Hey Monday

r e v e n g e

Cringing, I grabbed Evelyn by the shoulders. Her blonde hair was in a ballerina bun, which meant I couldn't see Kate over the top of it.
"Kate, I'd like you to meet Evelyn," I paused and took a deep breath. "My girlfriend."

Kate looked absolutely furious for a split second, but she quickly covered it up with a stony I'm-better-than-you face.

Evelyn stuck out a tentative hand. "Hi, it's nice to meet you," she said in an unwavering voice.

Kate glanced at Evelyn's outstretched palm with disgust. "Let me get one thing straight, honey, we'll never be friends."

Evelyn shrugged and threw up her hands, turning to Ellen. "Tell me please, why do I have this effect on people?"

Ellen laughed. "I don't know. Maybe it's you, maybe it's us..."

Logan shook his head. "Kate, I don't understand. You're beautiful and you know that- you could have any guy you want. Be honest now, why won't you just leave us alone?"

Kate got a catty look on her face and inspected her nails. "Look. I do want Noah, obviously, but I also just want you guys to suffer. You used me and then just threw me aside like I was nothing. That's inexcusable."

"Used you?" Ellen crowed. "You're the one who insisted on coming with US!"

Kate waved Ellen off. "Minor details. My point remains the same."

"Oh, my god," I murmured. Then, louder, I proclaimed "This is crazy. And stupid. But it's NOT love, so please Kate, just leave us alone. Go live in a big house with a nice husband, you'll have a family, a good job and you'll be happy. Please just forget about us."

She pursed her lips and paused, considering her next move. All of us held our breath, except for Ellen, who was humming the theme from "Jeopardy" very, very quietly. 

"No," Kate said finally. "I have something planned, and it'll go on. But after that, I'll leave you guys alone. I'm sorry, it's already a done deal. Later." 

She pivoted on her heel and stalked away, taking long, powerful strides to who-knows-where. The four of us looked at each other, dumbstruck, then all started talking at once. 

"What's her deal?" Evelyn asked.

"Does she have like, a tracker on us or something?" I wondered at the same time. 

Logan declared, "I think she has some sort of psychological disorder." 

And louder than all of us, Ellen said, "I know what to do." 

• • • 

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Evelyn asked awhile later. "It seems kind of risky. And illegal. And pointless." 

"No," Ellen snapped in return. "It isn't pointless. This bitch might be plotting to kill us, and we have to take action. No matter how risky and illegal it might be." 

I sighed and gripped the steering wheel tightly. Behind me, I could hear Logan furiously clacking away at the keys on his laptop. He was really good with computers- not surprising- and we had decided to hack Kate so we could figure out where she was and what she was doing. Was it illegal? We weren't sure. 

"It's going to work," Logan said in a sure tone. "All you need is a computer program downloaded from the Internet, an open access point and someone dumb enough to ignore basic security advice. AKA Kate." 

I squinted at the road ahead of me, watching Kate's white coat retreat into a throng of people. It was hard to focus on both her and the road- stalking was hard work.