I didn't know if I'd be able to finish it in time, so I didn't mention Christmas Present Part 2. But I did, so here it is! What you've all been waiting so long for, so patiently. (Well, most of you have been patient. xD)

Enjoy ;)

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Better Than Revenge

Chapter 24

If it were possible for mouths to drop all the way to the floor, mine definitely would have. This was just so surreal. I couldn't believe it was even happening. I had basically accepted the fact that for some odd reason, Christian Ryder was jealous over me, but I hadn't expected this. His words still caught me off guard.

I just stood there, at a loss for words. I didn't know what to do or say. I didn't think I could have said or done anything even if I wanted to.

Christian looked pained, to be honest. The suspense was clearly killing him. "Say something," he finally exclaimed, a nervous look on his face.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to find some sort of clarity. I failed miserably. There was no way to find clarity in a situation like this.

"Please," he continued desperately.

This was so weird. I had seen Christian Ryder at work with the ladies, and this definitely wasn't how he worked. Was he on something? What was this? He never pleaded with a girl to answer him. True, girls never failed to answer him positively within the first ten seconds of his declarations, I was sure, but still. I knew perfectly well that this wasn't in his nature. This wasn't normal. Christian Ryder didn't do this.

I finally opened my eyes and saw that Christian was staring at me with a weird look on his face. I still couldn't quite decipher it, but I kind of had an idea of what it meant now. At least, I got the gist of what it meant.

"Soph," he said, taking a step closer.

Finally, after a while of a silence on my part, I managed to reply. "Do you think this joke is funny? Because I sure as hell don't. This is just plain weird... I don't find it funny at all."

Christian looked confused. "What? It isn't a joke, Soph. I'm being serious. Honestly. I've never been this serious in my life. I'm not joking around."

Looking into his deep, emerald green eyes, I wanted to run, I wanted to scream, and I wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt me.

"Ugh, don't call me that," I snapped, shaking my head quickly, stopping myself from getting entranced by his eyes. "And stop lying! Just... just stop it!"

"I'm not lying," he insisted, his voice breaking slightly.

What is happening to this world? I shrieked at myself internally. Why is his voice cracking? Why is he nervous? What is wrong with him?

And then, I remembered. And oh, did it make me feel stupid. How could I forget? He was an actor. Acting things like this out was probably what he lived for. None of this was true.

Unfortunately for Christian, I wasn't some naive little girl who would fall for his charming words. Not anymore, at least.

"Stop it!" I cried, glaring at him intensely. "Give it up, Christian. I don't believe a word you're saying to me. Lying is what you do best."

"I know I have a reputation for lying," Christian began slowly, "but I swear, Sophia, I'm not lying at this moment. I wish I was, but I'm not. I don't know what happened—"

"Stop it!" I shrieked in frustration. Thank God there was no one around. This was going to get ugly and fast. "Stop lying!"

"But I'm not lying," he cried desperately. "You have to believe me!"

"I don't believe you," I snapped, taking a step back. "And besides, I could never feel anything but hatred for you!"

Christian recoiled a bit but quickly shook it off. "Why do you hate me so much? I know I'm not perfect, despite what people usually think. I know I was rude to you when we first met and I know I'm a cocky asshole, but I really don't think I deserve this level of hatred... I can't think of anything I could've done to deserve this."

I wanted to wring his neck at that moment. No, I wanted to run over him with my car. No, I wanted to push him in front of a bus. A dozen angry thoughts were whirring through my head and I couldn't think straight. I think that was why I did it. I think that was why I blurted out the truth.

"You honestly don't remember?" I asked incredulously, shaking my head in disbelief. "You seriously forgot?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked quietly.

"How the hell can you stand here and look at me and tell me you don't remember?" I shrieked, my hands balling up into fists. "Look at me. Look at me and tell me you forgot."

Christian looked at my face, looking into my blue-green eyes for the longest time. And finally, he shook his head. "I- I don't remember. I don't know what I'm supposed to remember."

"Of course you wouldn't remember," I snapped bitterly. "You weren't the one who was emotionally scarred, were you?"

"Sophia, what are you talking about?" he whispered with wide eyes.

He didn't remember. He honestly didn't remember. The thing that bothered me and pained me for so long... and he didn't even remember.

I still, to this day, can't explain exactly why I decided to spill the entire story. I have theories, but nothing concrete. There was no good reason for letting this slip, considering I hadn't even told Tori yet.

"When I was in middle school, around sixth or seventh grade, I was a total dork. I was the whole package. Braces, frizzy hair, awkward body type, glasses, you name it. And to top it all off, I was a nerd with straight A's." I paused to swallow. I couldn't believe I was doing this. Why was I doing this? Why couldn't I stop talking? "You and your gang of buddies were freshman or sophomores at the time. I can't remember. I do remember that you guys were the popular kids, though. Obviously. I don't think I have to tell you that part."

Christian still looked absolutely confused, but he was listening intently.

"Well, you and your gang emotionally harassed me on a daily basis," I continued, my heart constricting at the memories. "The names you called me were the adjectives I used to describe myself for so, so long... Ugly. Loser. Dork. Dweeb. Freak. Four-Eyes. Nerd. Geek. Lardass. Pig. Blimp. I'm sure there's many more, but I think I blocked off some from my memory. You, especially, made my life a living hell. You were kind of like their leader. I guess you felt like it was your job."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

"I came home and cried every day. I don't know how many nights I cried myself to sleep. I dreaded going to school. Combining the middle school and high school was the worst thing that place ever did. I grew to hate myself because of what you guys said to me, and the sad thing is, I believed every word that came out of your mouths. My self confidence was in the absolute dumps for so long. I don't think I even had any self confidence, actually. Not really."

"Oh God, Soph, I'm so sorry," Christian whispered when I was silent for a moment. "I—"

I laughed bitterly. "Oh, you think I'm done? No, no, no, this isn't even the worst part. This makes the worst part look like child's play."

He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, instead closing his mouth and waiting for me to speak.

"I moved away my eighth grade year but came back halfway through my freshman year," I continued. "I guess you could say I made a bit of a transformation. Not many people recognized me when I came back. I looked like a different person. My braces were gone, I was having better hair days, I got contacts, and I lost some weight. All of this was thanks to my mother, who thought I'd be happier if I changed my appearance a bit. She didn't know how bad the comments you guys made were, but she knew enough to worry her. You were a senior by the time I came back, and you and your friends were in the middle of playing a game... a game to see who could sleep with the most freshman. How original, eh?"

This was when he started to get the gist of things. I didn't think he fully remembered, but he got where this was going. "I got it. I don't need to hear any more..."

"No, I'm already telling this story, might as well finish it, right?" I said bitterly, only saying this to make him uncomfortable. "Now, you and your little friends didn't notice me at first. I had changed, but I still wasn't a beauty queen, by anyone's standards. You didn't notice me until I went to a party with a friend. You ran into me and probably figured I was new. When you found out I was a freshman, you decided to make me your next conquest of the night."

"Soph, I've heard enough..." he said quietly. "I—"

I completely ignored him. I couldn't have stopped even if I wanted to, by that point. "Shut up," I cried angrily. "Just shut up! Let me finish!"

He closed his mouth, but he still had a pained expression on his face.

"Now, I didn't know about your little game. Not until it was too late, at least... when you came up to me, I was in the clouds. I knew who you were and I remembered how you had treated me, but I was stupid. I didn't consider the fact that you obviously had ulterior motives. You charmed me so easily. I was silly and I was innocent and I was gullible and I fell right into your trap. I didn't even need a single drop of alcohol to end up in bed with you. You were the hottest guy in school. What girl could say no to you?"

I didn't want to look him in the eye anymore. It was just too hard. Tears were clouding my vision and I was looking everywhere but him. I didn't want to cry in front of him, but it was so hard not to.

"When I woke up, I looked for you, but you were gone. I was naive enough to think you'd still be there in the morning, but you weren't. Instead of sticking around, you sent me a text. I deleted it after awhile, but I still remember what it said. 'Sorry I didn't go easy on you. Hope you're not too sore. Thanks for the f'ck.'"

A single tear fell down my face and I quickly rubbed it away. What was I doing, standing here crying?

I finally got the courage to look up, and when I did, I gave him a look that enveloped all of the hatred I felt for him. "And that is why I hate you, Christian Ryder, and why I could never feel anything but hatred for you!" I shrieked loudly, my vision blurry from the tears that threatened to spill.

He was shocked and he was speechless. I didn't know if he had started remembering as the story progressed or if he had just started to guess where it was going, but I didn't care. I just couldn't believe I had said this out loud.

Shaking my head wildly, I ran from him, and he didn't try to stop me.