I snort at that sorry excuse for an answer. “Be honest, Austin, it’s just us. It’s because of the money. You let him treat you like shit because he has money?” Her nostrils flare. “You saw a way out and took it. I get it …”
“I couldn’t care less about his fucking money!” she shouts.
I believe her. I do, but I can’t stop. I have to hurt her. She hurt me. She is abandoning me. “So, it’s the fact that he’s the first guy to ever show you any kind of love then? Your mother hated you ’cause her boyfriend wanted to fuck you. Your father didn’t want you, and then Cole Reynolds comes along.” I give her a smile. Our friendship is over, so I might as well go out with a bang. “The devil as you called him in your journal. Girls like you disgust me. A man shows a broken girl a little bit of attention, and you fall in love with them. He can never love you.” I lie. The truth is, he’s beyond in love with her. That man has killed for her. He’d do anything for her, and I’m jealous of that. I want that with Deke. “He’ll only use you. You’ll become a frumpy housewife, and he’ll get bored of you …”
She slaps me across the face, knocking me into the railing of the balcony. The force was so hard it takes my breath away. My hand comes up to touch my tender cheek when she steps into me, pressing my back into the railing. “You bitch …”
“I’d rather be the girl who fell in love with the devil, than the whore who jumps from man to man because she can’t stay faithful.” She growls in my face. “I don’t care if Deke comes to me tonight and tells me that he is taking your sorry ass back and plans on marrying you tomorrow. You are never welcome in my house again.”
My teeth grind at her words and the tears sting my eyes. But I manage to say, “The truth hurts.”
I think she’s going to slap me again, but instead, she laughs in my face. “The truth? The truth is that I’ve always been a fighter. And I would have fought for you, no matter what, but you lied to me and you betrayed me. So you no longer have my loyalty.” Then she turns, and storms down the stairs and exits the house, slamming the door behind her. The sound echoes up the stairs, and it makes me flinch. My chest aches, and my stomach sinks at the loss of my best friend.
“Sucks, doesn’t it? Losing everyone who you thought cared about you?”
I turn to look at my sister leaning up against the doorway to her bedroom. She has a smile on her face and not a care in the world. My eyes go straight to the hickeys on her neck. Deke never gave me any because I wouldn’t let him. I couldn’t chance David seeing them. I told him not to give them to me so many times that even after we were out in the open together, he still didn’t leave any.
I fist my hands and push away from the railing. “You did this …”
“No, you did.” The smile drops off her face. “You fucked everyone over. And now you’re completely alone.” Then she steps back and slams her bedroom door. I hear it lock, and I let out a scream of frustration because I know she’s telling the truth. I just lost Austin and any chance I have of getting Deke back. And it all started with fucking Demi!
She’ll pay. No matter what I have to do or who I have to fuck, I’ll get my revenge. I always do.
I enter my room, slam my door, and run over to my desk. Yanking open the drawer, I pull out a pair of scissors and crawl onto my bed. I scream as I slice the sharp edges through her hurtful words. Through her innocence. I fucking stab it over and over, imagining it’s her face.
She will pay! Even if I have to have someone else do it for me.
DEKE
“So, what are you gonna do?” Cole asks as we sit at the kitchen table.
Demi: That you took my virginity. In her bed.
I read over the text Demi sent me earlier this morning for the hundredth time. The more time that has gone by, the more pissed I’ve gotten. “I’m not sure,” I say honestly. I wasn’t able to concentrate in my classes today or during swim practice. My mind was completely consumed with everything Demi. And it’s literally gotten me nowhere. I’m like a dog chasing my own tail.
“What do you wanna do?”
“Strangle her,” I grind out. “She fucking played me.” I sit back in my seat.But how did she do it?
“Have you heard from Becky?”
“I did earlier.” She stopped calling when she realized I wasn’t going to pick up.
“And what does she have to say about it?”
I glare at him. “Since when did you become a nosy little bitch?”
He chuckles. The bastard has been in a good mood today for some reason. And I know it’s not because he got laid last night. They do that every night, and he’s still always a moody fucker. “Just wondering what you’re gonna do to pay Demi back. I could use some excitement.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. I can’t kill the bitch, and I can’t physically torture her.” I mean, I could, but then what? I’d have to get rid of the body somewhere. And I’d look suspicious. Too many people know I’ve slept with her now. I doubt Becky would mind if I offed her sister, though. Hell, she’d probably help me.
“You could make her fall in love with you,” Cole states.
I throw my head back, laughing at that. “Funny.”
He levels me with that blank stare he does so well.
“You’ve got to be joking?” I ask when he says nothing.
