Twisted Devil by Ivy Blake
Chapter Eight
Ruby
I left the school building and walked through the parking lot, still only seeing red as a result of Tyler’s shenanigans and his stupid fucking comment. I wanted to break his model looking face and see that stupid smirk crack into a million pieces. I wanted to get back at him in a way that would actually hurt him, but my anger was overshadowing any coherent thoughts.
As I walked past the various cars in the parking lot, which all seemed to belong to students, I wasn’t surprised to see how many bougie cars there were. Clearly, most of these were to show off rather than for practical reasons because as far as I knew, pretty much all the student body lived in this town and since Valley High was slap bang in the centre, no one really needed a car. Especially not a fancy one.
Or maybe I was jealous that I didn’t have my own. Who gave a fuck? As I assessed the cars, my eyes fell on the number plate of a sleek black car that basically looked brand new. It was a personalised number plate that read KATZ. Did someone say bingo?
I waited for the girls behind me to pass by before I went to the driver’s side of Tyler’s car. I didn’t know shit about cars, but even I could tell that this was a nice one. The windows were tinted, and I couldn’t really see much unless I pressed my face against the glass, which would just look far too suspicious.
I fumbled with my keys in my pocket and decided to abandon all sense of morality. Tyler had fucked me over and humiliated me, so I had every right to get back at him and it looked like his car was one way to start.
What if I get caught?
I pushed aside the small voice in my head and before I could change my mind, I quickly dragged my house key along Tyler’s door and cringed at the horrible sound it made. I stood back and observed my handiwork. He was going to be pissed. I felt a satisfaction seep into my chest and was about to go back for round two when I heard commotion somewhere behind me.
“Get the fuck away from my car, bitch!”
I whipped around to see Tyler standing with a group of his friends, a furious expression on his face. My body instantly kicked into survival mode. My feet were pounding on the ground before I could even think of a cruel retort to shoot back. I felt both glee and fear as I ran as quickly as my feet could carry me. Even though Tyler was several yards away, I’d prefer to be out of sight when he realised what I’d done.
I ran out the big school gates and around the corner before slowing down to take a breath. Adrenaline was still pumping through my veins and as I got my breath back, a million scenarios flashed through my head of what Tyler would do to me once he saw that I’d keyed his car.
“Ruby, you okay?”
I looked up to see Bella in her car, shouting out the passenger window at me. I was surprised to find out that she could drive, but was somewhat relieved to see that her car was a lot more modest than the other ones I’d spied at school. It was a cute, sage number that matched Bella’s personality perfectly. Through the window, I could see that she had a string of crystals hanging from her dashboard mirror.
I quickly realised that Bella had slowed down in the middle of traffic and that there were cars behind her honking for her to keep moving as she was blocking the road while talking to me. To my surprise, Bella ignored them and continued to look at me with a worried expression on her face.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m- I just- I-” I cringed, unable to summarise what had just happened knowing that I now an audience of other drivers who couldn’t give a flying fuck about what I’d just been doing and wanted nothing more than to get home to wherever they lived.
“Jump in and you can explain!”
Bella gestured to the seat beside her, and I followed her command. I quickly shut the door behind me, careful not to get my skirt trapped in it, and was relieved that Bella stepped on the gas which immediately silenced the angry drivers behind us. I let out a massive breath as we drove around the corner.
“You look like you’ve been chased by a bear or something!” Bella exclaimed as she glanced at me sideways. “What the hell did I miss?”
“I might have keyed Tyler Katz’s car?” I delivered my confession as a question, and Bella gasped in shock.
“Oh, my god! Why would you do that?”
“It’s a long story,” I said as I looked out the window.
I spied a black car that looked similar to Tyler’s driving in the same direction as us and froze before realising that it was dumb to do so. The car didn’t even have the personalised plate, so it couldn’t be him. Besides, it’s not like Tyler was going to start a car chase in the middle of town, right?
“You need to spill the beans! Let’s go back to my house and you can tell me everything. Is that cool?”
“That’s cool with me,” I said with a smile. I was glad that she offered and intrigued to see where Bella lived. Even though it was coming at an odd time, it would be nice to hang out for a bit somewhere outside my house or school.
* * *Bella’s house was fucking beautiful. As we went up the driveway- which by the way was cordoned off with its own gate that required a key fob to open- I had to stop myself from gawking at the beautiful front garden and the stone fountain that was in the centre. It was like something out of a reality TV show. Once we’d parked up, Bella walked me to the front door of the house, which at this point could only be accurately referred to as a mansion. Before she put her keys in the door, she pulled me aside gently.
“My parents shouldn’t be in, but if they are, let me do the speaking or they literally won’t shut up,” she said underneath her breath. I nodded and followed behind her as we entered the castle that she called home.
Again, I was taken aback by the sky high ceilings and the spacious interior. We walked past the living room that looked more like a cinema room and made mine pale in comparison. We then passed through the kitchen, where Bella made some tea for us both before snatching up a pair of vegan cookies, but not before I ogled the island and clean granite surfaces in the kitchen.
“It’s pretty nice, but a bit big considering it’s just the three of us,” said Bella as she led me up the stairs to her room. I smiled back in response, because I didn’t want to run the risk of saying something that could possibly be misconstrued and come across as offensive. I focussed on not spilling my tea on the carpeted stairs that probably cost a fortune.
“And here’s where the magic happens!” Bella said in a singsong voice once we’d reached her floor. Imagine that, having a whole floor to yourself! She pushed open the door to reveal the most aesthetically pleasing room I’d ever seen. It basically looked like it was straight off of one of my Pinterest boards.
“Your room is so nice!” I exclaimed as my eyes flitted around, from the art hanging on Bella’s walls to a large display of crystals resting on her windowsill, to her neatly organised desk and her king sized bed. In front of her bed was a plush velvet sofa that I honestly wanted to steal for myself.
“Thank you. It’s my safe place,” she said, flashing me a grin. “Now come,” Bella sat on the sofa and patted the seat beside her. “Tell me what’s going on between you and Tyler.”
“Me and Tyler,” I echoed as I took my seat. I held my cup tightly between my hands despite the boiling hot liquid inside. “First of all, he’s a fucking asshole.” Bella nodded and took a bite out of one of the cookies and gestured for me to continue.
“He’s literally been bullying me since the day I started for no reason and it’s pissing me off! He threw a milkshake at me yesterday and today he fucking left a shit in my locker!” I exclaimed, wincing when I felt a splash of my tea land on my arm. I blew on my tea gently, willing it to cool down before I took a long sip.
“Tyler shit in your locker?” Bella asked, her face one of pure disgust.
“No, no, he put a shit there. Like a pile of dog shit or something, I don’t know. Either way, it was fucking gross!”
“That is so disgusting and I don’t know why teenage boys are like this, but I guess it’s to be expected.” Bella grimaced and shook herself as if she could shake away the memory of what I’d just told her. “The bullying though, that sounds like you’ve been having a really shitty time. I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t know,” she said apologetically as she rest her hand on my arm.
“It’s okay, honestly,” I protested, and I could feel my cheeks burning up. “I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t think it was going to get this bad. Besides, we’re seniors now. I just felt dumb admitting to the fact that Tyler was getting to me.”
“You’re not dumb at all for feeling that way! He’s the dumb one for messing with you, I mean, seriously. Throwing drinks and leaving shit around just because he got beaten on a test? Sounds pretty fucking childish to me.” Bella shrugged and took a sip of her tea.
“You’re right, it is childish, but the thing is it started before the test thing even happened. It’s like he’s had it out for me since I got here. Him and Amber.”
Bella set her cup down on the coffee table in front of us and loosened her tie. I watched as the cogs in her mind got to work and waited as she gathered her thoughts together.
“I’m not sure what to say about Amber, because she’s kind of like that with anyone that’s outside her group. Granted, she does treat you a bit worse than everyone else. Tyler though… I think you need to get him where it hurts. Go after what he really cares about.” Bella said after a moment.
“How am I supposed to figure that out?” I asked, a bemused expression on my face.
“Well, considering the fact that he got presumably worse after you beat him at that maths paper and I know he cares a lot about school, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was worried that you were threatening his chances at valedictorian,” said Bella. I noticed that there was a playful look in her eye and got the sense that she was scheming in her head over the best way to get back at Tyler.
“Tyler wants to be valedictorian?” I laughed because I just couldn’t imagine him caring about something like that. I assumed the test stuff was to do with his ego and because I threatened that, not because he actually aspired to be valedictorian. People were constantly surprising me.
Bella nodded. “It seems so. And it all makes sense considering the fact that he has constantly been at the top of our year for as long as I can remember, so… there’s your way in. If you’re up for the challenge, that is.”
I pondered over what Bella was suggesting. My way to get to Tyler, to really fuck with him, was to basically destroy any chances that he had at valedictorian. It was risky because who knew what he’d do if I continued beating him at shit? But the payoff would be so good.
I’d never been the type of person to prey on other people’s downfall or even wish badly on other people, but Tyler was different. He deserved it. He’d taken away my peace, so I’d take away his, even though I couldn’t care less about the actual position of valedictorian. If getting it meant that he couldn’t then it would become my new goal.
“It’s gonna take a lot of fucking work,” I said finally.
“As far as I can tell, you’re pretty damn smart already, so I think you’re in a pretty good position. But I am willing to help you where I can,” Bella said. “But, if you do want to back out at any point and just report Tyler to the school, I would also back you up there too.” Her voice and face turned serious and her hand found mine. She squeezed it gently, and I felt comforted by her touch.
“I want to fuck Tyler over myself, and that’s not guaranteed if I tell on him,” I said.
“It’s your call. I’m here for you no matter what.”
Besides, it’s probably more fun this way. Not the studying, but the potential look on Tyler’s face when he finally realises that he can’t silence or break me.
Me and Bella traded smiles and munched on more cookies. They were really fucking good and probably the only good thing that had happened to me today besides bumping into Bella.
“You still want that tarot reading, by the way?”
“Of course!” I exclaimed with excitement as I watched Bella bring out her various tarot decks.
* * *Tyler
“Why did Amber’s mom tell me that you didn’t get the top grade in maths today?”
“Hello to you too, Dad,” I scowled as I looked up from my sandwich.
I’d come to the kitchen to feed myself for two minutes after studying for hours and he was already on my back. There was no such thing as resting in this house. Even if the classes were harder, I couldn’t fucking wait to be at college just so that I could get away from all this shit.
“You didn’t answer my question, son,” Dad’s voice and face grew harder and he set his briefcase down on the table with a thump.
The way he said son sounded anything but affectionate. It almost sounded like a curse, if I had to be honest. Being the son of Mr and Mrs Katz was its own brand of hell that only I could understand, and the flashy house and expensive cars couldn’t change from that.
I took another bite of my sandwich and savoured the flavours as I took my time chewing the food as I stared at my father. The way his eyebrows knitted together warned me of the threat to come. He was mad, not because he actually cared about my grades, but because of how it bruised his ego that someone else had told him that his son was what he perceived to be a ‘failure’ in his eyes.
“It was just one test,” I said quickly with a shrug, hoping that he didn’t pick up on the wobbly tone of my voice.
I knew it was one test, but my subconscious and apparently the whole of my year seemed to think it was so much more than that. It was clearly a fluke, and it wasn’t going to happen again. It couldn’t happen again.
“This isn’t about one test, Tyler, it’s about your future!” Dad exclaimed. “Your slacking makes this family look bad and after everything we’ve done for you, everything you have, you can’t just ace one fucking test?”
Dad’s eyes held me in a trance and I suddenly felt like a small boy again. I was being told off for something that had been out of my control. How was I supposed to know that there was going to be a new girl at school, let alone one that just happened to be really good at maths? By the way Dad was staring at me, you would have thought that I’d planned the whole thing on purpose with the sole intention of pissing him off.
“I’m sorry,” I said, even though what I really wanted to do was tell him to fuck off and leave me alone. Shouting at me was not going to change anything. But it had been eighteen years, and he still hadn’t gotten the memo.
“Sorry isn’t going to change the fact that you’re falling behind,” he spat. Falling behind? I swear to God, my parents chose to be fucking obtuse.
“96 isn’t falling behind,” I interjected, as the rage continued to boil up inside of me. “It just isn’t perfect!”
Dad blanched at my words and ran a hand through his hair, which was frequently dyed to make him look younger than he actually was.
“I work so hard to give you and your mom everything and now it’s like you’re throwing all those opportunities back in my face,” he growled, his face turned away from me.
I could tell from the tension in his back that he was trying to steel his temper and, even though I knew it was wrong, a small part of me was tempted to prod him until he exploded. He felt like I was throwing shit back in his face? How did he think I felt coming home every single day being told that my grades weren’t good enough, that my swimming times could be better, that I should have a stable girlfriend? No matter how hard I tried, I was constantly being criticised.
My parents’ message was loud and clear. It’s not enough.
“Sorry,” I said again, this time more coldly and without a drop of sincerity in my voice.
I was declaring this conversation over, because I wasn’t just going to stand there and take it. I walked out of the kitchen with my sandwich still in my hand.
“Tyler?” my dad called as I put my foot on the first step.
“What?” I asked as I waited with bated breath.
“How did you get that scratch on your car?”
He’d come back with another attack and yet again, the fault was mine for clearly not watching my car twenty-four seven. I swore under my breath as I pictured Ruby running her keys along the door, laughing with glee before running off with her red hair flying behind her. Of course, she didn’t think about how much trouble that would get me in. Or if she did, she didn’t care, which was even worse. She just wanted to get a rise out of me and that was exactly what she was going to get.
“I don’t know, I just noticed it today,” I replied, making sure to keep all emotion out of my voice.
“I want you to walk to school until I get it fixed. It looks bad to drive around with something like that,” said Dad.
“Sure, whatever,” I said as I went up the stairs as quickly as I could before he could complain about something else.
As soon as I’d slammed my door shut behind me, I tossed my bag on my bed and shoved my earphones into my ears. I searched through my Spotify library until I found the perfect playlist, the one with all my angry music as opposed to my soothing jazz tunes that I usually reached for.
I was instantly grateful for the harsh, grating voices that flooded my ears, as well as the brutal drums and thrumming bass guitars that seemed to echo what I was feeling inside in a somewhat beautiful and cathartic way. I got changed and then pulled out my paints, casting aside my homework for the night.
I set up my easel and canvas before getting to work. Usually I liked to have an idea about where I wanted to go, but right now I just wanted to do something with my hands that wouldn’t involve me punching a hole in the wall (Mom hadn’t appreciated that the last three times it had happened and I’d been made to pay for the most recent incident). I watched my brush fly across the canvas as I set fire to it with each stroke. The fire soon became hair and before I knew it, I’d channelled all my hatred and anger into a picture of a girl with flames for hair, cherries for lips and oozing balls of chocolate for eyes.
Oh Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. You’ve really done it now. At least walking to school will give me more time to ponder on your demise.
