I Hate You

-14-

Heather got back from ballet practice to see Courtney lying in her bed. She buried her head in the pillow as she sobbed. Heather blinked, taken aback. Sure, she's seen Courtney cry, but never like this. She shut the door and walked over to her friend, sitting at the bedside.

"...Courtney?" There was no response. Only her desolate sobs. "Babe, what happened?"

"I..." she could hardly speak without crying.

"Did you fail an exam?"

She shook her head. "N-no, I wish."

Heather gasped. So, it's worse than I thought. "What is it?"

"Tyler...Duncan...Gwen..."

"Um, care to elaborate?"

"Tyler told everyone he saw Duncan and Gwen kiss." She squeezed her eyes shut, searing pain stabbing her heart.

"Wait, what?! When did THIS happen?!"

"Earlier today. I-in front of the whole class! Gwen...that stupid bitch ran away from me. COWARD!"

"Wow, I..." Heather was speechless. She knew Duncan and Courtney were having issues. She also knew Gwen and Duncan were tight. And she knew Duncan was low. However, she never thought he'd stood this low. She was more angry than surprised, though. "What a piece of shit! You know what, Courtney? You can't let him get away with this!"

"What am I even supposed to do?! I just want to lay in bed and cry. I don't feel like getting up."

"You need to get revenge. They don't deserve to feel guilt-free."

"Oh, I know," she sniffled. "I made sure to give Gwen an earful in texts. The cruddier she feels, the more vindicated I am."

"What about Duncan? What happened to revenge on him? It's not all her fault, you know. Even though she is a total whore."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just...I love him. I can't help it. I..."

Heather frowned. She couldn't imagine spending all that time with someone just for them to go behind her back and betray her. Especially with someone she knew. "...I'm so sorry." She awkwardly rubbed her shoulder. To put it simply, Heather sucked at comforting people. Maybe because she had trouble feeling sympathetic towards others when she was younger, she often heard her parents tell all the psychologists she saw that they thought she was a sociopath. But the thing was, her parents never showed her any sympathy. How was she to know what it was supposed to feel like?

Courtney sat up and continued to cry into her hands. "We were supposed to get married, a-and have babies...I had all these plans! Gwen's such a pathetic fucking bitch!! She doesn't even care! The only reason she said sorry was because I found out! If she were sorry, she would've dumped Duncan right on the spot!"

"You know I never liked Gwen. She was always a loser."

"You're right. I hope they both break up in the worst way possible! I hope he cheats on her too!"

Heather pursed her lips in thought. "Why don't we make their lives miserable? If we can. Imagine how miserable they already are dating each other. Bleh!"

"Yeah, they probably only talk about punk stuff! So lame!"

"Exactly." Hmm...Gwen's always wearing those stupid combat boots. Heather remembered overhearing her one day about how much she loved and treasured those shoes. LeShawna, Lindsay, and Beth were complimenting her on them. And Duncan...he'll have to regrow his precious mohawk.

Courtney took deep breaths, wiping her tears. "I just...I'm so hurt. I don't think I have it in me for revenge. On Duncan, at least."

Heather smirked. "That's what I'm here for. Duncan will regret this. But if you want to focus on Gwen, I can do that."