The 10 Steps To A Boy's Heart

Chapter 19

My room isn't big enough to pace around and it isn't small enough to hide. Every now and again I hear whispers outside my door, students murmuring about the bouquet I received on the field after Daltech and Richmond's highly coveted match, broadcasted on live television. 

Zander Wyatt might as well have put a target on my head and I want to kill him for it. 

But I asked for it, didn't I?

I groan loudly and quicken my pacing. Why did I push him like that? I should have known but then again I never expected him to go this far. I stop for a second and stare at the large bundle of roses lying on Elizabeth's empty bed. 

Shit, Elizabeth! I haven't told her about my plan. What would she think if she saw the game today? Who am I kidding, she would probably hate my guts, thinking I stole Zander from her or something along those lines. 

Panic courses through my veins and I grab my phone and dial her number immediately. I stare at the mirror and try to practice my answer. 

"Elizabeth, it's not what it looks like. I decided to take revenge after he broke your heart and drove you out of college. I know it sounds ridiculous but trust me he deserves it." 

No, that sounds too practiced. Too rehearsed. 

My reflection is comical, a panicked girl who hasn't changed out of her shorts and jersey, the curls in her hair limp and lifeless, face white as a ghost. I've never looked this pale in my life. 

I practice the line again as the phone rings and when Elizabeth answers I suck in a breath, afraid to breathe. 

"Danielle! I've missed you," My best friends's voice is chipper, not at all what I expected. 

"Elizabeth, hey...." I pause unsure how to proceed when I don't know the extent of the damage yet. "I've missed you too." 

"I've been so bored. Life without the internet and television is making me wonder how people used to do it in the pre-internet era. Seriously, if it weren't for books I would be going crazy or maybe I should go down the productive route and invent a cure for cancer or something. I certainly have enough time for research nowadays." 

I sit down on the bed, the realisation slowly trickling in. She didn't watch the match. She doesn't know. 

"Your parents took you off tv as well?" I ask in a hoarse voice and then quickly clear my throat. 

There's a long pause on the other end, the stretching silence making me uncomfortable. 

"Liz?" I ask after a few seconds have passed. 

"So there's this thing." She trails off, hesitant to say more. 

"What thing?" I ask again, the raking curiosity giving an edge to my voice. 

There's an audible sigh on the other end of the line. "Don't judge me, alright?"

I find myself nodding even though she can't even see me and then quickly reassure her. 

"So the thing is, you know my phone's been confiscated, right?" Another pause that makes me want to yell at her to get on with it. 

"Yes," I answer patiently. 

"Well I kind of used my mum's phone to visit those forums." I close my eyes, a feeling of dread growing in the pit of my stomach. "I saw that he's dating that Brooklyn girl. She was in one of my classes and we were friends. And I don't know, something in me snapped and I had the strongest urge to drink." 

Oh God. 

"So I finished one of my dad's bottles of Macallan, trust me there wasn't much left, I didn't get alcohol poisoning or anything." Liz pauses, followed by another audible sigh. "But I did get proper drunk and passed out.  Which wouldn't have been a bad thing since we've all gotten pissed in college but my parents took this episode rather extremely. They think I might be relapsing."