"Shut up."
"Aren't you going away with my brother this weekend?"
"Yeah, so?"
"You're still obsessing over the god."
"No, I'm not. I've just developed a scholarly interest in Greek mythology."
"Bullshit." (That's exactly what I was thinking.) But I look at what it says anyways. Basically I learn that Aphrodite represented the power of love. The kind of love from which you can not escape.
No wonder she had so many guys captivated.
I learn she rules all aspects of love, desire, beauty and sex. Here we go. Oh, my. She was also considered the mistress of pleasure. She symbolizes passion, nakedness, and sex.
Holy shit.
Oh wait, there's more. Once Aphrodite enters into a relationship, her powers go beyond love and sex and include deep friendship and the connection of souls.
Yeah, I'm basically screwed.
I'm completely distracted during the rest of my classes. Between worrying about connections of the soul, I'm also worrying about if I've packed well for the trip. I want the trip to go well. I want Dawson to fall even further in love with me. I want my parents to love him. I want it to be amazing.
Baby, please.
5:30 pm I'm packed and ready to go. I'm a bit nervous. I still haven't told him about them really. Like who they are.
I'm sitting on his bed, he's getting stuff out of his closet when his phone buzzes next to me. The buzzing catches my attention, and I can't help but glance at it. What I see, however is disturbing to me.
There is a text from Peyton.
It says: Baby, please.
I could look at the rest of the texts, it would be easy, he wouldn't even notice, but instead I take a direct approach. And I'm probably not going to be very nice about it. I knew this day was going to come. I knew it. I just had started to believe that it wouldn't and surprisingly, I feel like I got sucker punched in the gut. Knock the wind out of me punch.
"Dawson."
"Yeah?"
"You just got a text from Peyton." (Whitney. LOL.) He walks out of the closet looking white. "Uh, I, um....we're just talking."
"Just talking does not say, baby please. I get it. We did it. Yay! Our image makeover was successful. She wants you back right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You know, I knew this would happen. I've told myself all along this would happen. I've been expecting it. What I wasn't expecting was for you to lie to me about it."
"I didn't lie. She just started texting me about it this afternoon. And I wasn't sure what to tell you yet. Here, look at the texts."
He shows me her texts. She is saying things like don't go with her this weekend, stay with me and we can hangout, see what happens, she's trying to rope you in, seriously, she's like 12 and you're meeting her family already?
And based on how Dawson replied to her and that fact that he is still not packed, tells me all I need to know.
But first, there is someone else that needs to see this. Jake.
I keep his phone, the door to the bathroom is locked, so I run out Dawson's dorm room and next door. and barge in his room. He's standing there wrapped in a towel getting ready to change.
"Keatyn, what the hell?"
"You and Peyton are still going out, right?"
"Yeah, I'm getting ready to go pick her up right now."
"You should maybe look at this first."
He sits down, reads the texts. Slumps and says, "What a bitch."
I take the phone back and calmly walk into Dawson's room.
"So, congratulations, you're finally getting what you dreamed of. What we worked toward. You can go to homecoming with her, be the perfect king and queen couple and be happy. I knew this would come. I knew it would happen, I'm just a little surprised at how bad it hurts. You're single now. Have a good weekend."
I managed to some how say all this with out bawling. There were tears streaming down my face, but I stayed in control. I also acted like he was still my friend. I think I just gave a academy award worthy performance.
"Keatie," he says. "Wait, don't. I just, you know this is what I wanted, and now she's like begging me to take her back, to give it a try. I feel like I have to do this."
"And every time I said that you were going to do this to me, you swore you would never get back with her, that I was the one for you. You lied. She was right. You are a liar."
He hangs his head.
I walk out the door, well sort tear out the door.
I find myself at Riley's door with a tear streaked face. I pound on it. He opens it, and I lose it, dive my head into his chest and start bawling.
"Oh shit," he says, "Am I gonna have to kick my brother's ass?"
"Maybe."
He wraps me in a tight hug. Runs his hands down my back, comforting me.
Dallas walks in, says, "Oh boy. I just ran into Jake. He's freaking pissed."
"Yeah. He should be."
"Are you okay? Aren't you like supposed to be leaving for the airport right now?"
"Yeah. Hey," I sniffle. "What are you two doing this weekend?"
"Nothing, really."
"Come to Vancouver with me. See my family, chill with me, please. I promise it will be fun."
Riley is still hugging me. "You know me and Dallas, baby, we're up for anything. How much time do we have?"
"How soon can you pack?"
"Give us ten minutes, what should we bring?"
"Um casual, but nice, maybe one nice slacks type outfit, swimsuit, jacket, some shoes. Anything else you need we can borrow from Tommy."
"Tommy is your step dad right?" (Obviously, this scene was very much changed. Although she had every intention of taking Dawson to see her family, in the final version she realizes that she can't really trust anyone, so she ends up going to Miami to see Damian perform, and ends up running into Vincent. It's in that scene that she also finds out that Dallas has a secret and is the son of a senator. However, I love that Dallas and Riley immediately want to go with her. And in this version, they still make the video that pisses Dawson off. Which is the video that starts Riley on his future career.) "Well, he and mom aren't married yet, but he's been with us for five years, and I adore him, so yeah, he basically is."
I hug them both, say, "Okay, I gotta run do something. The car will be outside my dorm," I look at my phone, "Well it's probably there now, so just meet me there when you get packed."
"Don't we need to order tickets? Are we gonna miss our flight?"
I smile a little. "Um, naw. I think they'll wait for us."
I decide to face Peyton before I leave. Walk to her room, knock on her door. She's sitting on the phone, talking to Dawson or getting yelled at by Jake, I can't tell. She looks very surprised to see me.
"So I thought you wanted to be my friend. I know you were in charge of pairing the big and little sisters. I thought you chose me to be friends, but really, you were just keeping an eye on me. Well, the jokes on you. I gave Dawes an image makeover. After you destroyed him, I helped him give a shit about life again, helped strengthened his relationship with Riley, made him look trustworthy, settled, desirable. All to get you back. And guess what? It worked. You fell for it. And in the process, you lied to your boyfriend and made Dawson lie to the one person who actually really cares about him. I wish you two the best. You deserve each other." (Although this ends up being Whitney and this portion of the scene gets cut, I kind of like how she went and stood up to her here.) And I walked out the door, went to my room, grabbed my bags and loaded up in the back of the town car. I'm very ready to go home.
Jake texts me.
Jake: I'm so fucking pissed.
Me: I told you this would happen.
Jake: Yeah, you were right and funny part of it is, I was planning on using her, and somehow she managed to use me.
Me: Yeah :( Jake: You okay? Dawson's an idiot if you ask me. I saw him last year with Peyton. She like ruled him. He was so much happier with you. He's gonna realize what a big mistake he made.
Me: Idk but thanks.
Jake: So I used to have a date for Homecoming. You wanna go together?
Me: I think that would look bad. Like we are trying to get back at them, I have an idea of someone you could ask though.
Jake: :) do tell Jakey.
Me: Vanessa. (This is funny. I forgot I put this in here.) And here's why. Her high kicks are better than Peyton's, and Peyton hates that. She dislikes Peyton because they competed for captain and P won. She's also extremely flexible, and her moral compass points just a little north of sleazy. And she doesn't have a date yet.
Jake: We hooked up a little soph yr. I'll text her and see if she can hang tonight and wants to go with me. Piss P off. What about you? Who will you go with?
Me: Idk. idc.
Jake: <3 U :) Dawson: Keatie, look, I keep trying to call you. You need to let me explain.
Me: You weren't packed. You don't need to explain. Don't text me this weekend. I don't want to talk to you. Have fun with your dream girl. Bye.
Looking good is the best revenge.
6:20 pm Riley and Dallas pile into the town car, and we head to the airport.
"So what did you mean by, they'll wait for us?"
"You'll see."
We get to the executive airport, the town car pulls out on to the tarmac, and our pilots start unloading our bags. Mom did get me a fractional jet membership, but since they weren't using our jet, they sent it for me.
Our pilot, Captain Michaels, gives me a hug. We get in and the boys let out a whistle. "Damnnn. This yours?" Dallas asks.
I nod my head.
"My brother's missing out," Riley states.
I start crying again.
Marcus has sent Billy and James as our personal escorts. Once in Vancouver, apparently someone thinks I need security.
James comes over and sits down next to me. "Kiki, what's wrong? Oh, wait. Marcus told us you had a change on the guest list."
"Haha you could say that. This is Riley and Dallas, my best friends. This is James, and that petite boy over there is Billy."
James says, "You look like you could use a drink. You want some of Tommy's scotch? That'll put some hair on your chest."
"I'm pretty positive I don't want hair on my chest. I'd like a shot of Don Julio and a lime please."
Then I add, "And maybe a valium."
"Very funny," James says.
"Well, it's worth a shot, I mean if you're passing the shit out."
"Make it three shots, we all need to relax," Riley says.
"Not me," Dallas says as he reclines in a supple leather seat, "I'm as cool as a cucumber. But I will definitely take a shot."
Riley says, "So this is like your family's jet?"
"Yeah."