A/N: Wow, guys, I’m so sorry for the delay. I really did expect to have this out right after the other, because it was already written. But then when I was typing it up, I decided I didn’t like it, and I wanted to rewrite it. And about then, the holiday game-release season kicked in, and let me tell you… Reviewing games every week is great, but when there are this many games released, and I have to do four – yes, FOUR – a week just to partially keep up, well… Let’s just say my life got sucked away, fast. So I’m sorry, but here is the ending, finally! I’m so excited I’m finished with this, and I think I’m happy with the way it ends. But seriously, if you guys think anything is too cheesy or needs work or whatever, let me know. Because I struggled to write this chapter, and any feedback you guys can give me would be a great help.

Flonshoe: I think that last chapter was my favorite to write, so I’m glad it’s your favorite. Hehe. Hopefully you like this one too!

Baloo: I love how expert you sounded about the ‘stinging fist’ of an inexperienced puncher. Speaking from experience, hmm? Went a little crazy on one of your commutes, didn’t you… ;-) lol. Let me know what you think of this!

Kendal: Yay! I’m glad you liked it! I definitely want to hear what you think of the ending.

Rockisrocken: A lot of people liked that chapter ending. :-P That’s part of the reason I felt the need to rewrite this chapter. I felt it paled in comparison to Punch Out. Hopefully, it’s a little better now. I hope you’re still around to read it!

Salt and Vinegar Pringles: Evil laugh! I’m glad you liked it. Hehe

Sugpup: You dub Natalie gangstuh, huh? Lol. I’d like to see her be all gangstuh. ;-) I’m glad you liked the chapter so much.

Rhea Larkin: I’m so glad you liked the last chapter. It was definitely one of the more fun ones I wrote. And you know what’s funny? When I titled it “Lies of the Heart,” I didn’t even know for sure what the story was going to be about. The title just came to me. And then the story, amazingly, kind of grew into the title naturally. Worked out well. :-) Definitely let me know what you think of this chapter.

Kat6528: I’ve always liked violence. It usually works well. Haha. And actually, this is the first story I’ve ever written in which nobody dies. Nobody even almost dies, unless you count Nat when she got drunk. :-P So yeah, I’m all for violence. Lol.

Tian: Uh oh, I hope your head didn’t explode since this one took so long! You sounded a bit excited. Lol. But here’s your update, finally.

Lindserly: heh. Well, so much for that ‘update a lot faster’ thing. Doh. But hopefully the wait was worth it, if you like this chapter.

Pep-queen: Thanks for the compliment! I’m glad you like it so far!

Kaichai: Thanks!

Dancingintherain: Yes, I think ‘dysfunctional’ is the key word there. Lol.

BlackPanther02: Here it is! Let me know what you think!

x-TheSmallPrint-x: Hehe, it’s funny how excited people get when someone snaps. ;-)

Pigment of Your Imagination: Oh no! I’m sorry about your connection. That sucks when that happens while you’re doing something fun. :-P My router has a habit of just randomly shutting itself off for no good reason, and it drives me nuts. But I’m glad you liked the story enough to read all of it! And, uh, I hope I don’t run into you and your spork anytime soon. Lol.

SpaghettiO’s: Well, hopefully you’ll consider this a perfect ending. :-P Definitely let me know if you think anything should have happened differently.

Stephanieee: I’m glad you like it! Thanks!

Juniper Nights: Thanks!

Alrighty, I hope that was everyone. Thank you so much everyone who’s stuck by this story throughout its loooong writing. I really do appreciate all the comments that have been left, and I hope you’re all still out there to read this last chapter and haven’t just wandered away in boredom while waiting for it. :-P Oh yeah, and I should thank my friend Danielle for kicking me in the butt to finish the story. Thank you everyone!! Hope you enjoy!!

Chapter 17

I didn’t walk away too far, though. Just about everybody in the gym had seen what happened, and when Mr. Scott the principal came racing up, about ten people immediately pointed to me.

Five minutes later, I found myself sitting in Mr. Scott’s office, a room I’d never visited in my four years at the school. Mr. Scott had sighed and told me to wait for him while he went to see to Jessica.

I’d never been in trouble at school before, so I was a little concerned, but I have to admit I didn’t particularly care. Seeing all that blood messing up Jessica’s carefully made-up face was well worth whatever punishment I faced.

I stared at the shiny copper nameplate sitting on Mr. Scott’s desk and found myself giggling as I remembered the cheers and claps I’d gotten as I’d been marched down death row to the office. One girl had even shouted, “Do Heather next!” although it had sounded suspiciously like Sam.

I’d probably completely blown it with Matt now. It had looked hopeless before, but now that I’d broken his girlfriend’s face right before the dance pictures, well… Impossible seemed a more fitting description.

But God, it had felt good. I didn’t know if this would make Jessica back off or only make her worse toward me, but at the moment I didn’t care. I would be having wonderful dreams that night. I smiled at nothing and sank back in the chair.

It had definitely been an eventful night.

Mr. Scott came back in the room, looking flustered. He sat down in his chair, crossed his hands over one another on the desk, and fixed me with a gaze that obviously said he wished he were at home with his wife instead of here with us crazy kids.

“You punched her?” he finally asked me.

I tried to look contrite. “Yes.”

“She provoked it?”

I nodded.

He narrowed his eyes sternly at me. “Young lady, I hope you realize violence is not permitted at this school. It is not the answer to your problems. ”

I nodded again, trying to look like I agreed, when in actuality I was thinking just the opposite. Every once in a while, violence is exactly the answer you need.

Mr. Scott sighed. “Alright. Detention Monday and Tuesday. Don’t do it again.”

When I just stared at him, he nodded his head in the direction of the door. “You can go now.”

I didn’t have to be told twice. I bolted for the hallway, feeling light-headed and joyous.

That was it? Two detentions? I needed to punch people more often.

I began walking back toward the dance through the darkened hallway, feeling the overwhelming need to find Sam and gloat. The school hadn’t figured people would need this area, so all but a few lights were off, and I didn’t notice the person standing in the doorway across from the principal’s office.

“Natalie.”

I gasped and spun around, half expecting to find a hairsprayed mob waiting for me. “Matt! You scared me.”

“Sorry.” He came toward me, and I realized he had a few tiny blood stains splattered on the gray-blue shirt he wore. Despite that, I couldn’t help noticing the shirt perfectly matched his eyes.

I nodded at the bloodstains. “Get your girlfriend taken care of?”

He stopped and looked down at his shirt, then shrugged. “They took her to the hospital to set her nose.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him what I hoped was a stony gaze. “Well, if you’re expecting me to say I’m sorry, I’m not. She deserved it.”

He shook his head, brushing his blond hair out of his eyes. “I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” I said coldly. “What do you care anyway? Shouldn’t you be at the hospital? She told me all about your plans tonight. I’m sure you’d hate to miss them.”

His eyes flashed. “What about you and loverboy? I’m sure you have plans of your own.”

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “Nothing like yours, apparently. I saw you and Jessica pawing each other all week. Why didn’t you just get a room?” To my surprise, tears stung my eyes, and I turned around quickly before he could see them. “I don’t want to talk to you. Go away.”

Silence. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Matt still standing there, so I decided I would be the one to go away. I strode as quickly as I could back to the gym.
Sam came running over as I entered.

“Nat,” she cried, eyes wide, as she grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the others. “How much trouble are you in? Did they kick you out of school? Oh my God, I want to see that again.”

Over Sam’s shoulder, I could see Matt join another group of people across the dance floor. I sighed, feeling like I should go apologize but not wanting to.

“Detention, Sam. That’s it,” I sighed.

Her smile got even bigger, if that was possible. She let go of my arm to let me sit at the table, but she sat right next to me and leaned toward me. “This is the best dance, ever, Natalie. I wish I had a camera for the look on Jessica’s face when you punched her. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

The others at the table smiled and nodded, and Brad said, “I didn’t think you had it in you, Nat.”

I looked down at my swollen knuckles, then around the table at my friends, and suddenly Matt didn’t seem so important. So I didn’t get the guy of my dreams… It wasn’t that big of a deal. I had my friends, I was almost finished with high school, and now I also had the respect of half the school. Despite the disasters my life had devolved into, sticking up for myself had not been one of them. I was not a loser.

I looked down at my still-swollen knuckles, then leaned back in the chair and smiled ruefully at everyone. I was going to enjoy this dance, suddenly dateless or not.

And I did, for about an hour. It was nice sitting around and talking to my friends, without any hidden little plans dancing about in my head. Sam and Trevor seemed to get along great, and I was really happy for them. To think, I could have ruined that by pushing her on Jeremy.

Speaking of Jeremy, I wondered where he’d run off to. I hoped he was having fun too. Just because we’d decided not to be together hadn’t meant he couldn’t sit with us if he wanted.

I turned around in my chair to look for him, just in time to see two people enter from outside. One of them had red hair and a white bandage on her face and looked ready for murder.

“Oh my God,” I breathed. “I can’t believe it.”

Sam, who’d been talking to Trevor, turned to me. “What?”
I nodded toward the entrance. “She came back.”

Of course Jessica wouldn’t be the type to miss a social event, broken nose or not. My God, she was like the Energizer bunny. Only evil. I could see her scanning the room, her eyes narrowed to slits. I just knew she was looking for me so she could do something horrible. Even worse, other people were staring at her, whispering behind their hands. That would make her want me dead even more.

“Does she just want more punishment?” Jamie, on my other side, asked.

“Or to give it,” I said, dry-mouthed.

Sam clapped her hand on my shoulder. “She’s not going to try anything with you anymore, Nat. You showed her you won’t take it. She’s probably just trying to scare you. Besides, you know she wouldn’t miss the crowning.” She motioned toward the front of the room, where I could see a group of teachers massing with stacks of paper and pens.

“Oh God,” I groaned. I’d forgotten all about the Sadie Hawkins king and queen. Those titles hadn’t even existed until about two years ago. Apparently, they’d decided rubbing these popularity contests in our faces twice a school year wasn’t enough. “What other school has a crowning for this dance?” I protested.

Sam shrugged and turned back around. “Just ignore it. It’s all rigged anyway.”

At that moment, the art teacher came to our table and handed us pieces of paper and pens. “Just write your vote for king and queen, and I’ll be back in five minutes,” she said.

We stared at the papers as if they were poisonous. Finally, Jamie sighed and reached for one. “Well, I know who I’m voting for.”

Sam smirked. “I’m voting for Natalie.”

“What? No!” I could feel my face instantly flush.

“Oh, come on. Why not? You deserve to be queen for the night. It’ll be my form of protest.”

I sighed. “Sam, there’s no point. We already know who’s going to win.”

She shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.”

I shook my head and turned back to the paper. I knew who I didn’t want to win, that much was simple. And it really didn’t matter who I voted for, but I still felt like I should write down someone who deserved it. So I wrote Sam for queen and, after a moment’s hesitation, Matt for king. That had nothing to do with me; Matt was easily one of the nicest guys in school, and he should be king.

The art teacher came back around and collected the votes. For fifteen minutes, we waited anxiously for the teachers to tally up the results. Despite our hatred of the whole process, we still had this morbid fascination with it. It was sick, really.

Finally, the principal got up on the makeshift stage with a microphone. “Alright folks, here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The crowning of the Sadie Hawkins king and queen.” The student activities teacher, Mrs. Sweeney, stood next to him, holding the two crowns.

“Oh my God,” Sam said. “Those are the same ones they use for Homecoming!”

I took a closer look and decided she was right. “Boy, they went all out for this, huh?”

Sam pretended to put a crown on her head, then fluttered her hand in front of her mouth and batted her eyelashes. “It’s such an honor. I’m going to cry.”

I rolled my eyes at her, but looked back at the stage with a smile.

“Okay, here we go. Your Sadie Hawkins king for this year …” He leaned forward and grinned at us, waiting until someone yelled “Come on!” to continue. PrinciPAL, my ass. “Matt Taylor! Come up here, Matt.”

I clapped, truly happy for him. He walked onto the stage with a big smile, and I could see that his face was a little pink. Mrs. Sweeney put the crown on his head, and he turned toward the crowd and made a wide, dramatic bow. Which made the crown fall off and the crowd laugh. He grinned and picked up the crown, putting it on again.

Sam leaned toward me and whispered, “Oh my God, Nat, wouldn’t it be romantic if you were named queen with Matt?”

“No way!” I hissed. “That wouldn’t happen.” Damn her, though. As I stared up at the stage, I couldn’t help envisioning it. Mr. Scott would announce my name, and I would go up there for my crown, and Matt would be so overjoyed that he would just have to kiss me. It would be perfect.

Yeah right.

I sighed, watching Matt forlornly, hoping he’d at least look in my direction. He didn’t.

“And your queen …” Mr. Scott pulled the paper out of the envelope and paused for a brief second, looking uncertain. I admit it, lame as it is, my heart did a little jump at the look on his face. Because my name on that piece of paper would certainly surprise him.

Then he looked up and smiled. “Jessica Marshall.” I released the breath I had been holding in my lungs and turned to Sam with a small smile.

“See. It was always going to be her.” I took vengeful joy in the smattering of boos that underlaid the applause, though.

Sam shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

“Jessica, are you here?” Mr. Scott asked, obviously assuming she would still be at the hospital. But no – pure evil, remember?

She climbed onto the stage, taking the crown from Mrs. Sweeney’s hands and setting it on top of her head. “Thank you everyone,” she said into the microphone still in Mr. Scott’s hand. Her voice sounded muffled, altered by the huge bandage over her noise. In the bright spotlight, I could see that her face was swollen and bruised, and I hid a smile. She was tough, you had to give her that.

Mr. Scott shrugged, looking at Jessica incredulously, then said, “Alright, then. Time for the royal couple’s dance.”

Jessica smiled at Matt, or at least what I thought it was a smile; I don’t think she could do it too much without causing too much pain. But as she reached for his arm, he stepped forward, not even looking at her.

“Mr. Scott. Can I just say something really quick?”

Mr. Scott eyed Matt, as if trying to decide whether Matt would cause trouble, then shrugged and handed him the microphone.

“What’s he doing?” Sam muttered in my ear. I shrugged and stared at him.

Matt looked down at the microphone for a second, then scratched his head and looked out at the crowd with a small smile. “I’ve done a lot of things lately I’m not proud of,” he finally said. “And I just want to set things straight.”

Jessica was gaping at him, or at least the best she could with a broken nose. Sadly, I was doing the same thing.
“Jessica,” he turned to look at her. “You look great tonight… Or… well, you did… Anyway, the point is…” I think Jessica was trying to glare at him, but it was hard to tell. “It’s great that you guys voted for us to be king and queen. But Jessica is not who I want to be standing up here with. She never was. I’ve been pretending otherwise, and I’m tired of it.”

I was having trouble breathing, probably because my heart had jumped into my throat. He couldn’t be talking about me, could he? I wanted it so badly, but … Oh God, what if I’d been a complete idiot and Matt had been in love with someone else, and now he was about to profess his love in front of the whole school. I just might have to kill myself.

Instead, I grabbed Sam’s arm and squeezed tightly, not even looking at her. To her credit, she let me.

Matt’s face was flaming red. He opened his mouth to say more, and I leaned forward in anticipation, but instead of speaking, he shoved the microphone back into Mr. Scott’s hands. Mr. Scott just stared at it like he was afraid it would bite him.

Then Matt turned and jumped off the stage and strode … right toward my table.

“Oh my God,” Sam and I breathed simultaneously, and I subconsciously pushed myself to one knee on the chair to get a better view. Thank God there was no movable spotlight; I was sure it would have followed him if there had been.

With everybody watching, Matt strode up to me, wordlessly grabbed my upper arms, pulled me up to him and kissed me.

I had a vague notion that people were talking excitedly around me, and whistles and catcalls were circling the room, but I honestly didn’t really notice. I was kind of distracted by Matt’s wonderful mouth.

And then Mr. Scott’s voice in the microphone: “Um, Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor, if you please. Mr. Taylor, stop.”

Matt jumped away from me and spun around, grinning guiltily. I fell helplessly back against the chair, a grin of my own spreading across my face. Next to me, Sam giggled and gave me a not-too-surreptitious thumbs up.

“Sorry,” Matt called.

Mr. Scott shook his head and waved his hand at the DJ. The lights on the stage flicked off and the music started again. Jessica stood unmoving on stage, her hands clenched at her side, sending me the look of death. Then Rachel and Heather grabbed her arms and pulled her off the stage, Rachel obviously trying not to smile.

Matt turned back to me and held out his hand. “We need to talk.”

“No kidding.” I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. He led me across the room to the exit, and I tried to ignore the stares everyone was giving us.

The blast of cold air as I pushed open the door stung my eyes, and I gasped in surprise. I suppose the smart thing would have been to grab our coats first, but hey, you can’t tell passion to wait while you get your coat. Matt pulled me over to the bench just outside the exit and we sat down. Out in the parking lot, I could see a few couples standing around talking, but nobody was near enough to identify.

I hugged my arms around myself for warmth. Matt gave me a small smile, then took off his sweater and wrapped it around my shoulders.

No, don’t get excited. He had a T-shirt on underneath.

“Thanks,” I said quietly, looking at the ground. Now that we were out here alone, I was suddenly too embarrassed to look at him.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Sorry if I embarrassed you back there. I just … I had to do something drastic.”

“Drastic? Why?” I forced myself to look at him, and the way he was looking back gave me goosebumps. I’d never seen him look at me like that before.

He shrugged. “Well, I was acting like such a jerk. I didn’t think you’d ever forgive me. This whole thing is my fault, really.”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”

He squeezed my hand again. “Let me tell you a story.”

A story. I’d prefer a makeout session, but okay…

“There was this person,” he began, “who was in love with this other person. But the other person wasn’t interested. So this person pretended to go out with another person to make the first person jealous.”

I gave him a blank look. “Matt, what are you talking about? What does this have to do with me and Jeremy?”

He smiled slowly and touched my cheek gently.

“I’m not talking about you.”

“But …” My mind was slowly turning in my head, but it was so fuzzy from all the events of the night that it wasn’t making connections.

Matt shook his head. “Nat, I was only dating Jessica because nothing else was working. I figured, it worked for you and Jeremy …”
I was still confused. “But… Who were you trying to make jealous?”

His face was growing red, and he looked at the ground. “Who am I with now?” He looked back up at me, his expression guarded.

My mouth slowly dropped open, but I was so overcome by surprise that I couldn’t do anything about it.

Matt had begun to look worried. “I’m sorry if I upset you, but I didn’t know what else to do. I thought if I helped you with Jeremy, you’d see he wasn’t right for you.” He snorted. “Boy, did that backfire. I didn’t really want to do it, but I had to try Jessica. I had nothing to lose. And I knew it would drive you nuts.” He shrugged. “I’ve waited for two years for you to notice me. I was desperate.” He turned away from me, dropping my hands and looking toward the parking lot. All I could do was stare at his profile as he spoke to me over his shoulder. “I should have known better. I knew any guy would be stupid not to see how special you are, and obviously Jeremy’s not stupid.”

I swallowed hard, still unable to talk.

Matt hung his head. “I know you’re completely in love with Jeremy, but I had to tell you the truth. I couldn’t stand Jessica any longer, and as long as I stayed with her, she’d keep tormenting you. Plus,” I could tell that he was smiling, even though he wasn’t facing me. “I have never been so in love with you as the moment you punched her.”

“So you’re … not in love with Jessica?” I said slowly. I’m a bit dense, I know. But hey, I’d had a rough night.

He shook his head and turned back to me. “God, no.” Disdain flashed across his face for a brief moment. “It was an act. A lie.”

“But,” I persisted. “Your journal. You said you couldn’t wait to see her.”

“My… What?”

Oops. I cringed and looked away from him. “I found your journal at your aunt’s store. I didn’t read all of it, I swear!”

Matt let out a sharp laugh. “And you think I was talking about Jessica?”

“Well… You said you liked her curled hair.”

He shook his head, giving me an incredulous look. “Um, hello… What are these?” He tugged one of my own … curls. Oh hell.

I about choked. “I just thought… And then you were going out with her.”

“Lies,” he repeated, then slid toward me so he was merely inches from me. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him. “No more lies,” he breathed. “This is what’s real.”

He gently placed a hand on each side of my face and pulled me to him, kissing me gently.

It was just like at the ice rink, when he’d pretended to kiss me. Only this time, he definitely wasn’t pretending. I could feel it in the growing intensity of his lips on mine, the way his fingers wrapped around my hair and tugged gently. And the way the kiss didn’t end after a few seconds.

It seemed we were there like that forever, slowly leaning against each other, oblivious to the snow collecting in our hair and on our shoulders. It was like something magnetic was drawing us together.

And before I knew it, I was pouring everything I’d felt over the past month into the kiss – all the longing, the frustration, the realization too late that it was Matt – had always been Matt – who I wanted to be with. All the times I’d dreamed about kissing Jeremy, and none of them even compared to this.

When we finally pulled apart, I was gasping for breath, and even if I’d wanted to walk, I would have been physically incapable. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

There was bit of laughter from some people just leaving the dance, who’d apparently just had quite a show, but I ignored it. Matt’s hands were still entwined in my hair, and my hands were wrapped around his wrists. He stared wonderingly at me.

And I burst into tears.

He yanked his hands back like he’d been stung.

“I’m sorry.” He clumsily pushed away from me, his face deep red. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.

I hiccupped and grabbed his hand, yanking him back toward me.

“Don’t be.” I flung my arms around his neck, and he patted my back uncertainly. I pulled back to give him a broad smile. “You just made my lifetime.”

His eyes widened. “You mean …”

I nodded. "I feel exactly the same way. In fact, Jeremy and I broke up tonight because even he knew I was madly in love with you. I just ... I was so stupid. I didn't even know it until last week." I touched his cheek, overjoyed at the fact that I could do it without feeling guilty.

He grinned and grabbed the hand on his cheek, kissing my fingers gently. "We were both stupid. I should have just asked you out to begin with instead of goading you with the Jeremy thing. I always make things more complicated than they need to be. I guess we both do." He pulled me to him, holding me tightly. "Everything will be simple from now on. Like this." And he kissed me again.

---

Ten minutes later, we walked back into the dance, hand entwined and both of us wearing goofy grins.

It was a fast song, but Matt pulled me to him as if it were a slow one. Over his shoulder, I could see Jeremy watching us, a thoughtful expression on his face. When we made eye contact, he gave me a slow smile and nodded. Behind him, Sam was alternately grinning at me and pretending to make out with her hand. I rolled my eyes at her, then grinned back.

"Oh, by the way," Matt said in my ear, releasing me from his arms. "I forgot to tell you something."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're not secretly married with twelve kids are you?"

He snorted, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to me with a sheepish smile on his face.

I looked at him quizzically, then unfolded the paper and read the first line aloud. "Dear Mr. Taylor." I scanned the rest quickly, then jerked my eyes back to him. "You got into NYU?"

He nodded and shrugged.

"But ... Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged again. "I guess I was a little preoccupied with being an idiot. I figured, I don't care where I go to school, and you're always telling me to do something with my life. So I figured, why not go where you go? I thought I might get into acting." He winked at me.

I looked at the letter again, awestruck. "This is dated even before mine. What if I didn't get in?"

He grinned and tugged at one of my curls affectionately. "I knew you would."

This time it was me who made the move. I pulled him to me and pressed my lips on his.

I had a feeling we would be doing that a lot - and that was okay with me.

For once, my heart knew exactly what it wanted.