Late nights

XXVIII

Tom finished a whole book while it was raining. The library had cleared up and was pretty much empty.

- What's the next step? - Emily asked.

- Next step of what?

- Of the revenge plan.

- Oh. Well, I think we have to pull Olivia into the plan. We won't do anything to her, but we need to place her in a position where she is also blocking off Harry. I don't know if that even makes sense.

- I'm not sure if it does.

- Well, it can be unconscious, she just needs to block off another path. 

- Okay, I definitely don't understand, but fair enough. How do we do that?

- So, Harry very obviously likes girls. The question is would he cheat on Olivia?

- I'm not sure. If he did it once, he would do it twice.

- I think so too. If we present a girl for him and give him the opportunity to cheat, he'll do it. But we won't let him. That way, that girl will be teasing him but he won't be able to do anything because Olivia will be blocking his way. Metaphorically, of course.

- That sounds...Okay, but where are we gonna find a girl to tease and play around with Harry?

- I think a person willing to do that is closer than you think.

The person Tom had in mind was Caroline. They all decided to meet up back at their dorm. After about half an hour, they were all discussing the plan.

- Yeah, so you have to keep inviting him to meet up, but never actually make it happen. Invite him somewhere far away so he couldn't get there since he doesn't have a car. 

- I don't know if I'm okay with this. - Lola said, looking at Caroline.

- It sounds like fun, but if Lola doesn't want me to do it I won't. - Caroline said.

- But think about it, - Emily was now fond of the idea, - you'd be helping me and having fun. We can pay you, right? - She looked at Tom.

- Umm, yeah, totally, no problems with that.

- Can we have a word? - Caroline asked Tom and Emily before going to the bathroom with Lola.

- I don't know about this. I'm just unsure. What if it ruins something between us? - Lola said.

- Lola, listen, this is just a little quick thing to help Emily and Tom. And by the way, I don't like anyone as I like you.

They discussed some more while Tom and Emily were waiting in the room. Caroline and Lola didn't take too long to come back.

- I'll do it for a hundred bucks. - Caroline said.

- That would be very good, - Tom smiled, - okay, so you'll text Tom, get him warmed up, tease him and we're gonna make sure Olivia knows.

- What if he just ignores Caroline and moves on? - Lola asked.

- That could be possible. - Caroline agreed.

- In that case, you would've made a hundred bucks for pretty much no work. This is a win-win situation. - Tom said.

After discussing plans, Tom went out into the hallway with Emily to go somewhere else. They went to the beach and started walking on a large bridge reaching into the ocean. The sun was setting in front of them and there was a girl at the end of the bridge.

- Do you think it'll work? - Emily asked.

- I'm not sure. The most we can do right now is try. I think it will have some effect on the plan. In other words, I think it will work at least to some extent.

They walked to the end of the bridge. The girl at the end of the bridge was Violet.

- Hey Violet, what are you doing here? - Emily smiled.

- Watching the sunset.

- Cool, cool. Why didn't you go home for the summer?

- What's the point? I'm gonna be here three months later anyway...or not. What about you?

- I had unfinished business. Well, that's one of the reasons. 

- Cool. Anyway, I'm gonna leave you two here, I'm going for a walk in the forest. - Violet turned around and started walking away.

- Careful out there, you never know who you'll meet, you might get killed. - Emily warned her.

- Let's hope so.

- She's weird. - Emily turned to Tom.

- She's interesting.