Zara: 1, Professor Bain: 0
—
I stare down at my bland cafeteria lunch, my breathing erratic. It took forever, but I finally found a table away from the prying, curious eyes of the other students…where I can sit and eat…alone. Not that I’m hungry, though. I’m too anxious to eat…too worked up. I’m sure anyone close enough to hear my accelerated breathing and my heart pounding away faster than a drum line would think I’ve completely lost my mind—but I don’t care. Now that I’m here, this whole thing has suddenly become real. I’m more shocked that I was able to channel my inner Karly and remain calm and collected. I send a silent prayer thanking her for the strength to get through my fir
st class with him.
I’m actually doing this. Months of planning and I’m actually at Northwestern, in his class, living out my calculated plan of revenge on the person I hate more than anyone else in this world; the person who stole my best friend…my cousin…right out from under me without any warning at all.
Noah Bain.
Even his name makes me feel sick. I’m honestly surprised I was able to be so close to him—alone with him—for more than a few minutes without ramming a pencil through his eye. But death would be too easy. He needs to pay for his mistake. I just need to figure out the best way to go about this. There really are a lot of options. Maybe I’ll just sit back and let the situation resolve itself, and if he turns out to be the creep I know he is, he’ll fall right into my trap and half the work will be done for me.
I push my tray across the table, unable to stand the sight of food right now. I need just a little while to calm down. I hate that he’s being so nice to me. It doesn’t change anything, though. This morning, before I actually laid eyes on him, there was just a small spark. Now, after having heard his voice, I can picture him saying all those things to lure Karly, then trying to break her. Who am I kidding? He didn’t just try, he succeeded. And now that tiny spark has turned into a flame so large it’s capable of engulfing me whole.
I’m going to destroy him—it’s the one thing I can do to try to get some justice for Karly. I’ll be sure she comes out the winner. He doesn’t get to live his happy little life while she’s rotting away in a box six feet under. She deserves more.