“No!” I growl at him vehemently.
“Come now, that’s no way for a queen to talk to her king. We get to share this dance together. Let’s make the most of it. Let’s enjoy holding on to one another and being so close. We haven’t been close at all since that night.” His eyes move over my face and stop on my lips. “You know the one.”
“That night never should have happened, and you know it.” I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t want to talk about it again.”
He looks hurt, and I remind myself that he doesn’t really mean it.
Astor leans close, nuzzling his lips against my ear. I hear him breathe me in. “God you smell so good. I miss you. Come on, Teddy. Aren’t you ever going to forgive me?”
“No,” I answer darkly, and as I say it I can see Victoria at the innermost edge of the circle of students around us. She’s watching us intently and it’s clear as day that she is seething with rage. I find myself loving that richly rewarding aspect of this forced dance. I am making her suffer, and though I ha
dn’t intended to, I revel in the result.
I feel Astor gently kiss the bottom of my ear and my cheek, and an electric stream of fire blazes through me, stealing my breath away and making me close my eyes for a moment. I’m grateful that he can’t see the involuntary reaction he’s caused, and I struggle to get control of myself.
“Can you feel that?” he murmurs against my cheek, “It feels so good, doesn’t it? Don’t you want more? I want more. I want all of you, Teddy.”
“No!” I tell him sharply again, and lean back away from him a little. I look up into his eyes and speak low enough that no one but him can hear me. “You only want me now because I’m socially acceptable! There is nothing at all genuine about why you want me now, and I know it. You can’t convince me otherwise.”
The song comes to a close, and I see Victoria start to walk toward us. Astor gives me a hard look and then takes my face in his hands and kisses me; closing his mouth over mine right there in front of everyone.
I can’t believe he’s doing it, and my first instinct is to pull away from him. But I hear Victoria somewhere near us as she gasps and something else in me takes over, something deeply vindictive.
I part my lips and deepen our kiss, twisting my tongue around Astor’s as I close my fingers over the lapels of his jacket, pulling him up against me.
It’s a long, sensual kiss, and I cannot stop the aching desire for him that burns through every part of me. I suffer through it because I know that what we are doing is killing Victoria, and I want her to hurt as much as possible.
I know nothing means more to her than him, and so I kiss him as passionately as I did when he was in my bed at the beginning of the semester. I hear him moan somewhere in the depths of his chest, and at the sound of it, I snap out of my vengeful moment and shove him away from me.
He stares at me, his eyes hungry, and his mouth open. I lift my chin and shake my head.
“Don’t you ever touch me again.”
Astor blinks in confusion, and I turn to look at Victoria who is standing almost between Astor and I now.
“How dare you!” Victoria screams at me in a rage, but I just look at her evenly and keep my chin up.
“How does it feel to lose so much, huh Victoria? You lost the dance theme competition. You lost the auction. You lost the Valentine’s Queen crown that you’ve wanted for so long, and now you’ve even lost your man.”
I straighten myself up even further. I know I’m being cruel. I know I’m being vengeful.
I want it that way.
“He wants me, Victoria, but don’t you worry your crazy little head about it. Astor doesn’t really love me. He just wants to ride the Teddy White popularity train, but I’m not going to let him.” My words slice at her and I glance over at Astor. I’ve never seen him look so wounded, so totally torn up, and part of me hates it, but part of me feels vindicated as well. He’s had it coming for a long, long time.
I look back at Victoria, who’s about to erupt with anger and bitterness. “Victoria, every time you’ve come after me and tried to attack me or humiliate me, it’s blown up in your face.” Once, even literally. “Every one of your attempts has been a complete, colossal failure. The ironic thing is, every one of your failures has been another key to my success. You are your own worst enemy.”
Blair and Wills are standing right behind me, along with Laura and Dana, and several other of my newer friends. Victoria glares hotly at Astor and shakes her head.
“How could you!” she shouts venomously at him, and then she turns and storms away. Astor only watches her for a moment, but then he turns back and looks at me. As is his way.
We share a gaze for a moment, and then I slide my hands into Wills and Blair’s, and we head to the other side of the dance floor where the drinks are, under the big ice sculpture of Venus.
Blair hands me some punch while Wills gets a chocolate frosted brownie for me.
Dana smiles wide at me. She’s shaking, but it’s from excitement. This is her moment too, I realize.
“So? Is revenge as sweet as you hoped it would be?” she asks. She knows how long and how bad I’ve wanted to get back at Victoria. “How are you feeling?”