Chapter 8
Come Up With Better Revenge
Slouching into my one of the beach chairs, I threw my head back as my sleek brown hair cascaded along the behind. I took a deep breath and I could see a small puff of air flow out.
Dang, it's getting cold.
The sun was beginning to set, an orangey colour illuminated everywhere. It was beautiful and such a sight to see.
"You look cold," a voice boomed behind me. I whipped my head to meet with Ben.
He was wrapped in a navy blue jumper that matched his black hair well and had a towel around his neck.
I was wearing joggers and a top, my hair up in a ponytail with bumps. There was no mirrors so it was very messy.
"Eh, I'm alright." I shrugged before inhaling a huge whiff of smoke coming from the small, freshly lit fire in front of me.
How was there a fire, yet i'm still cold?
"It makes sense because she's cold blooded," Josh snickered behind Ben.
"Shut up, Josh. Stop crying because I have better insults than you and because I do better cannonballs than you," I said, simply as I relaxed into my chair once I saw his annoyed face.
The rest of the group were beginning to sit down too. I moved to place my hands on the side of the roaring, orange fire, warming up. I blowed onto my hands and rubbing them.
Our class and the people who weren't supposed to be there had left, only the main group, Kai, Dylan, Mason, Chynna, and Georgia had stayed.
I heard a loud giggle in front of me which made my look up. Chynna and Damon were flirting like no one was around. He slyly put his arm around her with a smirk on his face. Gross. I could hardly contain my repulsed face.
"Ten bucks, they break up after two days," Ben whispered to me. He was grinning and nodded over to the 'happy couple'.
I shook my head, laughing. "They'll break up tomorrow."
Ben raised his eyebrows and put his hand forward. Without a second thought, I took it, the edges of my lips tugging upwards. Easy money. I knew Damon since elementary. Sure, he was Ben's twin but Damon always used to come to me for advice. He was only in it for the dirty.
"Can't wait for that ten dollars," I said, arrogantly whilst grinning, smugly.
"I can't wait for my ten dollars!" Ben countered.
I rolled my eyes, knowing that I would win. I had a tendency to win bets and Ben knew that, he just wanted to win once.
We still had a couple of running bets. One of them being who gets shouted at by Amalia first. We betted five bucks and fifty cents on that— that's all Ben had on him at that moment.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Benny Boy," I smiled. "I've already won three bets this week."
"I let you win the last one!" Ben cried out.
I gasped and sat up in my chair, my eyes wide. "No you did not! Damon threw up on you first because he sat next to you, you didn't sit next to him!" I accused, pointing my finger at him.
Ben opened his mouth to argue until he realised he was wrong and sunk back into his chair.
"I'm hungry!" Mason said before sighing loudly like a child. His hair was wet and sticking up in places.
"How about," Vic paused to pick up a large bag of marshmallows from under her chair, "S'mores?"
A wicked grin and bulging eyes came to Mason and Josh's face as they both jumped in excitement.
They were definitely children that day.
Moments had passed and we were all eating our s'mores in delight, some more than others. Chynna and Georgia had left, much to my pleasure; something about cutting down sugar.
I was making my third one, placing the chocolate into the marshmallow before colliding a graham cracker on top. A smile spread across my face at the perfection in front of me.
It was officially night. The sky was clear, an opaque black with small pieces of silvery stars floating. I just hoped it didn't rain. The sound of grasshoppers was echoed around us which gave a sort of peaceful atmosphere. In the distance were the hooting of owls that erupted every so often.
I loved it.
We were gonna leave in around an hour. Everyone was fine with staying out a little late as we all wanted to enjoy the last days of 'summer'.
There was nothing like going to the swimming hole with friends. Especially a big group like mine, there was never a boring moment- for me anyways. Damon would always joke around, Ben would something smart, yet dumb which only added to the laughter, Josh would be his natural goofy self, Amara would come up with ideas for the group while insulting everyone jokingly, Amalia kept everything in control, Vic would make everything fun. As for me, I was pretty much sarcastic and the best part of the group. Okay, that was biased but each and everyone of us brought something to the table which is why it was never boring and always exhilarating.
"Let's tell spooky stories," Damon brought up the idea as he searched the circle to see if anyone objected. Of course, nobody did because we were all up to a fright.
~
"—and she was never seen again after that night," Josh ended his story and pressed his eyes shut, self-satisfied.
I believed he was expecting a round of applause or gasps but instead he was pelted with marshmallows.
"Ou-OUCH!" Josh groaned as he rubbed his arm, glaring at everyone. He leaned down to grab some marshmallows and threw some back at us.
"It wasn't me!" said Damon.
"Don't fucking lie, I can smell your cologne on the marshmallows from a mile away," sneered Josh.
Slowly, Damon moved his head to sniff his jacket and then sat back up abruptly with a 'can't deny that' look.
I chucked in a fit of laughter and so did the rest of them.
"Okay, okay! My turn!" I said, bringing the attention to me. "Once upon a time there was Josh. The end," I stated as I ironically shivered.
"Wow! That was so scary!" Mason cried out, grabbing Kai and hugging him close. Kai patted his head.
"Why would you tell such a frightening story, now Mason won't be able to sleep tonight," Kai tutted as he muttered soothing words to Mason.
Amara covered her mouth as she wiped fake tears of her pretty face. "Truly scary, I cried from the fright." She shook her head.
I nodded, slowly and sadly. "True story." My head hung low.
The rest of the gang feigned scared looks.
I stifled a laugh as Josh groaned and crossed his arms. "You all are mean! I hate you all."
"We love you, too," we all chorused in unison.
~
It was almost time to leave, late night was arriving and we were gonna leave as soon as possible. Any later and some sort of groundskeeper may have caught us. Yes, I said it was secluded and it wasn't private property or anything but there was the groundskeeper who was someone we didn't want to mess with. He was very scary, from his unusually large tooth in the front and a mole. A mole that was probably the size of Russia on his cheek. Safe to say, he was frightening.
I was now sat at the edge of the hole, staring at the still water in front of me. The rest of the group was getting ready to leave. My legs were in the cold water and it was oddly soothing after being near that fire for a while.
As I played with the water, it reminded me of a lake. When I was younger, I used to go to that lake with my mom. It had a special sentimental value to me. She used to carry me over to lake and throw me in. Then she'd join and we'd laugh and play till the sun would set.
Now, she was different. I hadn't seen her in a while. With her wedding coming up, it was all too much and I still had fittings to go too and much more.
While I was deep in my own thoughts, footsteps came up behind me and someone joined me on the boardwalk.
It could only be one person.
"What are you doing here, Pretty Boy?" I sighed at Kai's company. He did that thing, blowing out of the nose in the sign of laughter. I rolled my eyes.
"Decided to give you my lovely company?" He said but it was more of a question than a statement. The lighting was dark so I couldn't see much of his face, only some parts illuminated by the moon. His eyes were gleaming right about now, I could see small streaks of brown floating in them, they were much more evident now and strangely comforting.
But that was only because I liked the colour green.
"Keep boosting your own confidence, it gives a lovely shade of arrogance," I retorted.
"Ooh, someone's grouchy," Kai mumbled but I heard.
I turned my head to glare at him. He noticed my reaction and raised his arms in the air, surrendering.
"Why are you here and not getting ready to leave?" He asked, changing the topic and he sounded- dare I said- genuine.
"Why aren't you?" I replied.
"I asked you first."
I took a deep breath. Talking to him was exhausting. "I like to," I paused to gather my thoughts, "Reflect."
Kai nodded. That's all he did but I knew he had something else to say. "What?" I groaned and moved to put my body weight onto my hands which were propped behind me.
"You don't seem like the type to 'reflect'," He answered using quotation fingers at the word reflect.
"Well, you don't know me," I mentioned as I looked up at the clear night sky, desperately praying to get away from this boy. But alas, it was no use when I looked to the side, he was still sitting there, this time a grin on his face.
Ugh. Where was this going?
His face contorted like he was thinking. "Lemme guess," Kai said all of a sudden as he shifted his body eight so he was completely facing me,"You do all your homework and assignments on time, you're the type to wake up early-but not like it- and not miss class. You focus on helping others rather than yourself- want me to go on?"
I was flabbergasted to say the least. My face probably looked like I had just seen a clown riding a donkey. Luckily, it was dark so maybe he couldn't see my face very well. I hoped.
"I-I-" I was at a lost for words. His smirk only grew bigger at this. It was at this point, not only were there brown streaks in his eyes but mischief was laced in them.
Oh gosh.
"But family means more to you," he narrowed his eyes and moved closer so his face was a little closer to mine. "All of those reasons are why you don't have a boyfriend. Oh! It's also because you're pretentious," Kai seemed very content with his answer but I was the complete opposite.
The last sentence had started to make my blood boil, my temper rising at the second. I was trying to keep my cool as much as I could.
Deep breaths, Hayley. One, two, thr-oh fuck it!
It was my turn to move closer to him, I could feel myself losing it. How dare he!
"You don't know anything about me so don't try and act like a therapist or something when you don't know the half it," I spoke in a very dangerous voice, trying to keep it as low as possible. I didn't want to alert the groundskeeper.
I didn't even get a chance to look at his face when I immediately rose to my feet to get away from him.
I hated boys like him. They thought they knew everything about girls like me. They thought they can define me just by looking at girls. They didn't know what girls have gone through.
I left without a seconds thought and he didn't come after me to apologise. He left me in a fit of anger.
The rest of the drive back home consisted of me huffing and puffing, remembering his words. Thankfully, I wasn't sat next to Kai. Instead, I was between Ben and Damon. The thing about me was I could hold a grudge. I was trying to let go of it but then the vivid image of his smirk made me want to go to him and smash melted marshmallows in his face.
I needed to come up with better revenge. Noted.
I didn't have a boyfriend, not because I was 'pretentious'.
How dare he call me pretentious. Him!
Kai was starting to really get on my nerves.
I didn't have a boyfriend because of him. My ex-boyfriend, Ryder. He hurt me. It all started last year when summer was arriving. I caught him cheating on me with Chynna in the janitors closet. They were so up close. The thought of them together shattered my heart. I thought I loved him, I thought he loved me. But he didn't. Clearly.
He spent the rest of the summer trying to convince me it was a mistake. That it was a one time thing.
That's why I hated Chynna with the life of me.
Ryder left town that summer and went to England—for God knows how long. I never asked.
All of that was why I never had another boyfriend. The idea made me want to physically throw up. I was a wreck after our breakup. I didn't want to go through that.
Kai didn't know shit.
I slammed the door to alert that I was home. The guys had dropped me off after Amara, our houses being close and all.
"Hey, Kid," my Dad greeted me with a joyful look on his face and a half full cup of coffee in his hand when I entered the kitchen.
"Coffee at night? That's not good for your health, Dad," I lectured him because I was worried for his health. After all, I wanted him to live a long, happy life.
"Gotta drink as much to finish today's work," He replied in a jolly voice.
I returned a smile in response and my Dad knew this was the time to leave me alone. My Dad being a single parent knew all about my moods, this one was my moody yet trying to be nice face.
I gave him a kiss on his soft, wrinkling cheek and made my way out of the kitchen along with a bottle of water in my hand.
Once I was upstairs, I dropped all of my bags onto the floor and walked straight to the bathroom. I had a conjoined bathroom in my room which was extremely handy and I loved it so much
My breath was still shaking as I stepped in front of the mirror in my bathroom. My hair was rustled and still wet on some ends. My eyes were a little red and puffy.
I couldn't take anymore of my messy look so I hopped into the shower and was collided with hot steamy water. Just the way I liked it.
I had to feel like I was burning.
As I lathered my shampoo in my hair, my thoughts couldn't help but run around in my head.
Did everyone think about me like that?
His words were still etched into my brain. I scrubbed shampoo into my scalp and the thought began to deepen.
Was I that much of an open book?
Sure all my life, I did try to get good grades but that didn't define me. I was so much more than that.
In my eyes, everyone had two sides. The school side, the home side. The side that was a front, the side that I chose to show. The side everyone thought I was, the side I actually was.
I guess some people didn't get that.
After continuing the rest of my shower ritual, conditioning and body wash, I threw on a pair of black joggers and a white crop top. My comfy clothes which never disappointed me.
Though it was getting cold, I was still feeling hot so I turned on the fan and faced it towards my bed.
Once I was done, I jumped onto my bed, bouncing a little. Shuffling so I was positioned correctly on my pillows, my eyes fluttered closed as I fell into a hazy dream.
A.N Whoo hoo! This chapter took a couple days but I like it. I finished it at 2am :)
What about you guys, did you like this chapter?
Honestly, I feel like I was going for this chapter to be based around the group and their vibes in this one.
So, you finally know about Ryder! What do you think? Total jackass. *eye roll* I'm sorry I can't write about that part properly. It's hard for me to put it into words right now but you guy will get more details.
I'm listening to Mother Mother as I write this!
Anyways enjoy, my Loves :)
Thank you for 100 views <3
Love
Z~