Page 47 of My Rules for Revenge (Twisted YA Mysteries #1)
“Of course not, Heather. I always try to be a good guy. I think I’ve shown it.
Haven’t I? I know I don’t hang out with the best crowd, but I try to be different from them.
I never wanted to be the dumb, stereotypical athlete who’s a jerk and a bully for no reason,” Eddy explained, flustered by the situation.
“You may not be any of those things, but you’re still a bold-faced liar.”
I took out my phone, scrolled through my photos, and showed him a picture of him sleeping. Half of Indira’s face was in the shot, and they were both in a bed. Eddy hung his head back and then buried his face in his hands.
“Indira took this when you two hooked up and never told you about it. She sent it to me after we talked. Eddy, I swear if you don’t cut the bullshit right now, I’ll stab you in the throat.”
My eyes became watery, but I quickly wiped the tears away. Eddy lifted his head after a prolonged period of time and let out a heavy sigh. He stood up and began pacing.
“Heather… I’m so, so sorry I never told you.
I wanted to keep it a lie so badly because I was completely ashamed of what I had done.
You have to understand that it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done, and…
I never wanted to talk about it. I just wanted to forget it,” Eddy said, seemingly regretful.
“Eddy, how did Indira’s pictures leak?”I asked with a very serious tone of voice.
“I’m not sure,” Eddy replied hesitantly.
“Eddy, don’t tell me that.”
I shot him a furious look, and he quickly gave in.
“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. So, this is what happened. I was at a party with Frankie, Porter, Marcus, and some of the other guys from the team. We were horsing around and having a good time. All of us were pretty tipsy, and some of them were flat-out drunk.
“I have no idea who, but one of them grabbed my phone when I put it down and went ahead and found her pictures. That person sent them to everyone on the team within seconds. There was no way I could stop it. I had no idea what had happened until later.
“When I started asking around, they threatened to cut me off completely if I made a big deal about it. They got pissed off, got in my face, and cornered me in the locker room and everything. So, we did what guys do—we shook hands, pretended like it never happened, and continued being friends.”
“Oh my god, Eddy. How the hell could you let that happen?”
“We were at a party, and we were having a good time. I didn’t realize my phone was unlocked, and I must have left it on some couch or something. They might’ve seen me put in my passcode. They’re sneaky like that,” Eddy explained.
“What kind of friends do that to each other? That’s insane.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“And how the hell do you not know who it is by now?”
“They would make my life a living hell if I tried finding out. Most of those guys have D1 scholarships on the line. They’re gonna play for the best colleges in the nation, and some of them might go pro.”
“I can’t believe you.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Heather, I regret this more than anything else in my life. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t know, Eddy. I don’t know anything.”
“Heather, please. I don’t want you to hate me,” Eddy pleaded.
“You’re protecting someone. It was Frank, wasn’t it?” I asked firmly.
“I don’t know, honestly. It could’ve been any of them or all of them,” Eddy replied, still nervous to let the cat out of the bag.
“Yeah, I think it was Frank, and you’re just trying to protect him because he’s your best buddy in the whole world,” I affirmed.
“No, I’m not trying to protect him,” Eddy reassured me.
“How many people saw those pictures back then?” I asked, trying to get to the bottom of this fiasco.
“It had to be at least everyone on the basketball team and the football team. It got around. I think even the wrestling team and some honor society kids saw it,” Eddy said, finally opening up about the truth of the situation.
“Jesus Christ, Eddy,” I reacted. It was shocking to hear how things went from bad to worse.
“I know, I know. I tried to get them to stop teasing her about it, but they never listened. They just laughed it off and told me to chill out. Typical bullshit,” Eddy continued to explain.
I rubbed my eyes and stared off into space.
“I can’t believe this. This is a nightmare. It doesn’t make any sense,” I pointed out.
“I’m so sorry, Heather. I know I lied to your face. I should’ve told you the truth a long time ago.”
Eddy sat back down and tried to look me in the eyes as I purposely ignored him.
“You should've told me, Eddy. I know I’ve obviously done things that are pretty horrible, but this—this—is something else. This girl was in love with you. I know Indira, and I know how she is. The Indira I know would’ve never sent those if she didn’t love you,” I expressed. I felt extreme disappointment in Eddy.
“You’re right,” Eddy admitted.
“How could you do that to her? How could you manipulate her like that?” I asked, digging for the truth of his intentions.
Eddy stammered and shrugged his shoulders, at a loss for words.
“I—I—I don’t know—I simply don’t know,” Eddy admitted.
“When I realized those texts were real…you have no idea how heartbreaking that was for me. You asked her to send you pictures because you loved her, and you didn’t,” I said, with a hurting heart.
“I know, and it’s the most regrettable thing I’ve ever done. I tried to apologize to Indira hundreds of times after she left, but she blocked me on everything. Not that I blame her,” Eddy explained with regret in his voice.
“This situation is complicated and screwed up. Despite what you did, I know that you’re not an evil person. But you never told me, and you lied to my face multiple times when I gave you the chance to tell me the truth. I’m trying to be more forgiving, but this… I thought we could trust each other.”
“I was afraid of this. I knew if I told you, you would look at me like I was a monster,” Eddy confessed.
“If you had trusted me enough to tell me, maybe I wouldn’t have,” I clarified.
“I’m sorry, Heather. What I did is not an easy thing to say to the girl you’re in love with,” Eddy admitted.
“I can’t help but think you did this because you were trying to make up for what happened with her. I was another girl who had her nudes leaked, and this time, you decided you would do the right thing.”
“Heather, of course, it wasn’t like that. That’s why I tried to get you to stop this whole thing with Jacob. I care about you,” Eddy pleaded.
“Did you ever care about Indira?” I asked directly.
“Not as much as I care about you,” Eddy assured me.
I softly nodded.
“I need some time to digest all of this. I’ve had my relationships with two people change forever in the span of one weekend.”
“What are you saying?” Eddy asked.
I grabbed and squeezed his hand. I softly kissed him on the cheek.
“I’m not saying anything, Eddy. We’ll talk again, but not now.”
As I walked away, he remained still and only stared at me.
The next day, Vivian came over to my house, and we hung out in my room. She comforted me as I couldn’t get Eddy out of my head.
“What are you going to do now?” Vivian asked.
“I have no idea. I think I was beginning to really like him, and he broke my heart. I don’t think he’s a monster, but I can’t just shake off what he did.”
“It’s tough. I still can’t believe he manipulated her like that. I had no idea he was capable of doing something like that,” Vivian remarked.
“Me neither,” I replied and shook my head.
“Do you think there’s a chance that you two will ever…you know?”
“I’ll talk to him again, eventually. I know I’ll be able to forgive him. I just need distance for now,” I said with a tinge of sadness in my voice.
“You think you’ll be just friends?”
I thought deeply about that idea. I didn’t think I would be able to ever look at him the same way again, but with enough time, everything could feel different.
“There’s a chance. But beyond that… I don’t know,” I said, with doubt.
Vivian nodded.
“Well, enough of this depressing conversation; let’s go get ice cream,” I suggested.
“I’m down. Where?”
“Let’s go to my dad’s favorite place,” I said as I perked up from the depressing conversation.
“Good idea,” Vivian affirmed.
As we walked out of my room, I stopped and stood back for a moment.
For some strange reason, I felt like something bad was going to happen.
I was suspended, the future of my relationship with Eddy was uncertain, and I felt like something was going to happen to someone close to me.
It turned out…I was right. My troubles weren’t over. Not by a long shot.