Payback [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1

     Lillian couldn't cry. That's how heartbroken she was. Couldn't cry a single, bitter tear that would make everything feel right again.

     Timothy had just broken up with her that afternoon. He'd said, "I just want to be friends. I'm sorry, but I just don't love you in a romantic way anymore."

     Technically, they'd never been dating in the first place—Timothy thought the titles boyfriend and girlfriend felt off somehow—but he'd told Lillian so many times that he loved her. She'd returned the phrase, and meant it with all her heart. Now... whatever they'd had felt like a lie. Everything he'd ever said to her, just Timothy messing around.

     If Lilly hadn't had her friends, she would have been even worse off than she was. They'd been absolutely amazing. They'd already planned Timothy's death, even though Lillian had the sneaking suspicion that Grace—her go-to partner in crime—had a huge crush on Timothy.

     Absent-minded and broken, Lilly stared out her bedroom window, wishing Timothy would come running in with a huge grin on his face and tell her the break-up had been a horrible prank. That he hadn't meant what he'd said. But she knew it wasn't going to happen.

     Lillian tried and failed to push Timothy's adorable dimpled smile out of her mind. But how could she so easily? She—along with at least three-fourths of the girls in the ninth grade—had been hopelessly in love with Timothy since the first time he'd complimented her in their first class together a few years back.

     Lilly was startled out of her thoughts by a chime from her cell phone, indicating a new text message. It was from Grace.

     When she'd finished reading the message, Lillian dropped her phone she was shaking so much. Whether it was out of anger or heartbrokenness, she wasn't sure, but what Grace's message was was very sure: Timothy had asked her out, and after some struggle because of Lilly, she'd accepted.

     Lillian quickly set her mind on homework before she had a mental breakdown, busying herself with a paper she was supposed to write for English. But after about ten minutes of staring at the blank file on her computer screen, Lilly gave up on the idea of distraction. She flopped back on her bed and grabbed a pillow, which she immediately stuffed in her face. Surprisingly, this action relieved some of her stress. But only for a second.

     Had Grace liked Timothy all along? Lilly groaned. It all made sense now. All the teasing, the nicknames, the conversations when they'd thought Lillian's back was turned... The two so obviously had feelings for each-other. How had she been so blind? Better question: why hadn't Grace told her? Grace knew perfectly well that Lilly preferred the whole, honest truth. She'd thought that was what Grace had been giving her when she said she had a crush on one of the boys on the school basketball team. How could she ever trust her friend again?

     "Dear God," Lillian began in a mumble, "I need your help again. You know about Timothy and what he's done." The tears finally came. "What should I do?"

     Then she broke down into uncontrollable sobs. All the depression she'd been hiding came flooding out all at once.

     She had no idea how much time had passed before she heard a soft knock on the door and a voice say, "Lillian, it's Dakota. Grace and Timothy both came to me after school and told me about them. Separately," she added quickly.

     Lilly tried to dry most of her tears on her sleeve before she opened the door to let her best friend in.

     Before she knew what was happening, Dakota wrapped Lillian in a bear hug.

     "He's a jerk, Lilly," Dakota whispered. "He never deserved you. Never."

     Lilly felt fresh tears spring to her eyes. "Thanks, Kota."

     Finally, Dakota released her from the hug and led her over to her bed. The girls sat down side-by-side.

     "I have a plan," Dakota began. "Y'know, about how to make the jerk pay for hurting you. He definitely deserves it."

     "NO," Lillian found herself saying. "I don't want to hurt him back! Well, not really. I mean, I know how bad he hurt me, but I just..." She tugged her platinum blond locks over her eyes. "This is so confusing..."

"Will you at least hear out my idea before you count it out?" Dakota asked, a mysterious smirk appearing on her face. Curiosity won over reason then.

"Alright, as long as it doesn't involve murder," Lilly replied jokingly.

"Promise," Dakota said with a laugh. "Now, my idea is simple. Probably too simple, but hey, the best plans are!" She paused—for dramatic affect, Lillian guessed—before saying, "My plan is you leave him in suspense. Don't agree to be friends again. It'll drive him CRAZY. He'll follow you around like a lost puppy, trying to figure out why you're being so difficult. Maybe it'll give him a tiny little sample of the insanity you're going through right now. And, y'know what, he doesn't deserve your friendship anyway."

Lillian nodded slowly, then more firmly. "I think that's a good idea."

"Then let the games begin," Dakota quoted with the type of smirk on her face one would only have when planning for some good old-fashioned payback.

a/n: Sorry if this story was a little cheesy, but I really enjoyed writing this, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it!