Chapter 28.
Now that things were settled with Luke, and Dylan and I were officially a couple, I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. The only thing standing between me and complete bliss and happiness was the unresolved conflict with Avery. And, with any luck, our plan would work, and that would be resolved today.
While Avery was still out with Ben, Dylan drove me back to my house so that we could rig the guest room with video cameras to catch Avery's cruelty on video. I had decided that the guest room was the best place for our confrontation with Avery, since it was away from the prying eyes of my father, and Avery perceived it as her territory. She would be less suspicious there, because she felt at ease.
"Are you nervous?" Dylan asked, rubbing his hand along my back as I turned the small camera perched discreetly on the dresser on and checked that the light was blinking, indicating that it was on and recording.
I shook my head. "Not really. I just hope this works. I am beyond ready to be rid of Avery for good, and if this doesn't work, I'm going to be stuck pretending to be friendly with her for the foreseeable future. At least if my parents know what she's really like, they might stop pressuring me to be friends with her."
Dylan kissed the top of my head, and I marveled at the fact that Dylan actually liked me. It was still hard to wrap my head around that. How had we both been so oblivious for so long? "It will work," he promised. "And if it doesn't, we'll come up with something else that does work."
I smiled at him. "I know," I said. "I have amazing friends who are there to help me. No matter what Avery does, she can't take that from me. All of you already know she's awful."
Dylan nodded. "And Ben is on board with the plan. As soon as Ben brings Avery home, he's going to come up to the guest room with her for the big showdown. He promised to text me before they head upstairs so we have some warning."
"What if Avery doesn't invite Ben back to her room?"
Dylan made a face. "She will," he assured me. "That's how Avery keeps guys interested in her. Trust me, guys don't put up with her for her personality."
I froze. "Wait, did you and she....?" I was unable to finish that sentence, because it made me feel sick to my stomach thinking about what Dylan might have done with Avery.
Dylan shook his head. "No, of course not," he assured me. "I'll admit, there was some making out and removal of shirts, but no sex. I couldn't, when the only girl I really wanted was you."
I exhaled, feeling more than a little relieved. "Good," I told him. "That's what I like to hear."
Dylan smirked. "Why, are you jealous, Faye?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "I think we already established that I like you, Olson. There's no need to gloat about it. I don't enjoy the thought of sharing you with other girls."
"There's no one else," Dylan assured me, pressing his lips to mine in a quick kiss. Just then, Dylan's phone buzzed with a text message, and he glanced down at it.
"That was Ben," Dylan said. "It's show time."
Dylan and I hurried from the guest room, heading across the hall to my bedroom. I pulled Dylan inside, shutting the door behind us.
"So, how do you want to play this, Faye?" Dylan asked.
I think you'd better stay in here," I whispered to him. "If Avery sees you, she's going to figure out that something is up. She still thinks I'm dating Luke."
Dylan frowned. "I'm going to have to remedy that."
"Really? That's your concern?" I asked dryly. "It doesn't matter what Avery thinks. If this works, we won't have to put up with her anymore."
"Yeah, but I don't like the idea of sharing you with my cousin," he grumbled.
"You do realize that you aren't actually sharing me with Luke, right? We established that Luke and I are just friends? You are my boyfriend."
He smiled. "I love hearing you say that."
"What, just friends?" I asked coyly.
"No, the boyfriend part," Dylan growled.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the hall as Avery and Ben made their way up the stairs, and I could hear the low murmur of their playful flirtation.
"Are we one hundred percent sure that Ben is on our side?" I asked, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. "Because he sure is putting on a convincing show."
"He's on our side," Dylan promised. "Trust me."
Taking a deep breath, I mentally tried to prepare myself for going into battle. I was about to willingly offer myself up as a sacrificial lamb in the lion's den. I was going to endure Avery's wrath on purpose. Clearly, I was out of my mind.
"Wish me luck?" I asked, turning back towards Dylan.
He grinned. "You're not going to need it. Knock 'em dead, sweetheart. I'll be here waiting to celebrate with you afterwards."
With one last deep gulp of air, I left my room, closing the door behind me so that Dylan wouldn't be seen, and crossed the hallway to knock on Avery's door.
"What do you want?" Avery asked, throwing the door open with a scowl. "I'm busy."
I schooled my features into a look of hurt, launching into the script that Madison, Kelsey, and I had worked out. "Do you have Ben in there with you?"
Avery smiled. "So what if I do?"
I could tell that if I kept pushing her, she was going to get nasty, which was exactly what I wanted, but I needed her to do it in front of the video camera. I needed her to let me into her room.
"Lilly?" Ben asked from behind Avery. "Come on in. I think we should all talk before I take things with Avery to the next step."
I smiled gratefully at him, relieved when Avery obliged by stepping back from the doorway so I could enter the guest room.
Avery crossed her arms across her chest, glaring at me. "You've barged in and rudely interrupted my one on one time with Ben. What's your deal?"
I concentrated on remembering how betrayed I had felt when Dylan had started seeing Avery, and how hurt I was that my father was taking Avery's side over mine, and my eyes started to pool with tears.
"Please," I told Avery. "You can't hook up with Ben."
The words felt false coming out of my mouth, but I really needed to sell her on the hurt she was causing me if I wanted this to work, so I concentrated on looking as heartbroken as I possibly could.
"And why can't I?" Avery asked, crossing her arms and glaring at me. I had positioned myself so that I was in front of the camera, so when Avery stood in front of me, she was in full view, and everything she did and said was being recorded.
"Because he's my ex-boyfriend," I told her. "You know I'm still not over him."
Avery grinned triumphantly at me. "As if I care about that. I'm the reason you broke up with him."
I fought to contain my smile at Avery's unexpected admission. I hadn't expected her to be quite so direct.
Behind her, Ben sputtered, pretending to be shocked by this information. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Lilly and I broke up because Dylan sent me a photo of her and another guy."
Avery laughed. "I sent the photo from Dylan's phone," she told him. "It was a brilliant maneuver on my part, if I do say so myself. It was hard to get a photo that looked even remotely incriminating. Lilly and Will really were just friends, and they weren't at all touchy feely."
"Why are you acting like this?" I asked. "Why are you using Ben to hurt me?"
Ben, for his part, looked affronted at the supposed revelation that he was being used. "Is that true?" he asked Avery. "Are you just using me to hurt Lilly."
Avery rolled her eyes. "Please, did you honestly think I liked you? You have all the personality of a brick."
"Why go to all the trouble?" I asked. "You already convinced my dad that I'm cyber bullying you. What more could you want?"
Avery's smile grew wider. "Yes, that was rather clever of me, wasn't it? I found the video on Dylan's phone when I sent Ben that photo of you. I wasn't sure how I was going to use it against you, but with all that downtime I've had staying here in this incredibly boring small town with your uptight father, I figured I'd use it to get you in heaps of trouble. After all, your petty little prank was annoying, but cyberbullying is a much more serious issue."
"So you edited and posted the video yourself?" I asked. Avery had implied that she had, but I wanted her to admit what she had done on camera.
"Of course I did," she said. "And I made sure it went viral. It's amazing how quickly you can spread things around on the internet when you know the proper channels. It doesn't even matter that I'm telling you this, because who is honestly going to believe that I called myself a skank and posted an embarrassing video of myself just to mess with you?"
"I don't get it," I told her. "If you hate me so much, and you don't like it here, why did you insist on spending Christmas here?"
Avery laughed. "Because, you idiot, I want Dylan back. I'm not sure how you stole him from me, but I dated him first. And I can't win Dylan back if I'm nowhere near him, can I? Fortunately, he happens to be your neighbor, so it worked out well."
"Avery, I think we need to talk. Privately," Ben said. "Walk me to my car?"
Her eyes narrowed, seeming suspicious, but she shrugged. "Fine," she breathed, sighing airily. She followed Ben back downstairs, and I hurried over to the video camera, confirming that it had recorded everything. When I stopped the recording and made sure the video was saved, I let out a whoop of triumph, hurrying back to my bedroom and locking the door behind me.
"Did you get it?" Dylan asked. "Did you get what you needed?"
I nodded breathlessly. "And then some," I told him. I pulled the SD card out of the camera and plugged it into my laptop, bringing up the video file. I edited the clip to cut out the extra time before and after the confrontation with Avery, and played back the conversation for Dylan.
He let out a long, low whistle. "Well, after we show that to your parents, there will be absolutely no doubt that Avery is the antagonist in your troubled relationship," he said.
I nodded in agreement. "That worked out so much better than I was hoping it would. Avery practically delivered a super villain style monologue. After my dad watches that video, I'm almost certain he'll throw Avery out."
I saved the video to my laptop, sent it to my phone, and sent copies to Madison and Kelsey so they could see that our plan had worked.
My phone buzzed, and I saw it was a text from Ben. "I hope you got what you needed," it said. "That girl is a piece of work. Make sure you bring her down."
"I will," I texted back. "Thanks for all of your help."
I put my phone away, unable to stop the smile spreading across my face. I had great friends, a wonderful boyfriend, and the evidence I needed to finally put an end to Avery's reign of terror. Life was pretty darn good.
—
Well Lilly got what she needed to prove to the parents that Avery is the one in the wrong.
What do you think her dad will think?
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