Revenge (3 page)

Ally drove a ways further down the street to park her car. She did not want her car to be seen by Wesley when she was spying on him. Ally and her crew walked down the sidewalk, heads held high, smirks across all of their faces. They knew that this was going to be good.

They walked around the side of Wesley’s house spying anything out of the usual. Nothing. They kept walking when Christina spotted Wesley’s room.

“Perfect,” Ally said with a smirk engraved upon her face. The girls all huddled around the window, astonished and thrilled by what they found. Wesley was lying in bed wearing footy pajamas! How perfect? Ally quickly pulled out her phone to take Wesley’s picture. Ally turned to Christina and Jessica, “they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I have a feeling that when Wesley gets wind of this, none of those words will have to do with adoring Gabriella anymore.”

They all rose from the window, they got exactly what they needed from Wesley. The best part was how easy Wesley made it, they hardly had to do a thing. Plus, it was still early so they could easily go back to the mall and continue shopping. And hey, Wesley knew that Ally was shopping so he wouldn’t question a thing. But why would he anyway, you don’t just go around posting embarrassing pictures of your boyfriend, do you?

Wesley awoke somewhat startled. He thought he heard a noise, maybe it was Gabriella at his door. He sighed, he wasn’t being very fair to her after all. She tried to apologize multiple times. She called him. She came over and left his parents with messages when he wasn’t home. She really tried. He also knew that he was Gabriella’s only friend and that it was pretty obvious to her if he wasn’t interacting with her. Yet, he couldn’t interact with her. He couldn’t. It was against the rules, Ally’s rules. Ally made a deal with him when they decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend. As being queen bee of Richmond Academy, she got to make the rules for him to abide by. He couldn’t just openly disobey his new girlfriend, could he? Well then again, how would she know if he just popped over to Gabriella’s house for a few minutes. After all, maybe his family needed a cup of sugar.

Prior to walking over to Gabriella’s, he changed clothing. Although, Gabriella had seen Wesley in his footy pajamas many times, it just didn’t seem like the manly thing to do. Plus, Gabriella basically fell over laughing at him whenever she saw him in his footy pajamas.

He rang the doorbell once, twice, three times. Just as Wesley was about to turn and go, the door opened. Gabriella stood there with her eyes gleaming, she looked like she had been crying.

“Uhh, hey!” Wesley said.

“Hi,” Gabriella said coolly. She did not appear to be in the talking mood.

“Soo uhh, what’s up?” Wesley tried.

“Homework. Like every other day,” Gabriella responded stiffly. “Why are you here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Then talk and make it snappy.”

“Gabriella, oh how to begin? The night after we fought, I went to a party. I just wanted to blow off some steam and some guys from the basketball team suggested I go partying. So I went. However, I was really bummed there. I felt sad and hurt. I was completely miserable until I met someone there....”

“Go on.”

“Right. So, I met someone there and she was so amazing. She listened to my problems and how I felt about things and we really hit it off. It was spectacular!”

“Who was she?”

“Ally Andrews.”

“Oh.”

“But she was so amazing and spectacular! We decided to become boyfriend and girlfriend right on the spot!”

“Whoa now, what?!”

“We decided to date.”

“Ally Andrews? She decided she wanted to date you? You?”

“Yes, is that so hard to believe?”

“It’s just, she’s not like you at all. She’s popular and a queen bee.”

“So are you implying that I’m not popular?”

“Well, no....”

“It sure sounds like it! Geez, you know at first I wasn’t thrilled that she told me not to talk to you! I thought that she was just being controlling and what not. But now, I can see why she doesn’t want me talking to you. Look at you! You seem so shocked that another girl would ever want to hang out with me. She was right when she said she was trying to protect me from you.”

“Hold the phone, what?”

“I tried to come over here and explain why I haven’t talked to you. I came over here to explain that I was dating Ally. I wanted to explain and tell you that I was going to talk to Ally about you and make her change your mind. Some part of me even hoped that you guys would be friends and everything would be perfect. Now I see that you can’t even listen to me when I try and tell you something. You know, Ally listens to me. She wants what’s best for me. I use to think you wanted the same.” Then Wesley turned and marched off of Gabriella’s porch, he left her alone again.

Gabriella paced her room back and forth. What did Ally have that she didn’t? Okay sure, Ally was athletic, smart, pretty and popular but...but...ugh. Ally was absolutely perfect and Gabriella knew it. Wesley must have known it too!

Could Gabriella compete with Ally? Was that possible? Could she find a way to beat Ally and win Wesley back? Gabriella sure hoped so.

Gabriella began thinking about what she had in common with Ally. They both had spectacular grades. Gabriella was in the top five of her class. Ally was pretty and Wesley always said that Gabriella was pretty. Maybe she could find a way to expose the beauty Wesley had seen. What would she need to do that? Clothes. Clothes are key to being stylish and trendy, just like Ally.

How could Gabriella get money to buy brand new clothes? “Oh, wait” she thought, last month was her birthday and she received money from her family. Perfect. Her plan was to save that money for a rainy day, and well, in Gabriella’s world it was pouring.

What else did she need? A salon trip, of course. Her hair was dull and dry. Her fingers appeared as though she constantly bit them. Surely, some highlights and a mani would do her good.

Make-up was another must on her list. Everyone at school wears make up. Make-up could enhance a person’s features so much. Make-up could look natural, flirty or dramatic. Needless to say, make-up is a must.

Finally, her glasses had to go. Everyone knows that anybody who is anybody does not wear glasses. Glasses are lame and make people look like they have bug eyes.

Gabriella sat down at her desk and scribbled everything that she had thought of down on a pink sticky note. Soon things would be different. Soon she’d have Wesley wrapped around her finger. In fact, soon she would have multiple guys wrapped around her finger.

Ally had no idea what she had she had stirred inside of Gabriella when she took Wesley. The least popular girl in school was about to make a comeback.

It was Tuesday after school and Gabriella was inside a local hair salon called “Trendz”. She was sitting there flipping through examples of possible haircuts she could get. None of them really felt like her though. Still, wasn’t that the point? Didn’t Gabriella want to get something that was so not her style?

She kept flipping through the examples and then found one that she liked. The cut had layers in it and reached the model’s chest. It was wavy and had side bangs. That was trendy, right? Now Gabriella just had to select the coloring of her hair. Her hair was naturally jet black so dying it blonde was out of the question. What if she added highlights to it? She could add dark brown highlights to it and it would soften the color of her hair. The highlights would also add more attention to her hair because the colors would be similar.

Gabriella told the hairstylist exactly what she wanted. Unfortunately, Gabriella’s dream hairstyle took nearly two hours to complete. On the positive side though, the hairstylist had instructed Gabriella on how to recreate this look. She recommended shampoos to preserve color and conditioners to keep her hair sleek and glossy.

Gabriella then headed over to a make-up emporium. There she was basically clueless. Who knew that there could be so many different types of mascara or shades of nail polish! Gabriella wandered around the store for minutes, convinced that she was lost.

Finally, a women approached her saying, “do you need any help? You look slightly confused.”

Turning around, Gabriella said,” yes, actually, I do need help. I don’t wear any make-up and I want to change that but I don’t know how. I don’t want to look like a clown!”

The lady laughed and then responded, “well, is there a certain type of look that you are looking for?”

“Natural,” Gabriella responded.

“All right,” the lady said. “I can show you a whole line of products that are meant to look natural on the people but enhance their features. I’ll even help you pick out which ones you need, if you want.”

“Thank you so much,” Gabriella said. A half an hour later, she exited the store with a bag full of goodies.

Next Gabriella went to the local mall called “Stella” which apparently means “star” in Italian. She was standing in the middle of the mall in aw. It seemed to have been ages since she was in there. Did they always have marble floors? Were there always three levels? Surely there hadn’t always been a clock tower, had there?

Gabriella looked left and right, not sure where to begin. She decided to flip a coin to see which direction she would go. Heads she goes left. Tails she goes right. She pulled a shiny quarter out of her wallet and flipped it. Tails. She goes right.

Gabriella put the quarter back in her wallet then proceeded to the right side of the mall. She walked around nervously for a while, too afraid to go in. Finally she took a deep breath and said, “I can’t be afraid anymore” then entered a store.

The store she entered was called Clarity. It was an elegant store that was decorated in soft colors. It had sparkling chandeliers and dazzling mannequins. The dressing room area was low key yet sophisticated. There were white sofas placed around the store giving it a homey feel to it.

“Hello, today! Welcome to Clarity,” a woman said, “we have a buy two get two special on tights today! And tunics are half off! Also, jeans are twenty-five percent off!”

“Thanks,” Gabriella murmured. She walked about the store, seeing rows and rows of clothing. They were so elegant, how could she possible pull them off? “It’s okay,” she thought. “I can do this.”

Gabriella picked out a lace dress in a dusty rose color that she paired with a white cardigan and gold flats. She also found a navy silk blouse that she decided to pair up with a black body-con skirt and silver heels. To her surprise, those combinations of clothes fit her perfectly. They hugged her in all the right places and really enhanced her look. She was so pleased with herself. She bought they outfits and went on throughout the mall.

Eventually, Gabriella’s hands were full of bags. She was just about to leave the mall when she realized something. She never bought any jewelry! How could she look trendy without accessories? She couldn’t! So she dropped her bags off in her car and headed back into the mall. She was tired but pleased with herself because nothing could stop her now.

It was Tuesday after school and Ally was at lacrosse practice as usual. They were working on different drills to improve their cradling techniques. The sun was shinning and the turf they ran on must have been at least eighty-five degrees. The heat was somewhat unbearable, but Ally couldn’t let that bother her. She couldn’t think about how her hair might frizz or how her make-up might run from all the sweat. After all, she was perfect Ally. Things always went perfect for her, didn’t they?

The lacrosse team had been scrimmaging when it happened. Sarah had passed Ally the ball midfield. She sprinted down towards the goal with determination in her eyes. The goal was hers, end of story. Then as she went to shoot for the goal her cleat slipped. It happened so fast. One minute Ally was sprinting aiming for goal the next she was on the ground shrieking. She lay there unable to move her left ankle. She felt paralyzed. Everything hurt as though the rest of her body took pity on her injured ankle.

The coach blew the whistle to halt practice and everyone ran over concerned. It wasn’t like Ally to fall. Ally was the most talented and graceful player most of her teammates had ever seen. She couldn’t be hurt.

Ally’s coach knelt on the ground and gingerly examined Ally’s ankle, shaking her head.

“Well, Ally,” the coach said. “I think your ankle is broken. We better call your parents and see what they want to do from here. For now don’t try to stand on it, I don’t want you falling again. Got it?” Ally nodded her head hopelessly.

***

Ally was sitting in a wheelchair inside the emergency room waiting for the results of her x-rays. She had been there for nearly three hours now and she was flat out annoyed. How long did it take a doctor to look at a freaking picture and see if she had a broken ankle or not?

Ally’s parents sat on either side of her looking nervous. Her dad was typing away on his laptop, hitting the keys a little too viciously. Her mother was reading a parenting book she found in the waiting room. It was entitled “How to Deal With Your Child’s Injury”. How perfect for the occasion.