Playing Matchmaker

chapter twenty four

"I'm going to die," Tyler comments monotonously. I think he's starting to accept the fact that he is going to die. What an idiot.

Before Tyler can whine another word about his impending death, the ride starts moving at a deathly slow pace. This is my favourite part of any ride, because it's like the calm before the storm. Tyler sobs beside me. I nearly burst out laughing, but I know that I shouldn't. After all, we are on a date and I promised myself not to embarrass the hell out of him.

There's a steep climb ahead, making Tyler whimper again, while I grinned like some kind of sadist. What? Rollercoaster are amazing.

Before I know it, the ride ends. It was full of twists, turns, upside down spirals, steep climbs and Tyler screaming. Yeah, suffice to say he screams like a girl.

"That was awesome," I whoop after we get off the ride and I grab my bag. "Don't you think?" I turn to a very pale faced Tyler. He shook his head slower than ever, heading calmly to the bathrooms without a word. Oh god, this has got to be the best blackmail. Tyler Bradford, who everyone thought was fearless, is petrified of rollercoasters.

I go to walk over to wait by the bathrooms, but a tap on my shoulder stops me in my path. I turn around to look at the person. I blink. Once. Twice. Three times.

Standing in front of me is Allie. As in Allie Anders, the girl who hated me so much that she wanted to ruin my life. What the hell does she want? I thought she would be finished ruining my life by now. Standing next to her is her best friend, Destiny. Destiny is pretty quiet for being Allie's friend. You never really heard her talk, but she's really pretty and I heard that when intoxicated, she has a pretty loud mouth on her.

"Yes?" I quirk an eyebrow up at them. The quicker this conversation is over, the better.

"Um," Allie says nervously, "I want you to know that my intention was to ruin your life, but it wasn't like that."

"I don't want to—"

"No, please just let me finish," Allie stops me from saying that I really don't give two shits what she says. "Originally, I became friends with you just so that I could finally get my plan in motion. I could learn your secrets; ruin your life, the usual. But, then I got to know you and I realised that you aren't as bad as I thought. You're only human, and humans make mistakes. Aka, your mistake would have to be Hayden."

She's deathly serious, and I'm curious about what she is going to say, so I don't interrupt her anymore.

"He manipulated me into thinking you were some kind of evil person that you were out to get Tyler just so that you could get the satisfaction of watching me break down. So, we made a plan to ruin your life and I stuck to it. I stuck to it, and I can't believe I did that. I want to say sorry. I'm sorry for ruining your life, I'm sorry for hurting you over and over again. You don't have to forgive me; I just don't want you to hate me anymore. I'm trying something new. I don't want enemies, I want peace."

I'm speechless. Sure, Allie has been a bitch to me, but I never would have thought that, all along, it would be Hayden who started it. He's the one who made her hate me, he's the one who purposely broke us up, and he's the one who is filling Allie's head with horrible thoughts.

"It's not you I hate," I confess. Because, the time that I got to know Allie – the real Allie – I liked it. She was nice, caring and you could have a decent conversation. "It's Hayden."

Allie breathes out a sigh of relief. Her blonde hair lays limp on her shoulders, unlike the bouncy curls I'm used to seeing her wear. She's wearing jeans and a simple tank top, a contrast to Destiny who is sporting jean shorts and a cropped shirt. She must be freezing.