Payback Plan

The next morning, Aurelia arrived at my house with the energy of someone preparing for war. Not emotional support. Not comfort. War. She marched into the kitchen holding two coffees and a notebook an actual notebook. I stared at her from across the table, asking if I should be scared. "Yes," she answered immediately, sitting down dramatically. "We are fixing your life today."

I blinked slowly, pointing out that my life was fine before all this. "And now it isn’t," she replied, "which means we adapt." Nyx stirred faintly inside me for the first time that morning, almost amused, which surprised me. Aurelia opened the notebook seriously to a page with "PAYBACK PLAN" written in giant letters. I immediately covered my face with my hands, but she corrected me, calling it her genius recovery strategy.

Vesper sat beside her looking calmer as usual, while Kane looked like he deeply regretted agreeing to come. Aurelia pointed at the page proudly to Operation One. "You," she said dramatically, pointing at me, "need male attention." I stared at her, but she ignored my confusion. "You’ve spent years hiding behind oversized hoodies and emotional exhaustion. That ends now."

Vesper covered a laugh as Aurelia flipped to Operation Two. "You need to flirt," she stated. When I asked with who, she simply said "attractive boys." She leaned forward seriously, telling me I needed Bane to regret his life choices. At the mention of his name, something tightened faintly in my chest, and Nyx shifted uneasily, but I ignored it.

Kane laughed quietly into his drink until I pointed out he looked scared of eye contact. Aurelia flipped another page for Operation Three: "You get a boyfriend." When I tried to get Kane to help me, he traitorously said he wanted to see where this went. Aurelia looked entirely too pleased, insisting I needed someone hotter than Bane.

Then she lowered her voice dramatically for Operation Four. Vesper looked nervous, and Kane slowly put his drink down as I stared at Aurelia cautiously. "Because," she said proudly, "you are going to lose your virginity." The entire room went silent. I pointed at her, telling her she’d lost her mind, but she defended herself by saying I deserved better memories than what Bane was giving me.

"I deserve therapy," I corrected. Kane looked physically exhausted, noting the conversation was getting dangerous. I dropped my head onto the table dramatically, muttering that this was my punishment for having friends. Despite myself, I laughed. It was small but real, and the room softened slightly. The heaviness still existed, but it wasn’t crushing me completely anymore.

After a moment, Vesper spoke quietly, suggesting I should face Bane properly to accept the rejection completely. The joking atmosphere faded. "If you keep holding onto the bond emotionally, it’ll keep hurting worse," she said softly. Nyx shifted faintly at that, listening. Kane leaned back, adding that I needed closure.

I hated that they were probably right. Aurelia pointed at me again, insisting I commit to the plan. Vesper smiled slightly, then Kane made the mistake of asking what she would do if he ever rejected her. Silence fell as Vesper turned slowly toward him. Kane weakly added "hypothetically," but Vesper just smiled sweetly. "I would castrate you."

The room exploded into laughter, even from Kane. But Vesper wasn't done, calmly explaining exactly what else she’d cut until Kane interrupted her. Aurelia fell sideways laughing, and I nearly choked on my drink. For the first time since my birthday, the pain in my chest didn’t feel like the loudest thing in the room anymore.