Chapter 3

Sydney's POV

Love. Was ever a word more wonderful than that one? No, there was none.

Love was hard to describe. No matter how giddy, happy, ecstatic or warm and fuzzy you felt, you could never define the word with complete accuracy.

It was indescribable.

Then there was heartbreak.

Knowing the harsh bitter cold reality from the person you loved with all your heart was indeed easy to define.

Only one word could summarize that bitter truth-devastated.

Yes, I was devastated. The love of my life cast me aside like yesterday's newspaper. It was old news. Jilted. Craig had gotten tired of mousy, nobody, little Sydney Andrews.

I knew I wasn't perfect. I'm five foot five and have long wavy chocolate brown hair that mostly sticks out. My eyes were blue-a washed out blue, not deep, dark and soulful. I had a good nose, pink lips and I wore a size six, and that was all I'm going to say about that.

Craig on the other hand was perfect. He had the perfect looks; blonde hair, baby blue eyes, straight nose and a body worth ogling.

With his perfection paired up with a preppy, sexy, glowing blonde haired cheerleader was the perfect example of a power couple.

At some time in our lives we had to believe that fairy tales was just a delusion.

A mere stupid fallacy.

The hours passed as I sat in this bathroom locking myself inside a cubicle. I knew it was wrong to ditch class but my emotions were going haywire. I couldn't concentrate.

As they said, crying was a good form of therapy. If therapy meant crying hysterically as the image of him and her making out passionately replaying forwards and backwards in my head then no, I didn't feel relaxed at all.

I was in my personal hell.

A loud bang followed by high pitched motor mouths filling the bathroom had stopped my racking sobs.

"Oh my god! He finally dumped that nerd," gossip monger number one exclaimed.

"Yeah, like I know right!" gossip monger number two agreed. "She was not good enough for Craig. Look at her! Like she's boring and ugly. Shelly's perfect for him."

"Oh yeah, most definitely! Come to think of it, I haven't seen the nerd today. Probably licking her pathetic wounds or something," gossip monger number one said.

Gossip monger number two sighed dreamily,"Shelly and Craig are going to be the power couple of Redfield High."

"Duh! Now come on, let's go. I'm done with my make up."

They left the bathroom leaving me more depressed than ever.

So the school's talking about our break up. I could smell Shelly's handiwork all over it. That fiend was a blabber trout mouth to begin with.

The final bell rang and I heaved a heavy sigh. School was over for the day so that meant homeward bound. I picked up my backpack from the tiled floor and slung it on my shoulders.

Wiping my tears and snot away, I unlatched the lock and got out of the cubicle. My nerves grew frazzled as I thought of bumping into either of them. But, what could they do? They made their point so with a shrug I left the bathroom.

As I walked along the hallway, I stared straight ahead making sure not to look at the people around me. I didn't want to see their look of pity so I hastened my footsteps but ended up bumping into something hard and tumbled down the floor with a loud thud.

"OW!" I cried rubbing my sore butt. That was going to leave a bruise.

"Syd?"

My breath caught in my throat as I heard that all too familiar voice. Somebody up there really hated me right now. Slowly, I looked up and saw him, in all his mighty glory.

Craig.

He held out his hand to help me up but I chose to ignore it. I know, very stubborn but I was entitled to be one. With a grunt, I pushed myself up from the floor and stared at him cautiously.

His outstretched hand was still laid suspended in the air. Realizing I wasn't taking it anytime soon, he rolled his eyes and dropped it to his sides. "Hey, how are you?" he asked.

Wow. Of all questions, anything but that.

The moment was tense alright. People didn't give justice in describing nervousness as butterflies fluttering in your stomach. No, they didn't. I had birds flapping a great deal in my gut and it wasn't a welcoming feeling.

But, you know what? I opted for the next easiest thing.

I walked away.

Unfortunately, he just had to grab my arm and jerk me back to him.

"What?!" I growled."I'd feel so much better if you let go of my arm."

He frowned at my response but nevertheless let my arm go."Look Syd, I know we ended on a bad note but we can always be friends," he offered.

What in god's name was he trying to do? So now he was offering friendship? That was so rich of him.

I glared fiercely."The way you ended things with me doesn't earn you a speck of my friendship," I said with pure hostility in my voice.

He rolled his eyes."Don't be so immature, Syd," he reasoned."I'm trying to be civil here and besides, you'll find someone else. Don't worry."

I scoffed."Craig, you are not getting the picture. I love you very much. I was a good girlfriend to you but the fact still remains. You broke my heart so you could be with that hoe bag," I stopped for a few moments as my voice turned shaky. "It's not as easy as counting sheep in your sleep." By now, the tears broke free like a dam.

All the bottled up frustration from our relationship came pouring out relentlessly. I wanted it out because it was eating my sanity.

"Shelly is not a hoe bag. She's sweet and caring." he defended lamely.

This was it, my breaking point. He didn't know the torture I had to go through when he wasn't looking. All the insults, trash talking, he didn't know what went down when we weren't together.

"You think Shelly is sweet?!" I spat at him."God Craig! If you only knew how I endured all the insults being thrown at me, especially from Shelly. I took each," I pounded my chest. "and every" I pounded my chest again. "blow they threw at me because I love you. I took it all because I love you so don't say that she's sweet."

My breathing was ragged as I said this. I cast my inhibitions aside and let my emotions run free.

He hesitantly reached out to comfort me but I backed away. "Please Syd. Don't cry. I'm sorry you feel that way and..."he trailed unsure with the words he was about to say next."I'm s-sorry for

breaking up with you like that. I want us to be friends."

Unbelievable.

"Things could have been different if you broke up with me in a good way but the damage has been done. As for being friends," I paused, my voice shaking and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and said."That w-won't h-happen anytime soon."

There. I said it.

"Syd, don't be like this. What we had was special. I know it hurts. It's just..." he trailed. "I don't love you anymore."

I opened my eyes and smiled. This was going to be last time I'd be smiling for him. "Too much talking won't get us anywhere. I'm done. I hope you and that STD infested brat will live happily ever after."

I went around him and walked off.

At least I had said my piece. Letting my emotions out in the open was a good thing. I felt drained and going home wasn't appealing at the moment so instead of taking the route for home, I spun on my heels and headed to the park.

Gavin's POV

Glancing down on my watch, it was 3:30pm. School ended 30 minutes ago but the knucklehead hadn't showed up yet at his locker.

I was referring to Sean Ferguson, linebacker of the Redfield Wild Bears. He thought putting used condoms on my locker was funny. Clearly, the douche had no imagination. Who in their right mind would put used condoms on someone's locker anyway? I swore those things came from the sluts he had slept with.

Those were meant to be thrown out or.... wait, I think he got them from the trash bin. Man, that would be gross if he did.

As payback, I used my ingenuity to create something mind blowing so I started first by B and E. Yeah, breaking and entering.

It was easy to break into his locker. I had a list of everyone's combination so you could say nobody was safe from me. You might be asking how I managed to procure such classified information?

A troublemaker wouldn't kiss and tell.

Wait, that sounded wrong.

Anyway, I took the liberty of placing a mini catapult inside his locker. On the scoop, I placed a hefty amount of vinegar and um...urine (It's mine okay) but I added red food coloring for effect. Red was the team's official color so why not put in some school spirit right?

I know, I KNOW! It was cruel of me but when you mess with awesome, payback was 10 times harsher than the one you pulled on me. Just in case you think I was unhygienic, I washed my hands after peeing on the cup. Just saying geez.

What could vinegar and urine mixture do you ask? Simple. The moment that stinky fluid hits your skin, the smell would drive you insane. You'll be begging for a long thorough shower. Yeah, better believe it.

For the catapult to work, I placed a string from the device to the locker so when he opens it, BAM! It was going to rain like cats and dogs. I'd only hope he had a spare shirt because damn, he was going to stink so bad.

Glancing once again on my watch, it was now 4:05. He was definitely taking his time.

"She was such a hot man and flexible too."

My ears perked up a bit. Finally!

I looked up and saw Sean walking towards his locker with Henri, another jerk from the football team.

Henri chuckled."You gotta give me her digits man," he said, grinning like a fool. "I would love to tap that hotness too."

I snorted. What a bunch of douches.

Hearing my snort, Sean turned around and glared at me."Got something to say Matthews?"

I smirked. Oh no my good sir. My lovely device of destruction would do that for me so I stayed silent.

He laughed at my silence. "That's what I thought," he turned back to his locker and did his combination.

Here we go.

My eyes were glued to his hand holding the locker door. When he pulled it open, my foul smelling concoction shot directly to him with a loud splash.

"Dude, that smells awful! What is that?" Henri said as he scrunched up his nose and backed away from him. Good move dickhead.

I couldn't hold it in any longer so I laughed out loud.

Sean spun around in all his wet glory. His hair was dripping and his shirt was drenched in a marvelous shade of red. "You did this, didn't you?" he sneered.

I nodded in confirmation."Yup!" I said popping the p. "And I must say the color red suits you. It brings out the color of your cheeks." I said, chuckling at the end.

"Principal Warner's going to know about this," he threatened.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Like that would scare me."Please, I had so many visits to his office. I practically live there," It was true. I had done so many bad things to this school the principal practically lost count with all the violations starting from freshman year. But, he couldn't had me expelled. Daddy big bucks donated a lot of dough to this school so he couldn't do anything about it.

The perks of being a rich boy.

All humor disappeared from my face as I walked towards him but I couldn't help but recoil at the foul smell emanating from his drenched body. He was now the epitome of a walking bathroom.``Listen here prick," I said in a low dangerous tone. "Don't try messing with me again. If you want to prank someone, make sure that person isn't the definition of trouble." I did an air quote on the last part.

His face turned red like a raging bull seeing a matador waving a red flag. "You're going to pay for this."

I rolled my eyes and turned to leave but not before I said my parting words well, sentence anyway. "When that day comes, I'll make sure you're going to get it 10 times more than what you did to me, so much that dousing you with vinegar and piss was just child's play."

I snapped my head back and walked off.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cruising around town in my Mustang GT, the sign Redfield Park caught my attention. The idea of chilling at the park for a while seemed appealing to me at the moment so I made a sharp turn and zipped to the nearest empty space near the entrance.

The sun was slowly setting with hues of pink, orange and purple present at the horizon. There was a slight breeze but it wasn't hot nor cold. It was a perfect setting for a chill out moment so I got out of my car and headed to the entrance.

Not a lot of people were at the park. Just a couple of stragglers here and there but most of them were heading home. Some of the food stands were closing up for the day while kids latched on to their mommies as they packed all of their stuff to leave.

I spotted a girl on the swings all by her lonesome. She looked familiar with her chocolate colored hair tied to a sloppy bun with her eyes looking at the ground.

Could it be?

My speculation was proven right when she lifted her head up and looked in the other direction.

The only thing I could say right now was that she looked...broken.

A girl who had nothing left to give.

With a sigh, I trudged towards the swings and sat on the empty one right next to her.

Swinging slowly, I thought about how I would break this awkward silence. She hadn't heard me coming so I guess it was obvious it had to be me so I cleared my throat and spoke.

"Hey."

She jumped a mile high and turned her head to face me with a startled look.