1. A Broken Heart Between Us

The annoyingly loud sound of my alarm clock woke me up and I wanted to do nothing but smash that little piece of crap with my baseball bat. I allowed myself a few more minutes in bed,  calculating the hours of the day it would take for me to get back in here.

I loved my bed. It was like I was in a relationship with him. But damn that alarm clock, it was freaking jealous of us.

I threw away the covers and marched to the bathroom. It was like being in this mood is a part of my daily routine.

During breakfast, my phone rang and I picked it up.

"Hey, Claire," I greeted my best friend as I shoved a piece of pancake topped with maple syrup in my mouth.

"Brooke. I need to talk to you," She said, her words faltering in the end. She sounded like she was crying her eyes out.

"Claire, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked as I quickly chewed and swallowed the pancake in my mouth.

"No!" She sniffed. "I'm not okay! Jesse dumped me."

"What?" I exclaimed. "Jesse dumped you? Why?!"

"I want to meet you," She said, not answering my questions.

"I'll see you at school. I am on my way," I said, shoving the rest of my breakfast aside and grabbing my car keys. It was friends before food for me.

As I reached school, I wondered where Claire must be. Probably by her locker, throwing away things that Jesse gave her. Girls do that after a breakup, right?

I don't know as I had never been in a relationship with anyone and neither did I wanted to. He could be using you...like Jesse was using Claire. I'm glad as well as sad that he dumped her. Glad because he didn't deserve Claire and sad because she was miserable because of him.

I was right. She was by her locker, taking out books for her first period.

I tapped her shoulder and she turned around. Her face was all red indicating that she had been crying. A lot. And I hated that a good for nothing brat like Jesse was the reason for her tears.

As soon as she realized it was me, she took hold of my hand and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

"Cl-Claire, you're gonna kill me with this h-hug," I choked out.

She didn't say anything and just kept crying.

"Seriously, your hugs are more deadly than anaconda hugs," I said and chuckled in a lame attempt to lighten up the mood. I didn't know what else to say. I thought this would make things slightly better but I guess I had a bad sense of humor. She didn't laugh, instead she sobbed even more. Great! Now I made her cry more. Why am I such a crappy friend?

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Claire, tell me. What did he do?" I asked, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"He called me this morning and told me that he wants to break up with  me. He doesn't love me anymore! And now he has a new girlfriend, Grace," She said, hiccupping in the end.

"It's okay, Claire. Don't worry. He didn't deserve you anyways. Be happy that you two finally broke up."

I was really not good in situations like this. I didn't know what to tell the person who had just being through a break up to comfort them. Do we cry with them​? Or do we hatch a revenge plot with them? Do we eat chocolate and have movie marathon with a box of tissues nearby with them? Or do we just leave them alone? Or do we just pretend nothing happened to them? Or do we search for a new boyfriend better than her ex for them? Ugh! I don't know what to do!

"Come on, we should go to class now," I said, dragging her towards her first class. She didn't say anything as she followed me.

After dropping her to her class, I went to mine. Math was not the first subject I wanted on a morning like this. I missed my bed terribly.

I walked into the class and spotted Tyler. He was my friend and in my Math class and sat beside me.

"Hi, Brooke. Good morning." He greeted cheerily.

"My mornings are never good, Tyler. And I mean never," I said, dropping my bag on my seat. "Morning."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. You are not a morning person."

The class dragged on and I was...sleepy. Why do I feel so sleepy during the first few classes?

After that, the day could be bearable. After two more classes, I walked towards the cafeteria where I met Claire.

She was quiet at the table. She didn't talk to anyone much. I frowned at this. Usually, she would be very bubbly and talkative, so much so that we had to tell her to shut up. I hated to know that the reason for her being so quiet today was Jesse Winters.

I couldn't take this anymore. I wanted my friend back! I wanted to kill Jesse for doing this to me and my best friend.

She needed to get over him. I knew it was not easy for her and she needed loads of time to get over him but I couldn't just sit back and see her like that. And I needed her to move on faster from him because he was not worth her time. What she needed was a sweet revenge from him for using her and dumping her like a tissue paper.

~

"Claire," I said. We were seated in my car. School was over and I was about to pull out. I drove to school everyday with Claire. I didn't mind picking and dropping her everyday. She was my best friend, of course I wouldn't mind.

"Yes?" She looked over at me.

"You need to get over him. You need to move on," I started. "I know it wouldn't be easy for you. But I don't want to see you waste time over him. He's not worth it. I can see what he did to you. You're not your usual self."

"Brooke, there's something I should tell you. It's..." She paused.

"What?" I encouraged her to continue.

"I have slept with Jesse." She confessed, looking down in what I made out to be was shame.

I sighed, "I know."

"What? How? I don't think I told you before," She panicked. "Oh my God. Who told you that? Did Jesse tell you?"

I looked at her incredulously. "I'm your best friend! Of course I'll know what you do. And the signs were somewhat clear," I said as I grabbed the steering wheel. "I hope it was protected. I don't want you getting STDs," I said sternly.

I saw Claire gulp. "Actually, at one time, the condom tore off," She said in a small voice.

What the hell?

"Please don't tell me you are pregnant!"

"No, I am not. I am not...pregnant."

"And how are you so sure about that?!"

"I took a pregnancy test and it was negative."

I took a deep breath, relieved that she wasn't pregnant.

"But I miss Jesse," She muttered, staring off into space.

"Don't. I don't know why you dated him in the first place, he looks like a complete jerk to me. He's not your life. And you can't move on from him if you are like this," I said, a plan forming in my head.

"Then how can I move on? I can't seem to get him out of my head," She said, turning to stare out of the window.

"Perhaps, revenge will help?" I suggested.

She looked over at me, "Revenge?"

"Yes!" I bubbled up in excitement as I saw one of the many school building in the campus having a repaint. I told her my plan and she brightened up a bit. Jesse deserved to be punished. He used her. He used her to warm his bed for a bit and when he got bored, he gets a new bed warmer.