Chapter 10

Oh, jeez, oh, jeez. I know it’s been months, and that no one will bother reading this chapter since I made all my avid readers wait so long. But I just wanted to add this little side note to anyone who decides to forgive me and read (and hopefully review?) that I had a very, very long period of writer’s block and was writing very crappy chapters that are not good enough for the eyes. Here’s the final chapter of this the tale of Damien and Avery, and I hope it was worth the wait!

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Time to end this game of cat and mouse for good, I thought as I stepped into the spacious gym, its wooden floors gleaming in the fluorescent lights. I felt strangely uncovered without Erika by my side. She had flaked, throwing a casual, “Dances aren’t for me.”

In reality, I knew she hated dances and didn’t want to hurt my feelings. To her, they were places where mean girls became their bitchiest and guys reached the extent of their man whoriness. That’s not a word, but I’m sure people would get what I mean.

“Hey, you ready?” James appeared beside me, dressed in a tuxedo that only accented his puniness. I saw one girl, Kayla Burg, whispering and giggling with Melissa Cruz whilst pointing at me.

Hadn’t they ever learned it was rude to point?

James was still staring at me, expecting an answer.

“I always am,” I managed, with a smoothness I certainly did not feel.

He took my hand and led me to a table with punch and various other refreshments. Even before I took a sip of the Tylenol colored liquid, a confident voice punctured my senses.

“Well, well, the show stealer has finally arrived.” And there he was. The guy who had totally captured my heart and who was also the one I was wearing this ridiculous dress for. Seriously, I wasn’t even supposed to be at this dance. I never, emphasis on never, went to dances. They were places where people mysteriously ended up drunk and grinding against one another. It also looked so very, very lame. There was real sand stuck on paper then taped to the sides of the gym, with a few humongous beach balls lounging around and fake paper palm trees swaying with the air from a fan.

Yup, I preferred staying at home watching The Notebook with Erika and bawling over a bowl of popcorn.

Unlike James, Damien was definitely dressed to impress, his black jacket over a button up shirt and casual jeans accenting his-ahem-manliness. Was it just me, or were a pair of sophomore girls already looking over and drooling? Melissa and Kayla’s attention were now mainly focused on Damien.

I huffed a little and turned away, making the mistake of looking into Damien’s stupid green eyes. They were sparkling with laughter. However, they weren’t looking at me; they were staring at James. I saw a flash of annoyance cross over his features. He obviously thought I wouldn’t have the guts to come. Ha, take that, sucker.

“I would hardly be a show stealer. I’m sure everyone stopped and gasped when you made your entrance, Mister Holier-Than-Thou.”

He chuckled. “Really now. You’re not that invisible. Not after you started dating me anyway.” Cocky jerk.

James interrupted the banter, just as I was about to give back an awesome retort that started with, “Well, Jay was much better than you were.” It would have definitely shut him up. But no, James had to ruin it.

I was liking freshmen less and less.

He tugged me away to the dance floor. Oh, Jesus. Without asking permission, he quickly slipped one hand over my butt and another around my waist. As he was executing his disgusting performance, I could feel Damien’s green eyes watching every movement. I didn’t have to turn around to know that his emerald orbs were narrowed into slits.

Throughout the fast paced song, I had to continuously stop James’s attempts to either grope or freak dance with me. Not exactly the peaceful night I had envisioned.

At the end, I got myself out of James moving hands and towards the refreshments table again. Along the way, I talked to a few cheerleaders I had befriended and some of my other friends. I sipped a bottle of cold water, pressing the icy plastic to my heated cheek.

Conveniently, that was when I saw Damien dancing with my sister.

Jennie looked pretty smug to me. She probably had already noticed my arrival, and I didn’t doubt that she had asked Damien to dance. Since he’d seen me with James, he probably thought I’d forgotten about him, and naturally decided to blow off some steam by dancing with his bet’s sister.

This put a whole new spin on the term “high school is drama.”

Just as I was starting to lose some of my early anxiety, I heard a chorus of ooh’s fill the room. They were respectful and admiring. Curious, I made my way through the throngs of people and saw them.

Jay and Erika were walking into the lit up room, looking the perfect picture of happy couple; Erika was leaning into Jay’s side and he had an arm looped securely around her waist.

Truly, they were a match made in heaven. And I was simply exultant that Erika had arrived to save me. Jay must have convinced her. I owed that boy.

“Oh my gosh, Avery! What possessed you to get you to attend this messed up activity?” Erika asked.

“The same thing that got you here?” I said, unsubtly glancing at Jay.

Erika blushed. “Well, that’s different. I was forced, and it’s not easy watching the Notebook with a fidgety, perverted guy.” She glared at Jay.

“What?” he complained. “If you’re gonna make me watch a girly chick flick, I might as well make it fun.”

“And that is why we’re here,” Erika finished, cutting him off. She shrugged, rolling her eyes. “Now, where’s our charmer of a basketball captain?”

I silently pointed towards the dance floor.

“That bitch,” Erika mouthed. I could clearly read it on her lips.

“Now, now, let’s not call Avery’s sister a female dog,” Jay soothed, running a hand down her back.

“Oh, shut it. You had a crush on her first, no matter how much you try to deny it,” Erika snapped.

Jay stepped back, stung. “I’m with you, aren’t I?”

Erika sighed. “Of course you are. Sorry.” And she hugged him.

I groaned. “You guys aren’t helping, with your whole little lovesick act going on.” I faked covering my eyes while stepping away. Erika and Jay, or “Jerika”-as I had named them- didn’t even seem to notice my disappearance. When I looked back, they were engaged in intense lip lock. Annoying lovebirds.

What did I know, though? They probably did this everyday. Everyone approved of their relationship. Erika was on cloud nine, so I should be too. Even now, I could see the girls smiling and whispering, exclaiming about how cute they both were. Only a few threw jealous glares towards Erika, too scared to do anything about it.

I saw Jennie, standing there alone, watching me. Then, she did something I never would have thought my standoffish little sister would have done.

She walked toward me, threw her arms around my neck, and muttered, “I’m sorry.”

“Wait-what?” I stammered, looking at her. Was this my sister, or just her identical, nice twin?

“I feel so guilty, Avery! I was being so selfish, and will you ever forgive me?” she pleaded.

“Guilty about what?” I was pretty much befuddled. Here Jennie was, saying sorry, but I didn’t know what she was saying it for.

“Oh, it’s just…I’ve been so jealous of all the attention you’ve been getting. I did like Damien, but it was just a harmless crush I made into so much more. We’re sisters, Avery! I never meant for everything to get to this chaos!”

This was way too many shocks for the evening. “Okay?”

“Come on, Avery. You really didn’t think I was just so in love with Damien, right?”

I nodded slowly. “You seemed like it.”

Jennie’s lips twitched upwards. “I must be a really good actress then.”

“Oh, you are.”

She placed her hands on my shoulders. “Avery, I’m really sorry about what I’ve done. I just was so used to being the sister on top. More friends, more popular, and it just seemed like you were going to take that all away.”

“Jennie,” I started, “we’re sisters. Therefore, I have to share everything with you, whether I like it or not.”

“Avery,” she sniffled, “You really are the best sister ever.” I felt mildly embarrassed.

“Alright, I know that now. And yes, I forgive you.”

Jennie’s face lit up. “Does this mean I have to follow you around the whole night and make conversation with you?”

“Nah, we can catch up back home. Go have fun with your friends.”

Jennie beamed and ran off to talk and giggle with her friends, shooting me one last smile over her shoulder.

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I watched Erika and Jay slow dance under the colorful lights. Except…

There was always the nagging self worry that I’d never be that happy. I’d gotten close to it, but when would I experience such utter bliss?

Jesus Christ. One could never get a break from drama around here, huh?

“You’re finally alone,” Damien stated as he emerged from behind a gigantic beach ball.

I rest my case. Drama always had a hand in everything.

“I was always alone.”

“Really, Avery. Haven’t you noticed all the attention you’ve been getting? You’re popular now.”

I scoffed. “Popular. Right. And someday, I’ll also be famous.”

“It’s possible.”

“No it isn’t!” I shook my head, frustrated. “Why are we even talking about my social standing in this school? Nobody cares about where I am! I might as well still be the invisible nerd in the library!”

Damien rolled his eyes. “You don’t understand who you really are.”

His emerald eyes were intense, fixated on me and me only. In the middle of this noisy party, with its lame ass beach balls and gossipy people, I felt weirdly exposed.

“I can explain everything, from your entire life to this point.” Damien gestured outside. “But you have to follow me.”

Psh, he was pulling the mysterious act again. I followed him, carefully treading through the grass in my high heeled sandals. He led me to a small white bench, located in front of a merrily bubbling fountain. It was night, but the place was lit up by a thousand small yellow Christmas lights.

“Whoa…I didn’t know this place even existed,” I murmured, sitting down on the bench.

“You don’t know how many places are hidden around the school. Not many people do.”

“Stop acting so knowledgeable,” I said, a hint of annoyance creeping into my tone.

Damien laughed. “Someone’s feeling a bit sour.”

“So. What are the results?” I asked, watching the peaceful gurgle of the fountain.

“What results?”

“The bet, dummy. Who won?”

Damien smirked. “I did, of course. You couldn’t keep your eyes off me.”

“You were dancing with my sister, asshole! Of course I was watching. And besides, I got a guy, didn’t I? James is living proof that I’m not smitten with you.”

“I seem to have failed to mention that you were practically nauseous every time he even got near you. The bet isn’t about just who you can snag and take to the dance. It’s about whether you have the strength and willpower to get over our past relationship and let go of everything.”

“Stop sounding so intelligent. I won! There was never anything impeding me from not liking my date. You can’t blame me and take away my victory for something you didn’t elaborate on,” I accused. “Besides, you’d already lost the moment you decided to dance with my sister.”

“No, by the time I did that, the bet was already over. I’d already won.”

“God, you’re so stubborn! No, you did not win!” I threw my hands up in the air. It was amazing how difficult it was for some people to just accept defeat.

Fine, I was one of those people. In this case, however, I was not wrong.

“Avery.” Damien stopped my rambling. “At the very beginning, Jay’s strange crush on your sister was what made you noticeable. I though I was too late then. That I had lost the chance of getting to know you forever. Then, the plot just thickened. You became more desirable, someone who everyone now knew by name.

“When you decided to date me, it was great. It really was. But somehow, it just didn’t last. So of course, you had to break up with me over something minuscule. Over your sister being a traitor. And everything just escalated to this bet, didn’t it? This bet made both of us see what we had been missing all along.”

He was walking closer to me now. Lowering his faced just inches from mine, he whispered, “We saw that we needed love. We never admitted that we were in love with each other. We just thought that our relationship could survive without it, with only fate to guide it on. And fate can only last if its targets work with it, or else it fizzles and leaves to help someone else…”

“Now wait a second-” I hurriedly interrupted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I love you, Avery Christenson. I’ve been too much of a chicken to say it before, but I’ll admit it now and hope I’m not too late.”

My head was reeling from this weird turn of events, when the thought suddenly settled. Damien loved me. Damien Ridgefield loved me. Not exactly the most heartwarming speech, but I’ll take it.

“I love you too!” And I stood up so abruptly, our foreheads bumped. But I felt that warm sense of contentment I felt whenever I was near Damien, and when he pulled me in closer, his green eyes smoldering as he lowered his lips to mine.

It was the best kiss in the history of the world, with the quiet tinkling of the fountain behind us and the soft glow of the Christmas lights shimmering in the heated summer air.

Until…

“Awesome! This is like a free porn show!”

Lo and behold, it was James, standing there, mouth wide open like the perverted little freshman he was.

Damien looked furious. “You little-” He seemed to be ready to punch James in the face to let go of all the past emotions he ever had towards him. James seemed to understand, because he yelped and scampered.

Damien rolled his eyes and turned back to me. “Now, where were we?” He brushed my hair out of my face, and as he kissed me, I could feel the broken pieces that had been my heart heal themselves and form a perfect, untainted glass artifact again, and that happiness that I’d missed for so long?

It seeped back into my veins, making my blood boil with newfound warmth and desire.

~*~

I hoped everyone loved it! I’m going to miss all your awesome reviews, and I hope that everyone continues reading my stories! Love to all my readers for their encouragement throughout this story.