Break the Unbreakable

Chapter Forty

I waited in anticipation for this story. I've wanted to know ever since they broke up, and now the knowledge was in my grasp. My hands held the edge of the wooden desk tightly, and she began to speak.

"Before, a couple months ago, Harry started showing interest in me," she started. Pausing, she gathered her thoughts.

"Okay? Not exactly headlining news, is it? Harry shows interest in everyone," I told her.

"Yeah, well, this was different," she snapped. Her expression softened, as she began to pace the width of the room.

I waited.

"He used all his old tricks, and...like you, I was resistant. I'm - I liked boys who I could count on. Like Liam."

She and I really did have the same taste in boys. It was frightening.

"Okay," I encouraged her to go on.

"And he just...he wouldn't stop trying," she said. "He'd know what classes I had, walk with me in between them, walk me home, talk to me."

"Wow, so he really tried. That doesn't sound like...the old Harry," I contemplated. If this was the truth, then this was really out of character for him.

"No, it doesn't sound like him, does it?"

"So, what happened?"

"Well, for a while, I would tell him to leave me alone, that I wasn't interested, to stop trying," she explained. "But, a part of me, like every single girl in this school, was flattered that he wanted me."

I nodded. I knew the feeling.

"He knew the right things to say, when to say them. He had the ability to leave me wanting more every time I saw him, even though I constantly told him to go away. He just knew what to do to make me finally give in."

"So, you went out with him?" I wondered in clarification.

"For a month," she said.

"A month?" I asked in shock. Harry claimed he hadn't been in a relationship ever. He hadn't gone out with a girl for longer than a couple of nights before he met me.

"Yep," she said. "No one knew about it though. He kept it on the quiet side, and so did I. It wasn't until later on, when we started to become more public about it."

"Okay, so, wait, how did it end?"

"Wait," she told me. "Our first date, he took me to his house, where we ate a home cooked meal. We took our plates to the gazebo that was lit with fairy lights - he told me he just built it with his dad."

"We did that. He told that to me," I replied, in disbelief. What else had he lied about?

"He said he couldn't figure me out and that intrigued me," she carried on. This was sounding too familiar.

"Okay..." I said, skeptically.

"He pulled me into his game, and I allowed him to play me. I let my guard down finally, once he started paying attention to me more and more. He told me he stopped seeing any other girls, he stopped being with them all for me."

I raised my eyebrows. Okay. Now I KNOW that's what he said to me.

"And I believed him. I believed every single beautiful lie that tumbled out of his mouth. Because I wanted to. I wanted to so badly believe that a guy like Harry would change for a girl like me."

I couldn't help but feel my sympathy increase for Janet. I knew something made her to be bitter and cold-hearted. I knew something had to have happened because, underneath that visage, you could see that she was once an innocent girl that dreamed and believed in pure, true love. There was a ghost of sincerity in her still.

"Janet..." I trailed off, not sure how to offer any comfort.

She had stopped pacing. She was engulfed in the old, bad memories that still ate away at her consciousness.

"And I fell in love with him," she continued. "Or...at least I fell in love with the Harry I got to know. He was sweet and kind and wonderful to me for a month. I never thought it would go bad, I never thought it would end. How could it? There was nothing in the relationship that I thought could break us."

I was growing apprehensive. Tears were prickling in her eyes, threatening to spill down, and I couldn't help but feel the sensation of wanting to cry for her.

"And I cared about him. I thought he cared about me too. I thought he loved me, like he said he did - " she broke off, choking on her words.

I took in a deep breath, remaining stationary.

"And then one day," she said, taking a ragged breath. "I saw one of his friends giving him money. And they were all laughing, patting him on his back, congratulating him..."

Oh God, this could only be bad...

"And I asked him why they were all congratulating him, and his friends just smirked and chuckled and nudged him forward," she said. "And the look in his eyes...for a second, it flashed with remorse. Or at least I thought it did."

She wasn't looking at me, she was staring at her hands.

"But, then he gave me this smug look," she said. "And all his friends said that he'd won a bet they thought he would lose."

"Oh no," I whispered.

"You see, that bet was...me." She wiped her eyes quickly. "The boys bet Harry to ask a girl out and make her fall in love with him, make her believe he loved her too. And if he succeeded, he would get money so he could buy a car."

I was gaping at this all.

"Yeah," she replied nodding. "He tricked me, he made me fall in love with him. And what was I worth? A car."

"Why did they pick you?" I wondered, softly.

"They wanted to make it difficult. They wanted Harry to choose the girl who he would least likely go for."

"Oh my God," I murmured. That had to hurt. Knowing that you were chosen, not just for a bet or money, but knowing that under any normal circumstances, Harry wouldn't have picked her...that really hurts.

"Yes."

"And you wanted to hurt him the same way he hurt you," I said, suddenly understanding.

"Yeah, the exact same way."

I shook my head in disbelief. I had to reevaluate everything I've ever known about him because a lot of things he told me matched up with her. It matched up, and I felt like it was all a lie.

Was that all he was capable of doing? Pretending, lying, scheming?

"I'm sorry, Janet." I was barely audible, but she heard me.

"So, will you reconsider doing the assignment?" she wondered, hopefully.

I didn't know. I didn't know what I wanted to do.

All I knew was that I had a lot of things to reconsider.