Better Than Revenge 

Chapter 17 

I did it again. I assumed my actions would have no consequences, but I was wrong. Oh, was I wrong. It was even worse than the last time I did something like this, actually, because this time, this affected many people, not just me. 

How was I supposed to know something like this would happen, though? It wasn’t something that immediately popped into your mind before you said something. 

Now, let me get one thing straight. When I said what I said on the John Stavros Show, I wasn’t really thinking. I was acting out of spite. I didn’t think of the consequences, as was more than clear by now. I didn’t consider the possibility of something going way wrong. I spoke without thinking, as usual. 

I had no idea that my simple action could cause such an extreme domino effect. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have done it. 

Maybe. 

Nah, I probably still would have done it. I just would’ve been sneakier about it. 

Anyways, the next day, I realized just how much trouble I had caused. And actually, that was nothing. It had only been less than a day. It was only the beginning, although I hadn’t quite figured that out yet. It didn’t take me very long to come to the realization that things could only get worse, though. 

When Tori turned our television on to one of the many celebrity gossip shows she watched on a daily basis, I could hear her squealing loud and clear even though I was in the kitchen. I was pouring milk into my bowl of cereal when she started squeaking and screaming. 

“Soph, come here!” she cried wildly. “Quickly!” 

“What now?” I asked with a sigh, walking into the living room with my bowl of cereal.

“Look! Just look!” 

I sat down on the couch and set the bowl down on the table in front of me. I took a few bites as I watched. 

As soon as what I was seeing processed in my mind, I spit out my cereal after almost choking on it. “Oh sh—” 

And then I actually started choking on my cereal. 

“Look what you did!” Tori exclaimed with wide eyes. “Are you seeing this?” 

I merely nodded as I managed to calm down long enough to stop choking on my cereal. I took a deep breath and kept watching. 

On screen, there was a pretty, tall girl with short blond hair and dark blue eyes introducing herself to the press as Chloe Hale, Christian Ryder’s girlfriend. 

Something told me Tori was right and this was somehow my entire fault. 

“I’m so glad it’s not a secret anymore,” she gushed happily. “It’s such a relief! Now the entire world can know that Chris and I are in love! I love him more than anything in the world and I know that he loves me. Now we can be together, without any obstacles.” 

Oh dear God, this girl was delirious… 

As I kept watching, I figured out a few things. Apparently, Chloe was the girl Christian had been talking to on the phone the day I overheard him. She was the girl I had assumed to be Christian’s girlfriend. 

She must have seen me on The John Stavros Show and taken my comment about Christian having a girlfriend as a sign that their relationship was now out in the open. Why else would she announce that she was Christian’s girlfriend to the press all of a sudden? And it was the day after my little comment, too. 

“He’s never mentioned a girlfriend before,” one reporter said to Chloe. “Why the sudden openness?” 

“It was a secret,” she replied simply, “but now it’s not, so why not let everyone know? Besides, we’re in love. We want to tell everyone!” 

Wait… 

Oh, no. 

This was bad. This was beyond bad. If I thought Chloe’s going to the press was bad, then what would I call what was to follow? 

See, there was one other thing I hadn’t considered. Christian, being the gorgeous and charming celebrity that he was, was a player, and a big one at that. He was just a total player. Girls flocked to him like he was a magnet. And in a way, he was. He was a total chick magnet. 

Of course, I already knew this. I wasn’t naive, after all. Everyone knew this. But I hadn’t thought of what this meant concerning my actions. 

 In all likelihood, Christian probably had multiple “girlfriends”. And “girlfriends” was probably too nice of a word, too loose of a term. They were most likely more like “hoes” or “friends with benefits”. I really couldn’t see Christian settling down with any one girl and calling her his official girlfriend. 

So because he was probably involved with more girls than just Chloe, I could sense disaster brewing. Now that Chloe was out in the open, the others were bound to become furious. They would feel betrayed, hurt and yadda, yadda, yadda. That wasn’t even the problem, really. Their emotions weren’t of much importance, honestly. They were young; they’d get over it. The problem was the mayhem these scorned girls would cause. 

And all because of me, basically. 

When I got to the set, I ran straight to my trailer. And I actually turned out to be right. I was right on target. Christian was, in fact, in a “secret relationship” with many girls. How he remembered all of their names, I wasn’t sure. He wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. Maybe he called them all Honey Bun or something… 

All of the girls he was with realized that he was just playing them, though. And boy, were they mad. They were beyond mad. And luckily for me, I got to see a bit of this. A few of the girls showed up on set to confront Christian. Our security was clearly lacking. Then again, stopping an enraged ex was hardly an easy feat. It would be easier to drown a fish. 

I assumed Christian had been avoiding all of them ever since Chloe’s revelation got out and they had to resort to showing up on set. I didn’t blame him for trying to avoid them. I would be scared, too, if I were him. 

I was inside my trailer when the first girl showed up, but I could hear her screaming, “No, I need to talk to Christian! Let go of me, you buffoon!” 

I guessed why she was there and I didn’t want to miss it, so I ran out of my trailer just in time to catch the confrontation. I stood watching on the sidelines. 

“Christian Matthew Ryder,” the girl hissed.  “You stupid, cheating scumbag!” 

She was a pretty girl. She was small, with long, light brown hair and dark green eyes. She looked possessed at the moment, though. 

“Babe, just give me—” Christian began slowly. 

Hah! I was right! He did use pet names! Now, it wasn’t Honey Bun, but it was close enough.

“No!” she shrieked wildly! “I’m never believing any more of your lies, you stupid, stupid heartbreaker! I hate you!” 

I swear this felt like a bad soap opera… it wasn’t even worth some popcorn! Come on. I had expected a little more than this. 

“Babe—”

“Never again!” she sobbed dramatically. “You’re not worthy of this!” She gestured to herself. “You don’t deserve me!” 

Christian whispered something to her that I couldn’t quite hear. She, in turn, reached out and slapped him right across the face and with a loud huff, she stalked away. 

I almost died of silent laughter at this. She slapped him! And she left a red mark. Oh, this was too good. 

I didn’t want him to see me, though, so I ran back to my trailer. I had been avoiding him all morning. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. Luck was on my side, though, because we had yet to do a scene together that day. 

A few more girls showed up to yell at Christian for deceiving them. After the third one, I became bored. After a while, hearing the same old thing got boring. “You dirty liar! I hate you! why would you do this to me? How could you?” Wah, wah, wah. 

I was quite amused when one of the girls came back and begged him to be with her, though. She clearly had no dignity. It was disgusting. 

Christian looked absolutely frustrated whenever I saw him. I quickly ran the other way but the few glances I got of him told me he was irritated. 

Honestly, though, I didn’t feel bad in the slightest. I know that sounds horrible, but it was the truth. Christian deserved all of this and more, and I didn’t believe this only because I hated him. that was part of it, sure, but there was more to it. He was the one who lied to these girls, after all. He had it coming. He was bound to have been discovered eventually, and I was glad he was discovered. Those girls, annoying and pathetic as they were, didn’t deserve to be lied to in such a way. And the truth always came out, one way or another, whether it was sooner or later. I just made it a little sooner… 

And a little more public. 

There was nothing I could do now, anyways, so there was no point in feeling remorse in the first place. All I could do was sit back, relax and enjoy the show. 

Well, I could also avoid Christian for as long as I could. 

Tori brought me some dinner around seven. Everyone else was eating together, but I was still avoiding Christian and he was going. It wasn’t that I was scared of him, because clearly, I wasn’t. I just thought it was bet to give him some time to cool down. I knew for a fact that the moment he ran into me, he would go off on me. 

“Put it on Hollywood Tonight,” Tori said as she sat down on the small couch in my trailer. “Something tells me you’re going to want to watch it.”

I had a good idea of what was going to be said on the show, and when we tuned in I saw that I was right. Some of the girls that Christian was with were smarter. Instead of confronting him and causing a scene on the set, these girls went to the press with their sob stories, gaining fame and money from this. 

Sleazy, but smarter than the other girls. 

They were all basically the same, though. 

“Christian lied to me!” 

“Christian told me that we were in a secret relationship, but no one could know yet because he was focusing on his career, not his love life, for a while!”

“Wah, wah, wah.” 

I was sure after seeing this, Chloe would go to the press with her sob story of having been lied to and she would probably publicly dumb Christian. 

“Shoot, I forgot that Nora asked to see me for a second,” I muttered suddenly. “I’ll be right back, Tori!” 

“Okay,” she said, completely distracted by the television. 

I shook my head and ran out of the trailer. Christian was eating with everyone so I didn’t think I’d run into him. 

I was wrong. As usual. 

As I was looking for Nora, I ran right into Christian. After avoiding him so well all day, I just had to ruin it. 

As I had expected, he was absolutely furious at me, even more so than usual. He pointed a finger at me, narrowed his eyes and screamed, “You!” 

That was when I started running. 

***

Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! Like I said, I was super busy this weekend and didn't have time for anything. 

I'll upload chapter eighteen on Thanksgiving, if all goes as planned, though, just to make up for it. :D

I'm really looking forward to chapter eighteen. That's when the games begin. ;D

Not sure what I mean by this? You will. :D 

Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! 

VOTE.COMMENT.FAN. :)