Page 1 of My Rules for Revenge (Twisted YA Mysteries #1)

I t was one week before the most traumatic experience of my life, or so I thought. Things were about to get even worse for me, but little did I know they would soon become unbearable.

Looking back, I realized that it was hard knowing whom I could trust in high school. In reality, no one ever gave me a manual on how to navigate friendships or betrayals.

My good friend, Heather Chang, had appointed me co-president of the book club. We were both sophomores in high school, and we both enjoyed reading to escape the boring world of Brightwood High, a supposedly top-tier “A-Plus” high school that felt more like a prison than anything else.

In chemistry class, I’d overheard that the only thing “A-Plus” about our school was the bad words and jokes that were scribbled on the walls and stalls of the boys’ bathrooms. Funnily enough, the girls’ bathrooms were usually worse.

I remember seeing our Assistant Principal Jane Woods, drawn as a cartoon with a speech bubble that read, “The reason I’m so angry all the time is because my penis is larger than my husband’s.

” Who comes up with these things? I thought.

But if I’m being completely honest, I thought it was brutally funny.

I tried showing Heather my favorite “colorful” memes, but she preferred and enjoyed the funny ones instead. If the memes were too dark or brutal, she would awkwardly chuckle and roll her eyes at me, a clear sign that she didn’t find them funny.

I considered Heather my one and only true friend in Brightwood, and I thought we were close. In the back of my mind, I knew we weren’t best friends, but I was okay with that. I didn’t want to force anything that wasn’t already there.

Sometimes I wish we were like sisters, though, like her and Vivian. If any of the basketball players were to say anything cruel to Vivian, or if they teased her in the hallways, Vivian could count on Heather to beat them senseless with a baseball bat.

That was the type of girl Heather was, and I couldn’t be any more different. I kept things to myself, remained studious, and quietly trudged along until last year, when my life was unfortunately turned upside down.

Maybe I was being melodramatic, but that was high school for you.

Almost every aspect of my life seemed way more important than it actually was, except for my studies, of course.

That was the one thing that I focused on the hardest, because that would determine the direction of my future.

That was the one thing I excelled at and the only thing I looked forward to every day.

They took that away from me, and because of that, I never forgave them.

At the end of the day, I know that they’ll see me as an evil person, but I only did those terrible things in retaliation. These are the events as they unfolded.

School was over for the day, and the halls were empty.

I swiftly walked to the exit while trying to keep my tears in, but I wasn’t successful.

I wiped them away while they continuously rushed down my flushed cheeks.

I didn’t want him to see me like that. He slowly jogged towards me and kept calling out my name.

I wanted to avoid that conversation, but ultimately, I decided I needed to talk to him one last time.

I sincerely hoped that was the last time I ever saw him.

Eddy Chavez was a thoughtful guy, for the most part.

He was one of the benchwarmers on the Brightwood Bears basketball team.

He was a physically fit guy with scruffy brown hair and hazel-colored eyes, the same as mine, and despite the fun times and the laughs we had together, honestly, I wish we had never met.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around—he caught up to me and grinned while I remained very serious.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m really sorry for everything that happened. Can we start over? Let’s talk about this, please,” Eddy pleaded.

“I’m not doing this anymore. You betrayed me.” My repressed anger began to bubble in my stomach.

“It wasn’t my fault. It was…,” he trailed off.

I still had a sliver of hope that Eddy would take responsibility for what he had done.

“Find out who it was, and I’ll give you a chance—one last chance,” I offered.

Eddy sighed and ran his fingers through his messy hair. I loved it when he did that, but I had to swallow those feelings. The very sight of him filled my stomach with anger—that’s what I forced myself to feel.

“What would you do if I found the person?” Eddy asked.

“I’d report him to Principal Newman along with the evidence. Evidence that you’ll give me. It’s the very least you could do. You’d be doing the right thing.”

Eddy slowly shook his head and looked down in defeat.

“I have no idea who it was. They all have them—it could’ve been any of them,” Eddy explained.

My repressed anger bubbled in my belly and boiled over completely. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t keep myself calm, and I didn’t want to be the nice girl like I always was. I was sick and tired of being rolled over. Heather always had the right idea when it came to that.

“Why can’t you find out who did it? This is all your fault. You’re the one who needs to fix this! You! No one else!” I shouted so loudly that my strained voice echoed throughout the hall. I hoped no one had heard that.

Eddy was caught off guard and flinched backwards. He had never seen me like that, but I was at my breaking point—and I blamed him .

“Indira, I’m sorry. I really am, but if I tried to expose any of them, they would kill me.

Most of them have D1 scholarships on the line, and a couple of them have a real chance of going pro.

If I mess with their dreams by messing with their reputations, and ruining their relationships with those colleges… I’m dead.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I couldn’t take it anymore; my eyes welled up with tears as I viciously slapped him, leaving a bright red mark on his cheek as he stumbled back in bewilderment and nervously chuckled.

I wasn’t a violent person by any means, but he caused me to reach my breaking point.

“Indira??!!” He cried out.

“Those stupid jocks, or whatever the hell you want to call them, have been harassing me and calling me names for weeks. Do you know how humiliating that is? The basketball players, the football players, and even the guys on the bowling team have seen them. Can you believe it? The bowling team, for Christ’s sake! ” I exclaimed—I was furious.

Confusion washed over Eddy’s face.

“What? Still? I told them to knock it off when you first told me. I swear.”

“You did, but it doesn’t matter, because you can’t protect me against all of them, Eddy. It’s fine—it’s really okay. If you don’t want to help me the way I need you to help me, then we’re done,” I threatened in a whisper.

“I just want there to be peace, Indira—that’s what I always want, you know that, and I hate to see you this way.”

I shoved him in frustration.

“Then do what I’ve asked—you’ve made my life hell—you need to make it right!”

“I can’t. That’s the one thing I can’t do. I’m so sorry.”

I scoffed and chuckled. I wasn’t sure why I continued to talk with him—it was obvious he wasn’t going to help me.

“So, the one thing I need you to do is the one thing you can’t do. You’re an idiot,” I remarked. Eddy remained quiet and looked utterly ashamed. An ounce of guilt formed in my gut for the way he appeared, but it was quickly overtaken by the fury that still boiled within me.

“If there’s one thing I realized from all of this, it’s that you never truly cared about me.”

“Indira, how can you say that? That’s not true,” Eddy affirmed.

“It’s the truth,” I affirmed.

My steps echoed in the hall as I walked away and wiped the tears that were rolling down my face.