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12. Henry

Author: LINDA KAGE
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56
Issue 3 of “Hopeless Henry”

By Alice Bennet

Taken from the University Gazette

“Free drinks for Henry! All night long,” Rush shouted, slinging an arm over my shoulders and fisting his other hand into the air victoriously as a crowd of fellow band players cheered us on.

My face heated in bashful delight as I glanced at everyone who’d showed up at the bar to celebrate because of me. Then I glanced down at the fake ID Rush had set me up with. He’d planned for everything.

As soon as the director had announced me as the new trumpet section leader, set to take Baxter’s spot, Rush had been a flurry of excitement, making sure tonight was epic.

“We’re going to get you so damn drunk and happy,” he told me, shaking my shoulder enthusiastically. “You’ll be hitting on every woman in this place before the night’s over.”

“Oh, ho!” I cried, laughing and trying yet failing to picture such an outcome. “I’d like to see that.”

“You will, buddy. That’s a promise. Because, check it out, the first rou
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  • The Revenge Plan   13. Wick

    Cannon had been right on the money.Shit wasn’t okay.And I didn’t have a damn thing under control.Nicholl was hell-bent on finding Haven, and he wasn’t going to stop looking until he figured out where she was, starting his search with me.He and his goons caught me right before practice.After the night I’d had, I still wasn’t firing on all my cylinders and was running late. Almost everyone else had already cleared out of the locker room and were out on the field warming up by the time I rushed in to put on my gear.So I was alone by the time I tugged on my shoulder pads and plunked myself down on a bench to lace up my shoes. I’d just stood up and was turning toward the exit when the first two assholes grabbed me from behind, locking on to my arms and yanking me back until my spine slammed into a closed locker. The shoulder pads absorbed most of the impact, but still…“Ouch. What the hell?” I struggled to yank myself free. “Let go.”Another two appeared next to the first pair

  • The Revenge Plan   14. Haven

    Okay, so I might’ve relentlessly paced the floor by the door, waiting for Wick to get home that night because the glare Topher had sent me across campus had haunted me all day.When he hadn’t charged after me to talk it out, it made me think… I don’t know. But it felt as if things were worse because he’d let me go, so now… Now I wondered what had happened between him and Wick at practice.I finally sat in a chair in the living room with an open textbook on my lap, pretending to study, but I ended up just staring at the front door and biting my fingernails the entire time until it finally opened at a quarter until seven.As Wick stepped inside, a huge sports duffle slung over his shoulder and his head bowed as if he were deep in thought, I popped to my feet, instantly nervous. Instantly expectant.“Hey, um, hi,” I rushed out the greeting and offered him a tense smile as he looked up in surprise, then paused to eye me warily. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “You look like you

  • The Revenge Plan   15. Haven

    So, early Friday morning, Wick had me meet him at the student health center for my checkup. It felt wrong that I had to even do this; I’d always taken safe sex seriously. Why had I been stupid enough to think the only boyfriend I’d ever had would feel the same way? Now, here I was, paying for my own naïve gullibility.The wind seemed to think it personally needed to slap me across the face for my idiocy too. It whipped my hair out of place, obstructing my view and clogging my mouth so I was still scrambling to hand-brush it back into place and hold on to my backpack that I had hooked over one shoulder as I pushed through the front door.Disheveled mess that I was, however, I was apparently at least a quiet one. No one heard me enter.One woman sat out in the waiting area, flipping through a magazine. A receptionist sat behind a tall counter. And Wick Webster stood leaning against the same counter at the far end where he chatted with a young nurse who bustled around on the other side

  • The Revenge Plan   16. Wick

    Saturday morning, I crept from my room just after five in a cotton shirt, shorts, and running shoes. I tried not to look at the closed door that led into Haven’s room, but I nearly walked into the wall I was staring at it so hard.The apartment was quiet; she was no doubt asleep in there, which got my mind to spinning. What did she sleep in? Full-on long pants with a matching conservative T-shirt, shorty-shorts with one of those slinky tight tops, a silky nighty, nothing at all?I began to sweat.This was fucking unreal. Haven Gamble was sleeping in my apartment, hell, living in my apartment. I still couldn’t quite wrap my brain around that.Tiptoeing as quietly as I could, I locked the front door behind me, staring at it one last time, wondering if she’d still be here when I returned, and then I forced myself away and started my morning jog. The campus fitness center was about a mile away, which gave me the perfect time to get loosened up with my run to start my workout by the tim

  • The Revenge Plan   17. Haven

    The gentle knock that fell on my door told me it could be no one else but Wick. Beau would’ve pounded, Cress would’ve walked in without even knocking, and no way would Fox come near me after seeing me tear up. Nothing scared him off like crying girls.I sighed because it seemed too rude to tell Wick to fuck off since he hadn’t done anything wrong, even though I just wanted to be left alone.Well played, cousins. Well played.Wiping at my eyes, I mumbled, “It’s open.”The door slowly floated inward, but he didn’t come inside. Leaning against the doorjamb, he crossed his arms over his chest and watched me from worried eyes. “They’re still here, stealing food from our kitchen. You want me to kick them out?”I smiled through my tears and shook my head. The way he said our kitchen brightened something inside me. I hadn’t even lived here a full three days yet, but he was already willing to share the place with me, despite his initial resistance to the idea.“No,” I told him. “They’re f

  • The Revenge Plan   18. Wick

    I woke with Haven on top of me. Again.The night before, we’d watched the rest of the game on my laptop together. Or rather, I watched it. Haven fell asleep, only to miss seeing her boyfriend—sorry, ex-boyfriend—throw two more interceptions.We still won, though, thanks to the kicker, defense, and a running back who scored the only offensive touchdown. I nudged her and said her name to let her know the game was over, but she didn’t wake, so I just shut the laptop and then scooted down in order to lie next to her. And sometime throughout the night, she ended up on top of me.This made two out of the four nights she’d lived here that she’d slept on me. We were beginning to make a habit of it. I hoped it became a regular occurrence.Shit. Wait. No, I wasn’t supposed to want that, was I? She was Nicholl’s girl. Ex-girl. Whatever. I should think of her as used-up leftovers. Except that was frankly impossible. She was way too intriguing for that, and I liked waking up with her on top of

  • The Revenge Plan   19. Wick

    I retreated to the living room, where I paced for about five minutes, listening to her in the kitchen, running the water and clanging pots around, and not because I was obsessively, compulsively worried she would put the pans away in the wrong cabinet.I felt exposed now. She had exposed me. But what the hell had I been thinking to admit to her how responsible I felt for her? That sounded creepy even to my ears.I didn’t want to be creepy. I just… I wanted her to stop questioning my motives and stripping me emotionally bare. I’d worked damn hard these past few years to close myself off and not let any of my thoughts or stupid feelings show. Why did she need to crack me open? And why the hell was I letting her? I didn’t want to be open, anymore. I wanted—Fuck.I didn’t even want to admit what I really wanted.When a knock fell on my apartment door, I stopped flipping out and running my hand through my hair to scowl at it.This time, I wasn’t even expecting it to be for me. I stro

  • The Revenge Plan   20. Haven

    You know what I never got? I never understood how someone could just keep going after they fucked up so badly that not only they knew what they’d done wrong but the entire freaking universe they lived in knew it, too.Like now, for instance. I didn’t want to be here, exposing my stupidity to these four amazing women I’d grown up admiring and wishing I could be like. I didn’t want them to see how awful I was at picking guys. Heck, I wanted to call it quits on this whole being alive business altogether. Because I failed at living.Like hard-core failure.That’s honestly how it felt at the moment, that nothing I’d ever tried in my entire life had been worth the effort. I had to be the most clueless idiot on the planet for not realizing what Topher had been doing throughout our entire relationship.I glanced around the kitchen, realizing all my cousins knew exactly how lame I was too.It made me feel gross, embarrassed, ashamed. Stupid.Because, seriously, how could I not know? All t

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  • The Revenge Plan   About the Author

    Linda writes romance fiction from YA to adult, contemporary to fantasy. Most Kage stories lean more toward the lighter, sillier side with a couple meaningful moments thrown in. Focuses more on entertainment value and emotional impact.Published since 2010. Went through a 2-year writing correspondence class in children’s literature from The Institute of Children’s Literature. Then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.Now she lives with her hubby, two daughters, cat Holly, and nine cuckoo clocks in southeast Kansas, USA. Farm girl. Parents were dairy farmers. Was youngest of eight. Big family. Day job as a cataloging library assistant.Harry Potter House Gryffindor, Patronus White Stallion, character match Hagrid. Supernatural Team Dean. Game of Thrones Team Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister. The Walking Dead Team Daryl. Outlander Team Jamie Fraser. Teen Wolf Team Stiles. Avenger Team Thor...or Hulk (can’t

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  • The Revenge Plan   50. Epilogue

    I woke in the middle of the night to a hand nudging my shoulder and Haven’s voice in my ear.“Wick. Honey, get up. The baby’s coming.”My eyes sprang open wide. “What?”She was already flipping on the nightlight and sliding out of bed to bustle around the room, opening drawers to pull out underwear and clothes. When she flopped a suitcase onto the mattress by my feet and began to stuff it with both our things, I sat up watching her from blurry, blinking eyes.“If we leave now,” she said, unsettling Bingley, who’d been curled up asleep in her pillowed bed on the floor as Haven tugged a jacket out from under the cat, “I think we can make it to the hospital by four.”“Hospital? Four?” I glanced toward the nightstand where the clock told me it was barely two in the morning.“Yeah. I definitely don’t want to be on the road when the baby arrives.”Finally awake enough to think a bit clearer, I shook my head. “But what baby?”Pausing abruptly to send me a harassed glance, Haven cried,

  • The Revenge Plan   49. Haven

    “Hey, look,” Wick announced proudly as he appeared in the opening of the hallway that led into the front room where I was kicked back on the couch, browsing through Netflix and searching for something new to watch. “I was finally able to pop the centers out without breaking the outer chocolate rings.”He held up two Reese’s cups to his eyes so he could peer at me through the holes where the peanut butter centers usually went.“Hey, yay! Good job.” I began to clap, only to narrow my eyes when he moved close enough for me to see the cups better as he sat on the couch next to me. “Wait. You cut them out with a knife, didn’t you?”He laughed, dropping the Reese’s from his eyes and confessed, “Yeah. But it was the only way I could do it without breaking the outer ring.”“God, you’re adorable,” I answered, shaking my head and grabbing the front of his shirt so I could pull him in for a kiss.He met my mouth eagerly, tasting like chocolate and peanut butter, which had me humming in delig

  • The Revenge Plan   48. Henry

    Final Issue of “Hopeless Henry”By Alice BennetTaken from the University GazetteSenior year came at last. Thank God. I was so ready to get out of this college and away from certain memories. Certain people.I would always have a soft part for the marching band and the friends I’d made there. I had a feeling I’d remain in most of their lives long after graduation. But other parts, I couldn’t wait to escape.Just a few months to go, and it’d all be over.I was looking forward to starting fresh. I could make myself a clean slate. I could leave behind all the things that haunted me and hopefully find a job in my dream career, then meet someone I clicked with and build a life with her.I wouldn’t have to see Avery or Reuben or any of his bothersome friends ever again. It would be nice.Meanwhile, I was hanging on and making sure I got through as I remained focused on graduation.After being assigned a partner—Elliot—in my orchestration class, I agreed to meet with him at his dorm

  • The Revenge Plan   47. Haven

    “HayHay,” Wick whispered, his voice broken and full of pain and misery. He started to stand, but I held up a hand.“No, don’t get up. I think… I think I’ll just come down there with you.” And I sank to my knees right where I’d been standing in the doorway. Bingley wiggled in my arms. I let her down, and once she hit the floor, she bounded over to Wick, who picked her up and cuddled her gratefully.Gripping the tops of my thighs, I rocked back and forth and I watched the kitten comfort the man.“So,” I started, swallowing hard before glancing around the room and settling my gaze back on him. “You liked me three years ago? When we were freshmen?”“I…” Pain slashed across his features before he gulped and nodded. “I shared a class with you. The first time I saw you across the room, I thought you were pretty. So I told some of my friends on the team about it.”From the expression on his face, I knew he was downplaying it. Big-time.“Why?” I croaked, wiping wetness from my cheeks. “Wh

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