Preston Greens

28. Kindness Shouldn't Hurt

We ate a quiet dinner. I knew mom and dad were waiting for an idea to pop in my head, and with enough time, it did.

 "Mom, are those cookies you baked still good?" I asked out of the blue. I really wasn't one to forgive, but the stakes were high. 

"What do you want them for?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

 "I want to go down the street and give them to Vicky." I said quietly. 

"Maybe my presence will hurt her further, but my kindness shouldn't." I said, confirming that my idea was performable. 

Now it was dad's turn to raise his eyebrows. 

"Look, I don't want to be a bad guy to her anymore. As much as I don't want to do it, I'm tired of being against her. I know she has friends, but she doesn't know how badly she's being fooled." I said, ready to continue some more, but I let my parents digest my information. 

They knew where I was going with this, I could tell by their faces. A smile was creeping up on mom's face. "I heard them saying that they weren't going to visit her, and I thought it would be nice to forgive her. I know I could be tricked by her, but you know I'm nimble. I'll make her think of my sweetly, and once she does, she won't be able to put the thought of ambushing me in her head." I said. 

There was really something up my sleeve here, and I didn't spend thirty minutes thinking of it for nothing. Mom and dad were quiet, waiting for more.

 "This may seem confusing, but I'll make sure to make it as simple as I can. Let's say Vicky was fire. Before I was fighting fire with fire, and you can call that revenge. Now, I used to think she would burn, but if you give fire fire, the fire won't burn but grow. That gives more motivation to Vicky to fight me, because that what fire wants. To fight. I'm going to do the opposite, because I want the opposite to happen. I want the fire to crumble, not to grow, and in this case, I need to put cold water on her. I need to relieve her, and if she's not going to do it, then who will? It's up to me to determine if fire is going to win." I said. 

My throat was now dry, so I took a big sip of water, then let the comments flow in. Mom and dad looked very shocked. It was like I found the key to solve all of my problems, and that mom and dad were waiting for me to find it. I smiled. I now had confirmation that this was going to work. 

"The cookies are in the pantry. Be back in ten minutes, I'll take care of the dishes for you." Dad said. "And sweetie, you can have dessert tonight." Mom said with a nod. 

That was all I needed to get my motivation and my confidence. I grabbed the tin of cookies and scribbled a get-well card. I went out the front door and locked it behind me. I had the keys tucked away in my pocket, my phone in the other, and my cookie tin in one hand. I had the get-well card in my other hand, and I put a warm smile on my face, so I can look as friendly as possible. I marched over to her house and knocked on the door. 

"Hello?" Vicky's mom said. I could tell she was shocked.

 "Hello ma'am, you might have heard of me, but I'm Carly Sosabella. I came to give Vicky a quick visit." I said. 

"Oh, well she should be glad; she hasn't had any visitors all day." She said. 

I walked inside to see a nice and clean house that smelled like chicken soup. Vicky's mom, Alyssa, lead me to her room. "Thank you." She whispered to me. I put on a smile. 

I stepped into Vicky's room, which was full of medications like aspirins and bandages. I made sure the smile on my face was genuine and strong, so it wouldn't fall at any given moment. She opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps. I set the tin on her nightstand and made her card stand up. 

"What are you doing here?" She said in a hoarse voice.

 "Oh, I didn't know you were awake. Just wanted to see how you were doing." I said sweetly. Vicky lifted her head up and propped it against her pillow.

 "Really, you weren't here to do anything else?" She asked suspiciously. I really wanted to steal some unopened lip-gloss, but I didn't come here for that and it was wrong. 

"Look, let's get down to the point. Have any of your other friends visit you at all to see how you were doing?" I asked her. 

"No, but they are busy. They should be here soon to kick you out." She said. 

My smile didn't fall. 

"Really? You call them friends? Friends are never too busy for each other." I said, making sure not to sound mean. 

"Wow, you ask a lot from your friends." Vicky snorted. 

"That's their duty, and they're really reliable. Why can't you forgive me? I know you want a fight, and you've already realized that I'm a person you don't want to fight with. I'm not the only one suffering here." I said, then pulling my skirt up.

 Vicky's eyes widened, and she looked disgusted. "I did that to you yesterday?" She said. 

There was the sympathy, and it was working. 

"Well, you must be worse. Why don't we stop fighting? I think we got our points across- we are pretty tough and destructive girls." I said in a steady voice. I wasn't looking into her eyes, but at her leg. I pat it gently, then slid my hand across the cast's surface. 

"Oh, why did this all have to happen! Vicky cried, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Nobody's cared about me like this! I really misjudged you." She said. 

That was all I needed to hear. 

"You promise we won't beat each other up again?" I asked her.

 I knew she was genuinely in tears, so I knew it was going to work. "Promise." She said, reaching her hand out. I firmly grasped it and shook it. 

"Enjoy your cookies, they're homemade." I said, then walked out the door. I saw her look at the tin gratefully when I closed the door. I said goodbye to her mom and went over to my house. 

"How did it go?" Mom asked me as I walked into the house.

 "Quite well." I said, and fell onto the couch. I sank into the leather and relaxed. 

"Hopefully this problem is solved." Dad muttered, refilling his coffee mug in the kitchen. 

Tomorrow I was going to Charlie's so I was very excited. I put my finished homework in my backpack and set it on the table, ready for tomorrow. I went to my room and got into my pajamas, ready for cozy mode. I was tired, and I knew it was from all that thinking, so I went to the couch and watched the news with mom and dad. Mom got me some hot cocoa and sipped it. It was very indulging. I 'ohhhhd' and 'ahhhhhed' while the warm sensation was taking over my body. Peppermint jumped onto the couch and I cuddled her into my lap, sipping my cocoa. It felt great cuddled on the couch watching the news with Peppermint drinking hot cocoa. Mom hugged me tightly and dad hugged the other side. I was very toasty, no blanket needed. I was glad I wasn't on the news because of something tragic or bad happened to me, and I was glad that none of my family members were criminals or anything like that, in fact, I felt perfect right at this moment. when the news was over, we went to bed. "Today's was intense." Mom muttered to dad, as they went into their room. I was lying in bed, thinking about today's events. I didn't ask Vicky if the rumors were true, because I didn't want to upset her. I couldn't wait for tomorrow- it was Friday and we were going to the Pizza Hut near the house to eat pizza, and the best part was that I could bring Leslie, Lisa, and Charlie. I thought of bringing Vicky, but I decided not to, since that was a little too much hospitality on my part. Lisa and Leslie already said yes, and I was going to ask Shannon when she picked me up from school tomorrow. I was also excited because the weekend was near and I didn't have any homework, and we were going to Kim's on Saturday for a barbecue. I really wanted to see Kim; I hadn't had the chance to talk to her today because I was too busy thinking after the call with Charlie. I forgot to ask mom about the manuals on spirits, and I was also excited about the Vicky situation. I hope she comes tomorrow and changes her ways, but if not, I will spread the word that she made a promise and that we should get ready for her. We should shout her name when she comes into English and welcome her with open arms. I smiled at the thought and went to sleep in about an hour.