When Chad wasn’t there, Tiffany came to see
- me. She brought a bouquet of irises.
She played with the flowers and put them
where I could see them.
“Do you know what irises mean? Hopeless
love.”
“It sucks to be in love and not be loved, right?
You should’ve thought about that before you
stole my scholarship. But, it’s been a while,
and seeing you so miserable has made me
feel better. If you apologize and admit that
you cheated to get the scholarship, I might
find it in my heart to forgive you.”
く
She was standing over me, looking down, full
of arrogance.
“I didn’t cheat. I earned that scholarship.”
I met her eyes.
I didn’t need her validation.
Tiffany was furious. “Fine, Ashley. I’ll see how
long you can keep this up.”
Sarah texted me, saying all the paperwork
was done. I could leave in two days. I would
get away from all of this.
Chad, will you regret it then?
Chapter Two
Chad pulled me out of the hospital pretty
quick.
“You’re better off at home, where I can take
care of you. The hospital is nasty, full of
weirdos.”
I knew he meant that intern.
Chad was all over me, making me take my
meds, being super attentive. But for some
reason, I was getting dizzier and dizzier,
sleeping for hours on end.
One night, I woke up hearing voices outside
my door.
Fighting off the grogginess, I tiptoed to the
く
door and peeked through a crack. Chad was
leaning against the wall, looking pissed.
His phone was on speaker, just sitting on the
table.
“Yo, Chad, what’s up? How about this plan?”
“You tell her you’re sick, she’ll freak out and
hop in her car to come see you. We’ll mess
with the brakes, stage a little accident.”
“She’ll be totally screwed, nowhere to turn.
She’ll finally see what desperation is.”
“No way, too risky.” Chad’s voice jumped up
an octave, trying to conceal the anger.
“I’m not trying to kill anyone.” He knew he lost
it, so he backtracked to try and sound casual.
There was a pause on the other end. “Come
on, Chad, we’re not idiots. The car will end up
in the lake, we’ll pull her out. No harm, no
foul.”
“Besides, she’ll get a few scrapes and
bruises, so what? Isn’t that what you wanted?
To make her life as miserable as possible?
This is your chance! Heck, we could even
paralyze her, then you’d have a legit excuse
to dump her.”
Chad took a deep breath. His voice was still
cold, but he was losing it. “No. She can’t get
hurt.”
Then Tiffany’s voice came on, all whiny and
sweet. “Chad, what is wrong with you? We
agreed to do this for me! If you don’t get
back at her, I’m not staying with you.”
Chad hesitated, then forced the words out.
“It’s not like that, Tiffany. You’re the only one
I love.”
“So you’ll do it?” Tiffany sounded happy
again.
“Anything for you.”
The guys cheered, “We’ve been waiting for
this! I can’t wait to see her face when she
sees her life fall apart!”
My cheek was pressed against the cold wood
of the door, and my heart was frozen solid.
It was over. Everything had to end.
<
2
>
..
“Sarah, can you do me one more favor?”
When I woke up, Chad was gone. My phone
had dozens of missed calls.
“Ashley, something terrible happened! Chad
got jumped by some gangsters, they stabbed
him a bunch of times! He’s in the hospital,
unconscious! You need to get here, fast!”
I faked a panicked voice. “What hospital? I’m
on my way!”
The voice on the other end gave me an
address and hung up, as if they were afraid
of revealing too much if they stayed on the
phone
<
I hung up and walked around the house to
make sure I got everything, then I grabbed the
suitcase I had packed a few days ago. The
car was in the driveway. The plan was in
motion.
On the road, Chad called.
“Chad, are you okay? I’m coming!” I said it
like I used to do when he had a problem,
almost bursting into tears.
There was a pause on the other end. “Don’t
worry about me, I’m fine. The doctor says I’m
not in any danger. Ashley, be careful driving.”
I listened to his voice and said his name.
“Chad.”
<
I’d never called him by his first name. Maybe
because I’d never understood him.
He sounded startled, a little out of breath. He
opened his mouth to say something, but I
hung up.
That unexpected concern… must’ve been his
last bit of guilt.
Then a semi–truck came right at me. The car
crashed into the truck, just like they planned,
screeching and shattering. It plunged into the
water.
In the distance, a bunch of people were
cheering, taking pictures.
“Finally! 99 acts of revenge, done!”
“Man, that was brutal! She’s gonna be
traumatized for life!”
“We did it! That nasty girl doesn’t deserve
any sympathy.”
All the cheering was piercing and painful.
“Get her out!” Chad ordered, his voice raw.
He was staring at the lake.
It had been a long time. Ashley was a good
swimmer. Why hadn’t she come up?
Something felt really wrong.
Her call on the phone, his name from her
mouth, he was starting to have nightmares.
“Boss… she’s gone…” One of the guys came
running over, terrineа. He was kneeling on the
ground.
Chad snapped. He ran toward the lake.
without thinking.
“Ashley!”
No, this couldn’t be happening. It was just a
plan. She was supposed to be okay.
His brain went blank, he just kept repeating
her name.
The wrecked car was on the road, empty. The
bloody scene was too much for him.
“Dude, calm down!”
“The rescue team is looking for her! She’s
<
He pulled away from everyone and dove into
the lake, his eyes bloodshot.
He only had one thought:
Find Ashley.
