It was prom night. I was driving my best friend to his dates. Yeah plural, because he was a two timing asshole. I made sure to take the long way, I made sure we were a bit late. A text from Jake. Perfect. They were both already there.

As I pulled in, I watched as he immediately gravitated towards one. Cheyenne. She was a beauty, and it was clear she’d dressed to impress. He’d made his choice. I walked over to the other girl. Selena. Another beauty. Elias and his god damn luck.

Ironically, they were best friends. And both very shy. A perfect situation for Elias. I simply pulled out my phone, went to my photos and handed her the phone. Hundreds of pictures taken on the sly. Of both Cheyenne and Selena. The realization hit her hard as she flipped through more and more photos. I simply gave her a sad smile and told her. “We have a plan. A way to get back at him. I can drive you back home if you want.” She nodded. She couldn’t speak, she could only cry. I felt like a terrible person. 

I took her home. Her mother and father were just taking her in the house when I left. I wish I could have stayed, but I needed to get to my place. The diner, Popè’s. The normal place we went to hang out and relax. When I got there, Pops, the owner, nodded. Everything was set up. The diner was empty. I was the last to say “ready” in the group chat, specially made for this night. 

The carefully crafted text I'd spent weeks agonizing over finally launched. “Hey man, something happened. Meet me at the diner ASAP.” A similar text was sent to Cheyenne. A mutual friend sent her a text saying that she needed to go home because Selena was gonna come over soon. It was important. I waited. 30 minutes later, Elias walks in. Tuxedo on, looking very confused. Never seeing the laptop with the camera live streaming this encounter. Didn’t see the mics either. Maybe we prepared a little too much. 

“Hey man” he said as he slouched into the booth.

“Whats up?”

Silence. He started to look a bit uncomfortable as I stared at him. No humor. Just silence. 

“It's over.”

“What do you mean it's over?” he said. Still confused. Not for long.

“We’re done covering for you, and lying for you while you two time a pair of friends.” The anger burns inside me. It explodes out of him. Mine’s a cold fury. His is explosive. 

“What the hell do you mean you're done?! You think they will believe you, Kyle?!” I don’t listen to more. It's useless. Tonight is a predetermined outcome. Now, we’re just aiming for some bonuses. 

“You made your choice. If you can convince her to still have you, then we won’t interfere” 

“I made my choice?! I didn’t choose anything!” It’s almost boring as I lead him through it all. We’ve planned this for so long that it seems routine. 

“I made us intentionally late. We watched to see which one you immediately went to. Selena was closer, you still went to Cheyenne. You made your choice.”

“Oh yeah?!”

“Yes. Over 100 dates between the 2 of them. Multiple pictures per date” He pales, realizing how screwed he is. 

“Aiden.” A clue.

“What?” Now he’s confused. Not much anger left. Pops is just watching. I hope he gets a good show. 

“Aiden is the next one in line.”

“Oh so now it's a line, huh? Asshole!”

“Where do you think you will find him?”

“Why? Why do this?” the sudden switch would have caught me by surprise if I hadn’t prepared for this conversation for hours. 

“We took away Selena for her own good. This. This is for us. For the friends you demanded lie to your girlfriends over and over and over again.” It feels good to say it. To finally get the hours of agonizing over my decisions at night off my chest. If only a little bit.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The others are watching. I know they are. Prepare yourselves. 

He stands and leaves. Not before throwing a “Asshole” at me though. Classy, Shitfuck.

A few minutes later, I'm sure he’s gone. Off to meet Aiden at the Comic book shop. Our group's favorite shop to haunt. I nod to Pops as I stand to leave. There’s work to be done. He nods back, telling me “You can pick it up in the morning.” I nod my thanks as I walk out into the empty parking lot. Time to go talk to Cheyenne.

I feel remorse as I pull into the driveway and go to knock on the door. Cheyenne opens the door, confused at why I'm here. I almost feel bad. Emmy nods to me as she leaves, giving me her phone. Her part in this is done. I can feel Cheyenne and her parents' confusion. I show them the pictures. Cheyenne is devastated. Her parents are outraged. And so I tell them of the plan.

“Would you like to participate or not? We can bring him here if you want us to.”

A moment of silence

“Yes. I need to confront him myself” She’s still strong. Good.

 And then I get the text. He’s at the comic book shop. I turn on Emmy’s phone to Aiden's live stream, and let them watch the conversation. I turn to leave. I don’t need to. I’ve helped the shyest member of our group run through it hundreds of times. Sometimes, it pays to be 6’4 and a serious person.

I drive away. To Adriel’s house. Or, more precisely, his neighbour’s house. His parents are out on a date night. They know what's going to happen, and they left the house for us. The neighbours know what’s happening, and volunteered their driveways for the cause. As I step inside, I hear Adriel and Selena talking. Good. They always seemed to have something between them. Maybe something good will come out of this night. I turn on my phone and listen as Aiden’s part wraps up. As he says the name.

“Jake”

And off Elias goes. To the Video game store a block down. A close second, on our list of favorite stores. Jake isn’t like me. His temper is as hot as the pits of hell. And now, there’s nothing holding it back. It’s a cross between a rant and an angry lecture. I almost feel pity as Elias tries, and fails, to speak up over and over again. Jake leaves in a huffing and puffing stomp, throwing an address behind him.

Aiden pulls into the driveway across the street as Jake finishes up. Julia texts the group chat that she is home and ready. A good friend of Selena and Cheyenne, she wants her pound of flesh as well. Maybe a bit more than a pound. 

The address leads Elias to a large group. Close friends from the band and his sports team. All of them disapproving. All of them looking at him like he’s crap. And then they start talking. It hurts him, you can tell. Even through the camera you can tell, as his sports team captain barks another address at him. Julia’s house. He can’t get out of there fast enough. They begin to drive over. When you're facing a two timing ex and naturally shy, having a large number of people on your side helps.

He gets to Julia’s house. That was a rough one. Again, he couldn’t get out fast enough. The ranting and screaming scared him. 

This time, It was Adriel’s house. He pulled into the driveway. We were in the back, watching through the live stream. Adriel tore him a new one for betraying trust and friends, and for using and abusing like he did. I’m a sadistic asshole at times and I enjoyed myself as I watched him sag into the couch. He thought it was over. Oh, no. It was only just beginning. Adriel began to push him out the back door. He resisted. I thoroughly enjoyed forcing him through the door and into the backyard where we all waited. At the end of a small walk, next to the pool, Selena and her parents waited. Along the way, over 30 people he knew and talked to daily. Staring. Angry. Disappointed. 

“What, not gonna move? Coward.” I couldn’t help it. It was simply too much to keep the cruel smile off my face as I forced him forward. I'm beginning to see why the others told me to do this part. 

“Come on, face the music. The consequences of what you’ve done.” He reaches the pool. He swallows. He’s scared. 

What follows, is a 10 minute conversation that hurts my soul. He can't hide his thoughts. He cracked under the pressure, and what oozed out of his mouth were filthy, dark things I never wanted to hear, but that Selena needed to hear.  

Finally, it's done. He collapses into a pool chair. He’s an emotional wreck. But we aren't done yet. 

I force him into a car, and we drive as a troop to Cheyenne’s house. As we pull into the driveway and exit the car, I see his horror. He starts to struggle. The futility amuses me. We get him inside. Another conversation that scrapes at my soul for months after. But Cheyene needed to hear it. Again he collapses, and again we haul him up. It's time for the finale, the crescendo of this act.

As we pull into the driveway, my smile grows. It’s wolfish at this point. Elias trembles. He realizes. I smile as I push him to the door and the others watch. I smile like a wolf even as I say it.

“What, Elias, scared of your own house?” I must look like a monster right now.

We never get the chance to knock. His father opens the door. Disappointment and disapproval war for space on his face, as he looks at his eldest child. His siblings, the triplets who were 8 years younger than him, looked from inside as their older brother was brought into the house, Their mother standing by them. Our part in this is done, now it’s a family matter. They had watched it all through the live streams. 

I bowed my head as I said “My part in this is done. I’ve seen what I needed to see, spoken what I needed to speak.”

The others nodded in agreement. Their part in this was done. We left, going back to Adriel’s house, where the vehicles were. None of us expected the party Adriel had prepared, but it was well deserved. We all laughed as we watched Selena’s parents interrogate a drunk Adriel. 

The next morning I called a certain number. 

“How is he?” I might dislike him, but he was still my best friend for over a decade.

“He is recovering. He’s not talking much, just like we expected. I can only hope this shocked him out of this behavior.” I nodded, said goodbye, and went to the mail to see if I got accepted into my dream college. 

20 Years Later

Adriel and Selena ended up going to the same college by accident. They are now happily married, wealthy, and Selena is pregnant with their 4th child. I often visit them.

Cheyenne and Aiden would meet up in college 3 years later, after Aiden transferred to MIT. Funnily enough, it wasn’t until 6 months into them dating that they realized they had known each other from before. They had a dual marriage with Adriel and Selena. 

Jake would end up with Julia, she got him in her sights and he never had a chance at escaping. They are happily married and have 2 children. 

The events of that night hit Elias hard. In the end, he became a successful game designer, and he now is married to a lovely woman who we kindly call “the ball buster”. He just had his first little boy enter the world, and named us the godparents. It took a while, but we ended up reconnecting about 7 years later. He was a changed man, and I was glad for it.

As for me, well… I ended up meeting Emmy in Med school. We hooked up, things got weird, and then she managed to get me to marry her 4 months into dating, when we went on a trip to Vegas. Never been happier in my life. Though we can’t have children, I'm the proud Godfather of 4 beautiful girls and 3 handsome boys. It was one hell of a night, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write it down, now could I? I only wish I remembered enough of that party to include that part as well, but that’s what I get for getting into a drinking contest with a 40 year old craft brew contest taster.