Payback is Sweet

by Kristy Centeno

  That rocking handsome wasn’t the only one though. There were dozens of handsome hunks out there and for a young college girl like me, that was incredibly tempting. But my devotion to Kirk was stronger, more powerful. I had committed to him fully and expected the same amount of dedication, but it was obvious Kirk did not think the same way.

  Sighing, I leaned against the recliner as I relived the scene from moments ago. Though no one could tell from how I intently watched TV, I was a little hurt by the whole betrayal thing. What girl wouldn’t be? Far from allowing that to drag me down into a bottomless pit of self-loathing and depression, I opted for getting even.

  The only way I could make the pain go away was by evening the score. By devising a plan that would keep me too busy to notice the hard tugging of my aching heart. Kirk and his little girlfriend would get a little taste of payback even if that was the last thing I ever did. After all, humiliate was something I knew how to do well.

  “Well, it’s official,” Audrey mumbled as she flopped onto the couch. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”

  The corners of my mouth curved up into a smile. “Any girl in her right mind would want to get even,” I said. “I’m no different.”

  “Ever heard of letting things go?” She looked at me and frowned.

  I scoffed. “Please. When have you ever seen me let go of something?”

  Janessa Rowe did not let anyone score one over her. No. She would look to even out the score no matter what. Although I’d had no need of humiliating anyone since preppy girl, Jill Knight, thought she could play a prank on me during our senior year in high school only to end up with a bad die job that lasted weeks; I had the strong need to do what I did best. Make others cry in shame and humiliation.

  “I know you’re probably feeling hurt but—”

  I popped to my feet. “Oh, I am not hurt. I am pissed!” I roared as I paced the living room. It was bad enough that it had taken me this long to realize what Kirk and his lover were up to, but by this point, I was upset by the possibility of everyone on campus knowing what he was doing and yes, my haters were surely dancing joyfully over this. And that pissed me off even more. Why hadn’t anyone said anything? Had they been laughing behind my back, mocking my bad fortune? My haters would for sure. And let’s face it; I had a lot of them.

  “Janessa, I think that maybe you should—”

  My face scrunched up as I looked down at her. “Don’t be the voice of reason right now. I already told you that this is not over with. They will pay for making me look like a fool. You’ll see.”

  Audrey shook her head. “What’s the point of me stating my opinion if you do what you want anyway?”

  I glared at her. “Then don’t.” I flopped back onto the recliner and stretched my feet in front of me. “I need to think clearly about what I’m going to do so I need a plan. Unless you’re going to help me, don’t keep trying to sway me away from this. My mind is set.” I pointed a finger at her.

  Audrey rolled her eyes at me. “Fine. It’s not like I can change your mind anyway.”

  “Kirk and his little gal pal don’t know who they just messed with,” I hissed.

  Payback is sweet, and I was going to make sure they paid.

  Taking out my cell phone, I texted Delilah the events of moments before, and in the process, asked her to find out, by any means necessary, if anyone knew about Kirk running around with that bimbo behind my back and if anyone knew who she was. Someone was bound to know something. And because I knew no one would talk to me about it, the only person that had a higher chance of compiling evidence was my good old red-headed friend.

  Delilah replied right away, assuring me she would communicate everything I needed to know about mystery girl as soon as we were face to face. This led me to believe that perhaps Delilah knew more about the identity of Kirk’s new conquest, but since she wouldn’t reveal any information over the phone, I let the matter drop for now.

  For one thing, if Delilah knew something, she’d tell me eventually. My crazy red-headed friend loved to mingle with the crowd. Any crowd really, and she had the astounding ability to convince anyone to do anything for her. How Delilah did it was beyond me, but if there was one girl right for a job like this one, that was her.

  Though we were good friends, I tended to abstain from mingling with just any crowd like she did. Janessa Rowe could not be seen with just anyone you know. But Delilah did not mind, especially if there were tons of guys and plenty of beer to go around.

  “So what now?” Audrey asked, snapping me out of my reverie. “If you don’t know exactly what you’re going to do, how are you going to get even?”

  I looked up at her. “I will figure something out. I always do.”

  Shaking her head, Audrey brought her knees up to her chest and settled back on the couch. “It seems like a big waste to me.”

  Ignoring her comment, I sent another message to Delilah asking her to talk to me as soon as she got home.

  “I would have just moved on.”

  Irritated, I tossed my cell phone on the coffee table and leaned back against the recliner. “That’s why you and I are so different. You overanalyze everything and I don’t. You walk away from a fight while I start a war. You pretend as if the bad things that happen to you never did, while I look for any way possible to crush my opponents.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not the confrontational type. I prefer to move on right away and not dwell on the bad.”

  “This isn’t about being confrontational.” However, even as I said that, I wondered what it was all about in the first place. I had a mean streak. The moment I entered a room—any room, everyone present would either shy away or avoid making eye contact with me because of my reputation. Unlike most girls I knew, who had bad reputations for being easy, my bad rep came from being insensitive and downright mean. I’d been told before, I intimidated people and yes, my personality tended to get me in plenty of trouble. But I never started something without someone starting something first. “And I will move on, as soon as I run all over Kirk and his little bimbo.”

  “You’re dangerous.” Audrey turned her attention to the TV. “I would hate to cross you the wrong way.”

  Dangerous wasn’t even the half of it. I was a living, breathing, she-devil. And this was not how I saw myself, but it was a description I’d heard often when people referred to me.

  Popping to my feet, I walked out of the living room, into the small hallway that led to the staircase, up the stairs, and down the hall to my bedroom where I immediately plopped onto my king sized bed and buried my face in the pillow.

  That little bit of me that told me I was still somewhat human, felt the need to cry. But as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I recoiled from it. Me? Cry? Over a man? Never. I would rather die first. Flipping around on the bed, I stared up at the ceiling and frowned. I had not cried for anyone since my mother passed away ten years ago. And wasting perfectly good tears on a loser like Kirk made me want to gag.

  Besides, my inner demon argued that he didn’t deserve my tears anyway. He’d hurt me, it would be pointless to not admit it, but I would be damned if he walked around boasting about it too. By the time I was done with him, he would be wishing that he’d never met me.

  Kirk’s biggest problem was that he thought too highly of himself and this weakness could very well be his downfall where I was concern anyway. You don’t get to share most of your time with someone for three years and not get to know them pretty well, and I knew Kirk like the back of my hand. Kirk had a very consistent personality. He followed the same routine week by week and I knew all of this.

  Knowing his behavior, I was positive that he would stay away for a few days, biding his time, leaving me room to cool off, and once he was sure that my temper was no longer getting the best of me, he would come around, begging for me to take him back. But I was not going to give him the satisfaction of letting that happen. I planned to strike first.

  Cool off? Me? No way.

&n
bsp; Regrettably, as I was left simmering in my anger, I finally was in a frame of mind where I noticed the dull ache centering in my right hand, which was the same appendage I used to break Kirk’s nose. As I brought it up to eye level, I noted it was slightly swollen. Gee, I must have been really pissed off for me not to pay attention to the pain up until now.

  Annoyed, I scrambled off the bed and marched back downstairs where I proceeded to take the ice tray from the freezer, pop a couple of ice cubs out before bending to take a new wash cloth from the package lying in a cabinet next to the sink. After spreading the blue wash cloth on top of the counter, I placed the ice cubs in the center and balled them up in the wash cloth.

  Definitely vexed, I sat on one of the empty dining room chairs as I put the tiny towel on top of my hand, hoping the ice would relieve the inflated limb. My life had just been turned upside down, but it was all a waiting game from now on out.

  Unfortunately, the only thing I could do now was lie in wait for Delilah to figure out what I so desperately wanted to find out: who little Miss Unknown was. In order to do some actual harm to this new rival, I needed to find out who she was, and everything there was to be known about her, including any dirty secrets. Although I’d gotten a brief glimpse of her face, she seemed kind of familiar to me. However, I was not entirely sure about that.

  She might be another college student, but it was hard for me to know for sure. Campus was huge, with three big wings and unless we ever shared a class, it was unlikely I’d seen her or paid any attention to her at all. I only paid attention to people who, for one reason or another, were important to me.

  Being that Delilah was known to get around—literally, I decided to ask for her help in identifying the slut. She had friends all over the place, and it was only a matter of time before she ran into someone that would know about Kirk and his lover. Since no one bothered to tell me, I hoped Delilah would be able to track down any important information that I could use in my favor.

  Thankfully, I did not have to wait long for that to happen.

  Chapter Three

  The following evening, Audrey and I headed to the mall to meet with Delilah. Though Delilah was our roommate, the girl had spent the night and the entire day out. I had a feeling she was seeing someone, but since she had not commented on it, I hadn’t pried for information. I figured that she’d tell me whenever she felt ready. Her sudden disappearance, however, really irked me because I had asked for her help with something and she hadn’t responded except for one text message in which she asked for me to meet her at the one mall I never really went to.

  Apparently she had been able to not only find out who the girl was, but she assured me that there was something of utmost importance I needed to know. She had refused to discuss it over the phone and insisted we meet in person for the details.

  So, as I sat on a chair in the middle of the food court, waiting for her to show up and relate in person what she did not want to reveal over the phone, I tapped my perfectly manicured fingernails on the wooden table impatiently. I glared at anyone that dared look at me and even flipped off a girl that gaped at me for too long.

  Though I wanted to hear what Delilah had to say, her tardiness was serious cutting into my social life. I had been invited to a private party, which started at seven and being that it was almost six, I was beyond annoyed that she was taking so long to show up.

  Just because I caught my boyfriend cheating that did not mean I had to stop enjoying myself.

  “Would you stop that?” Audrey tossed an annoyed look my way. “It’s distracting.”

  Fighting the urge to deck her, I opted for scanning the place for any signs of Delilah instead, but saw none. “Shit. Seriously? Does she think I have all day here?”

  “She will be here soon,” Audrey said.

  “She better or I’ll kick her ass,” I barked. “I’m frustrated enough as it is.”

  “Impatient?” a female voice asked behind me.

  I turned to find a smiling Delilah standing directly behind me.

  “Don’t worry darling,” she said, imitating a 1920’s movie star with her voice and actions. “The information I have to relate will knock your socks off.” She sat on the chair opposite of mine and winked.

  “I certainly hope so. I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.”

  “I’m sorry about the delay.” She continued with the voice and awkward movements. Her red hair sprang up and down as she flopped onto the chair and smiled wickedly at me.

  “Is there a reason why you asked us to meet you here? At this mall?”

  “Of course, darling.” She bobbed her head up and down, the movement almost causing her huge boobs to pop out of her indecently low cleavage.

  “Oh, geez. Quit with the accent,” Audrey snapped.

  Delilah giggled. “Well, last night, after you texted me, I went out on a witch hunt.” Delilah tapped her chin with a finger. “I was positive I’d seen the girl before, but I wanted to be absolutely sure, so after harassing Demarco, I discovered that Kirk started seeing this particular girl after they casually met at a frat party.”

  Of course. Why didn’t I think about going to Demarco for information? There was no one who hated Kirk more than him. They had been rivals since high school. Had never gotten along, and one time, around the time Kirk and I started dating, Demarco had accused Kirk of sleeping with one of his ex-girlfriends. At the time, I hadn’t paid any mind to what Demarco claimed. I was blinded by my love for Kirk and no amount of angered rants would make me see what was clearly visible for me to see: Kirk was a lying dog. But if there was one person who would probably have dirt on Kirk, it would be Demarco.

  “What did he say?” I asked.

  “He assured me that Kirk has been seen with this girl a few times.” She tapped her fingernails on the table, imitating my exact movements. “Though, they have been careful about it.”

  My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Yet, I find out he’s cheating because I catch him. Not because anyone told me.” I looked at Delilah. “Did you know?”

  Delilah snickered. “Please. If I had known, I would’ve told you.” Delilah was known for her wandering ways, but at least she was honest, which was more that I could say about other people. “I’ve been begging you to drop that loser for months, but you never listened to me.”

  “What about you, Audrey?” I turned my gaze from one girl to the other.

  Audrey scowled at me. “Of course not,” she retorted. “I had no idea.”

  Sighing, I averted my gaze to Delilah once again. “So, what’s the dirt on this girl?”

  Delilah grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.” She straightened on the chair and tossed her long red hair over her right shoulder. “Demarco said her name is Margaret Littlehorn.”

  My mind tried to wrap around the name, looking for familiarity within it but I found that it did not ring a bell. “Littlehorn?”

  There was a wicked glint in Delilah’s eyes, but it wasn’t until she spoke again that I realized why. “Yeah, she and her boyfriend are from the reservation.”

  Adrenaline zipped through my blood. “Boyfriend? She has a boyfriend?”

  Delilah nodded enthusiastically. “Fiancé to be exact.”

  My jaw dropped open. “She’s engaged to be married?”

  Being the wicked witch that she was, Delilah laughed. “Isn’t it great? She’s screwing around with Kirk while her boyfriend walks around clueless.”

  Well, to the guy’s defense I hadn’t noticed my boyfriend was playing me either. I’d come to suspect him of cheating, but every time I came close to having proof something happened. Either he would disappear—as if he knew he was being followed. Or all his computer and cell phone data would magically be erased.

  “So, this Margaret girl is basically a cheat as well.” I shook my head.

  “It’s a shame too because her boyfriend is a really good guy,” Delilah added with a shrug. “He attends classes Monday through Friday during the day and works as a
bouncer at a nearby nightclub from six to midnight. During the weekend he works—” she grinned, “—here.”

  “In this mall?” I scanned the area around us. “Where?”

  “He works as a clerk right over there.”

  I followed the direction of Delilah’s pointing finger to a bookshop behind me and was instantly rewarded with the figure of a tall—at least six-foot-tall—male with long black hair, dark eyes, and copper colored skin. He was lean, with broad shoulders, wore glasses, and from what I could see from a distance, had a killer smile. While he wasn’t what I would call handsome by any means, there was something about him that I instantly liked.

  He was the type of guy I would never think to look at. Would have never bothered with at all. Since life had ironically put him in my path, I just had to find out what kind of guy he was. Although I was yet to actually meet him, even from a distance, I could tell he was quiet and reserved. Probably took college seriously, worked too damn hard, and had no time for himself. He would be categorized as what I’d call the cute geek. Cute enough to have an actual girlfriend, but too geeky for a girl like me to take notice.

  Well, that was about to change.

  “That would be him,” Delilah murmured. “His name is Dakota Blackwater.”

  “Demarco seems to know a lot about Margaret and her boyfriend,” I commented as I gawked at who could turn out to be my next victim.

  “Demarco knows a lot about everybody. His popularity takes him places you know.” Delilah leaned across the table and tapped my left shoulder. “Do you even have a plan?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m still trying to figure out where to go from here.” To say that any plan, no matter what it turned out to be, Dakota would be included was not far from the truth. “Do you think he even knows about Margaret?”

  “Maybe not, but even if he doesn’t, I’m sure he’ll find out soon enough.” Delilah smiled wickedly as I turned to look at her. “Or am I wrong?”