Better Than Revenge

“The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him.”

I open my phone to see a picture of a young man hidden behind a text message notification. His skin is dark and tan, his eyes blue, and his smile bright. His name is Zachery, but I know him as Zach. I loved him since the day I met him, exactly four years ago today. I was shopping at the mall trying to find my mother a birthday present. The truth is, I’m the biggest klutz you’ll ever meet, and I walked straight into him. It was your everyday love story; I focused my hazel eyes deep down into his soul and the rest is history. As corny as that is, it’s true. What can I say? I’m a sucker for classic romance.

I lightly tap the “view now” option on my phone’s screen and my newest message pops up. “Zach is sick, you may want to call him. Love, Megs.” Megan has been one of Zach’s best friends for as long as I can remember. I’ve never been able to figure out why he’s so close with her. She’s honestly one of the rudest girls I have ever met, and everyone thinks she’s a whore. It’s a wonder she isn’t pregnant yet, even the teachers know it’s true. Just the other day I heard a rumor that she slept with the calculus teacher at the end of last semester so she could keep her A. Truthfully, I don’t doubt it. But who am I to say?

I dial the familiar number and wait for the ringing to start. One, two, three rings go by before he picks up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby, Meg said you were sick. Is everything okay?”

“I think I got food poisoning from the restaurant the guys and I went to last night. I don’t think I’m going to be able to make our lunch date today, I can barely hold anything down.”

“That’s alright, get some rest. I’ll be by later this evening with some soup. Love you.”

“Okay, thanks, honey. Love you too.”

I guess Megan wasn’t trying to start anything this time. I have this theory that she secretly loves Zach, too, and tries to sabotage our relationship. She’s always sticking her nose in business that isn’t hers to worry about. She’s constantly asking me questions about how Zach and I are doing and telling me all the things there are to dislike about him. I even overheard her tell one of his best friends that I was a bad influence once. Clearly, she has a problem.

Seeing as my plans for the day had kind of just disappeared I decided to take advantage of the beautiful California summer weather and go to the beach. I turn the corner from the tea house where I was supposed to meet Zach and make my way down the boardwalk towards the beach. I could feel the sun beaming down on my back. The warmth slowly became all encompassing felt like I was protected from the world around me.

I make my way down the steps and feel my toes sink into the hot sand. I look around trying to find an open spot on the busy beach. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a couple that looks strangely familiar. Slowly I turn my head to the left to get a better look. The male partner has dark, shaggy hair and is tan. The female partner has long, bleach blonde hair, and is wearing one of the skimpiest bikinis my eyes have ever seen. The male grabs the female’s hand, pulls her in close, and kisses her. They begin to move closer to where I am standing. As they approach reality sets in, it’s Zach and Megan. I caught him in a dirty lie.

“She came along, got him alone and let’s hear the applause, she took him faster than you can say sabotage. I never saw it coming wouldn’t of suspected it, I underestimated just who I was dealing with. ”

I turn to the right and run as fast I can away from the heartbreaking truth. My legs feel like jelly, I begin to cry, and I fall to the ground. I pull my knees in close to my stomach and lay my head down on my kneecaps. I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my sundress. I reach for it, terrified of what it might say.

“There’s another girl, I’m leaving you.”

I stared down at my phone in disbelief. The man I love is walking away and disregarding everything we’ve ever had so he can be with someone else. She’s not better than me, there’s no way she’s better than me. She’s a whore. And everyone knows it.

“She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress, whoa. But, she’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress.”

I had to pull myself together. I could not let her destroy me like this. I am above her, in every way possible. I desperately need words of encouragement; I could feel my insides tearing apart from the emptiness building in my heart. I looked up at the waves crashing onto the shore like the life that crashed down around me. The only sound I could hear was that of the waves and it made my loneliness that much clearer. I was alone. I had no one to hold me and tell me it would be okay. Not that it mattered; it was not going to be okay.

“She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum, she underestimated just who she was stealing from.”

I picked my phone up out of the sand where I had dropped it when I fell. Mobile Internet was my saving grace at this moment, that, and the fact that I still know Zach’s Facebook log in credentials.

“Zach Cooper: Megan Popp is a bitch, slut, and whore. I can’t stand her. She has Herpes, in case you didn’t know. Oh, and she slept with Mr. Maxwell.”

The perfect revenge was staring me right in the face. All I had to do was press that tiny, unforgiving “post” button and justice would be served on a nice fat platter. I closed my eyes and allowed my finger to move across the screen and push down in the right location. There was no turning back now. In a matter of seconds everyone at Hillsboro Local High School would know the truth about Megan, from Zach’s mouth. It wouldn’t be long until one of her slutty little friends would be calling her up with the news, and all hell would break loose between her and Zach. Personally, I wish I wish I could be the fly on the wall for this one.

It had been less than a minute since I posted the update about Megan and my phone was already blowing up with messages, the majority of them saying “Oh my gosh, did you see Zach’s post about Megan?! This is crazy!” Just as I predicted the entire school now knew the unforgiving truth about Megan and her sex habits.

“Soon she’s gonna find stealing other people’s toys on the playground won’t make you many friends, she should keep in mind, she should keep in mind there is nothing I do better than revenge.”

I opened my personal Facebook account to check out how the rest of the school was reacting.

My newsfeed read “298 friends like the post ‘Let’s all delete Megan Popp so we don’t get Herpes, too’”.

She should have watched her back; she should know I don’t play these petty little games. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I never liked her anyway, so what was honestly going to stop me from ruining her life? She ruined me, I ruin hers. It’s the age old “eye for an eye” philosophy at work, right?

“You might have him but I always get the last word.”

I picked myself up off the ground, kicked the flip flops off my feet, and threw them in my bag. I walked to the water’s edge and stood there quietly, letting the cool water flow up around my ankles. At least for a few minutes, I was happy. I wasn’t the broken one anymore. Besides, Zach obviously wasn’t half the man I thought he was if he could dump me for another girl over a text message after lying to me about food poisoning; how middle school of him, honestly.

I slowly started making my way back to the boardwalk. It had been almost an hour now and it’s safe to say that Zach and Megan are probably long gone. Out on the horizon I see a sailboat drifting away on the calm ocean waters. I stop and ponder what the people on the boat are like. Are they old, young? What has their life been like? Where are they going? It’s one of those strange habits I have, but it’s fun to make up a story to along with the people. My guess is that they’re around 65 years of age and taking some time to enjoy the ocean view. If my prediction is correct they would have been born just before the start of World War II, and would have some pretty interesting stories to tell. Perhaps I’ll to try to find them someday.

My daydreaming had distracted me long enough to get back to the sandy beach near the boardwalk without thinking about what was going on. I was wrong, though. Zach and Megan were still here, arguing like two year olds fighting over the last piece of candy.

“How could you do this to me? I trusted you!” Megan was screaming as she pushed Zach back away from her.

“I swear, babe, I didn’t do it. I would never say those things about you. Someone had to of hacked my account.”

“Sure, that’s what they all say!” She was even louder now.

“I left her, the one I loved for you, and you turn out to be just the bitch everyone says you are. I’ve known you since you were a child and I’ve never seen this side of you. I’m not sure what’s come over you, but I don’t like it!”

It seemed like they were simply in a match to see who could yell louder at this point. He just telling lies anyway, he didn’t love me. If he did, he wouldn’t have left.

“You know what, I’m done!” Megan was screaming at the top of her lungs standing on her tip toes trying to be half as tall as Zach. “We’re through!” She stormed off, and it was over.

As Megan reached the top of the stairs she turned around and took one last look at her ex best friend and tears began to fall from her face. Her reputation was forever scarred and her friends forever gone. Sometimes, you just have to get what you deserve, even it means losing everything.

“She took him faster than you could say sabotage…”