Better Than Revenge

Valerie's Point of View:

I sighed, peeking out the window of the door behind the curtain.

Dad stepped up behind me to look ask well. “Not here yet?”

“No.” I said quietly. Seth kept promising to pick me up or hang out or whatever, but he was always late or didn’t show up at all. I started to wonder if he even liked me, or if he was just being nice because of my situation.

“The kid’s not worth it if he’s putting that frown on your beautiful face.” Dad kissed the top of my head.

“I don’t care.” I didn’t know if I was lying or not. “He seemed like a nice person. And a decent person would follow through with his promises.”

My eyes were intrigued by the pair of headlights that pulled close to my house. I smiled, bidding a quick goodbye to my dad and opening the door. Maybe Seth actually followed through this time.

I faltered my step and finally stopped walking when it was Jacob who got out on the driver’s side.

I just stared at him.

He held out his arms. “What?”

“I just…” My hopes sunk. “I thought you were Seth.”

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that -”

“Yeah, just get in the car, would ya?”

I followed his orders, taking my place in the passenger’s seat.

“Seth is missing in action at the moment.” Jacob filled me in. “So I was nice enough to volunteer to chauffer you.”

“Thank you.”

He allowed the silence to become uncomfortable. “Don’t seem so disappointed.”

“I’m not disappointed.” I said.

“Good. Because we are going to play the best game ever.”

I turned my head to him, raising my eyebrows in curiosity.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

. . . . . . . .

“Ok, are we ready?”

“Wait,” I shook my head. “I’m confused. Can you explain it again?”

Everybody groaned, making me feel bad.

“Okay,” One of them - Embry, I think - firmly placed his two hands on my shoulders. “So everybody has five glow sticks and one blue glow stick. Your goal is to get everybody on the other team in the jail by throwing a glow stick at them. Don’t throw the blue one, because the only way to get your own team out of jail is if you tag them all with the blue one and the blue one only.”

I saved it in my memory. “So I can throw any of these except the blue one?”

“Yes.” Everyone said in unison.

“And I can pick up any on the ground that other people threw?”

“Yes.”

“But how do I know who’s on my team?”

“You don’t.”

I squinted my eyes, trying to see the logic in it.

“Can we play now?” Paul was whining again.

All that I could see of anyone was there glow sticks in their hands. They looked like they were floating in the air.

“Fine, we’ll go around the other side.” Embry took his team to the back of Jacob’s house. Paul was my team captain, and the team included Jacob and I. Embry had Quil and Jared.

“We have to count to thirty.” Jacob said, tucking his glow sticks in the pocket of his sweatpants.

I did the same. “What’s this game called again?”

“Jesus, Val. You ask so many questions.” Paul was teasing me, but it was almost irritating.

“It’s called Tomahawk.” Jacob answered kindly, except he was kind of in his game mode.

“Oh.”

“Come on.” Paul whispered, sneaking away into the darkness.

“Go that way, I’ll go this way.” Jacob directed me with my shoulder.

I ran towards the trees and used the first one I came to as a shield. I listened intently, finding myself in the same game mode as Jacob.

For a few seconds, I considered the age level for this game. It seems like its generally supposed to entertain twelve year olds, but now it has a bunch of teenagers devoted non a Saturday night. Including me.

I heard someone curse in the distance, and another laugh at his expense. “Jake, Val, I’m in jail!”

I sighed. Paul.

I debated whether I should make a run for it and leave Jacob to save us, but I figured that wouldn’t be so much fun.

Then, for some reason, I thought of Seth. I wondered what he could be doing, where he was. Jacob said he couldn’t get a hold of him. What does that mean?

I shook myself back to reality when I heard dry leaves crunching with the steps of an unknown source. It was very silent then. All I could hear was the deafening sound of my breath. I tried to quiet it, but it sounded loud next to silence.

I heard the leaves again, and braced myself against the tree. I couldn’t see anything. It was black.

I turned back towards the house to see the tiniest form of light on a post by the front door. It seemed so far away.

I stopped breathing to listen again. I felt a slight warmth against my back, and I heard the steady breaths of a living being.

“Hey.”

I screamed, but it was muffled by a hand encasing my mouth.

“Shh, you’ll give up our spot!”

My heart was running a marathon. It’s okay, Val. It’s just Jacob.

“Please…don’t do that.” I breathed, reaching for his arm.

His chuckle tickled my face. “I’m sorry.”

I took another breath to relax. “It’s okay.”

He spun my shoulders so I was facing the house again and pressed himself warmly against the back of me, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “So what are we gonna do to get Paul out?”

I couldn’t think straight. “I don’t know.”

“Jared is babysitting the jail, which is completely unfair but whatever. And Embry and Quil are probably coming up with some sort of plan to get us both at the same time, so we need to act fast.” When I didn’t say anything, he became worried. “You okay?”

“I’m great.” I smiled.

“You can probably dodge the sticks better than I can, so how about you make a run for Paul? I’ll take care of Jared.”

I blinked a couple times. “Okay.”

He shoved me ahead of him. “Go on, then.”

I felt exposed at the edge of the forest, but no one was around. I knew Jared and Paul would be just around the other side of the house, but I hadn’t the slightest idea as to where Embry and Quil were. So I ran.

I was hasty, reaching the side of the house with a decent speed. A few glow sticks passed in front of me, but I dodged them just like Jacob predicted. I paused to catch my breath once I reached my destination, and then peeked around the corner.

Jared spotted me instantly. As an impulsive reaction, I jumped out from behind the corner and threw my blue stick at Paul. He caught it, but Jared tagged me with his green one. In the midst of all of this, I somehow tripped over my own two feet.

I cried out in pain. My body weight crushed my hand, and my fragile broken fingers were shown no mercy.

“Timeout!” Jared shouted, hurrying over to me. “Are you alright?”

I shook my head, biting back tears. I lifted my hand slowly and winced at the throbbing.

“What the hell did you do, Jared?” I recognized Jacob’s voice in the distance.

“I didn’t mean to make her fall, I just - I’m so sorry, Val.”

“It’s alright.” I managed, holding my good hand in the air for him to grab. He lifted me to my feet, but I felt a little dizzy.

“Way to go.” Paul punched Jared in the shoulder.

I was close to losing my balance, but Jacob was there to catch me. “Easy,” He murmured, helping me regain it. “Let’s go inside.”

He directed me slowly up the stairs and into his homey little house. He flipped on the light and led me to the sofa.

“I’ll get some ice.” He said.

I nodded, squeezing my wrist to prevent my hand from moving in any way. He returned with a dishcloth filled with ice, and took a seat next to me.

He opened the palm of his hand, asking for my own. I hesitated, but lay my fingers across it.

He gently positioned the ice over them and held it there. I flinched at first, but then let out the breath I was holding.

Jacob was smiling. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I smiled too, regardless of the pain. “I’m such a klutz.”

“You’re not the clumsiest person I know, trust me.” He lifted the ice to check my fingers. They were blue again. “Jeez.”

“I don’t think they’ll ever heal.” I said hopelessly.

The combination of the heat in his hand and the chill of the ice was a indescribable sensation. His chocolate colored eyes were comforting as well. He made me feel better instantly.

Jacob’s eyes never left mine as he lifted my fingers to his lips and kissed them.

It was enough of an invitation for me. I leaned forward until my lips were inches from his, but I hovered there. I wanted him to make the first real move.

He took the bait like I wanted him to and kissed me very simply, then became more complex. His free hand brushed my cheek and trailed down to my chin. I noticed an eagerness to it, like we’d been waiting for this moment for a long time.

And it was perfect.

Seth’s Point of View:

“You can’t keep doing this.” I said. Her icy fingers were laced through mine.

“I can’t be alone.” She insisted. “I miss you.”

“If they find out I’ve been seeing you…” I couldn’t finish the thought. “Jacob’s already called me three times. He’ll be suspicious.”

“If you convince them to let me explain myself, I’m sure they’ll listen.”

She’d already convinced me. It was worth a shot. “They’ll kill you, Elena.”

“I wasn’t able to control myself, I feel awful. They have to understand.”

It was wrong. All of it was so wrong. I should have killed her myself, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. And now she’s been coming to see me every night for the past week and no one else knows.

But what else could I do?