Everyone at Jackson High School has heard of Heartbreakers, a website dedicated to exposing students who purposely cheat or manipulate others. But despite the website ruining the reputations of more than half the student body no one knows who's behi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A.N This is the last plot twist, make sure to be transparent with your thoughts PLEASE because I've had this planned since the start. Enjoy, or not..
It's the time of the month where the out of school soccer game is going down at Eli's place. Yet I'm being idiotic enough to come and watch. Or more so, Ella is begging me to come for moral support when she's being dragged out onto the field by Joshua. It just doesn't feel right being here.
I feel like I don't belong here.
My stomach has a horrible feeling about it whereas for the past ten minutes my hands haven't stopped moving. I'm nervous and anxious of what reaction I'm going to get by attending. Mainly because for the past three days I've been ignoring Grayson and his friends, as well as Aaron because neither of them will admit to what they've done to hate each other so much.
Not that I've directly asked yet. So tonight I'm hoping to get answers, that is if I manage not to run away when I try to talk to one of them. That's the real challenge.
"What's going on with you and Grayson? I know you aren't talking but are you still together or," I close the car door, looking over the roof of the car at Ella as she locks it.
"Um. I don't think we are," I pause, are we? We didn't officially break up nor did we actually get to back together after the first – I really need to get my shit together. "As far as I know we aren't, it's complicated." Shaking my head, I continue to walk towards Eli's house in thought.
What am I going to do? I still have feelings for Grayson that I really don't want to let go off but in the back of my mind I still think he's using me. I'm sick of getting hurt by guys and in this case, it's just a general population thing.
I don't want to take the risk to get my heart broken again because it won't survive another one.
The music is blaring A love like war by All Time Low which makes me snicker, heading straight for the kitchen or more so the alcohol. How freaking fitting is this song. I grab a cup while sliding past someone and grabbing the first bottle I see. Pouring more rum than I should, I top it up with coke and internally curse myself.
I let the bitter taste take over and try to calm my nerves. Beside me I can see Ella pouring herself a coke – for once she's the designated driver – which means I can get intoxicated if I like and the more thoughts of Grayson that come to mind, the more likely that seems.
She grabs my hand and pulls me outside to the same railing we watched from before. My heart pounds, getting a flash of Grayson last time I was in this position then remembering what happened underneath the deck. Stupid girl. I swallow a third of my drink in one go, spotting him in goals once again.
"Grayson get your shit together!" Joshua yells, the ball surprisingly going through his fingertips which makes me frown.
"He can't help it he's heartbroken over a certain some-"
"Can I borrow one of these?" I ask Ella, she looks at me as I reach for an ice cube in her drink. "Thanks." She whines but I peg it at Jacob's head, it hits his back which makes him spin around looking for the culprit.
"Stop running your mouth and play the game you idiot." Ella chuckles, taking a sip of her drink while I glare at him.
He looks like a child that just got in trouble, much like I scolded he goes back to the game rather than aggravating Grayson. My eyes briefly flicker to the boy in goals, noticing the way they light up slightly. His name gets called and at the last second, he breaks eye contact and dives for the ball.
He rolls onto one knee with the ball clutched to his chest. Ella laughs beside me as Joshua hollers and does some weird dance. I chuckle, sipping my drink and watching him throw the ball over his head and down the yard. He looks back up sending a wink that actually makes my cheeks flush.
"You know. If you two don't actually get back together I will strangle you both," She shrugs casually looking back to me. "And I'll make sure that I bury your bodies together so you're together in some reality, just not the living one." I roll my eyes, making my way to the staircase.
"You won't kill me because nobody else will deal with your dramatic fangirling like I do," We reach the bottom as a sharp whistle blows signalling the end of the game. "Geez. Cause that isn't deafening, have fun." I sip my drink, taking hers off her while she goes over to Joshua.
"I'm surprised you came." Grayson says, walking over to me. His shirt is in his hands and I notice the subtle way he's covering up his stomach with it.
"I didn't come by choice," I reply bluntly, he sucks his lips in and nods. "I came so I could get answers. I need to know why, how, this happened. What did he do to you that made you seek revenge?" He looks around, pulling his shirt on before guiding me by my elbow over to the bench beside the stairs.
"You and Aaron are really close, aren't you?" I nod, he sits down and I do the same placing Ella's drink on the ground. "You probably won't even believe me if I tell you so wh-"
"Just tell me Grayson. I want to know so I can understand why I'm the one stuck in the middle." He bites the inside of his cheek and looks down at his lap.
"Aaron and I used to be best friends. More so in middle school more than anything but as we got older things started to change. It was in the 10th grade and the first time that I had ever gotten drunk that I blurted out that I was crushing on you," He chuckles, shaking his head. "It was stupid because you had just gotten into a relationship and Aaron was pissed at me, you were off limits and I had better keep my distance."
"Why did you have a crush on me?" I feel confused and kinda wanna bang my head against the wall. "In the 10th Grade-"
"You had ombre hair and always wore red lipstick," He chuckles, clearly amused by my lack of style back then. "By the time things went south between you and Max, Aaron had finally started talking to me again and I had moved onto someone else. Bridget O'Herne."
Why does that name sound familiar?
"She was your ex girlfriend?" I ask, he nods and finally makes eye contact. "And Aaron used to be your-" No fucking way.
My jaw drops and I feel my chest heave at the thought of what I'm thinking. Aaron was the guy he told me about, the one that was cheating with his girlfriend at the parties and – oh shit. I down the rest of my drink, feeling my head pound instantly and mouth burn.
"He was the one fucking her at every party and I didn't even find out about it until I read her profile on Heartbreakers," I look at him, noticing the clench of jaw as he focuses his eyes on mine. "I found out from a profile that you created and I was pissed at Aaron for betraying me, hurt that it had been done so publicly."
"Grayson I am so sorry. I had no idea that-"
"Whose sign off is T?" I bite the inside of my cheek, shaking my head.
"Aaron's." He nods, letting out a chuckle while I feel the need for more alcohol. "I, I need a drink." I mumble, quickly rising to my feet.
"So now you understand a little of why I hate him so much," I turn around, exhaling when I know that I should be so mad. But what I'm feeling is guilt, I wrote up the profile under Aaron's guidance and resulted in his finding it out. "Aria?" He questions standing up and walking towards me.
I step back when his hand tries to grasp onto my arm. I'm just as guilty as Aaron, I let him get away with being a cheater. He's a cheater. The constriction in my chest is way too painful and I heave as I get hit with a disgusting realisation. Aaron is just as bad as every single one of them on the website.
"I'm sorry." I whisper, making the mistake of looking into Grayson's blue eyes. His flicker with realisation and he shakes his head.
"No. I know what you're thinking, it's not your fault because he didn't tell you. Don't beat you-"
"I need a drink."
My feet carry me up the stairs while I try to process every thought in my head. At the moment, it's killing me. Why did Aaron do that? Why did he go along with the website? Why did he want him to find out like that? How come Grayson didn't tell me sooner? But in the end I found out his true motive for blackmailing me and it's rather valid in reasoning.
The sad part is – he got it.
Just not in the same public way he was humiliated. Grayson made me get attached to him despite how much I fought it. He made me smile and laugh when all I wanted to do is cry or throw a pity party. He made me realise that I didn't have to conform to my reputation of just that "good girl" and that I could fight back.
He got his revenge in the form of changing me and making me feel as if I need him in my life. I wouldn't say that I'm in love with him but if I didn't find out his real motivate it's a high possibility that I would have fallen for him and hard. But it's a good thing I wore a parachute when jumping out of the plane.
I feel sweat covering my skin in a light layer as I continue to dance among the students. The music is pulsing through my veins at the same pace my heart pounds. I managed to weave my way through clusters of people and hide away in a closet to avoid Grayson from finding me.
Half an hour later when a couple almost tread on me, I slipped out and got a drink before staying out of sight. That was about two hours ago. Now on my seventh drink, people are blurring and all I want to do is dance. Twirling in my heels, I crash into a chest and one look up I feel my heart drop to the pits of my stomach.
"Get away from me," I try to walk away only for my wrist to be gripped. "Can't you take a hint?" I snarl at Max, his hand is freezing cold and his hair is flat which means they lost once again.
He guides me out of the hoard of teenagers still managing to stand on their feet. I try to get away only for my back to hit the wall once we're in the dining room. His eyes narrow, doing a once over of me before rolling them.
"How much have you had to drink?"
"None of your concern, if you'll ex-" He pushes me back when I try to leave. "What!" I snap, patience doing a back flip out a window right now.
"It might not be my concern but when your boyfriend comes to me for help to find you I know something isn't right," Max looks around and I try to make a run – stumble – for it only to be pushed back against the wall again. "So why exactly are you running away from him this time? I remember you had a habit of doing so when you were pissed with me."
"Don't pretend that you're so innocent. I hate you so fucking much," He nods and shrugs.
"I seem to have that effect on the female population." I purse my lips.
"That's because you're an asshole."
"Yeah I know," I try to slip away, only to be pushed back again. "Stop trying to get away. Your boyfriend should be her-"
"He isn't my boyfriend and I don't particularly want to talk to him," I chew on the inside of my cheek and shake my head. "If I do then I know that I'll just melt and I can't do that again."
"Trouble in paradise?" He smirks and I scoff. "You know. . .I could get your mind off of him for a little while."
One of his hands go to my waist as he subtly pulls me closer. I grab onto his shoulder to maintain balance, staring into his dark blue eyes. His spare hand comes up to cup my cheek with the intention to close the space between us. My mind's hazy and just before anything can happen I'm bringing my knee up into his crotch.
He groans, pulling back while I glare at him. My hand grasps onto the wall before my drink is going directly into his face. The people watching snicker and I lean down slightly with a fake smile on my lips.
"I would rather stab myself then sleep with you again. I meant what I said when I told you that you weren't Grayson," Chuckling I shake my head. "Although we haven't actually had sex – if his kissing is anything to go off – whoa." I smile, noticing his nostrils flare while looking up at me.
"You're a bitch."
"Just wait," I pat his shoulder and lean down to whisper in his ear. "I've got one more thing to show you and I know that you'll just love it, baby."
I walk out and crash into the wall with the next stop being the floor. Hands grip my upper arms and if I didn't recognise the band I probably would have screamed. Instead I allow his hands to slip down my waist and guide me to the kitchen. I get spun around and hoisted up onto the kitchen counter, leaning against the back splash while he grabs a water bottle from the sink.
He takes the cup from me, discarding it in a trash bag before holding up the water bottle. I shake my head only for the rim to press against my lips, reluctantly I open my mouth and allow him to poor the water down my throat. I almost splutter some of it up but luckily he pulls it back before I do, one hand brushing some hair out of my face.
"I knew that you would get drunk," He mumbles, a hand coming down to rub circles into my thigh. "This reminds me of before when-"
"Grayson." I whisper, my chest constricting as I know what I'm going to say is going to hurt. My eyes close slightly but I force them open, remembering his words about telling something. "I need some space and I can't be around you anymore." I almost want to take it back.
He looks hurt and there's no denying it. All I want to do is hug him and make the sadness go away but I know that I'm doing the right thing for the both of us. We rushed into this and got tangled in a web of lies, secrets and heartbreak. He nods despite his eyes starting to glass over but he fakes a smile.
"After tonight I won't talk to you again, I'll try to stay out of your way." I bite the inside of my cheek, grabbing his chin to force him to look at me.
"I'm not saying never again. I just need space with everything," He bites his lip, nodding. I'm such a horrible person. "I'm sorry Gray."
"It's fine. Keep drinking this and I'll go find Ella so she can get you home," He goes to walk away but I latch onto his arm.
"I mean it Grayson. You won't get rid of me that easily." A smile breaks onto his lips as he chuckles.
"I hope not."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I'm not gonna lie, I did get emotional during this chapter. It nearly made me cry because I just destroyed my favorite ship but this is how I planned it since chapter 3. Mainly because, I believed this book was gonna be a cliché if I made them have a happily ever after together in this book.
But one more chapter and an epilogue. I hope you are ready for it 💕
