Page 37 of My Rules for Revenge (Twisted YA Mysteries #1)

JACOB

I sat on the bleachers during P.E. in deep introspection.

It sounded cliché as hell, but I began to think about everything that happened between Heather and me.

I scrolled through the old comments she received on social media about her nudes, the ones that Manny, Carlos, and I leaked.

They even called her things that weren’t in my own demented vocabulary.

I suppose I began to feel guilty after Heather and the Terror Twins tried to kill me.

I saw the pure rage in their eyes and realized that deep down, I hurt them.

I knew this must’ve stemmed from the boundless resentment I had with my mother, but I never bothered to either address it or confront it.

It was only when I was about to face serious consequences for what I did that I realized I had to make a change.

That wasn’t the best reason in the world, but it was the hard truth.

The nightmares hadn’t stopped either—I deserved them.

“Hi, Jacob.”

I glanced right and almost flinched. Eddy stood a few feet away from me and looked serious. He had a serious look on his face, yet he shifted uncomfortably. It appeared as if he was trying to be serious but wasn’t sure how.

“Hi.”

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

“No, go ahead,” I replied.

Eddy sat down and drummed his fingers on the bleachers and looked off into the field.

“So, this is pretty awkward,” Eddy commented.

“Yeah. Do you want to talk to me or something?”

“Yeah, look, I promise I’m not here to cause any trouble or anything. This isn’t one of Heather’s revenge schemes. I swear,” Eddy said with certainty.

“Okay, if you say so.”

“I heard about what Angelica and Erica did to you.”

“I think everyone has heard about it by now.”

“Are you alright?” Eddy asked.

“I’m fine, I guess. I’m sorry, but why do you care?

I know that sounds harsh, but aren’t you and Heather a thing?

I feel like you should hate my guts. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to carve them out and feed them to the crazy cheerleaders who probably want to hurt me badly,” I said.

“You have done some bad things, but so have we. Look, we don’t have to be friends, and I don’t think we’ll ever be friends, but you don’t deserve to get pelted with rocks, beaten with a baseball bat, and plunged underwater.

That’s taking it too far. I never wanted it to get to this point,” Eddy explained.

“Well, I did manipulate the twins so they would go after Heather. I guess the twins torturing me is the cycle of karma or something,” I admitted.

“I want to talk to you about this feud between you two. I think it should end before it gets worse. I care about Heather, and as much as I may not like you, I don’t want you to get injured. That doesn’t help anyone,” Eddy pointed out.

“I’ll be honest, after what happened the day of the party, I think I’m done. I don’t have the energy to go on anymore,” I replied.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, really. I've got other things to think about. I have Bright Rock on the horizon, potentially. I think if I get accepted there and move away from here, even if it is only an hour away, it’ll be better for everybody involved. Also, I don’t hate Heather anymore.

I’m done with all that. It’s exhausting,” I expressed.

“Wow! Well, I wasn’t expecting you to feel this way. You don’t hate Heather anymore? I thought you’d hate her more after what she did to you.”

“I thought it was the alcohol talking, but I do feel horrible about what I’ve done to her. I know I’m a complete asshole for hating the girls at this school, but I don’t know, I feel different about things now. I…I want to apologize for everything I’ve done,” I said sincerely.

Eddy scoffed and rubbed his head. He appeared to be in shock.

“This is insane. Where did this come from? Are you Jacob’s twin brother or something?”

“I know I have some personal things to work out, but I do want to change. I don’t want to be hated by everyone. It sucks,” I expressed.

“Being hated by people does suck, believe me. I know the feeling,” Eddy admitted.

“You? Who the hell hates you? You’re one of the nicest guys in this school.”

“Trust me, there’s someone who hates me. She used to go here. It’s a long story,” Eddy sighed.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

The coaches blew their whistles because it was time for next period.

“So…what now?” I asked.

“I’m gonna talk to Heather again so we can resolve this,”Eddy replied.

“You already talked to her?”

“I did. She’s a bit stubborn,” Eddy pointed out.

“I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted me to burn in a giant ball of fire.”

As we walked back to the locker room, I was completely unprepared for what was about to happen next.

When I looked back, I couldn’t help but laugh in a sick, twisted way.

Despite everything that happened, I believed Eddy was a good person at heart.

Hell, he had tried to stop the raging feud between Heather and me. That counted for something.