Chapter 3
I turned to Kara.
"Tell me, Kara," I said, drawing out my words, "wouldn't it be way more fun if the tables turned, and if the prey became the hunter?"
The next morning, my phone buzzed right on the dot at seven.
Nathan sent a message, [Good morning.]
He even added a little sun emoji at the end.
Back then, that would've made my whole morning, but it just felt ironic at the moment.
I took my sweet time brushing my teeth, washing my face, doing my makeup, and picking an outfit. It was almost an hour later before I finally picked up my phone and replied to him.
Me: [And you are?]
The typing indicator popped up instantly, and he was typing for a whole three minutes.
Nathan: [Uh, this is Nathan.]
Me: [Oh. Something's up?]
Nathan: [No, nothing. Just saying good morning.]
Me: [Okay.]
At noon, just as I finished class, my phone buzzed again.
It was from Nathan.
Nathan: [I bought too much of that coffee drink you mentioned before. I left it downstairs at your dorm for you.]
I raised an eyebrow at the message.
I used to be the one always fussing over him, bringing snacks and drinks like a lovesick puppy. But the tables had turned.
When I got downstairs to my dorm, sure enough, there was a cup of coffee on the table.
There was a little heart-shaped sticky note attached, with my name written on it. [Less ice, sweetness just the way you like it.]
I pulled out my phone, snapped a quick picture of the coffee, and then posted it on Facebook with a caption.
I posted, [So weird. Found a random cup of coffee downstairs in my dorm. Does anyone wanna claim it? If nobody does, I'll toss it in the trash later.]
I set the post to 'Nathan only.'
Then I hit send.
Nathan just replied, [WTF.]
I could imagine his face right then.
Man, that was satisfying.
A few minutes later, I guessed he couldn't take it anymore, and he finally cracked and called me.
I just stared at his name popping up on my screen, not answering.
I just let it ring out.
And then he called again.
I hung up again.
Three times later, I finally had some peace.
Then my phone buzzed with a new message.
Nathan: [I bought the coffee.]
Me: [Oh, sorry. I had you on mute, so I missed your message. But I don't take drinks from strangers, you know. Thanks, though.]
Nathan: [I'm not a stranger!]
Me: [Oh, true. Just the friend from next door, right? Not that much of a stranger.]
He went quiet after that.
Feeling pretty smug, I grabbed the coffee, popped in a straw, and took a big sip.
The sweetness was perfect, chilled and delicious.
Honestly, the thrill of payback was way sweeter than crushing on him ever was.
That night, bored out of my mind, I checked that post again.
Sure enough, it had another update.
It read, [Looks like things are getting even worse. I said hi to her, and she hit me with a 'Who are you?']
[I brought her coffee, and she posted on Facebook saying it was just some random drink nobody wanted.]
[I told her I bought it for her, and she said she doesn't take drinks from strangers. She didn't block or delete me, but she put me on mute, so my messages just sit there unread unless she feels like checking.]
[I used to tell everyone she was a friend from next door, and now she's calling me like that. It's a real slap in the face, ouch.]
[I guess she's just messing with me on purpose, trying to get back at me.]
I snorted. So he wanna play the friend next door, huh? Fine, I would let him have it.
The comments section was blowing up.
[Man, you're down bad. This is so hilarious!]
[Girl, you nailed it. That's exactly how you deal with dense guys like him.]
[Bro, listen to me. Stop fronting. If you keep this up, your girl's really gonna leave you.]
[This isn't just messing around, bro. She's straight-up teaching you a lesson.]
[That's savage revenge, no doubt. Good luck, buddy. You're on your own now.]
[Laughing my ass off! This girl is a total badass. I love her.]
I was enjoying the drama way too much, so I switched to my alt to like all the savage comments laughing at his misery.
After all the banter and jokes, I kept scrolling and saw people actually trying to give him advice.
Scrolling further, I spotted someone offering him a tip.
[Tell her your feelings already. She's probably just getting back at you for acting all cold before.]
[She's liked you for five years. It's not that easy to suddenly stop liking you.]
[She's probably just mad. Try making it up to her.]
[Just do more of whatever it is she likes about you.]
Nathan replied almost right away, [But I really don't even know what she likes about me.]
That person shot back, [Are you hot or what?]
Nathan replied, [Yeah, honestly, the thing I hear most since I was a kid is people saying I look good.]
People started flooding the comments under his reply.
[What are you waiting for? Just hit her with a thirst trap.]
[I don't believe it. Hey, why not post a picture and prove it?]
I thought Nathan would just ignore those comments.
But to my shock, he actually went along with those ridiculous suggestions.
The next day, when I saw him again, he showed up in a shirt I hadn't seen him wear in ages.