me in closer. And then, in one swift motion he was pushing me firmly up against my bedroom door, his hands moving to my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh so hard it almost hurt. But I barely noticed. When he ran his tongue along my bottom lip before connecting with mine, all coherent thought was lost. Suddenly, it was just me and him. Our hearts racing in sync. My breath becoming his and his becoming mine. His hands on me, my hands on him, exploring. Clinging desperately to each other, not wanting to let go.

  Something was very different about this kiss, over all of the other ones we'd shared during the last few weeks. It was a kiss free of any pretense. We weren't doing it to make someone else jealous or to exact revenge. And there was no doubt this time that it was mutual...that it meant something significant, to both of us.

  When we finally broke apart moments later, we both struggled to steady our breathing as he rested his forehead against mine. And for one blissful moment, I was deliriously happy...before a dark cloud fell over us, and that cloud had a name.

  I gasped and pushed him away. “Kylie,” I said, my eyes widening in horror. “But you're still with Kylie!” I gasped again. “Oh my God, I'm the other woman!”

  Irritatingly enough, Jase almost seemed amused by that. “Lex.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “You're not the 'other woman'. Kylie and I broke up last night.”

  “Oh great, so then I'm the rebound?”

  He laughed. “Lex, will you please stop? You're not the other woman or the rebound.” He sighed and backed up a bit. “Look, I'm ashamed to admit that Kylie did end up getting unintentionally used during this whole thing. When you walked in on us in the teacher's lounge...I only kissed her because I was so upset after seeing you with Jeffrey and I thought you two were getting back together. So I decided to, once again, push away my feelings for you and try to move on. But after seeing your reaction to our kiss and after seeing my reaction to you starting to hang around with Zach, Kylie was able to put two and two together. And, of course, after what happened with Zach last night, it was pretty obvious to her that she wasn't the one I wanted. She called me up a while after you and I left the party and broke up with me. She said that she knew I was in love with you and that I needed to tell you. Believe it or not, Kylie is what gave me the courage to come over here today.” He paused as a slight smirk began to form on his face. “Well, that and what you said to me last night before you fell asleep.”

  I groaned, bringing the palm of my hand up to meet my face. “What did I say, exactly?”

  “Enough. Although I didn't know if it was really how you felt, or if it was just the alcohol talking. So really, this was still a gamble for me.”

  Removing my hand from my face, I looked up at him and smiled. “Well, whatever I said, I meant it. Jase, I've always loved you too. I just never thought you would ever feel the same way about me. I figured I was just like a sister to you. And then when you started to drift away from me and began to date all these girls—all of which being the polar opposites of me—I pretty much took that as proof you and I were never going to happen. So I did what you did—I forced myself to get over you and focused on Jeffrey instead.”

  Shaking his head, his slipped an arm around my back and pulled me close once again. “You know, when you let it slip that night at the restaurant that you'd had a crush on me all those years, I did the math in my head. I was so angry with myself when I realized we liked each other at the same time, but because neither one of us had the courage to do or say anything about it at the time...”

  He didn't need to finish the thought. Because neither of us had said anything to each other, we'd spend the last few years with the wrong people, when we could have been with each other.

  But there was no use dwelling on that. We were here now, his arms wrapped around me, my whole body still tingling from his kiss, our feelings finally exposed and fully reciprocated.

  Nothing could ruin the moment. Nothing, that is, but the sudden thought of a certain fiery red-head who would kill us both if she knew what was going on right now.

  “Lex, what's wrong?”

  My face must have given away the sudden feeling of dread that had washed over me. “Trish,” I said. “We're going to have to tell her about this and she's not going to be okay with it, you know. She's going to make me choose between you and her, and I really can't stand the thought of losing either one of you—”

  “Whoa, calm down. Trish already knows.”

  “She already knows what?”

  “She already knows that I was coming over here to tell you I love you,” he replied. “Did you honestly think I would do something as bold as that without getting her approval first? How many times do we have to go over how afraid I am of my sister?”

  I gaped at him. “So you're saying she already knows? And she's okay with it?”

  “I'm saying she knows. I'm not saying she's exactly okay with it. For now, anyway. She and I had a good talk last night after you fell asleep. She confronted me, asked me if I had feelings for you. I told her everything. And while I could tell she wasn't super thrilled with the possibility of us getting together, I think at the same time she also wants her brother and her best friend to be happy. I'm sure it will probably take her some time, but she'll come around.”

  I had to admit, that was a huge relief to hear.

  “That is,” he continued, “if there will be a reason for her to have to come around. I haven't even asked you out yet.”

  I batted my eyelashes at him.“Well, what are you waiting for?”

  He grinned as he reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Alexandria Marie Turner, will you finally, after all these agonizing years, do me the honor of being my girlfriend? My real girlfriend?”

  I pretended to think about it for a moment for dramatic effect, before lifting myself up on the tips of my toes and bringing my lips to his once again in a small, simple kiss. “Why, Jase Holloway, I thought you'd never ask.”

  It may have taken us a few years to get here, but it was well worth the wait.

  Epilogue

  I used to think Amber-Lynne Rose Spencer was a life-force-sucking demon.

  Now I was sure of it. Don't believe me? Well, I have proof.

  Jeffrey Weston, the guy who had dumped me for her, told me himself. It came up in a conversation, quite casually, and he was even the one to bring it up.

  “Lexi,” he said, “I'm pretty sure Amber-Lynne Rose is a life-force-sucking demon.” Which, of course, almost made me choke on the sip of soda I'd been in the process of swallowing.

  “I'm serious,” he continued, before I could respond. “Every time I'm around her, I feel exhausted. Like I haven't slept in days. Or like I have mono or something. Do
you think it's all in my head? Or do you think she could actually be a life-force-sucking demon?”

  “Lexi, would you please tell Jeffrey that it's rude to talk about someone behind her back while she's sitting right next to him?”

  My gaze flickered over to Amber-Lynne Rose, who was indeed sitting beside Jeffrey. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, and she was glaring over at him.

  “Oh no.” I shook my head back and forth adamantly. “No way. I'm not going to be the go-between for you guys anymore. Find someone else.”

  I wasn't even sure how I'd become the go-between for them in the first place. About two weeks after I turned down Jeffrey's offer of getting back together, he and Amber-Lynne Rose started dating again. About a week after that, Trish and I ran into the happy couple at the mall and ended up, reluctantly, inviting them to share a table with us at the food court, due to the fact the place was so packed there was really no other place for them to sit. The four of us started talking, and by the time we left the mall, I was loath to admit that Amber-Lynne Rose wasn't as wretched as I once thought she was.

  About a week after that, the two of them started sitting with me during lunch period. I actually didn't mind. Jeffrey was still a friend of mine, despite our breakup, and I actually enjoyed spending the time with him. And through having multiple conversations with Amber-Lynne Rose, I began to find that she and I actually had a few things in common, so I decided it was quite possible that one day, she could be my friend as well.

  However, sitting with them quickly became more like a chore when almost every day, I had to put up with them bickering back and forth about stupid things. And most of the time, they would stop talking to each other, and then force me to talk for them. Naturally, I was relieved when school ended, because that meant I would be able to go an entire summer vacation without having to worry about being their mediator.

  Yet, there was a was, nearly a month after school got out, sitting at a picnic table with them, being their mediator.

  Amber-Lynne Rose gave a heavy sigh and Jeffrey rolled his eyes. “Lexi, you're a terrible friend.”

  “Finally, something we agree on.” Amber-Lynne Rose said, and then they looked at each other, grins slowly forming on each of their faces. I recognized the look they were giving one another. They donned that look almost all the time.

  Jeffrey glanced down at the paper plate in front of him, which still had an entire untouched hot dog on it, along with a handful of potato chips. Then, he returned his gaze to Amber-Lynne Rose. “You know, I'm not really hungry anymore. Do you want to go somewhere and make out?”

  Amber-Lynne Rose's grin widened. “You know I do.”

  Jeffrey turned to me. “Do you want the rest of my food?”

  “You know I do.” I grabbed his plate and slid it over in my direction.

  He grinned and winked, and then they both bolted from the table.

  It was the 4th of July and Zach was having his annual Independence Day bash at his house. It was the perfect place to have the party. His house was located on at least four acres of land, most of which was flat and grassy like a field, and contained a fairly large in ground pool. Also, his house was within great viewing distance of the fireworks show the town put on every year.

  “Um...tell me again why we hang out with them?”

  I thought about it for a moment. When I was unable to come up with an answer, I turned to the person who had asked me the question and shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

  Jase smirked and shook his head slowly back and forth. “I still cannot believe you are friends with Amber-Lynne Rose.”

  “I'm not friends with her,” I said defensively. “I merely tolerate her. For Jeffrey's sake.”

  “Ah, you mean like how I merely tolerate Jeffrey for your sake?”

  I nodded. “Exactly like that.”

  It had been almost four months since Jase and I had gotten together. The greatest four months of my life. As it turned out, he made an even better real boyfriend than he did a fake one. Not that I ever had any doubt. But still, it was fun finding that out firsthand.

  But even though those four months had gone smoothly, I could tell sometimes he felt threatened by my friendship with Jeffrey. He had no reason to feel that way, of course, but there was no way to convince him of that without coming right out and accusing him of being jealous. Besides, I actually found this insecurity of his to be quite endearing.

  “Well, then I guess he was wrong. You're not a horrible friend. In fact, you're a fairly decent one.”

  “Thank you.” I took a bite out of my hot dog just as someone plopped down onto the picnic bench on the other side of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see it was the party host himself.

  “You should donate your body to science,” Zach said, grabbing a few chips from my plate and popping one into his mouth. “I would love for somebody to study you and find out how someone so tiny can eat so much and still look the way you do. It's mind-boggling.”

  “Good metabolism,” I said with a mouthful of food. I pushed my plate over toward Jase, so it would be out of Zach's reach. “Now leave my chips alone.”

  Zach made a face. “I'm the one who bought those chips for this party, so I don't have to leave them alone if I don't want to.”

  Jase gave an overly exaggerated sigh and said, “Zach, please stop attempting to flirt with my girlfriend.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, Zach. Stop flirting with me.”

  Zach sent us both a glare. “You guys suck. Where are your cooler, nicer friends?”

  “Trish is off swimming with Jessica,” I replied, after I swallowed my bite of hot dog. “And Jeffrey and Amber-Lynne Rose are making out somewhere, probably in the pool house.”

  I couldn't help but notice the look of disappointment flash across his face. “So when are those two going to break up, huh?”

  I shook my head. “Trust me, Zach, you don't want to date Amber-Lynne Rose. You could do better.”

  He cocked his head to one side and stared at me. “Well of course I could, Turner. But it's summer vacation! And I'm heading off to college in a couple of months. I'm not looking for a serious relationship, just a fling. I mean, how much would it suck to get serious about a girl, and then have to leave her in the fall?”

  We all fell silent at that. Zach clamped his mouth shut and glanced down awkwardly at the table.

  College was a topic Jase and I had decided, a couple of months ago, not to bring up unless absolutely necessary. We hadn't really discussed yet what was going to happen at the end of August, when he had to pack up and move nearly ten hours away. Everything was going so great in our relationship that we figured it would be best to wait until we absolutely had to worry about it. Like, for instance, the night before he was going to leave.

  “Sorry,” Zach mumbled, his voice laced with guilt.

  “Don't be,” I said quickly. I snuck a glance over at Jase, who was staring at the table as well, his jaw set.

  I took a solemn bite out of my hot dog and realized I suddenly wasn't so hungry anymore.

  “Well,” Zach said finally. “I should really go...do something. Bye.”

  He jumped up from the bench and left just as quickly as Jeffrey and Amber-Lynne Rose had minutes ago. When he was gone, I cleared my throat and turned to Jase.

  “You want the rest of my hot dog?” I asked him.

  He glanced over at me, then the hot dog, then back up at me. “No thanks. I've already had one. And unlike you, I don't have a stomach that also moonlights as a bottomless pit.”

  I stuck my tongue out at him and pushed the plate aside.

  “Okay,” I said, sitting up straight. “New topic.”

  “New topic,” he agreed. He rapped his fingers against the top of the table. “I've been thinking a lot about Eric lately.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Eric, huh? Should I be jealous?”

  “Funny,” Jase said dryly. “No, I was just thinking about how he's still got a thing for Trish, and
I know originally I was averse to the idea of one of my friends dating my sister, but...”

  “But,” I echoed, “since you're dating one of her friends, you realize that not wanting her to date one of yours would be hypocritical?”

  He nodded. “Right. And I know what Zach just said about how starting a serious relationship right now is a bad idea is true to a point. But I don't want Eric to miss out, you know? I don't want him to live the rest of his life wondering what it would have been like to date Trish, even if it's just for a short period of time. And he played such a huge part in getting the two of us together that I kinda feel as though I—or, rather, we—owe him one.”

  “And you'd like to use Trish to pay our debt?” I asked skeptically.

  “That's correct.”

  “Okay. And how do you propose we do that?”

  “Well...” He leaned over closer to me and lowered his voice. “I was thinking, maybe we could come up with some sort of a plan.”

  “A plan?” I already didn't like the sound of that.

  “Yeah. Something similar to what you and I did, but different, obviously. I was thinking we could hire some girl to start hitting on Eric, maybe even start dating him, to make Trish jealous. Or, at least, to make her realize that she should be jealous. Because I honestly think she might like him, I just don't think she's realized it yet. Or maybe she has, but she's in denial, and I think if we put together some sort of elaborate scheme, we could get those two together, once and for all.”

  I stared at him in awe as he revealed his idea to me. The more he spoke, the more excited he got, as though the idea of getting his sister together with his best friend was the best idea he'd ever had.

  The idea sounded good enough, I had to admit. I was all for getting Trish and Eric together, and I was thrilled to see that Jase felt the same way. And I got so caught up in his excitement that I almost came right out and said, “Let's do it.”