Late Night Nutella

23: The Opposite

"No! He deserves more than that!" Vivi snapped, leaning back against the sand. I sat next to her, Joel next to me, and Cleo and her boyfriend across from us. We were separated by the dancing of flames against the starless sky.

"You need to realize that we can go to jail, Vivi," I spoke softly. "Besides, this shouldn't just be about getting revenge."

Leo scrunched up his face. "Then what's the point?"

I rolled my eyes, nerves jumbled in the pit of my stomach. I didn't realize just what I was getting myself into. "The point is to serve some justice."

"You know," Vivi pointed out, "my dad is the chief of police, so-"

"Vivian!" Joel cried, rubbing a hand through his hair. "How are we supposed to fight injustice with injustice?"

She sighed, flopping back and spreading her arms across the sand, one slapping me in the side. "You're no fun, you know that?"

Joel childishly stuck out his tongue at his sister. "Yeah, well you're deranged."

"Ima slap some sense into you!" Vivi exclaimed, pushing herself off the ground. However, I pulled her right back down.

"You're not going to slap anybody, Viv. We need to be serious. You two can argue later."

"I have an idea," Cleo whispered, her voice so low I barely heard her. She glanced at her hands interlaced in her lap, curls falling into her eyes.

"Tell us!" Vivi exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together like she was applauding the performers of a play.

Cleo snapped up her head, her expression calm and nonchalant. "Well, you know how Connie wrote those positive notes to people?"

We all nodded simultaneously and I snatched the Nutella jar out of Joel's grasp.

"Well, what if she does, like, the opposite?"

Joel reached for the jar but I slapped his hand away, shoveling a spoonful of goodness into my mouth. "It couldn't just be me. Besides, I couldn't do that, Cleo. I just couldn't."

Vivi heavily sighed, leaning against my shoulder. "Well, we can all help you."

"This isn't going to get us anywhere!" I feebly protested. "All were going to be doing is spreading rumors and passing notes."

"We can start out small," Leo reasoned. "We will post the notes in places students go. We'll slowly hint at what Luca has done and if he won't fess up, we won't stop until everyone knows the truth about him."

"I like that idea," Joel smiled.

Everyone else agreed with him, pitching in their input and various ideas. I let out a breath, still shoving Nutella into my mouth. I wasn't sure if I wanted to fight fire with fire. We could get caught and in trouble.

Plus, it was no use. No one would listen to us. The whole 'let this come to an end' idea was pretty stupid from the start, I reasoned with myself.

Joel nudged me in the side, not even bothering to mention the Nutella. "Hey, Con, what's wrong? Chey is going to get away from him. Leo's brother will have justice. You will finally have peace."

I shook my head, leaning to against his shoulder, causing Vivi to grunt and fall of my own shoulder. "What about back home?"

"Those people, those events, they don't matter anymore."

I nodded against him, straightening myself once more. "I guess you're right. Maybe once Luca's set straight, I can go on to have a heck of a high school experience. A really good one, I mean."

"I hope so," he muttered, probably not meaning for me to hear that part.

From then on, I began participating in the discussion. We talked about what we would write, who would write what, and when this would all begin. Sadly, it was to begin too soon for my liking; the next day.

I was extremely grateful that the people around me not only cared about me, but about Chey and everyone else ever wronged by Luca. However, I still slightly doubted the power of five teenagers. Yet, I didn't voice my concerns. I was going to let everything play out according to me God's will.

Finally, we all got up to leave. Leo and Cleo drove off together while Vivi, Joel, and I opted to walk back to their house. It wasn't far, just about a block over from Cheyenne's house.

Vivi walked ahead of us, having stole the jar of Nutella from me. She greedily munched out, yet I no longer cared. I simply conversed with Joel.

I wasn't sure what we were. Sure, we had kissed, and I still wore the necklace he bought me. Yet, nothing was official. We hadn't brought up the topic of labels.

Did I want him to be my boyfriend? Looking over at the goofy boy, I was pretty sure I did. He made me smile, he made me laugh, and he just wanted the best for me.

Yet, even if he wasn't anything like Josh, I still had a niggling fear in the back of my mind. I couldn't go through those cycles of events all over again. I just couldn't.

I had to remind myself that I was a stronger person. After everything I had been through, I had toughened up. Tough circumstances are necessary for the development of a person.

"Connie, you listening?"

"Yeah!" I practically shouted, abruptly shifting back into reality. I returned to chatting with Joel, every now and then glancing around the dim street and at the shadows of houses that lined it.

Something still didn't feel right. It felt too good to be true, too surreal that I could finally have a happy ending.

"Ugh, we should've just drove," Vivi suddenly complained.

"It's just a little exercise, Vivi," Joel teased. "You need it anyways."

I punched his arm. "You never, ever, say that to a girl."

He rubbed his arm. "Okay. Okay. Sorry."

A smiled, trotting ahead to catch up with Vivi.

"What, you're just gonna leave me here alone? In the dark?"

"Yup!" Vivi and I laughed in unison.

"Ughhhh."

I snatched the Nutella back from Vivi and ran, laughing the whole way home. 

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I still have more planned, but I'm not sure how much longer this book will last. But, here you guys go, another update! I'm on a role! Thanks so much for all the support, guys! I appreciate it more than I can express!

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