Better Than Revenge (Sweet Secrets #1) (9 page)

Chapter 12

Ella’s shoes were sending shocks of pain up my legs with every step. I was so grateful that it was the end of the day. My body was yearning for the comfort of my bed. I wanted to go home, take a steaming hot shower and then get under my warm covers and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. Today had been such a tiring day. The morning started off terribly, and all throughout the day I had been running into Brianna and her minions.

Somehow I managed to get stuck behind her in the lunch line, where she made jokes about the salad that I was buying to go along with the tofu cubes that my mom had packed me for lunch. Then, I ran into her in the bathroom three times where she teased me about me having a “small bladder”. Her friends found her stupid jokes to be hilarious which only caused Brianna to make more stupid observations about me.

The worst one that I had heard from her all day was when she bumped into me in the hallway and made fun of the fact that I was uncreative by wearing the school uniform without “adding my own style” to it. Her friends found it so funny that she was making fun of my uniform. The exact same uniform that was being worn by a large majority of the girls in our school. Not counting Brianna and her stuck-up slut support group, and the very few other girls who wore the skirt uniform.

To add to the bad day, I hadn’t seen Lena anywhere since gym class and I had been getting funny looks from random kids all day. I was worried about how Lena had been absent from every class that we had together. I hoped that she hadn’t gotten into too much trouble. All she was doing was standing up for a friend. How can she deserve to get into trouble for that?

“Thank you,” I mumbled to the boy who held the door open so that I could pass through and walk down the building’s front steps and toward where the buses were parked. With my eyes scanning back and forth across the immaculate school grounds, I tried to scope out either Blake or Lena. All of a sudden, two hands enclosed over my eyes, blocking my view of the school grounds and turning everything black.

A deep and familiar male voice filled my ears. “Guess who.”

I smiled and reached my hands up to place them on top of Blake’s hands. “You could have at least changed your voice a little, Blake. You made it too easy for a pro like me.” I closed my hands around his larger ones and pulled them away from my face, turning in the process so that I was looking up into his eyes.

He smiled, flashing all of his now straightened teeth, before saying, “It was a lucky guess. How was your day, Vi? Is your stomach okay?” His eyes flickered down to my belly where he placed his right hand and rubbed small circles. “I heard you fainted in gym today.”

With a confused expression on my face, I pulled Blake’s hand off of my stomach. “I didn’t faint in gym today. Who told you that lie?”

Blake shrugged his shoulders, “Brianna and Ella were talking about it when I saw them in the hallway on my way to my last class.”

I shook my head slowly, trying to clear my thoughts. So now Brianna was telling people that I had fainted during gym? If Blake had heard her and Ella talking about it then it’s possible that others could have heard about it as well. Maybe that’s why I had been getting those strange looks all day. I thought that this day had been bad enough, and now apparently everyone thinks that I fainted in my first class. An almost animal-like growl escaped from the back of my throat; earning a funny look from Blake.

“Funny. I didn’t think that it was possible for this day to have gotten any worse than it already was.”

Blake poked me in the stomach with his pointer finger. “I bet I could make you happy.”

“I doubt it. Unless you have an unlimited supply of gummy bears in your backpack or you’re going to buy me my very own baby giraffe, then I really have no idea how you plan on making me happy.”

Blake leaned his face down and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, letting it linger on my jawline for a moment before he pulled it away from my face and pressed his lips to my forehead. “I know exactly what will cheer you up. First, call your mom and tell her that you’re going to be home late.”

“What should I say?”

He smirked. “I don’t know. Use your imagination.”

***

“Blake, do you really think this is a good idea?” I chewed tentatively on my bottom lip, nervous about what could happen if I went through with the activity that he had chosen for us.

Blake pressed his lips gently to my forehead, mumbling against my skin as he said, “It’ll be our little secret.”

My heart pounded in my chest as he pulled away, looking at me with his shattering blue eyes. I couldn’t help the nervous feeling that washed over me as I thought about the consequences. If my mom found out about this she would get a restraining order on Blake. “I don’t know.”

Blake sighed, cupping my face in his hands. “If you’re worried about your mom finding out, then you shouldn’t be. Even if she does find out it’s not like she can do anything about it. It’ll already be too late. She can’t punish you for eating lunch, can she?”

“I guess not,” my words were hesitant and I was still nervous about the situation, but I also felt another emotion that I hadn’t felt in a while—anxiety. I was anxious to eat something that wasn’t approved of by Rose Forrester. I smiled at Blake, looking from him and up to the large golden arches that sat on top of the McDonalds. A smile tugged at the edges of my lips. “All right but I hope the food is as good as you say it is.”

“Of course it is! Everyone loves McDonalds! That’s why their slogan is, “
I’m loving it!
”“ He sang the last three words with a big toothy grin on his face.

“Technically, not everyone loves
McDonalds
. Lilly and I have never even eaten their food before,” I pointed out smugly.

“That’s because you two are health freaks.”

I elbowed him in his side. “Correction; our
mother
is a health freak.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “That’s basically the same thing, Violet.”

I shook my head, about to point out the fact that Lilly and I never actually had a choice of what we wanted to eat, but was stopped when Blake walked over to the door of the fast food restaurant, pulled it open, and gestured for me to go in ahead of him. “After you, milady.”

“Why thank you, kind sir,” I said in what I would like to think sounded like a posh British accent. As soon as I walked through the doors, a mouth-watering scent filled my nostrils. My stomach growled as I breathed the sweet fragrance in deeply. I followed Blake to the front counter, taking a spot behind a toothpick thin woman with thick black hair. Looking at the woman’s petite frame made me wonder why my mother was so worried about me eating fast food. If this woman was stick thin and ate at fast food restaurants, then I’m sure one meal won’t kill me.

I glanced over the menu, feeling overwhelmed like a small child in an amusement park. When it was our turn to order, Blake easily recited what he wanted, before turning to look at me expectantly. I fiddled absentmindedly with my finger as I glanced over the menu again. “Are the chicken nuggets good?”

Blake nodded causing a few strands of black hair to spill into his eyes. “Is that what you want?”

I shrugged as I added, “What about the French fries?”

The cashier blew out a long breath of air and pretended to check her watch. Blake drummed his fingers on the counter while he said, “Can we also have the chicken nugget meal, and a strawberry milkshake?” As he added on the last part, he eyed me with a devious look on his face.

The cashier stood up straighter behind the counter and after pressing a few buttons on the cash register, she said, “That’ll be $13.85. Will that be cash or credit?”

“Cash,” I stated whilst stuffing my hand into my pocket and pulling out a crumpled up wad of bills. I straightened out the cash, counting it out in my head as I flipped through it.

When I looked up from the money in my hand, Blake was staring at me as if I had grown an extra head. He handed the lady behind the counter a crisp twenty dollar bill and smirked at me, “Since when have I ever let you pay?”

I shrugged, chewing on my lower lip as I tried to think of a time that I had paid, but nothing came to mind. I stuffed my hand back into my pocket, “There’s a first time for everything. You really should let me pay sometime.”

Blake shook his head, holding out his hand so that the cashier could drop the change back into it along with the receipt. Blake smirked at me, “Yeah, like that’s going to happen any time soon.”

I stuck my tongue out at him which only caused his smirk to widen. Giving up and feeling extremely childish, I turned away and decided to go find a table for us to sit at. I spotted an empty table near the door and went over to take a seat while I waited. To my surprise, the food was ready in less than five minutes. I guess that could be the reason why they call it fast food.

Blake carried our tray over to the table, setting it down in front of me before taking the seat opposite of mine. He flashed me a dazzling smile as he passed me a box full of chicken nuggets and a package of French fries. Lastly, he placed the strawberry milkshake in front of me, but off to the side a little.

I stared at it curiously before returning my gaze to Blake. “I didn’t order a strawberry milkshake.”

“I know that. I ordered it,” he said as he shrugged impassively.

“I know that you ordered it. I just figured it was for you.”

He smiled and reached across the table to scoop my hand up in his. “No, I got it for you. I know how much you like strawberries, and you have to get tired of those constant wheatgrass shakes that your mom makes, so I figured that if you’re already going to eat fast food, why not wash it down with a fatty, sugar filled milk shake?”

Before I could do anything to stop it, I felt my cheeks heat up. I wanted to say how thoughtful that was of him and tell him what a great boyfriend he was, but instead I said something else. “If my mom finds out about this, she is so going to kill you.”

Blake chuckled and pulled his warm hand away from mine. “Eat up, Violet.”

I lowered my gaze to the food in front of me. Tentatively, I picked up a chicken nugget and took a little nibble from it. The taste was indescribable and left my mouth watering for more. Blake laughed as I quickly stuffed the rest of the nugget into my mouth.

“You know what this means, right Vi?”

I shook my head as I munched on my mouth full of chicken nugget.

“It means that you’re no longer a fast food virgin.” His eyes twinkled brightly as his grin widened.

Despite the food in my mouth, I snorted at his comment which immediately led to the mostly chewed up nugget sliding down my throat. My eyes bulged as I began to cough hysterically while banging my fist on the table in front of me.

Blake’s eyes widened in surprise, He jumped up from his spot across from me and slapped his hand to my back until I stopped coughing. “Are you all right, Violet?”

I nodded, placing my hand to my chest and breathing deeply for a moment before I responded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting that,” a sheepish smile crossed my face.

Blake sighed and rubbed my back in small circles. “Sorry, Vi. I didn’t mean to catch you off guard.”

“It’s okay, I’m good.”

He nodded slowly, discreetly checking me over to make sure I really was all right before he returned to his seat. Blake ate his burger daintily while I shoved nugget after nugget into my awaiting mouth. I finished my meal a few minutes before he did and even stole a few of his fries. I sighed in content as I sucked up the strawberry chunks through the straw and was immensely happy that Blake had gotten it for me. Who knew that I was missing out all these years? Wheatgrass shakes can’t compare to strawberry shakes.

Blake watched me as I drank my milkshake with a small smile adorning his handsome features. Once we finished the whole meal, Blake and I left with full bellies and our hands intertwined.

Chapter 13

My bare feet padded lightly across the hardwood floors. I was careful to avoid any creaky floorboards as I walked. My shoes dangled from my hands; the laces swaying from side to side with every step I took. As silently as I could, I snuck up the staircase and slipped past my parent’s bedroom door. Once inside my room, I pushed my door closed, set my stuff down in a pile on the floor, and flung myself onto the bed.

With my hair fanned out around my head, I let my eyes slip closed. My heart was slamming against my rib cage as I thought of the things my mom would do if she found out I had eaten at the fast food restaurant that she hated the most. I know it sounds dumb, but small things that may not seem like such a big deal to most people are the types of things that anger Rose Forrester the most. In her eyes eating anything that isn’t whole grain, low cholesterol, sugar-free, organic, and doesn’t fit into any specific food group is equal to doing drugs. A deep sigh escaped from my mouth as I rolled over onto my stomach, stuffing my face into the pillow that was closest to it, and within minutes I was fast asleep.

A gentle vibration coming from my night stand interrupted my nap. Without moving my head from the now flat pillow I lifted my hand and slid it around the bed until I realized that my phone was out of reach. The phone continuously buzzed, steadily growing louder as it moved across the top of my wooden night stand. With an aggravated sigh I pushed myself up into a sitting position and stretched my arm over to the nightstand. A quick glance at the screen showed an unknown caller.

My thumb hovered over the end button for a moment before I disconnected the call. When my phone began to vibrate for the second time less than five minutes after, I didn’t hesitate before answering although it was the same number that I did not recognize before. I pressed the phone to my ear and was met by the sound of heavy breathing.

“Hello?” Came a familiar voice from the other end of the line.

I mumbled an incoherent word that sounded a lot like, “Yeah,” before yawning, clearing my throat, and then answering again.

“Forrester, are your parents home? I got into a little argument with my parents and I can’t be there right now. Can I spend the night at your house? I promise it’ll just be until tomorrow. I just can’t take it anymore! Ever since that damn accident everything has been all about her! It pisses me off! So I can stay right? I’ll just find somewhere to go tomorrow.”

My mind reeled, and for a moment I was more confused than I have ever been in all of my seventeen years of existence. “Lenny, slow down! What happened?”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and for a moment I thought that she had hung up until her voice filled my ear again. “You know how I got sent to the office this morning for punching Brianna?”

I nodded, but then remembered that she couldn’t see me and quickly muttered something so that she would continue her story.

“Well, I got suspended for three days because of the school’s no tolerance policy for fighting. My dad had to come and pick me up from school and he was really pissed off about having to leave my mom home alone just in case we had a repeat of last year. So when we got home he gave me this long lecture about my responsibilities, and it really pissed me off. The way he said it was like I hadn’t already done enough to help out everyone. He acts like I’m the cause of everything in the first place, you know what I mean?”

I sighed, combing through my hair now tangled hair with my free hand. “Not really. What do you mean when you say “the cause of everything”? What happened last year?”

Lena hesitated before she replied. “It’s nothing. I’ll call you later. I can just sneak into our shed later tonight and sleep there.”

“You have to talk about it sometime. Maybe it’ll make you feel better to let it out?” Oh crap, now I’m starting to sound like my mother. She was a firm believer in talking out your feelings, which probably had a lot to do with her psychology background.

“Maybe. I just don’t like talking about it. It happened last year, and I prefer to leave the past in the past where it belongs.”

“Okay, just know that I’m here for you if you ever need someone to talk to.”

“Thanks.”

An awkward silence settled between us, but I broke it easily. “I’m sure my parents won’t mind if you spend the night. If they were willing to take an animal like Brianna in then there is no doubt in my mind that you would be allowed to stay for a day.”

“That’d be great. I have overnight stuff in my backpack. I’ll be there in a few minutes then.”

“Okay, just don’t mention the fight with Brianna. My parents love her, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why.”

A soft chuckle passed through the receiver. “Let me know what it is when you find out, because I’m lost on why Gabriella likes her too.”

“Maybe she has some sort of love potion that she’s using on everyone, but us.”

“Maybe. Either way, I’ll avoid Brianna while I’m there, and if I bump into her then I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Good,” I conceded, content with her response.

On the other end of the phone, Lena sighed deeply. “Thanks again, Violet,”

“It’s no problem.” I was silent for a mere second before I questioned, “Whose phone are you calling from? I didn’t recognize the number.”

A light chuckle met my ears as she said, “I’m using Gabriella’s phone. I couldn’t find mine so I just took hers off of the kitchen counter. You should see some of these text messages! She tries so hard to fit in with Brianna that it’s actually kind of sad. I think Brianna may be using her. You have to see some of the things she says to her.”

I shook my head, “Brianna uses everyone. Her face was hilarious when you punched her. She definitely wasn’t expecting that. She looked so shocked. As if she didn’t know why you punched her.”

“I had the element of surprise, and karma on my side.” She sounded smug. “Karma may be a bitch, but I’m a bigger one.”

I laughed into the phone speaker, “What did you say to her when she bent over?”

Lena giggled and just before she hung up, she answered, “Nothing is better than revenge.”