A Game of Revenge

The Betrayal

Growing up, almost everybody learns to let go and trust. It usually happens around the age of 5. I remember this quite distinctly. My father murmured words of encouragement to me. He knew I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. I teetered on my bike, and I gazed at the sidewalk ahead of me uncertainly. "Papí, I can't do it!" I whined with uncertainty.

He took my small head in his hands and looked me right in the eyes, "Mija, do you trust me?" I nodded back at him, as he continued "I would never let you fall, I know you can do this. The people you trust will always be there for you, and will never hurt you. You would be good to remember that mija," he said with a serious look. "Choose who you trust very carefully."

I did end up riding a bike that day...

--------

My father's words echoed in my head over and over again:

. "Choose who you trust very carefully."

My heart was beating as quick as a hummingbird's wings. It seemed as though I could not process the scene before me. The only real emotion I felt was utter disgust. I was brought back down to Earth, by Holly's exclamation, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry y'all, I didn't know this room was occupied." She evidently did not know who the couple was, but I knew them like the back of my hand.

"Nora," I whispered softly, "how could you." I refused to believe what I was seeing was true. I knew for a fact it was Nora on the bed, but the equally naked man above her could not be who I thought it was. As Nora moved out of the shadows, the light shined fully on the guy's face. As he came into the light, I saw that I was right. Nora was fucking the guy she knew I had been in love with for years- Dan Westerson. She quickly pulled the sheets up to cover herself, and untangled herself from her position under Dan. She looked at me in drunken shock, as if she could not believe I was standing there in the doorway.

"Adalina, what the fuck are you doing in here, get the hell out," she sneered at me. I was appalled at how she seemed to flip a switch. She had never treated me like this.

"How could you do this, you knew how I felt, and you went ahead and stabbed me in the back." I was stuck between running out crying, or launching myself across the bed and clawing her fake-ass blonde extensions out of her scalp until she bled.

A deep masculine voice began to laugh hysterically. My eyes flicked over to where Dan was, and I saw his spot was vacant on the bed. He had rolled of and was literally rolling on the floor laughing like there was no tomorrow. "Wait, is this the Adalina Chase. The girl you said was like obsessed with me, and has been in love with me for years," he gasped out in between his laughter. "Why she would even think she had a chance with me," he gestured toward himself. I felt the tears pooling at my eyes at this point. I felt them both chipping away at my heart, piece by piece. Dan looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, but why would you ever think I would even spare a glance toward fat bitch like you. Hell you probably weigh more than me!" he began to laugh hysterically again.

Nora zipped up her dress and walked over to me "Look Lena, I can explain," she pleaded with what seemed to be a sincere look. "I just realized a long time ago how pathetic you actually are," she said acidly. "You are literally a social pariah. I cannot believe I have hung out with you for as long as I did. When I told Dan how a loser like you was basically stalking him, we decided to show you and everyone else that losers like you will never be on top." She stalked even closer to me and spat in my face. At this point I felt numb, my brain was in overdrive.

"My God, Nora. Look at her face," Dan snorted. "I think I broke her heart!"

My head whipped towards him, "you did not break it," I look straight into Nora's eyes, "she did." It was one thing for some guy to break your heart, but for your best friend to do it is soul-crushing. I felt like I was slowly suffocating, like the last 12 years of my life were a lie because her. She was my sister, I told her everything. She was there for me when my mother left us, she was there for me when I needed help with my makeup, she was the one who took me into her arms and let me cry for hours when I saw my father cry for the first time. She was the one concrete thing in my life. She was my stability, and now I felt like my world was off-balance. I felt everything at this point, and nothing at all.

"God you are such a joke! Just wait for school next week, you will be the laughing stock of the ent..."

Everything happened so fast. One minute Nora was right in front of me, and the next she was sprawled across the floor caressing her cheek sobbing. "BITCH!" she screamed. I looked over next to me and saw Holly clutching her hand while grimacing. I had completely forgotten she was there.

"You're right, that did hurt like a bitch," Holly said simply. She looked at Dan, then said, "you will get what's coming, just wait." She grabbed my arm and looked me in the eyes solemnly. She started to lead me out of the room. As we neared the doorway, I felt the tears stream down my face with determined force.

Before I left, I looked at both of them straight in the eyes and said, "Here's a piece of advice for future reference- 'Choose who you trust very carefully.'"