Chapter 6 Payback

RYLIE

That morning, the school was buzzing with activities. Classes had been put on hold and everyone was running about doing one thing or the other. The reason was simple.

Today marked the day of a huge football game between Willow Creek High and McHartley High. The whole school had been looking forward to this match for weeks as McHartley High were one of the hardest teams to beat and today would be nice different. We'd lost the last game we played against them so a lot was riding on this game.

But unknown to everyone, today also marked the day that Blake Weston would finally get what had been coming to him… because I, Rylie Myers was gonna play the mother of all pranks on him and nothing could save him from what was coming to him.

The plan was quite simple.

Just before the game started, Blake already had plans to hook up with one of his many fan girls in the janitor's closet. Once they were in, I would lock the door and make sure that Blake didn't get to play in the game.

As one of the star players, his presence was quite crucial to the success of the game and I'd already overheard the coach telling him that if he somehow missed the game, he was off the team for good.

Anyways, after Blake missed the match, I would anonymously send the video of what he'd been doing during the match to the coach making that he never got to join the team again. It was going to be epic.

He used my phobia against me and now I was going to ruin the rest of his year. That was a fair trade, no?

Few Minutes Before The Game

I stood in a dark corner and watched as both Blake and his latest soon-to-be conquest hurried past me to the unoccupied janitor's closet, hand in hand. I waited until I heard sloppy kissing sounds and what sounded like clothes being pulled off before coming out into the open and quietly making my way to the room they were in. The door was slightly ajar so as quietly and as carefully as I could manage, I pushed the door close and locked it using the key I'd bribed the janitor for.

Judging by the sounds I was still hearing, neither Blake nor Talia, the girl he was with, had noticed what had happened but they would in due time.

I slipped the key into the pocket of my jacket and walked away from the scene, a huge grin plastered on my face. As I joined the rest of the students milling towards the football field, I checked the time on my phone. The game started in about five minutes and Blake, the newest member of the team and the starting quarterback was nowhere to be found. This should be fun.

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I couldn't keep the smirk off my face as I watched the coach yell for the umpteenth time, "Where the hell is Blake?!" Then he went on a tirade about all the things he'd do to him if he found him, ending with, "And then I'm kicking him off the team... as soon as he helps us win." Then he angrily kicked a football into the air.

I turned my attention back to the match just in time to see McHartley score yet another point. It started to seem as though we would lose again.

In spite of myself, I started to feel a little pinch in my chest akin to guilt. I'd seen the team play with Blake and they'd definitely played better. Without him, the game looked bleak...

No no no. I am not letting Blake go because of a stupid football game. His last prank hit me where it hurt— I was still serving detention for fucks sake— so it was only right that I do the same. We'd be fine with losing one game.

"Damn it!" Olivia groaned beside me. I looked at the scoreboard and saw that McHartley scored yet another point, just as the halftime whistle went off.

I glanced at the scoreboard and winced at the score. VISITOR which was McHartley High had 32 points while HOME which was my school had 21 points. This was bad.

"Find Blake and bring him to him! We need his ass over here now!" I heard the coach say and watched as a number of football players dashed towards the school.

I wasn't too worried that they'd find him. The janitor's closet where Blake and Talia had chosen to hook up in was around the basement so a lot of people tended to avoid it and I knew the football players probably wouldn't think to check that area. I was the only one who knew where he was and could get him here before the end of halftime. Of course I didn't want to do it but as I stared at the scoreboard, I could feel my resolve slowly being chipped away.

"So…where is he?" I heard someone ask, drawing my attention away from the scoreboard. I looked at my side and saw Myles standing beside me, looking cross. His football jersey was stained with dirt and grass, he was sweaty and panting and I could see a bruise forming above his lip.

"W-What are you talking?" I mumbled, quickly looking away before I cracked.

"This isn't a joke, Rylie. I know you're the only person who could be behind Blake's disappearance. Where. Is. He.?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Myles..."

"Oh, please. I can literally smell the guilt oozing off of you. What did you do to him? Knock him out and store him in the freezer? Force-feed him sleeping medicine and toss his body in the pool?"

Slowly, I glanced up at Myles, with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "Oh my God. What kind of monster do you think I am?"

"Well, you always talk about wanting to murder him so I just mentioned easy painless methods..."

"You've been watching this slasher films again, haven't you?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

He awkwardly shifted his feet, then seemed to remember what'd brought about this entire conversation and cleared his throat. "That's beside the point. If you had something to do with this, fix it. You can murder Blake later but this isn't the time!"

Then he turned and headed back to the bench to rest and deliberate with the rest of his teammates.

After he left, I glanced beside me to find Olivia fixing me with a look of mild disappointment.

"Don't give me that look," I mumbled. "You knew I was planning something..."

"Just go and get him out, Ry. Halftime is almost over."

"I'm going. I'm going."

Stupid Blake, I grumbled as I pushed through the crowd. Stupid football game. And stupid Myles!