Revenge

by Rita Cain

  “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.

  Chapter 11: A Revelation

  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.

  Chapter 12: Change

  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.

  Chapter 13: Things Happen

  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 teammate
s 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.

  Ally had never broken a single bone in her body. She was rarely ill and always took any falls she had without crying or screaming. But not this time, Ally had shrieked when she hit the ground, which was a good indicator that her injury was serious.

  Finally a nurse gestured them to come back into a room. Ally’s mom pushed her in her wheelchair and Ally’s dad hurriedly packed his laptop stuff and caught up with them. The room the nurse directed them to was terrible. Ally took note that the color scheme was so the fifties and there was a good reason people don’t match colors together like that anymore.

  Ally sat perched on the wheelchair nervously awaiting the results. Ally’s mom bit her nails and Ally’s dad bounced his foot up and down.

  A young man walked in and was quite cheery; that was good news, right?

  “Hello, my name is Dr. Cooper,” he reaching out to shake everyone’s hand. “I’m going to give you the test results.”

  “Okay. Cool,” Ally said trying not to sound nervous.

  “So according to these notes I see that you took quite the spill today at lacrosse practice,” Dr. Cooper said.

  “I suppose so,” Ally said sighing. She was so bored and done with this place.

  “Can we get to the test results?” Ally’s dad asked annoyed.

  “Yes. Yes, of course! Ally, I am sorry to inform you that you have a broken ankle,” Dr. Cooper said hurriedly.

  “Excuse me?” Ally said rudely, “I have never broken a bone in my body before! How could this happen?”

  “It happens to the best of us,” Dr. Cooper said thoughtfully.

  “Well, it can’t happen to me. I’m perfect,” Ally said.

  “No one is perfect, Ally. Everyone has weakness. Even you,” Dr. Cooper said.

  Chapter 14: Are You New Here?

  Gabriella walked into school Wednesday with perfect poise. Her hair was perfectly styled and glistened in the light. She was wearing a pair of shredded jeans; black boots that when up to her knees, a ruffled gray top with a lavender cardigan. She looked fabulous. As she walked by, people did double takes. Her head was held high and she did a little three finger wave every now and then.

  She sat down in her first class, which was World History and her desk partner’s mouth dropped.

  “Gabriella? Is that you?” her partnered said confused.

  “Of course, it’s me!” she laughed, “who else would it be, Tony?”

  “I don’t know,” Tony said, “but you look great!”

  “Thanks!” she said beaming.

  “No problem! Hey, do you want to hang out this weekend?” Tony asked.

  “Maybe,” she said winking “But we have to pay attention to class now, silly!

  The rest of the day mirrored Gabriella’s first class. Lot’s of people asked her what happened. She got complimented over and over. She also got asked out twenty-two times, not that she was counting. She got asked out more today then she ever did in her life. However, the worse thing she heard was getting asked if she was new to school. Both guys and girls offered to show her around and told her about all sorts of activities and clubs the school had to offer. Most of the time she just let people think she was a new student. In some ways she was new, she was a completely new and different Gabriella. People obviously didn’t pay any attention to her before because they thought she was a new student today. Well, either way, Gabriella could get use to the attention. Who knows, maybe she would get asked out even more tomorrow!

  Chapter 15: Rumor Has It

  Ally faced a lot of murmurs when she came into school on Wednesday. She was on freaking crutches with a broken ankle. Life absolutely sucked for her. However, on the plus side she convinced Wesley to carry all her books for her and walk her to every class. “Take that, Gabriella!” Ally thought with satisfaction.

  Today had been quite odd for Ally as well. She was hearing rumors about this new girl in school. No one seemed to know her name though. Apparently she walked with the poise and confidence of a supermodel. Her hair looked perfect, it was flowing and glossy with stellar waves. Supposedly, her outfit was amazing too. She was wearing the latest knee boots, shredded jeans, a ruffled gray shirt and a lavender cardigan. Everyone’s overall comments for her was “gorgeous”, “beautiful”, “stunning” and “spectacular”. Whoever this girl was had made quite an impression and it was Ally’s job to meet her. Ally had to befriend this girl before others did so. From what Ally had heard of this girl, she was Ally clique material.

  Ally roomed the halls most of the day looking for this new girl. Admittedly, Ally was slightly embarrassed to meet this girl under her current medical condition. Crutches were lame and she didn’t want to lose a new recruit because of them.

  Ally finally spotted the girl at the end of the day by the gym. “Maybe she plays lacrosse,” Ally thought excitedly. Ally had finally reached the girl when she stopped dead, “was that? No. It couldn’t be,” Ally thought.

  The girl turned around and smiled brightly, “hello,” she said sweetly.

  “Hi,” Ally said confused. “Are you new here?”

  The girl laughed, “no! It’s me! Gabriella Marcs! We’ve been going to school together since elementary school.”

  “Oh,” Ally said blankly. “May I ask what happened?”

  Gabriella didn’t even skip a beat responding, saying, “well, I decided that while my grades are A pluses, my fashion sense is not. So I upgraded.”

  “Oh, that’s quite lovely,” Ally said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

  “Awe, thanks!” Gabriella said brightly. “See you around!” Then she turned around and walked away. Her head held high and her stride perfectly composed. What the heck was Ally going to do? Should she invite a girl she hated into her inner circle? Did she even have a choice? Gabriella went from loser to cool within a day, which meant Ally could go from cool to loser in a day, especially with those crutches.

  Chapter 16: Stunned

  Gabriella was walking home from the convenient store at the corner of her block. This meant two things. First, she could show off her amazing looks around the neighborhood. Second, she would have to walk past Wesley’s house and he might see her.

  Gabriella was walking down the sidewalk causally when she saw him. “Perfect,” she thought. Wesley was walking crossing the road after retrieving the mail. They’d surely run into each other. Gabriella hastened her pace and looked down at her phone. Wesley was also distracted because he was looking down at the mail. By the time Gabriella looked up, it was too late and they collided. They literally ran into each other. Mail flew everywhere and Wesley was in shock.