Chapter 2 To My Dearest Anonymous
A crushing pressure settled over my chest, as if my lungs had decided to collapse beneath the weight of everything I’d just heard.
This wasn’t how my favorite novels said heartbreak was supposed to feel. There was supposed to be a dramatic confession, a misunderstanding, maybe a tearful reconciliation beneath the rain.
Not this. Not discovering that the boy I’d loved had only been dating me because of a stupid bet. I’d played it safe. I’d made my studies the first priority of my life and carefully avoided the kind of trouble that came with teenage romance. So how the hell had I still managed to get bamboozled like this?
Ally was saying something beside me, but her voice sounded distant. I stared blankly ahead, barely aware of the students moving around us. I must have stood there for several minutes because the next thing I knew, someone grabbed the back of my hoodie and gently pulled me away.
My body tingled at the sudden movement, but fear quickly swallowed the sensation.
I turned and found myself staring at Ally’s uncle. Kane Montero. Wait… What was he doing here? And how had he even known where to find us? His dark eyes studied me for a moment before he reached into his pocket and handed me a handkerchief. He didn’t say a word.
I stared at it before slowly taking it from his hand. I knew my eyes were swollen, and I hated that he had caught me like this. I wiped my cheeks and deliberately avoided his gaze. “Ally told me everything just now.”
My head snapped toward my best friend and the glare I gave her could have killed. She raised both hands defensively. “What? You needed someone.” I turned away before I could argue.
“You don’t have to cry over some loser.” Kane’s voice was calm and it was unexpected to be honest. My throat tightened. I swallowed and muttered, “Thanks.” It was barely audible, but I meant it.
For some strange reason, his words soothed something inside me. Maybe because I needed someone to say that Thomas wasn’t worth all these tears or maybe because, at that moment, knowing someone had my back mattered more than I wanted to admit.
“You’ll meet someone genuine and fall in love again.” My entire body stiffened and the rage I’d been holding back suddenly surged beneath my olive skin. “Never!”
The word ripped out of me so fiercely that even I was startled. Ally’s eyes widened and Kane went silent.
I shook my head furiously. “Never again.” I hated men, romance and everything I’d once believed about love.
“Let’s go back to the dorm,” Ally suggested gently. I shook my head. “I want to go to my grandparents’ house.” Kane’s dark eyes narrowed.
There was something unsettling about the way he looked at me, as if those eyes could see straight through every excuse I was making. “You’re running.” His words landed too close to the truth and my shoulders stiffened.
“Don’t.” I raised both hands sharply. “Just don’t.” He didn’t argue and neither did Ally. For once, I was grateful. The drive to my grandparents’ house was quiet. I sat in the back seat, staring out the window while Kane drove his sleek new Porsche. Every now and then, I caught him glancing at me through the rearview mirror, but i pretended not to notice.
My mind wandered somewhere I didn’t want it to go. The first time I met Thomas. It felt like something straight out of one of my favorite young-adult novels. I had been sitting alone on the school field, sketching beneath the afternoon sun, when someone stopped beside me. “You’re truly talented.”
I looked up and Thomas was standing there with his blonde hair glowing beneath the sunlight and freckles scattered across his face. He had looked breathtaking. Like a fallen angel. I developed a crush on him almost immediately.
He pursued me until I finally agreed to become his girlfriend.
I remembered i helped him with assignments, i shared my notes whenever he needed them and i listened to him talk about his dreams and convinced myself that our future was already written. Truly, the plan had been simple. We would finish school, fly out together, attend college together and build a life together.
At least, that was the future I had believed in. I sniffled and buried my button nose into the white handkerchief Kane had given me. How stupid could I have been? “Take care.”
Ally hugged me tightly when we arrived and I forced a smile before watching her climb back into the car with Kane.
The moment they drove away, the smile disappeared.
I walked into my grandparents’ mansion without acknowledging the greetings from the staff and I ran straight to my room.
The familiar pink walls greeted me and my favorite things were exactly where I’d left them. Everything looked the same. Yet I didn’t. I clenched my fists.
That night, I stood beneath the shower and scrubbed my skin until it reddened, because Thomas’s words wouldn’t leave my head.
She’s a nobody.
She’s simply the dessert before the grand main course.
I scrubbed harder. As though I could wash the humiliation away and I could erase every memory of him touching me, smiling at me, telling me he loved me.
Eventually, exhaustion won and i collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. The next morning, an annoying intruder threw open my curtains as sunlight flooded the room.
“Don’t worry,” Ally announced loudly. “You’ll have plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead. For now, we live life to the fullest!” I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head.
“You’d make a terrible motivational speaker.” She yanked the blanket away.
I squinted at her and then my eyes widened. “Wait.” I sat upright. “You got it!” my voice came out somewhere between a whisper and a scream. Ally grinned proudly.
She was dressed beautifully, her hazelnut eyes sparkling with satisfaction. “Yes, I did.”
“You’re a brilliant designer.” The compliment immediately turned me to mush. I threw the blanket aside and climbed out of bed. “About yesterday…” Ally’s voice changed and my body froze. She noticed my discomfort and immediately lifted her small, soft fingers.
“Let me finish.”
I slowly relaxed, but she hesitated before speaking. “I think I can help you get revenge.” My eyebrows lifted. Revenge?
That sounded considerably better than another lecture about moving on. “I know something that can help.”
The little horns in my head practically popped out. “Go on.”
Ally twirled her fingers together. “My uncle introduced me to a revenge service.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and rushed the words out. “I think you should try it.” I stared at her. Then I grinned. Of course I was going to try it. I rubbed my palms together and hurried over to my pale-pink study desk then I turned on my computer and opened the browser. A few clicks later, Ally and I were staring at the anonymous revenge platform.
We scrolled through the options and our mouths slowly fell open. “Is this actually real?” Ally nodded and I stared at the screen. There were different ways to make someone pay. Humiliation, exposure, financial punishment and then we reached the option that made both of us freeze.
Beating.
Ally looked at me and i looked at her. Neither of us spoke for a moment. Then she slowly nodded. “That should do.”
I nodded. “Definitely.” I filled in the required details, wrote my message, and stared at the empty recipient field. For a second, my fingers hovered over the keyboard. Then I began typing.
To my dearest anonymous, i told them exactly what Thomas had done. How he’d used me, humiliated me, and made me feel like I was nothing. Then finally, I submitted the request.
The confirmation flashed across the screen. Request received. My heart pounded and a wicked smile slowly spread across my face.
I turned toward the mirror. “Thomas,” I whispered.
“Get ready to receive the treatment of a lifetime.”
