Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned

It was a horrible week.

It's worth repeating - you shouldn't forget. The sky was gray... The clouds, unforgiving. Beneath them, a storm was brewing: perhaps not one in the literal sense, but in the figurative? Oh yes.

Hell's fury was about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting victim; the hellish fury of a woman, of course. But who would be the victim? Who would be the one to suffer? The boyfriend with his heart elsewhere, or the friend who chose not to reveal his until it was too late?

Perhaps the victim is not someone we were expecting... but perhaps it's who we thought all along! Only once it's unleashed, will we know... only when all's said and done.

---

"I dunno, Alesha. Ever since my brother threw that party, my parents've been pretty strict on having anyone over to the house. Can't we just go over to yours?"



Alesha, Eva's daughter, had finally grown up. This fact had pleased Amelia to no end, because she finally had someone at school who was worth talking to, and who she knew. Sure, she'd only played dollhouse at the Drudge's as a toddler -- in fact, she hardly remembered it at all -- but even that connection had brought the two girls together. However, Alesha was pretty insistent on certain things.

"My parents are uh... remodeling... They don't want me to have any friends over. Plleeaasse? Can't you ask your Dad? You said he was way more easy going."

Amelia sighed, but she figured it was worth trying. "Alright, I'll ask him. Just don't get too excited, okay? He'll probably say no."



It was a big leap of faith, but when Amelia asked, her father actually seemed open to the idea. "Sweetheart, I don't know why you were so worried. Alesha's her mother's daughter, and I know for a fact that her mother is a wonderful person. Neither your Mom or myself would've said no."

"Really? So she can stay the night?"

"Of course, Mia. Just so long as Eva's alright with it, and you guys go to sleep at a reasonable hour."



"Oooooh, thanks daddy!!" Amelia leaped into Jebidiah's arms, squeezing him tight. "I'll call her right away and tell her to come over!"

Jebidiah laughed as he hugged back. "And for the record, Amelia, I'm pretty sure that you and Alesha couldn't manage to do half the damage that Travis and his friends did to the house..."

"Hehe, yeah, I know."



Though Amelia and Alesha didn't have much in common, they were two peas in a pod -- inseparable, from then on, at least. They'd hardly known each other for a few days ( at least really known each other ) but they were already the best of friends. Amelia the mood-swinging string bean, and Alesha, the kind-hearted not-so-string bean. Perhaps they were nothing alike, but, nothing says opposites can't attract.

So, when Alesha arrived, both girls were incredibly excited -- finally, some time together outside of school!



"So, you're really okay with me staying the night?" Alesha asked, even still looking a little bit worried.

"Of course! Dad was actually confused why I didn't just ask mom, since yer like, her best-friend's-daughter and stuff."

"Good, 'cause I really wanted to get out of the house... You know, away from the remodeling... and... stuff."



Amelia giggled, confused at why her friend was acting so strange. "Stop being so silly! I've been wanting to do something with you all week!" Amelia pounced Alesha with a hug, before saying, "Now let's start up the oven, I wanna bake some muffins!"

"Okay!"

---

Outside, Jebidiah vacated the house for the girls, and decided to spend some time with Bradley, who'd been becoming abnormally anti-social as of late... and good on Jebidiah, he finally noticed.



"So, everything's alright, Brad?" Jeb asked as he comtemplated his next move.

"Everything's fine dad, I said to leave it alone, alright?" Brad said grumpily, eyeing his queen-side bishop so angrily that surely, in another dimension, it exploded.

Jebidiah smirked since he knew all too well what to take that as. "Bradley, I know you've been really upset ever since Emerald moved on, but that doesn't mean you had to abandon all of your other friends. Maybe it's time you moved on, too, you know?"

"Yeah, right, sure," Brad said with a sigh. "I was actually thinking of giving one a call later, if that'd make you happy."

"It'd make me happy if you did it right now, actually."



Grumbling a small 'fine', Bradley picked up his cell-phone, and walked off whilst dialing the first number that popped into his head. When the voice came on the line, his heart sank through his stomach:

"Hi, you've reached Emerald Greenwood! I'm sorry you weren't able to reach me, but if you leave me a message I'll be sure to call you back a-- haha, Travis, stop that!-- er, as soon as possible! Thanks!"

Once Bradley was able to regain his composure, he mumbled out a quick, "Hey Em, it's Brad, I wanted to talk... In person. Meet me at the Rendezvous at 5, okay? See ya."

He was a little worried that she wouldn't show, but in a way, he actually wished she wouldn't... It would almost makes things better if she didn't. But now, there was no turning back -- he had to talk to her, whether he liked it or not.



Since Travis had been swept away by June for the afternoon, Bradley got the car all for his own -- finally! When it came time to go down to the Rendezvous, his heart still couldn't stop beating fast, but his nervousness was quelled (slightly) when he saw her waiting outside the building as he pulled up.

"I didn't hear back from you, I was a bit worried you weren't going to come," Bradley said, now suddenly wishing that she hadn't shown up. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," Emerald responded with a small smile. "That the new car? It's nice... And yeah, I wasn't busy today, I figured I may as well come. Travis is off busy with June or something I guess, I haven't seen him much the past couple days..."

"Yeah, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," Brad said with a stiff upper lip. "Let's go inside so we can sit down and talk."

---

"You can't catch meeeeeee!"



Alesha may not be the string bean that Amelia is, but she still could run fast!



But... not for long enough. "Hahaha, slow-poke!" Amelia giggled as she tagged Alesha. "Yer it!"

"Am NOT!" Alesha laughed, and kept on running...



... and running...



... and running, until she suddenly turned around just as Amelia got close, and boom! Tagged!

"Haha! Fooled you! Yer it again!"

"Uuugggh Aleshaaaaaa," Amelia whined. "That's no fair!"

"Is too, you chased me! C'mon, catch me catch me!"

Ah, kids... If only it were those carefree days, again. If only...

---

Across town, Emerald and Bradley talked... But not about anything in particular. The weather, their social studies project at school, how things were going at Emerald's overly-eco-friendly household, how Travis's party had been handled by his parents... Things they both knew, but Bradley just couldn't get away from.



"So, what's going on?" Emerald finally asked, giving Bradley a very pointed, expressionless look.

"I... Can't it just wait a little? It's really nice to actually, you know... talk to you again."

Emerald rolled her eyes and stood up. "So that's it? You just lured me out here to have small talk and get me worked up over nothing? I'm sorry Brad, but... I'm outta here. Travis has probably been trying to get ahold of me and I--"



"Wait, Emerald, please." Bradley finally got the courage. He stood up from the table, and stood in Emerald's way so that she couldn't leave. "I was just scared to tell you the truth, because I know how you're gonna react, and... I just wanted us to talk about something nice for a while before... you know."

"Oh yeah?" Emerald raised one eyebrow quizzically. "What's going on?"

"Look, I didn't mean for this to happen, but... I told Jade to talk to Travis about your relationship, because I honestly didn't think he was as into you as he was acting. She's the only one who could get through to him, and... Well, she did. In fact, she got so through to him, she's... Well, she and Travis have been making out on the beach almost every night this week. I'm sorry, Em."



"What?!" Emerald was furious! "Why did you -- and why was he -- I can't believe him! I can't believe you! How could you do something like that, Bradley? My sister's seductive, of course she was gonna snake her way back into his arms! Why do you think she was all over Thomas at that party?! She has no concept of 'relationship'!

"And apparently neither does your brother!" Emerald yelled.



"I'm so, so sorry, Emerald, I didn't mean for that to happen... I just did it because--"

"I don't care why, Brad! I just simply don't care, anymore!"



"Please, Emerald... Please, just hear me out," Bradley begged. "It's important, because there's something I need to tell you, something you need to hear."

"What you have to say can wait, Brad," Emerald said angrily. "There's something else I need to take care of, first."

She turned to bolt out the door, and was too quick for Bradley to stop her. "Wait, waiit! Emerald!"



He rushed after her out the door, and... What was she doing? She was heading straight for his car?! But then how was he supposed to stop her?! Uugh, clever girl!

"Emerald, please, WAIT!"



As she disappeared into his car, and pulled off up the road, Bradley started running, praying that she would stop. "Please, Emerald.... I need to tell you...

"I need to tell you...

"I LOVE YOU!"

But she was already pulled off too far up the road, far beyond his reach, far beyond where she could hear. He was determined to catch her -- he was ready to tell her, and nothing could stop him now!



Nothing except her gas on the pedal, of course.

As Emerald chuckled to herself -- "Brad really needs to not leave his keys in the car, haha." -- she still couldn't void out the hard beating of her heart in her ears. She was so angry, her knuckles on the steering wheel were turning white every time she gripped it to turn a corner.



As she pulled up to the Kane household, she looked over her shoulder at the front door, grumbling at all the memories -- fake memories -- that she'd built with Travis there.

"He's gonna get it!" she grumbled to herself.



Emerald didn't even bother ringing the doorbell; the front door simply burst open, and she walked right into the living room, where Travis sat, reading a book.

"Oh, so this is what you're doing instead of spending time with me, huh? Saying you're off with June, when you're actually just here... Reading?! You don't even like reading!"

"What are you talking about, Emerald," Travis said, reacting slowly to her sudden and surprise attack. "What are you even doing here?"



"I'm here to tell you to a face what a LOSER you are! Been cheating on me, huh? With my sister?! How could you, Travis?"

"W... What? What are you--"

"Don't you even dare try to lie to me, Travis! I'm not an idiot, like you!"



"Oh, I'm the idiot? Who's the one who jumped into a relationship with me when you knew I still had feelings for Jade? You can't say you were oblivious to this, Emerald! All I did was get Jade back, which was the plan, right? The plan, to get Brad and Jade jealous?

"You're just angry because Brad's too much a chicken to ever come around!" Travis finished.



"H-How could you say that?" Emerald asked, her voice sheepish. "That has nothing to do with it, Travis. I'm angry because you're my boyfriend... I care about you... I thought you cared about me, too..."



"Is that really what you thought?" Travis asked, still over-the-top angry. "I'm sorry, I care about you as a friend, but that's it! That's all it's ever been! You want more, you're talking to the wrong guy!"

"Well I'm soh-rry that I actually trusted what you said, Travis!" Emerald yelled. "I went into this relationship expecting more than just a title, I expected some feelings! Some love!"



"Well, you're never going to get any of that from me, Emerald," Travis said, laying all his cards flat on the table for Emerald to see. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to end it like this, but... It's over."

Emerald couldn't believe what she was hearing. In less than one hour, her entire world had crumbled down at her feet, everything she trusted to be true had been turned to lies... There was only one person left who she knew she could trust, but even him... She was still angry.



There was nothing more to say, so with tears clogging her eyes and anger still swelling in her gut, Emerald ran out the door, and descended the front steps with a heavy heart. She had to get out of here...

She had to get away.



Running down to the car, she realized there was only one place left to go, one more score left to settle. Slamming her foot on the gas, she tried to get away from there as fast as possible...

She knew exactly where she was headed, but she couldn't get there fast enough. Not now, not ever.



Not long after Emerald pulled away, Bradley finished climbing the hill to Savannah Street, and his heart sank further when he saw that his car was gone.

Where had she gone? Why was she gone?

The only thing that was on Bradley's mind was Emerald... He had to find her, had to catch her, had to tell her how he felt: not just the truth, but the whole truth.

It was now, or never!