Page 8 of My Rules for Revenge (Twisted YA Mysteries #1)

HEATHER - PRESENT DAY

A s I walked through the hallway on the way to my locker, I noticed a fellow student staring at me. Judging by his ridiculously bulging eyes, he looked like he had just seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, so I gave him a death stare, and he quickly scurried off.

Soon after, I started to look at the students in the hallway as I heard several phone alerts going off all at once.

Some students checked their phones, some gasped, some looked downright horrified, and others closely inspected what had been sent to them.

Seconds later, I received a flurry of texts from Vivian, and as I opened them, my jaw dropped.

I remained frozen for a few minutes while I processed the gravity of what had just occurred.

All eyes in that hallway were on me, making me feel completely exposed, like I was stuck in quicksand and someone had ripped all of my clothes off.

When I was finally able to break out of my frozen spell, I walked towards the principal’s office in a furious rage, and as I did, I spotted a student who wore a fruity polo shirt and had horn-rimmed glasses. He gave me a malicious look and demonically grinned from ear to ear.

I had spotted my target, so I shot towards him like a guided missile as he ran away like a coward.

I dodged students going in all different directions as I sprinted towards him.

I pushed Jared, who was riding on his skateboard, out of the way, and I split right through a passionate freshman couple who were forcing their tongues down each other’s throats.

I was gaining on him until I lost my footing on a banana peel that someone had dropped onto the floor, and I fell face-first, eating the floor.

I stood up and banged my phone against a locker in frustration.

What he had done to me was absolutely unforgivable, and revenge was the only thing that was on my mind.

Don’t worry, my revenge is like a heat-seeking nuclear missile with your back as its target. It won’t stop until it finds you and destroys you, I thought.

I blasted into Principal Newman’s office twenty seconds after the bell rang.

He was a big slob of a man who wore a worn-out suit and had an unshaven goatee.

Principal Newman’s otherwise corporate-looking office was filled with photos of him alongside the various trout and fish he caught over the years.

There was one fat, giant bass he caught that was especially impressive.

I felt it was impressive because he looked like it.

He was the last man I wanted to go to in this situation, but if anyone had the power to punish Jacob, it was him. I was planning to destroy him myself, but I wanted to see if the system would aid me in my battle plans.

When I busted through his door, he didn’t glance up from his phone. Not a sign that he was about to be my hero, but what can I say? I wanted to be proven wrong.

I whipped out my phone and pulled up the pictures of myself that had been blasted all over social media. I held up one that had me almost exposed. Principal Newman only needed to get an idea of what had happened.

“Newman, look.”

“Hello. What’s going on?” he inquired.

He finally looked up from his phone and promptly dropped it in shock. His eyes practically exploded out of their sockets.

“Put that away—right now. Why are you showing me that, young lady? What is your name?”

“Hi, my name is Heather Chang. A student named Jacob Boruta hacked into my phone to leak my nude pictures everywhere. I want him to die.”

Newman remained silent and twiddled his thumbs like a toddler.

“I completely understand, Heather. That must be very troubling for you. I can only imagine what you’re going through. What would you like for me to do?”

“I want you to hold him down while I proceed to stab his eyes out with a very sharp knife,” I suggested.

“Heather, please. Do not use threatening language like that aloud. I understand you’re very upset, but you can get in big trouble. You cannot assault him in any way, shape, or form, even if he did this. Is that understood?”

I was appalled.

The only thing he’s worried about is me assaulting him, I thought .

Jacob leaked my nudes everywhere. The entire school had probably seen them by now. I felt completely exposed, humiliated, and violated. He should’ve given me permission to beat his face in with a pair of spiked boxing gloves.

“You’re joking, right? I already hit him. Why does that matter right now?” I asked.

Newman’s face turned a rosy red.

“Excuse me? Have you already hit him? Heather, did he hit you or physically hurt you?” he asked.

“Well, no. He didn’t hit me. I hit him because he was being very disrespectful to me,” I explained.

“He didn’t hit you?” he asked.

“I just told you he didn’t,” I clarified.

“Okay. Got it. You can’t hit him or touch him again, Heather. Do you understand me?”

“Principal Newman, why the hell are we talking about his well-being? Do you not comprehend that he has blasted my nudes online? This falls under that cyberbullying umbrella you guys are always talking about. Do something about this!”

Principal Newman slowly bent down and picked up his phone. He placed it on his desk and sighed. He nervously rubbed that horrible goatee.

“This is highly distressing. Have you contacted these social media sites to take down the pictures that were leaked?”

“Yes, of course. It’s child pornography.

I sent like fifteen emails to the social media administrators.

They might take them down tomorrow or in a month, but that doesn’t matter.

Everyone has already saved those pictures, and they’ll be on the internet forever.

Jacob needs to be punished for this. He has completely violated my privacy,” I asserted.

“Oh dear. This could potentially be a serious legal situation for the school. If we’re going to go to the police, you’ll need proof that Jacob Boruta did this. Do you have any?” he asked.

I thought back to when I saw him in the hallway. Due to the stupid, smug look on his face, I knew it was him. That was hardly proof, however.

I could have explained to the police the prior events that led up to him leaking my pictures, but I would have had to reveal that I had assaulted him. That would have made things complicated.

Plus, my mom could not find out what had happened. She just couldn’t. The way she was…absolutely not.

“The police are not an option for me, Newman. I don’t want to go to them. I also don’t have any concrete proof it was him, but I know it was. Trust me.”

I may have hallucinated this, but I swore I saw a flash of a smile that formed on Principal Newman’s face. It may have lasted only one second, but I swore I saw it. It looked like he was relieved that he didn’t have to contact the authorities.

“Heather, I’m very sorry, but without any proof, I can’t go to the police. They would have nothing to go on. How are you certain they hacked into your phone to get them? Perhaps someone you know got hold of these photos and distributed them,” he suggested.

“What are you suggesting? I didn’t send them to anyone, you weirdo,” I scoffed.

That was a lie.

“No, no, no. I’m sorry, I wasn’t suggesting anything, but I’m unsure how someone could access your phone like that without having direct contact with it.”

“Of course, you’re unsure. You’re old, and you don’t know the full potential of technology. Trust me, hacking is a thing, and it’s very prevalent in our modern society,” I explained.

“I’ll take your word for it, Heather.”

“So, you’re not going to do anything about this?”

“This will all blow over. I’m certain of it. I’ll make an announcement that sexting is in violation of the school’s code of conduct in your student handbooks.”

I stared at him in disbelief. This had nothing to do with sexting. I was convinced right then and there that Principal Newman was a half-baked, potato-brained old geezer.

Jacob had essentially committed a crime, and Principal Newman didn’t care one bit.

He was only worried about himself and whether or not the school could be held liable.

I could have accused him of covering up for Jacob, or maybe I could have gotten him canceled, but I didn’t want to get expelled or suspended, although I did have a chance of succeeding.

There was a previous incident a few years ago where a boy named Aidan tried to expose Principal Newman for giving favoritism to the athletes. Apparently, he would personally buy them lunch and brand-new athletic gear.

When Aidan posted this on the official Brightwood High social media handles, his social media accounts and accusatory posts were mysteriously deleted.

Some rumors swirled around that Newman threatened to expel him.

Others said that Newman had a computer student hack into his accounts and delete them outright.

This hacking student extraordinaire in question wore a black tracksuit along with a white beanie. He was strange from what I heard, and I rarely ever saw him. Regardless of what happened, Aidan soon disappeared a couple of weeks later and was never seen again.

Some people thought he got assassinated by a government goon until Vivian herself saw him at a local taco restaurant. She found out that he had transferred schools, and he was reluctant to divulge any additional details.

The reality was that I went to Brightwood High, and I had no choice despite its faults. I had paved an academic path for myself, and I had plans to go to a decent college, after all. I deemed Principal Newman off-limits.

I tried to get justice through the “system,” and it failed me miserably. I’ll be honest, though, I had secretly wanted it to fail. I wanted to get revenge myself, as I always had. I didn’t want anyone fighting my battles for me.

Now that I knew for certain that the school wouldn’t get involved… I was ready to ruin him.

“You know what? I’m sure it will blow over,” I said with certainty.

“I’m sure as well.”