A/N: This story is based off SPOILERS from the upcoming second half of the season! I won't say which are spoilers and which is my own personal fan fiction spin, but just in case you do not want to be spoiled, do NOT read any further! You've been warned. Also, the title of this chapter comes from this quote by Charlotte Brontë, "Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavor, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned."

Vengeance

As If I Had Been Poisoned

"You slept with her?!"

The shrieking voice was like a gunshot right next to his ear. Ben Boykewich slapped his hand up to block the foul noise. He slowly completed a half turn, coming face-to-face with Amy Juergens. "Amy-"

"I cannot believe you slept with that slut!"

Fire erupted deep in the pit of his stomach. "She's not a slut!" he lashed out without thinking. At that point, he noticed their argument was starting to draw attention. His face flushed pink as he grabbed Amy's arm and hauled her into the nearest empty classroom and slammed the door, causing the floating animal embryos to bobble in their science jars. "And it's not like it's any of your business anyway! We broke up months ago!"

"But you slept with her, Ben!"

"And you slept with Ricky!" his eyes filled with venom as he said the other boy's name.

"Yeah, genius, how do you think I got pregnant?!"

"No!" Ben pointed an accusatory finger into her face. "You slept with him a second time! When Maria was here-"

Amy's mouth drew into a wide O. "What?"

"Don't act so innocent! Adrian and I both know the truth!"

"Ricky and I never slept together-"

"Yes you did! You did it to get revenge on me because you thought I had sex with Maria and it never happened! And so…so Adrian and I slept together too." He folded his arms across his chest. "I guess we're even, now. You and I have both lost our virginity to the one person the other despises. And I guess that makes Adrian and Ricky equal too, because he cheated with and she cheated with me."

Amy's cheeks were slowly turning from a red plum to a purple plum. "I can't believe you!" she snarled. "We didn't sleep together! We…we kissed! I asked him to kiss me."

The smugness dissipated from Ben's face. "What?"

"I asked him to kiss me. After my mom saw you kissing Maria on the beach…I asked him to kiss me and he did. But we never had sex. It was just a kiss."

Ben's eyes had become as wide black holes. "You're lying."

"You know I'm not." Her voice was shaky, like a car on a gravel road. While her face remained poker, her voice betrayed her true feelings. "I can't believe you would do this." Her voice had fallen to a whisper. "You of all people, Ben."

Ben swallowed uneasily. "And I can't believe you would do what you did either. You asked Ricky to kiss you while he was still with Adrian. You knew he was with Adrian-"

"Don't try to make this my fault! I'm not the one who slept with anyone-"

"I didn't do anything wrong, Amy. I'm single. I didn't cheat on you. No matter what you think went down with Maria, I never meant to hurt you and I never had sex with her, oral or otherwise. You were the one who initiated this by asking Adrian's boyfriend to kiss you, not me."

She raised her fist. "Go to hell, Ben!" Her eyes were glistening like the sea on a sunny day. "Stay away from me! Stay away from my sister, my parents, my son, and my son's father. You stay away from all of us! You and that slut deserve each other!" Her golden brown hair flew in a semi-circle around her head as she stormed out of the classroom, this time slamming the door so hard that one of the jarred elephant embryos fell off and shattered onto the floor.