Sweet Revenge: A Young Adult Romance Read online

  Copyright © 2020 by Flora McConnell

  All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in, or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known, hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Typewriter Pub, an imprint of Blvnp Incorporated

  A Nevada Corporation

  1887 Whitney Mesa DR #2002

  Henderson, NV 89014

  www.typewriterpub.com/[email protected]

  ISBN: 978-1-64434-101-8

  DISCLAIMER

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While references might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  SWEET REVENGE

  FLORA MCCNONNELL

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  Twenty-four

  Twenty-five

  Twenty-six

  Twenty-seven

  Twenty-eight

  Twenty-nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-one

  Thirty-two

  Thirty-three

  Thirty-four

  Thirty-five

  Thirty-six

  Thirty-seven

  Thirty-eight

  Thirty-nine

  Epilogue

  To my family,

  for always being so supportive with my writing ambitions.

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  One

  “Move, fat ass!” A loud voice echoes as I am pushed face first into the grimy blue lockers. My fat cheeks slam against the cold blue surface and splay out like an ice cream dropped on the ground. I wince and let out a groan of pain.

  Nothing out of the ordinary though, being bullied is an everyday occurrence for people like me. By that, I mean people who are overweight.

  Fat.

  I push myself away from the lockers and shrug my hoodie back onto my shoulders, turning around to see the retreating figure of my tormenter. A mop of blond hair turns around to look at me, a smile etched on his face. It’s Lucas Keith, one of the most attractive boys on this earth whose mission is to make my world a living hell.

  Sometimes, I convince myself that he must have some reasoning for tormenting me the way he does. But then realization sinks in. He’s just a bad person.

  Edging on 280 pounds, I am obese. So much for inheriting my mother’s slim figure. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Seems like a web of lies to me.

  Somehow, my brother is the most praised boy in school—athletic, clever and nice—who doesn’t like him? I was unfortunately not blessed with such good genes.

  Unlike your typical high school drama, the popular kids at this school don’t mix well. My brother forms his own clique and everyone wants to be them or be with them. On the flip side of the coin is Lucas’ posse who seem to think that beauty is the only way to a successful life.

  I fall into neither clique. I fall into you’re-a-loser-and-Lucas-Keith-hates-you-so-if-I’m-nice-to-you-he-will-hate-me group. It’s a sad life.

  Fortunately, I have one thing going for me—my brains.

  When Lucas works at McDonald’s and finally realizes what it’s like to be fat, I’d be working as a scientist finding a cure for cancer or being the best friend of some royalty. That would serve him right. Ha!

  But at the moment, he’s at the top of the food chain and I’m right at the bottom. He’s the predator and I’m the prey. Brilliant. If I just hold on one more year, I’ll be out of this hell hole and into real life where people don’t treat fat girls like animals, a life where your weight doesn’t matter. A life where the size you are in doesn’t dictate the magnitude of your success.

  Thankfully, I only have one more day of hell until summer starts. After that, I am a senior, reigning above the squirmy, acne-covered freshmen. But who am I kidding? I will still be below the freshmen, especially in Lucas Keith’s eyes.

  The books I dropped lay scattered on the floor, looking up at me in misery. Grow a pair of balls! They scream at me. I woefully shake my head and tell them that once again, Lucas Keith has won this battle. I slowly pick up the books and realize that I’m late for my class. Cursing under my breath, I run as fast as my legs can take me towards the door.

  Heads turn one by one as I make my entrance. Sniggers to the right. Whispers to my left. I block them out and head to the last seat available. I close my eyes and sigh, falling into my seat.

  “Great. Now, I can’t see the board,” says a low voice behind me, followed by a couple of sniggers from his faithful posse. I turn around to see the smirking face of my bully. In an attempt to take the high road, I ignore his comment, unpack my stuff, scribble down the task Mrs. Fatimiah wrote for us on the board, and immediately start.

  “Mrs. Fatto!” Lucas shouts out, using the nickname he created for our fattest teacher in the school.

  “My name is Mrs. Fatimiah, Lucas. Do you have a question about the task?” She sighs, sitting on the edge of her desk. More sniggers come from the corner as the desk creaks. Her cheeks blush and I can’t help but feel for her. She stands up again.

  “I think something may be obstructing my view. I can’t see the task.” He whines. I ignore him once more. I won’t let him get to me. “Oh wow! It’s a person! Sorry Grace, I didn’t know you were so big that you could cover the whole board.”

  “Lucas, we’ve spoken about this. Verbal abuse in the classroom gets reported to the principal,” she says, trying to hold her ground. Lucas just laughs.

  “I’m not scared of him. He is my uncle after all.” Lucas points out, using the my-uncle-is-the-principal-so-if-you-lay-a-finger-on-me-I-will-get-you-fired card once again. Mrs. Fatimiah sighs at a loss.

  “Lucas, if you really can’t see, then move seats.” She proposes. Really, ma’am? I want to ask her. Is that really the only solution you can come up with?

  “There’s no other seat in the classroom. Why don’t I swap seats with you, Grace?” he asks. Best not to get on his bad side. I think to myself as I pull myself out of the chair. I gather up my stuff before exchanging seats wordlessly.

  “Wow, this seat is warm. Also, bigger than the other one. What did you do, stretch it?” Lucas teases. I restrain from snapping back. No, wood can’t stretch you dumbass! But again, I take the high road and ignore him for the hundredth time today.

  Crack.

  I suddenly hear from the small chair underneath me.

  Before I know it, I’m lying sprawled on the ground, breaking the small wooden chair.

&nb
sp; The realization hits me like a tidal wave. I broke the chair. Embarrassment overwhelms me and I feel my face heat up. Why couldn’t I just last one more day? That’s all it is, one day.

  I’m a stranded whale on the shore—hopeless, huge, and unable to get up or get away from the public eye. My arms and legs flap around and I try to roll over. But I am hopeless. I am stuck.

  Laughter roars around me, especially from a certain Lucas Keith. I thought I couldn’t redden any more than I already have, but I feel another surge of heat hit my face.

  I am completely and utterly stuck.

  “Need a little help?” says a low voice. I look up to see Lucas hovering above me. I give him a puzzled expression. Why is he offering to help?

  “Yes!” I exclaim. Lucas bends down before jerking straight back up, glory etched all over that arrogant face of his.

  “I’m sorry Grace, there is no way I can lift you up. You are probably three times my weight.” He laughs and his posse joins in. I should have known.

  “Don’t apologize,” I hiss sarcastically. “I’m fine getting up by myself.” I roll around some more before giving up.

  “She looks like a beached whale!”

  “She’s so fat. You can barely see her face!”

  Comments soar around me and Lucas looks much too pleased with himself. I close my eyes and before I know it, tears form around them. I can’t help it as they quietly fall down. With one surge of power, I roll over and pull myself up.

  “Being attractive and having every girl beg on their knees for your attention don’t mean you can treat me like a piece of dirt. I happen to be the only girl in this school who hates your guts and I’m proud of it. You can make fun of my weight but at the end of the day, you’ll be the one with the guilty conscience and I’ll be the one who ends up with an actual life. So, screw you, Lucas!” I scream in his face before storming out of the room.

  I’m done with this.

  ***

  I wipe the tears off my face with the back of my hand and jog down the corridor, heading outside. The air is cool and I take a deep breath in to calm myself down.

  I unfortunately see my brother, Will, coming through the doors with his friends. He instantly recognizes me and hurries over with a worried expression on his face.

  “Grace! What happened?” he says, taking my fat face in his hands. I try to push him off me but his grip remains firm.

  “Nothing!” I shout and push his muscly arms off me and carry on jogging into the car park. He is a lot fitter than me so he catches up in an instant.

  “Was it Lucas again?” he asks. I shake my head. The last thing I want is for my brother to get involved. It’ll only make Lucas realize his power over me.

  “It’s nothing. I feel ill so I’m going home,” I mumble, finally reaching my car.

  “Do you want me to drive you home?” he asks sincerely. I shake my head, before carefully climbing into the car.

  “I’m fine. See you later Will,” I tell him, before starting the engine and driving away. I allow a tear down my cheek as my surroundings rush past me. How can Lucas treat me that way? There are plenty of other overweight students at Jistie High. Why me?

  I park my car in my driveway and look up at our beautiful family home. Thank goodness. Wandering into the warmth of the house, I place my jacket on the coat rack.

  “Mom?” I call out, hoping she isn’t home. Nobody answers and I settle myself down into the kitchen. I need some comfort food. Reaching to the cupboard I retrieve a full tube of Oreos. Twist, lick, dunk. I think to myself after pouring a cup of milk. Why does Lucas have to be so horrible? I may be fat but I can’t help it. My eyes look down to the Oreos in my hand. Yes, you can.

  No, I can’t! I reply to the small voice in my head. I was born with more meat on my bones than most girls. Even if I stopped eating all together, I would be fat still.

  No, you wouldn’t. You were born with your mother’s figure but you ruined it.

  I hit the side of my head with the tube of Oreos. Gah! Stupid voices. I stick my hand down the tube and take another Oreo out.

  I suddenly stop, my mouth watering and my hand hovering by my open lips.

  Do you really need to?

  Once you’ve eaten that, it’ll go to your stomach and make you fatter than you already are.

  Why would you do that to yourself?

  You’re already fat.

  Instead of casting the voices in my head away, I let them win the battle and place the cookie back into the tube.

  That’s it. You’ve realized, haven’t you? It’s your fault Lucas bullies you. You don’t have to be fat.

  “No, I don’t.”

  Two

  “Hey Grace, are you here?” Will cries out when he returns from school. He gives me a bright grin, his cheeks red from soccer practice I presume.

  “Yeah, I’m in the kitchen,” I say, licking my fingers. I turn the blender on and it immediately starts spinning the contents of my drink around its body. Then the lid shoots off. I scream as the contents of my smoothie, if I can even call it that, splash all over the kitchen.

  Will looks at me in shock. “Grace, what are you doing?”

  “I’m attempting to make a smoothie,” I reply feebly. “But I have no idea how to work this machine.”

  “God Grace, Mom is gonna freak out!” He tells me with wide eyes while running his hands through his hair. “And since when do you like tomato juice?” He picks up the carton of tomato juice and eyes it.

  I shrug. “I love tomato juice. Mmm,” I say, rubbing my belly. He raises an eyebrow and looks at the rest of the ingredients laid out on the table.

  “Why did you mix tomato juice and milk?” He fake gags and laughs at me. “Smoothies tend to have fruit in them.”

  “I don’t know. Milk is good for your bones, right? And tomato is a fruit according to the world wide web,” I say, beginning to feel stupid.

  “What are you doing, Grace?” he asks, cocking his head to one side. God. Having an overprotective brother really has its pitfalls.

  I throw my arms up in the air. “What are you, an inspector?”

  “No, but last night, I vividly remember you deciding to make yourself a pastry instead of avocado salad because you said, and I quote, ‘Hate avocado so much I’d rather eat raw chicken.’” He then folds his arms and takes a seat next to me.

  I am stumped. Yes, I do remember saying that. “Alright, alright. I want to eat healthier. I whanf to loophse weyht,” I mumble, some of the ‘smoothie’ still in my mouth.

  “What?”

  “I whanf to loophse weyht,” I mumble again, twirling a piece of my hair around my chubby finger.

  “Grace, I can’t understand what you’re saying.” Will sighs impatiently. I shrug and try to leave the room, but a tight grip on my sleeve stops me.

  “Grace . . . tell me.”

  “I want to lose weight, okay?! I hate having people laugh at my weight. I don’t want to be laughed at for my last year of school. I don’t want to cry after school most days and I definitely do not want to have to leave school because Lucas Keith bullies me to no end!” I burst out.

  Will looks at me in bewilderment. “So, he’s the one who made you cry. I am going to kill that . . .”

  “Will! That’s not the point!” I grab a sponge and begin to mop up the mess. I’m too embarrassed to see his face.

  “But Grace, you’re beautiful the way you are,” he says kindly. I throw my arms up in frustration.

  “No, I’m not! Will, what you don’t realize is that I have no friends because no one wants to get on the bad side of Lucas.” And it’s true, I can’t remember the last time I had a friend. And last time I checked, doing someone’s math homework is not the equivalent of friendship.

  “My friends like you!” he shouts.

  “Only because they have to or you’d make their life a living hell.” Will opens his mouth to speak.

  “Don’t protest. You know you would.”

  “Okay
, okay. And how exactly are you planning to lose weight?” He raises his eyebrows at the remains of my botched drink.

  “Eat healthier, exercise more,” I say, folding my arms. Sounds easy enough.

  “You have no idea what you’re doing, Grace. You can’t mix tomato juice and milk.” He shakes his head. I groan.

  “What am I supposed to do then? I don’t know good diet foods!”

  “Did you not think that you could maybe look up diet plans?” he asks me, a smirk drawn on his face. I try to keep a grumpy face but soon I might have to join in with his laughter. “Look Grace, I can understand that you want to lose weight, but you need to be careful about this. Don’t go overboard. Diets can end badly.”

  “Okay, Will.”

  * * *

  I type furiously on my laptop and search.

  Diet plans

  Lots of things come up. I click on the first one and scan my eyes over the entire document.

  The Ketogenic diet

  The Ketogenic diet involves the reduction of carbohydrates in the daily diet. It works when the body ends up in ketosis, which is a stage where fat storage is used as energy. This diet is useful for people who want to lose weight quickly. Common breakfasts for this diet involve eggs of any kind. Soups high in protein are popular for lunch. Dinner should be high in protein; meat or fish accompanied by a large portion of vegetables.

  Sighing, I print it off and stick it on my wall. If you’re going to go for it, you’ve got to go full out.

  Three

  As I search the contact number for my local gym, I realize that I don’t just want to lose weight to stop being bullied. I also want revenge. I want Lucas to feel the way I felt. He deserves it. So, step one of my revenge plan? Get a kick-ass body and show Lucas that he was wrong to treat me that way. Then, when he’s begging on his knees for my attention—he’s always been a sucker for sporty girls—I’ll humiliate him.