3. Grayson

Idon’t know why, but for the first time since I came up with the idea of getting back at my parents and Lacey’s for what they’d done to me, I wanted to share with someone. I’ve kept it all to myself for obvious reasons, but she’d been so open with me that I felt as if I could share with her as well.

I didn’t doubt a word of what she said. After everything I’d been through with Lacey and seeing firsthand the lengths her parents were willing to go to for her, I could easily see everything Lily described taking place. Beyond that, there was something about her that I trusted.

I didn’t jump right in and spill my guts, though; this family is sneaky, so who knows? Besides, it’s not like we were friends or anything beyond the fact that she was decent enough to tell me about Lacey’s cheating.

“Did you tell me to get back at her?”

“Get back at her for what? Did you not hear a word I said? My grandparents hate her and her mother; while I was vacationing in Europe since the age of four, she and her mother were back in the States having a fit because they weren’t invited.”

“My Mom is still the only daughter-in-law my paternal family recognizes, and neither she nor her mother has ever stepped foot in any of the places owned by my family. My Dad can barely look his family in the eye almost twenty years later and has suffered greatly because of his choices. Tell me, what do I need to get back at her for?”

“So it doesn’t bother you, the way they treated you as a kid?”

“Of course, it bothers me. I’m not made of stone, but I don’t live my life that way, and I certainly wouldn’t hurt someone else to get back at them. I did it because it was the right thing to do, plain and simple.”

I looked at her closely to see if she was putting me on, but she seemed genuine enough. Huh, I guess everyone isn’t as vengeful as I am. Had I been treated the way she had, I’d be out for their blood.

* * *

That wasthe first of many conversations, and over the coming weeks, we sort of gravitated to each other in class and ended up working on a few projects together. It was an unwritten rule that neither of us let on to our families back home that we even knew each other, but my first weekend back, I couldn’t help rocking the boat a little bit.

In actuality, I wanted to see the responses of the people involved, so that first night, when all of us were out to dinner, I innocently broached the subject.

“Mr. Sinclair, do you have family that goes to my school?” He looked like a deer caught in headlights, which told me that he knew his daughter was attending the same prestigious university as me.

“Why do you ask, son?”

“There’s this girl on campus; I think her name is Lily. We haven’t met, but I heard someone call her name and thought of you guys.”

“She’s my daughter.”

“Your daughter? I didn’t know you had another daughter. Isn’t she the same age as Lacey and I? She’s a freshman, I think, but I could be wrong.”

Mom and Dad were giving me death glares, which I promptly ignored and carried on eating as if it was no big deal, but from the reactions of Lacey and her Mom, I knew all I needed to know.

Janice looked at her husband like he’d betrayed her, and Lacey was all but spitting out her food at the table. After dinner, she cornered me before I could get in my car and drive away, insisting that I leave my school and come to hers.

“Why would I do that? We’ve already had this conversation, and this school is the best for my degree.” I was looking directly at her, enjoying her anger and discomfort while hiding my hate.

“That girl, I don’t want you around her. She’s bad news.”

Here stood before me, the girl who had acquired three new friends with benefits since starting college. We weren’t even midway through the semester yet.

I can see why her father needs to buy her a future husband. He’s probably seen in the daughter what he knows of the mother. And I was his sacrificial pig. No lamb would ever get near this bunch.

I wanted to fuck with her because she thought she had any rights to me, but I had to do it in a way that I didn’t lose my family’s support. If I came right and told her what I thought of her now, that would be like shooting myself in the foot.

But time and distance had taught me that there were ways around everything, and one of the ways I chose to take back the power they had stolen from me was by making her as miserable as I possibly could without showing my hand.

“You mean your sister? Why? What has she done?”

“I don’t have to explain that to you. Just remember who you belong to.”

“I don’t belong to anyone; what the hell has gotten into you?”

Oh, she really hates Lily. It was written all over her face. She was almost hyperventilating because I refused to give in to her demands. “I have to get back to campus, so if there’s nothing else. I’ll call you when I get back.” I didn’t even give her the little peck on the cheek I’d taken to giving her before getting into my car and driving off.

I smiled all the way back to campus. I had a way of getting back at her, a way of making her crazed with jealousy. All I have to do is mention Lily, and she will get that look in her eye. Anger, jealousy, and hate. That’s what I saw when I mentioned her name.

She doesn’t know hate yet. I plan to make her life a living hell from now on. Not that I planned to use Lily; the idea never entered my mind, but there was nothing stopping me from fabricating stories about us running into each other.

* * *

As it turned out,I didn’t have to do that after all. Lily and I, as I said, worked on some school projects together, and the more time we spent together, the more we realized we had in common. She liked some of the same music, video games, and movies.

We found ourselves spending more and more time together, even doing our homework together in my dorm or her off-campus apartment. Before long we were attached at the hip, but still nothing happened between us.

I was still wary of the opposite sex, and she, well, I don’t know what her thoughts were since it was never brought up. I did notice, though, that whenever I was about to see her, I would feel this rush of excitement.

It got so my days seemed to revolve around when I was seeing her and when she was too busy, or I had something else to do and would have to wait until the next day to see her again.

We talked on the phone for almost an hour each night, and that was when we’d just parted after spending hours together to go back to our respective places. We fell into friendship with ease, and it wasn’t long before that friendship blossomed into something else for both of us.

“We’re going to have to talk about this.” Was that my voice sounding so gruff?

“I know.” She looked up into my eyes, and I fell into hers. We’d just been laughing together after she trounced me in our game, laughing and rolling around on the couch as I threatened to strangle her for cheating.

Just like that, the laughter died as we both realized at the same time that she was in my arms, and our lips were very close together. In fact, I’d been staring at her mouth when I made that statement.

I expected her to pull away, laugh awkwardly, and make an excuse to leave, but instead, she stayed where she was as if waiting for me to make the next move. “You know the mess I’m in with your sister right.” She just nodded her head. I still hadn’t gotten around to telling her about my plans for revenge.

Not because I didn’t trust her, but because we were having so much fun that I didn’t want the mention of them to spoil it. “You know I won’t be with her, right.”

“I don’t know, you never said….”

“I’m telling you now. I’d made up my mind about that long before I met you. But now that we’ve met, there’s no way.”

I should pull back and wait until everything was squared away with her sister and the rest of that bunch. But that was going to take years. “If we do this, you might get caught in the crossfire.”

“Gray, remember when I said I didn’t want revenge? I lied, I do, but not for myself, for my Mom. But I wouldn’t use you to do it.”

That was enough for me. I don’t know why we were both smiling as I lowered my head to hers, but I tasted the smile on her lips and got lost in her. She was sweet, soft, and cuddlable. How could I not make comparisons? Though there were none.

She made me feel things I had never experienced, but I knew what they were. Though I hadn’t shared myself with anyone before, I’m not a complete dunce when it comes to sex. I know what goes on between a man and a woman.

But I had never once felt these things before except for when I was self-pleasuring myself, but even that paled in comparison to this. As to her taste compared to her sister’s, there’s nothing to say. She has her beat there, too, as well.

The kiss went on for I don’t know how long before I called a halt. I knew she wasn’t ready because we had never discussed taking our relationship further, and there was a lot of stuff in the way that needed to be dealt with if we were going to become a couple.

I don’t know what got into me, but I felt very possessive of her, and in that moment I knew that I wouldn’t take no for an answer. And if she wasn’t sure, then I was ready and willing to do whatever it took to change her mind.

“So, we’re going to do this.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“I’m telling you. I don’t know, I’ll be honest. This is the first real relationship for me, and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel, but right now, my feelings are very strong and just a little bit scary. I don’t want to let you out of my sight. It feels like my heart would stop beating if you weren’t here.”

“I didn’t tell you this, but every night when we hang up the phone, I lay in bed craving you. I knew that’s what it was, but I thought we should clear the air between us first and figure out a way around anyone finding out before we’re ready. But then this happened.”

“Clear the air about what?” That was my cue to fill her in on my revenge plan. I didn’t know what to expect. She’d said more than once that she didn’t consider Janice and Lacey human furthermore family, but who knows how true that was.

“That’s diabolical.” I accepted the judgment and felt it in my gut. “I like it.” She had this evil look on her face, and then she broke into maniacal laughter that set us both off again, and we ended up right where we started, with her in my arms.