Page 18 of My Rules for Revenge (Twisted YA Mysteries #1)

HEATHER

I was at the graveyard with my mom, sitting quietly near my dad’s tombstone since it was his birthday.

There were gray clouds overhead, which made it strangely ominous and coincidental because my dad hated stormy clouds.

He always joked around and yelled at the sky to go away.

Strangers would look at him like he was a complete lunatic, but it was only years later that I realized he had done that to make me laugh.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my mom quickly wiping away her tears so I wouldn’t see. I tried my best to keep mine in. I placed a bundle of red roses on top of his footstone. I quietly scoffed as I remembered the time that he and I went to buy roses for my mother’s birthday.

I was very young. We entered the sweet-smelling flower shop on a bright weekday morning.

The strong fragrances filled my nose as we ran all over the shop, trying to find roses for my mom, her all-time favorite flower.

My dad knew that if he managed to find them, she would be the happiest woman on Earth, and in turn, he would be the happiest man on Earth.

He often told me that whenever they had arguments.

He always told me he had to make her happy again.

After several sweaty minutes of dashing around the shop, we finally found the last bouquet of roses on a bottom shelf that was connected to the wall.

It housed many different potted plants, flowers, and seeds.

The bouquet of roses was a gust of air away from falling to the floor.

My dad bent over and swooped it up. He hilariously squealed in joy while the shop owner gave him a dirty look.

He was a grouchy old man who didn’t like “weird noises.” My dad told me that these types of men were in abundance and to never let them bring you down.

My dad took the bouquet of roses and placed it on the counter.

The shop owner was busily organizing something beneath the counter while my dad patiently waited.

Since he was taking his sweet time, my dad decided to check out the other flowers.

He entertained me by inhaling them deeply and letting out a loud ahhhhh.

As I laughed, I noticed that behind my dad, a young man with a buzz cut had rushed in.

He grabbed the bouquet of roses we had placed on the counter and slammed it.

“Hey, I’ll get these,” Buzz-Cut said.

It was like my dad had materialized right behind him.

“Sorry, bud. I was gonna buy these. They’re for my wife,” my dad said.

My dad grinned at him, trying to be friendly. Buzz-Cut apparently didn’t appreciate that.

“Bro, you were over there. I saw these here alone, and I’m gonna get them. Sir, are you done down there yet? I need to go to work.”

Whenever my dad got angry, he first showed it by sucking in his lips and letting out a forced chuckle.

“Alright, man. I’m trying to be nice here. I got those first, and I’m buying them. I was over here with my daughter because I was waiting for the shopkeeper,” my dad said.

I remember that I got scared and grabbed my dad’s leg from behind. My dad towered over Buzz-Cut, but I didn’t want him to get into a fight.

“I’m not talking to you, Chinaman. Chill out!” Buzz-Cut asserted.

“I’m not from China,” my dad clarified.

My dad laughed aloud while the shopkeeper finally stood up. He told Buzz-Cut that he was selling the roses to my dad and that he wouldn’t entertain any nonsense. Buzz-Cut got pissy and flailed his arms a bit. My dad stared him down as he left the flower shop.

We paid for the roses and left without an issue until we stepped outside, and Buzz-Cut began mouthing off to my dad.

My dad tried to ignore him, but once Buzz-Cut called him Chinaman again, he had had enough.

He chased after Buzz-Cut, who tried to run away, and angrily hit him with the bouquet of roses.

Once Buzz-Cut was on the floor, he was practically sobbing.

My dad wasn’t an evil guy. He left him alone and told him he couldn’t treat people like that.

While this happened, I stood frozen in fear.

I was only a little kid, after all. When my dad came back, he calmed me down by tickling me.

He told me about a name that has stuck with me for a long time.

He told me that people like that were angry at the world because their name was most likely “Dilbert.” These types of memories with my dad are the ones that are the most ingrained in my mind.

My mom stood up after kneeling in front of my father’s grave. I followed her out of the graveyard and waited for her to take out her car keys—she didn’t. She lingered around the entrance and looked at the sky. I could already tell that she had something on her mind, and it absolutely involved me.

“I need to talk to you about something,” she said.

“What about?”

“One of the parents at the school overheard a rumor from her son.”

“Okay…”

“She told me something very disturbing. Apparently, scandalous pictures have been circulating around the school. These pictures are of you.”

I shifted uncomfortably and looked away because I didn’t want to look at my mom’s eyes. I was hoping she wouldn’t find out, but I was being na?ve—it was only a matter of time.

“That girl looks like me, but it’s not me,” I lied.

“Wait, are you being serious?” she asked.

“No.”

“Heather, tell me the truth.”

“Alright, fine. Yes, they are my pictures,” I confessed.

My mom let out a heavy sigh and pinched her nose in frustration.

“Why would you ever do something like that?” she asked.

“What are you talking about, Mom?”

“Why would you take nude photos of yourself? There’s no need for something like that. What boy were you sending them to?”

“What? I wasn’t sending them to anyone. I took them because I wanted to. They were supposed to stay private.”

“Heather, how did they go public, then? You’re not telling me the whole truth, are you?”

“Some asshole kid from school hacked into my Cloud account and leaked them. They were never supposed to be spread around. Why would I do that to myself? I have had thousands of people degrade me online and call me obscene insults. It’s been horrible,” I scoffed.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?”

“It’s fine. I’m handling it myself.”

“Heather, we have to inform the school’s administration. If he hacked into your phone and released your pictures without your consent, that is a crime. We can press charges,” she explained.

“I already told Principal Newman and looked into all that. He can’t do anything because there’s zero proof. Also, he’s pretty much useless anyway,” I assured her.

“My god, Heather. Do you realize how crazy this is?”

“Obviously. I’m living through it, Mom. If I didn’t find it crazy, I’d be crazy.”

“Why did you take those pictures in the first place? The minute you took them, you opened yourself up to cyberbullying. You made yourself a target,” she scolded.

“Mom, no one actually calls it that.”

“I always tell you to keep a low profile and to stay out of trouble. Now, look at what has happened to you. This is a mess.”

“Mom, just stop. What’s wrong with you? The person who leaked my private pictures is the one at fault here, not me.

I didn’t do anything bad or evil. You should be lecturing Jacob Boruta, not me.

That’s the name of the twerp who leaked my pictures.

You didn’t bother to ask who did it,” I said in frustration.

“You should've thought about your father in that moment.”

“What moment?”

“The moment you decided to expose yourself like that. I’m sure he would have been unhappy about this.”

“He’s not here, so you don’t know that. I don’t know what he would have thought.

He’s my dad, so he probably would have been horrified.

But he would have been proud of me for standing up for myself.

The problem isn’t me taking nude pictures of myself.

The problem is the fact that assholes like Jacob exist.”

My mom scoffed and remained quiet for a couple of minutes. I felt an immense surge of heat in my stomach after I went off. It wasn’t a feeling I particularly enjoyed, but what my mom said enraged me to the point of no return. I was her daughter, and she should've been on my side no matter what.

“You know what the real problem is? What has been the real problem with you all along? The fact that you hold a grudge for every single little thing in the world means that one day, you’re going to end up hating everyone and everything.”

“You’re wrong,” I furiously asserted.

I stomped off and decided to take the long trek back home.

The next day at school, I watched the scathing video I made of Jacob to cheer myself up.

As I walked through the hallway, I approached the corner and heard two very familiar voices.

Eddy and Frankie were fiercely discussing something.

I wanted to be nosy and find out exactly what the tea was.

Usually, I didn’t care about this sort of thing, but it seemed to involve a girl and Eddy.

I edged my way to the corner lockers and quietly slid down with my headphones still on.

They couldn’t see me from the other side, and there’s no way they would have noticed me.

“Please tell me what to do,” Eddy requested.

“Dude, just tell her you think she’s cute and invite her to my party,” Frankie replied.

“So, I say those things at the same time, right?”

“What? No, you fool,” Frankie laughed.

“Frankie, you know I’m bad at this.”

“How come you said you didn’t need my help then?”

“I lied,” Eddy admitted.

“I know you did. I told you already, homie. You just follow my lead and do what I tell you to do, and you’ll be good. It’s just like basketball. Who’s the guy trying to get you a scholarship?” Frankie asked.

“You.”

“Exactly. Wherever I go, I’m trying to take you with me, bro. I’m a five-star recruit. I have some influence,” Frankie assured.

“That, you do.”

“Any other questions, Romeo?”