The story I’m about to share happened years
ago. I was still a high school student then, and
I was young, stupid, and kinda selfish. But still, you have to know that my sister
was also kind of a bitch at the time, and while I might have gone a little overboard
in my revenge, it really felt like she deserved it at the time. It's really funny how it tends to be the ones
you less expect that screw up all your plans, and humiliate you in public. I’m talking about my sister now. I know we have had this long-standing rivalry,
and petty squabble between us, but I’ve always felt that there was a line we won’t
cross. Boundaries such as school and stuff. Well, she crossed that line when she told
everyone in school how I wet my bed at thirteen years of age. I have never felt more embarrassed in my life,
and I would have loved to change schools after the incident. (my parents didn’t agree to that,) and since
I couldn’t, my next best option was to get revenge on my sister, which I did. But let's start at the beginning. I had never been interested in girls growing
up. I’m not talking sexually now. I mean, at the time, I didn’t have a female
friend, because I liked to play intensively. Running around, doing cartwheels, shooting
balls through hoops, and playing football. All my friends from kindergarten to sixth
grade were boys. And I liked it that way. The one time I tried being friends with a
female, I threw a football at her, and she couldn’t watch it and it hit her nose. She cried so hard, I was so scared that she
was gonna die. (that was kindergarten, so forgive my thinking). Anyways that all changed when I met Rosie. Rosie was a transfer student from Texas, and
she was by far the coolest person I knew. It was the first day of seventh grade. We were just halfway through our second period,
and I was half listening, half dozing as the English teacher went on and on about adverbs…
or was it the science teacher? Anyways, the door swung open, and the principal
walked in with a young girl following closely behind as soon as I saw her, the sleep vanished
from my eyes, and for the first time in a long time, I was wide awake in class. As I’ve said before, I haven’t been interested
in girls but this one, she was special. Beautiful, with her flawless dark skin, brown
eyes, and big puffy hair, even her braces were cute. The principal introduced her to the class
and asked her to take an empty seat. My best friend Nick commented how wild her
hair looked. she was afro American you see, so her hair
didn’t fall like the other girls. Naturally, I would have laughed at this because
my friends and I had this thing we do where we make one funny comment about a girl, and
turn it into a whole thing. It used to be fun until Rosie. I turned to him and then told him firmly not
to talk about girls like that anymore. Nick was surprised, but honestly, so was I.
During the lunch break, I contemplated going to talk to her. She was seated alone at the far corner of
the lunch table, and it would have been really easy to walk over to her and introduce myself
but I didn’t go for two reasons. Firstly, everyone in school knew my little
gang. We were kinda popular and one of the rules
of our gang was NO GIRLS ALLOWED! If I walk up to a girl and talk to her, it’ll
ruin my reputation. Secondly, I had my friends with me. If I walk over and talk to a girl, they wouldn’t
let me hear the end of it. They will probably tease me till I graduate
college. So All I could do was sit there watching in
agony as she ate her lunch. Nick and the other guys ramble on and on about
something but I wasn’t listening. I heard their voices but that was all. Anyways after school, I managed to sneak away
from my friends to look for Rosie. I found her at the bike park, and I pretended
to want to take my bike too. I introduced myself, then walked away awkwardly. (Turns out I was bad at speaking to girls
too) Still, i was so excited and later that night,
I did something unexpected. We were all having dinner, me my mom, dad,
and my older sister Jules. Oh, i haven’t told you about my Jules. Well, Jules was a year older than me, and
I have to say she was the most obnoxious person I've ever met. She always found new and innovative ways to
annoy or embarrass me. If she wasn’t setting me up for breaking
a vase or eating the last bit of cookie, she was telling my friends some embarrassing detail
about me, that they could use to torment me for the rest of the school week. She was in the eighth grade, and all I wanted
was for her to finish middle school, so I could have one year of freedom before i joined
her in high school. Julie had blue eyes, but she liked to wear
contact lenses, which made her eyes grey. (this information will be useful later)
Well, that’s that about Jules, lets's continue. Dad was going on and on about his co-worker
and what a funny guy he was… or was he complaining about his co-worker? Either way, I wasn’t paying attention, all
I had in mind was Rosie and the beautiful eight point-six seconds I spent talking to
her in the bicycle park. When my dad turned and asked me how my day
went at school, I instinctively blurted out that I spoke to a girl. What! Ugh, stupid brain!!! My parents were mildly surprised because they
knew how little I tolerated girls. My sister, on the other hand, she almost fell
off her chair with laughter. I instantly regretted mentioning that in front
of Jules. Now, she was going to tell my friends in school. Immediately after dinner, I hurried over to
Jules’s room and begged her not to say anything. She refused immediately, but when I offered
to pay her for her silence, she agreed. I gave her all the money I had at the time,
which summed up to thirty-three dollars. I even agreed to help her clean her room,
and do her laundry. And sure enough, she didn’t say anything,
but that silence lasted for a total of six days the next week Tuesday, during lunch break,
I got my food, and proceeded to join my friends in our usual seats. When I did, they all snickered and burst out
laughing. Confused, I asked them what was going on,
and that was when they told me everything that Jules had told them. She even went ahead to fabricate some parts
of the story to embarrass me. She told them that i asked her to be my girlfriend,
and she refused. Now I could have told them that all she said
was a lie, and they might have believed me because they knew how we were with each other. But as soon as they said that bit about me
asking Rosie out, I blurted out that all I did was say hi to her, and introduce myself. Nick and the guys laughed hard, and as they
started to tease me, all I could do was sit there and take it. I knew they weren’t gonna stop if I talked
to Rosie or avoided her for the rest of our time in Middle school, so I decided that what
the heck, I’m gonna talk to her. That same day, after school, I saw her unlocking
her bike from the rack and introduced myself again. We talked for a few minutes about her former
school and family, and when she had to go, we said goodbye, and I watched her cycle away. Nick and the guys came out of the hallway,
and saw me watching her ride away, and all they could do was laugh. I got home that day and marched up to Julie’s
room, then I demanded my money back. She tried to feign innocence at first, but
eventually, she told me I wasn’t getting my money back. I walked out of her room in anger. I was so mad because every day i saw Rosie,
I liked her even more, and the fact that my friends knew was a problem because they were
used to scaring girls off, and not making them stay. It was a real problem. A few days later, I took my lunch to Rosie’s
table, so I could talk to her. I had already told my friends about it at
the beginning of the lunch break, and I expected that they would give us some privacy, but
what did they do? They walked over and joined me at the table. From the way Rosie looked around, I could
tell that she was feeling ganged up on, and I tried my best to make them leave, but it
eventually turned out to be a big fight. And in a fit of rage, Nick made an insulting
comment, directed toward Rosie. She got mad and left. I was so furious at Nick, that I wanted to
punch him in the face. But that didn’t happen. Why? Well because Nick was bigger than me. We have never resorted to blows to settle
our differences, but I was sure that if we did, he would beat the living crap out of
me. I left the Cafeteria to look for Rosie, but
I couldn’t find her. I was so sad… and angry. Not at the boys, not really. But at myself. I started this whole thing. If I didn’t mention that I talked to a girl,
Jules wouldn’t have known and she wouldn't have said anything to the boys. Then again, I blamed Jules. She could have kept her mouth shut when I
begged her to, but she couldn’t. She was always looking for a way to torment
me and even after she made me do her laundry, clean her room, and surrendered my last thirty-three
dollars. That was not enough for her. I went straight to my room as soon as I got
home, and I didn’t come down, not even for dinner. My dad had to come up to yell at me to come
and have dinner. When I told him I wasn’t hungry, he threatened
to ground me if I didn’t come down for a bite. That only worked to infuriate me the more,
but I didn’t argue with him. At times, it was better to just go with the
flow, when there was nothing you could do about it. I decided that instead of testing my dad,
it was better to just go down and have dinner. (i should have just stayed upstairs, because
my decision to go downstairs, was what put everything else in motion. If i didn’t, I might have gotten grounded,
but there won’t have been any need for this story today). Well, I went downstairs and ate dinner in
silence. My dad, as usual, rambled about his co-worker. (sometimes, I think my dad’s in love with
the guy lol) and as per usual, he turned to me and asked how my day was at school. I was still in a bad mood, and young and stupid,
I decided to act out, by not saying anything. He asked again, and one more time, I pretended
not to hear him, and when he spoke for the third time, I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t
in the mood for talking that night, but as you must have learned by now, my mouth seemed
to have a mind of its own. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details, but I remember
saying something so rude, that my dad sent me to my room. I wasn’t apologetic. If anything, I was even madder, and i went
to bed that way. (and of course, after drinking like a gallon of water…). The next day, I woke up in a pool of my own
making. I actually wet the bed! How insane was that? I was thirteen years old, and I had not wet
the bed since i was five or six years old. Jules had a good laugh, after hearing of my
whole situation. My parents, on the other hand, took me to
the hospital to make sure nothing was wrong with me. It was nothing serious though. Turns out that extreme stress and anxiety
could also trigger bed wetting. I couldn’t care less if I was having stage
four cancer at the time. I knew this was the ultimate humiliation,
and that was what Jules had been looking for, ever since I was born. I was sure she wasn’t just going to let
this go. She was gonna tell my friends, and I wasn’t
going to live it down. I told my parents about this, and they made
Jules promise not to say anything, which she did. I later found out the hard way that promises
didn’t mean anything to Jules. Three days later, in school, I came out of
the restroom, to see everyone in the hallway snickering and staring at me. I didn’t know what was going on, but eventually,
i did. I spotted Nick in the far end of the hallway
and he hurried over to me. Then he said something along the lines of. “Dude everyone knows!” Confused, i asked him what he was talking
about. Then he explained to me that my sister had
been going around telling people that I wet my bed. Apparently, she took a picture of my soaked
sheets and bed. And everyone, including Rosie, knew. I’ve never felt so humiliated in my entire
life. I couldn’t stay in school, because everyone
was laughing at me. Some jerks even called me a bedwetter to my
face. I hurried home before the close of the day
and cried in my room. My sadness immediately turned to anger, as
I thought about what big a role Jules had to play in every bad thing that had happened
since I mentioned Julie. It wasn’t long before I decided tha I wanted
revenge. I had a plan in mind (and I was a kid at the
time, so excuse the fact that it seemed rational to me). I walked into my parents' room, and took my
mom’s pepper spray. I was still pretty early, so my mom wasn’t
back from work. I kept the pepper spray in my room, till night
when everyone had gone to bed. I snuck into Jules’ room and shot the spray
into her contact lens case. The brand of the pepper spray had a clear
liquid, so it went unnoticed. The next day, I was woken up by Jules’ screams. She had put in one of the lenses, and it burnt
pretty bad, that they had to take her to the hospital. It was only pepper spray thank god, so it
had no lasting damage in her eye. Only a minor irritation caused her eye to
swell. I was grounded till the end of seventh grade,
but on the bright side, Julie never messed with me ever again. Before Isabella Garcia showed up at my office
as my new co-worker, things were swell. I have always prided myself in my work and
how efficient I was. To be honest, work is all I ever really do. I’m very socially awkward, so I’ve always
focused on easier things, like work. When you’re like me, auditing accounts all
night is an easier task than an outing with friends. This isn’t so say that I was a complete
social outcast, I just rarely went out. In university, I when I wasn’t in class
or studying, I liked to play video games on my laptop, mostly offline Minecraft (because
God forbid I have to work and play with other people). Sometimes I’d do put to the movies or to
a restaurant, but I was almost always alone. I had tried a few times to date, but I quickly
realized that most women don’t like to be with quiet, extremely introverted men, so
I was fine just being single. After I graduated and got a job with a firm
in New York, things didn’t change much. My co-workers and I barely talked outside
of work, though every once in a while I’d be invited for drinks or a party. Most times I declined, but some days my social
meter would be full and I’d go for a drink. No one really had a problem with my lifestyle
and most people just understood that I was just not a big people person. It also really helped that I was highly efficient
at the company. In fact, one time my supervisor said that
employing me was like employing three people at once. Recently, the firm I work at decided to widen
the scope of services we provide. That meant employing a few extra people, which
I was fine with. What I wasn’t fine with was having to share
an office. I was used to just being alone in my office
working, so when we were informed that some of us would have to share our offices with
the new employs for a while, I wasn’t exactly pleased. When I spoke to my supervisor about it, he
said it was out of her hands and so against my will I ended up working in the same room
with one of our newest hires, Isabella. Isabella is a very cheery, lively person,
and very different from me. She’d come into work everyday with a wide
smile asking questions about what I did the previous evening and how my morning was. Sometimes, she’d even pack a breakfast for
me, which was quite sweet. I understood that she was just energetic and
I mostly just answered her questions with as simply as I could so I wouldn’t seem
rude. We were on good terms for the most time. Isabella was also quite efficient, so my respect
for her was also quite high. The problem started when one evening after
work she asked if I’d like to go to a bar close by for a drink. I considered everything, but after not being
able to think of a valid excuse yet again, I said sure. At the bar, Isabella seemed like a completely
different person. While at work she was talkative and social,
that evening, she was quiet and kept leaning in to whisper in my ear. She was also very handsy, and I soon realized
that I was being seduced. There were two things that I immediately considered. The first was the fact that this was my co-worker. I was almost certain that this was the kind
of thing HR would frown against. The second thing I considered was how I had
never really thought about Isabella in that light. She was definitely attractive, very attractive
even, but I had always seen her as a co-worker. Being hit on by her felt weird. However, I had had a few drinks and it had
been a while since I had been flirted with and it felt good, so I indulged her. As the night drew on, Isabella got bolder
and eventually asked if I could take her to my place. I don’t know what happened to me at that
point -and quite honestly if I was in the same situation again, I probably would have
reacted differently- but all of a sudden I had a ton of clarity. Enough clarity to be skeptical. So I told her kindly that perhaps it 2wsnt
such a good idea for her to come over that night. When she heard this, she got a little stiff,
like I had insulted her, so I had to explain that it wasn’t like I didn’t want to,
it was just too sudden, too soon. She relaxed a little and said that was fine. I hailed a taxi for her and before she left,
she gave me a peck on the cheek. The entire way home I kept asking myself if
I had made the right choice. The next morning when Isabella walked in,
she wasn’t her usual cheery self. She seemed a little nervous. I didn’t want to talk about the previous
evening at first, but after a long time of awkward silence, I turned to her and asked
if she was okay. She smiled and said she was fine. I asked if she was still upset about what
had happened and she admitted that she was more scared than upset. She had considered that what she had done
was stupid and she expected to have HR storm in at any time. I laughed and said I didn’t feel offended
or harassed by her advances, just a little shocked. So we proceeded to, on company time, talk
about the possibility of us dating. Isabella was beautiful, funny, open and caring,
and quite honestly with every passing second I was more open to dating her. She didn’t seem to mind my introversion
and quietness. In fact, she said those where qualities about
me that she really liked. The more we talked about it, the more excited
we both got, and we planned our first date right there. After work, as I was saying goodbye to her,
she walked up to me and said there was something she should have done the night before. That something was a deep, passionate kiss. For a few minutes after, I could barely think
or move, and when I finally was able to walk again, I was swaying. The next few weeks were absolute bliss. We went out on dates, hung out after work,
and I talked perhaps more than I had ever in my entire life. Isabella was adventurous, and she liked danger. She suggested all sorts of activities: rock
climbing, skydiving, skating (up to that point, I didn’t even fathom that she was a skater). I, on the other hand, was more into spending
time doing relatively mellow things: walks in the park, visiting museums and playing
Scrabble. Somehow we found a way to do both our activities. It was fun, it was exciting, and for the next
six months, I was happy. At the office a few people had started to
notice that Isabella and I were an item, but I honestly was past caring at that point. I was fully and utterly in love. One time she suggested us moving in together,
but we eventually decided against it. Eventually, Isabella got her own office and
I was back to having my office all to myself, bit she still brought me breakfast everyday. I must’ve been blinded by my love for Isabella
because I didn’t see the warning signs till it was too late. They were always there, now that I look back
at it. Always there. I should have noticed how obsessed with me
she was. At first I assumed it was just how she was,
but over time I noticed that she really wanted me to herself and herself alone. She would ask for my phone at random intervals
to “check” it and then she would make a beeline for my messages, asking me a ton
of questions when she sees me message literally any woman. She didn’t just stop there, either. I noticed that she often snooped around my
phone when I wasn’t there and sent screenshots of messages to herself. I talked to her about this and tried to assure
her that I was committed to her and only her, but I don’t think what I said stuck. Even worse than that, she started stalking
me. It was very creepy. What was creepy was how I found out. Socially awkward as I am, I still always make
sure I see my mum at least twice a month. I’m all she has left, and she’s perhaps
the most important person in my life. Isabella had once asked me one day if “Mum”
saved my phone was really my mum. Upset, I told her to stop being ridiculous
and just grabbed my phone from her. She later apologized and said she was just
being careful. Later that week when I went to see my mother,
I kept having the feeling of being trailed. However, when I checked around me, I couldn’t
point out anything suspicious. I thought I was just being paranoid and carried
on to my mum’s. We went out for lunch and talked about life
and everything. I gave her an update on Isabella and I, including
my worries about her obsession with me. She said if I wasn’t feeling comfortable
then perhaps I should break things off. According to her, crazy people were unpredictable,
and if I wasn’t careful, I could find myself in a body bag. I laughed and said it was improbable that
Isabella would ever want to hurt me. The next words that came out of my mum’s
mouth shook me to my core. “If you’re so sure you’re safe, then
why is she following you half way across town and spying on you right now?” It turns out Isabella was across the street,
looking right at us. She had a ridiculous disguise on, but it was
her alright. I walked right to her and as I did, I saw
her turn pale, and then she tried to slink away. We got into a pretty intense argument the
moment we got back to my apartment. Eventually, genuinely concerned, I asked if
she needed professional help with dealing with attachment. She said she was just fine and she just wanted
to “make sure I wasn’t cheating on her”, then she stormed out of the apartment angrily. That fight was pretty big and lasted a week. A week during which she completely ignored
me at work and refused to talk to me even after. Eventually, she called to apologize and we
made up. I thought that would be the end of it all,
but of course it wasn’t. To understand just how bad Isabella’s next
act of jealousy was, I need to give a little bit of context. There was a homeless woman I had noticed on
my way to work everyday. She seemed to be a nice woman who greeted
everyone who passed by her. One day, I bought her a hot meal on my way
home and I sat down silently with her while we both ate. She was extremely grateful for the food, and
she spoke -and I listened- about her life and experiences. Her name was Betty, and she is one of the
most intelligent and kind people I have ever met. She wasn’t a criminal or a drug addict,
she was just an artist down on her luck. I had enjoyed that meal with her so much that
I decided to do it as often as I could, and so a couple of times a week, I would get supper,
supplies and sometimes even art supplies for Betty and we would eat and talk. I had done this for almost two months before
I had even started dating Isabella. Betty seemed like she was getting her life
back together and would soon be off the streets. To me, Betty was a good friend, one of the
few ones I had. When Isabella and I started seeing, I told
her about Betty, and she didn’t sound like she really minded, but just like with her
other acts of jealousy, she increasing got more quizzical about Betty. One day, just a month after the whole incident
of her trailing my mum and I, Isabella did the unthinkable: she called the police on
poor Betty. She had told the police that Betty was a “violent
junkie” and that she had attacked her and tried to rob her. It’s not a particularly hard thing to get
homeless people in trouble with the law, and so Betty was arrested. That evening, I got some Chinese takeout and
walked over to Betty’s corner. I was absolutely worried when Carl, another
homeless man who would sometimes join Betty and I for supper, told me that Betty had been
arrested. I immediately went to the local precinct and
applied for her bail. The police told me they had received a complaint
about her, and for some reason it just clicked that it must’ve been Isabella. Later that evening, I confronted Isabella
about it and she admitted to it, crying while she said she had done it because Betty was
trying to take me away from her. At that moment I knew I had to end things
with Isabella. My mum was right: the sooner I got out, the
better. However, just breaking up with her didn’t
seem to be enough. See, I know what it’s like to be down. When I was young, my mum and I were constantly
broke and one paycheck away from homelessness. I could understand how painful it must’ve
been for Betty to be harassed and profiled. For her to have done something that nasty
just because she was jealous was just mean and I was determined to give Isabella the
payback that Betty couldn’t give her. The next morning, I got to work before Isabella,
as always, and I logged into her computer in her office. With her official email, I scheduled a few
emails to send to our biggest competition at random times. In the emails, “Isabella” claimed to have
company secrets she was willing to divulge for money and employment with them. In the final email, I made sure to “accidentally”
attach the email address of the head of our firm. When I was done, I shut down the computer
and left like nothing happened. That evening, I broke up with Isabella. To cushion the effect of the breakup, I told
her I just wanted to see how we would grow if we had a little break. I couldn’t tell if she was sad or angry. She had just looked down and asked if I was
sure that was what I wanted. She wasn’t ready for what was about to hit
because by the end of the week, the emails got exposed and there was a whole lot of drama
around it. In another week, she had been fired. I have barely seen her since then, and I’m
not sure she doesn’t know I was responsible for her getting fired. With any luck she won’t.
