Chapter Thirty-Two

Better Than Revenge

Chapter 32

“I cannot believe him,” I hissed angrily, shutting off the TV in my fury. “He’s dead! Absolutely dead! He’s going to regret this!”

“This is so ridiculous!” Tori agreed with a growl. “That’s just… ugh!”

“And if Christian had anything to do with this, I swear…” I shook my head.

Tori was about to agree once again when she backtracked. “Wait, wait, wait. Sophia Elizabeth Hastings… are you jealous?”

“Of course I’m jealous!”

Her eyes widened. “You’re admitting it now? Ohmygod! You like him! I knew it! I knew it!”

I knew there was no way to hide it from her any longer. She was just too involved in my life. Besides, she was my best friend. She deserved to know and I knew she’d be happy for me. “I do like him.”

Tori squealed and jumped up, completely forgetting how angry she was not thirty seconds ago. “Ohmygod, finally! Why haven’t you accepted him? Do you see what happens when you wait? The guy goes back to his stupid ex!”

“See, that’s the thing…”

She looked at me warily. “What?”

“I didn’t tell you before because we both agreed to keep it a secret, and, well… you’ve got a big mouth, Tori.”

She looked slightly offended, but by the look on her face, I could tell she acknowledged the fact that this was undeniably true. “Ohmygod! You guys are going out, aren’t you?”

I just nodded and said, “I accepted him about a week ago… we just hadn’t told anybody yet.”

“Then what is this all about?” she exclaimed, staring at the TV in horror even though it had been shut off already. “Why is his manager saying that?”

“That’s exactly what I would like to know,” I grumbled.

I wasn’t going to lie. I was expecting Christian to call me with a damned good explanation for this.

It didn’t take him long to do as I expected. I was still talking to Tori when he called. “Have you been watching the news lately?”

“If by news you mean silly celebrity gossip shows, then yes.”

He sounded nervous when he spoke next. “Yeah. That…”

I didn’t say anything. I was trying to control my anger. I didn’t want to say anything I would regret later, as I did very often. It was better to just remain silent.

“Soph, I swear I had nothing to do with what that idiot said about me and Cassandra,” Christian assured me.

“Mmmhmm.”

“Really, Soph. Come on. If you still don’t believe me after everything, then…”

I silently huffed. “Then what?”

“Then I’m going to have a hard time figuring out how else I can prove it to you!”

I rolled my eyes. He was so strange. He would still try to prove his affections to me, even after all of his attempts? That was actually really nice.

“You don’t have to prove it to me,” I finally said.

“Good,” Christian said, sounding more cheerful. “I mean it, though. I had nothing to do with that. You’re my girlfriend, not her. I love you, not her.”

It made more sense that he was telling the truth than that he was lying. Besides, I really had no reason to doubt him. After all that had happened lately, I couldn’t think of a single reason. Also, relationships were based on trust, after all. I just had to trust him on this one. “I know. I just got so freaking mad when I saw that…”

He laughed and said, “Too bad I wasn’t there. You’re hot when you’re jealous and mad.”

I rolled my eyes. “No, it’s a good thing you weren’t here, or I might have snapped at you.”

“That’s true… never mind, then!”

I just snickered.

“I’m going to fire that dumbass as soon as I can get a hold of him,” Christian muttered in annoyance. “He doesn’t know about us, but he still had no reason to start dumb rumors.”

This sparked an idea in me. “Wait, no, don’t fire him.”

“What?” he asked, sounding very surprised.

I smiled slyly. “Don’t fire him yet…”

Christian now sounded wary. “Why? Soph, what do you have in mind?”

“Oh, nothing. Just a little revenge. I think it’ll have to be a double dosage of revenge, though, because I still haven’t gotten him back for what he did a while back.”

“What are you going to do?” He sounded very wary now. He knew how things went when I wanted revenge. He had experienced it first-hand.

“I’m going to get him back, of course.”

As one plan began to form in my head—a simple plan that didn’t affect him as much as I would have liked— another joined it. Oh, this was going to be good. The first one was more of a way to fix things, but the second one… oh; the second one was definitely something I could have some fun with.

“God, I don’t think I even want to know what you have in mind,” Christian said bluntly.

“Too bad. I’m going to need your help, most likely. And Tori’s… Mmm, yes, and Tori’s. Don’t fire Frank until I tell you to.”

“But Soph—”

“Figure out when you and Cassandra are being featured on the John Stavros Show and then text me, okay?”

He sighed in defeat. “Alright, I will.”

“Good.” I grinned. “I’ll talk to you later, Chrissy.”

“Yes, you will, Soapy.”

My mouth dropped open. It seemed as if he had found his nickname… “We’ll discuss that nickname of yours later. Bye, Chrissy.”

He just laughed and said, “Bye, Soapy.”

I hung up, still smiling. I looked up and saw Tori with her right hand pressed over her mouth as she silently freaked out. When she realized I was done talking, she took her hand off and squealed loudly. “Ohmygod, that was so cute! Even though I could only hear you! Aww! I’m so happy for you and I’m glad you guys worked things out!”

I was about to reply when something dawned on her.

“Wait, wait, wait… did you say that you were going to need my help for this revenge of yours?”

“I did,” I said, nodding once. “We’ll discuss that later.”

“What?” she exclaimed, shaking her head wildly. “No, no, we’ll discuss it right now!”

“No, we’ll discuss it later.” I started walking to my room.

As I had expected, she followed me. “Soph, tell me!”

I just rolled my eyes and ignored her. I couldn’t tell her the plan just yet. I wanted to go through with the first plan first.

***

It turned out the day Christian and Cassandra were going to be featured on the John Stavros Show was the following day. Their “romance” was such hot news that everyone wanted to know what was going on, apparently.

When I told Tori I was going to the set of the show, she didn’t suspect anything was going to go awry at first. She thought I was just going to sit in the audience or something and make sure he didn’t do or say anything that would anger me.

I wasn’t sure why she assumed that, knowing my personality fully well, but it didn’t matter. It made my life a little easier, seeing as I didn’t have to deal with her incessant nosiness.

When I arrived at the set, they actually let me in. Being a celebrity had its perks. People let you attend things like this without question. They probably didn’t know why I was there, but I was sure they were hoping I was going to cause a scandal. They knew the whole thing with Cassandra, Christian and me was sketchy. Christian had basically publicly proclaimed his love for me, after all, and now he was supposedly dating Cassandra?

How scandalous.

At first, I didn’t do anything. I just sat and watched since Christian and Cassandra weren’t out yet. When they came out, I tuned in and paid close attention. I had to time this well.

“Everybody, here’s Christian Ryder and Cassandra Lovett!”

Everyone clapped wildly and cheered, shouting out nonsense.

Christian and Cassandra sat down on the couch by John Stavros’s desk. Christian made sure to sit apart from Cassandra, I noticed, and she made sure to scoot closer to him.

“Hi, John,” she chirped happily. “Thanks for havin’ us!”

“The pleasure is all mine,” John said with a smile. “Now, tell me, how did this happen? I’m sure everyone is dying to know.”

“Well, Chris and I have always been kinda involved. Even when we’re broken up, we’re still thinkin’ about each other and talkin’ and missin’ how things used to be. One day, Chris calls me and says that we should talk, so I met up with him at a small restaurant. We just started talkin’ and one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were back together! Chris is just the sweetest.”

Cassandra prattled on a bit more about this “relationship” of hers with Christian until John Stavros stopped her, asking Christian, “You’re being awfully quiet today. Don’t have anything to add?”

Christian looked pained. I had told him to not say anything. I hadn’t explained myself fully, but I had told him enough to make him feel troubled. “Um.”

“He’s so shy sometimes, I just find it funny,” Cassandra said, squeezing Christian’s shoulder.

I swear, she found every possible excuse to touch him. It was making me mad, and I wasn’t going to stand there and wait any longer.

“Come on, Chris. Tell him about us.”

This was where I finally lost my patience and butted in. The crewmen were surprised when I just walked out there, but when they saw who I was, they didn’t say anything. “There’s not much to tell. Is there, Chrissy?”

Christian rolled his eyes at the nickname but his lips twitched upward nevertheless. “No, there really isn’t.”

The studio audience was a good one. I could tell already. They were already gasping at the appropriate time.

“Christian, what are you doin’?” Cassandra hissed before turning to me. “And you! I thought you would be gone. What are you doin’ here? You weren’t invited!”

“And you weren’t actually asked to be Christian’s girlfriend by Christian himself, so you know, I think this makes us kind of even.”

The studio audience watched in awe.

“Shut up,” she hissed, saying it so quietly, I doubted anyone except John, Christian and me could hear it.

“Why?” I asked innocently. “Do you not think the world wants to know the truth?”

This was where John interjected. Although I was sure this wasn’t part of what he had planned, I knew he wasn’t going to turn down the drama this brought to his show. “What truth, Sophia?”

“That Cassandra is a lying brat, of course.” I smirked over at her. “It’s really quite sad. You can’t get the guy so you convince his manager to force him into a fake relationship, that’s really nothing but a rumor?”

The audience gasped once again.

“It’s not a fake relationship,” she said, trying to salvage the situation.

“Of course it is.”

“How are you so sure of this, Sophia?” John asked.

“That’s easy,” I answered simply. “I know for a fact that Christian isn’t dating Cassandra because he’s dating me.”

As expected, the audience gasped again, murmuring amongst each other.

They had to be the best studio audience ever, seriously.

“Christian? Any input?” John was just feeding the situation, clearly, trying to broaden it’s horizons.

“Actually, yeah,” Christian said, smirking over at me. “Everything Soph said is true. I’m not dating Cassandra. That was just something my manager made up without telling me. I didn’t agree to it because I’m not interested in Cassandra. I already have a girl who’s more than enough for me.”

“Stop,” Cassandra hissed at us. “Stop!”

“Are you going to deny the fact that Christian’s clearly interested in me, and not you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously. What more proof do you need? He’s told you several times himself, he pretty much proclaimed it to the world when he went on national TV, and he’s telling you now. Get a grip.”

“He hasn’t said anythin’,” she snapped. “He could be talkin’ about some other girl!”

Christian walked over to me, stopping when we were nearly touching. He was talking to Cassandra, but he was looking at me. “I’m not. The girl I’m talking about, the beautiful, amazing girl I’m talking about is standing right in front of me. And I’m happy and proud to say—and I don’t care who knows, and I hope she doesn’t either—that this amazing girl is mine.”

The audience went “Aww” at this moment, which was still completely appropriate.

I just smiled up at him. I supposed there was no reason to bother trying to hide it. It was more than obvious by now. “And I’m happy and proud to say, and I also don’t care who knows since I know he doesn’t, either, that this amazing, funny, dorky and incredibly sweet guy is mine. All mine.” I poked my head around Christian’s body so I could glance at Cassandra. “So… seriously, back off.”

Christian laughed and grabbed me by the waist. “Getting possessive, huh? I like it.”

“You know it,” I said, still laughing when he leaned down and kissed me. The audience began cheering, clapping and screaming, “Aww”. We barely acknowledged them, though. We were lost in our own little world.

I no longer cared that I had ruined my reputation as the only girl who managed to resist Christian Ryder’s charms. I had a new reputation now, a better one, in my opinion. I was the only girl who managed to make the seemingly-heartless Christian Ryder fall in love.

***

THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. I know the last line makes it look like it would be, but it's not! This is the second to last chapter. =)

I really liked writing this chapter. Well, actually, I like writing all the chapters, so never mind. xD I just found the last scene amusing. :')

I know the first plan Sophia (AKA Soapy) had wasn't bad enough for Frank since it only made him look like a retard... but trust me. What I have planned for him in the next chapter--the last chapter, mind you--is pretty... well, pretty horrible. ;D

Not as horrible as I would like since this is a PG-13 novel, after all, but oh well....

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter. =) I know the last one made you guys angry because you were afraid Chrissy and Soapy (LOLOLOLOLOL) would break up, but I was calm because I obviously knew there was no reason to freak.

Anyhoo.

Yeah.

Sorry for not replying to comments on the last one, by the way. I missed four days of school last week and had a HORRIBLE time catching up on my homework and tests! Gah, it sucked! Hopefully I'll be able to reply now!

Thank you for the comments, though! I read them all and LOVE LOVE LOVE them all! :')