Radio Rebel
Perfection
Chapter 14: Confessions
Kim looked at Stacy who was shooting more nasty looks at her than she could count. Kim did everything Stacy wanted, but things didn't turn out in Stacy's favor. She couldn't read what was going through Stacy's mind, but she knew it wasn't good. Kim tensed up in apprehension. She knew where things were going to go. She knew Stacy was going to lay it into her any second. It wasn't her fault, but she knew Stacy would somehow turn it into that. Stacy crossed her arms across her chest, walked closer to Kim and stared down upon her face. Kim could feel Stacy's shadow over her. She felt smaller as each moment went by. Things in the room felt darker and more intense.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Stacy asked in a harsh tone. Kim looked at her friend with unease as she processed the words. She thought it was completely uncalled for that Stacy was putting the blame on her. She did what Stacy asked. She didn't disobey the wishes of her friend yet she was being yelled at and judged? Kim didn't know exactly what to say to her. She was stumped for words. "Well? Are you just gonna stand there thoughtless? Oh, wait. That's all the time, isn't it?" Stacy said getting into her friends face. Kim tried her best to keep her composure. She didn't want to be weak anymore. Stacy never acted like a friend to her and now because Kim did what Stacy wanted, Kim was the one facing punishment as well.
"Stacy, I tried my best. I did what YOU asked of me. How is this my fault?" Kim said questioning her friend. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and was finally standing up to her friend. Stacy looked at her friend shocked. How dare she talk to her in that manner?
"Excuse me? What did you say?" Stacy then moved closer trying to intimidate Kim. Kim became nervous, but tried her best not to show it. Kim matched Stacy's step trying to show Stacy that she wasn't her pet. That she wasn't her servant of any kind.
"I said that it wasn't my fault. & you still haven't answered it." Kim said challenging Stacy. Stacy stood there silent for a few moments trying to think of a better comeback, but couldn't match it. "Well? Are you just gonna stand there thoughtless?" Kim said burning her with her same exact words. This then caused Stacy's jaw to drop. Even Kim was rebelling against her now!
"Don't you speak to me like that!" Stacy said with fury growing inside of her as each second passed. Kim was becoming an enemy in that moment. She was losing another person in her army.
"But you can talk to me like that?" Kim snapped back.
"You never had a problem with it before." Stacy said and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Well, now I do. For once Stacy, maybe it's good you get a taste of your own medicine." All these words inside of Kim were finally bursting out. She was finally saying how she felt and not letting herself be pushed around. She wasn't going to be a victim anymore. She was going to be strong. She was going to be herself and not silenced by Stacy. Kim then walked away from Stacy and started cleaning. She was planning to set things right with Tara and Gavin after she was done. She felt bad that Stacy ruined something else. She felt bad that Stacy brought hurt among two more people.
Audrey was driving the car to her house so Tara wouldn't have to deal with her mother picking her way into her drama. Tara's mom was nosy and they both knew it. Tara wanted help and not gossip. Audrey parked the car and entered the grey house with the cute little garden in the front. They went straight up to Audrey's room that had the walls painted with splatters of pink, blue and green. Audrey immediately turned on her music hoping it would relax Tara a bit. She grabbed a tissue from the tissue box, walked over to Tara who was sitting on her bed and handed it to her.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Audrey said rubbing her friends shoulder. She never saw Tara this hurt before. She didn't know what exactly happened, but she was planning to get to the end of it. All she knew was that if Gavin hurt her, he'd be dead on Monday. Tara took a breath and tried to pull herself together to explain, but it was harder than she thought. She couldn't believe that Gavin of all people would do that. It just made her doubt everything. It was just making her more cautious about everything from now on.
"I...I saw Gavin and Stacy. They were, um, kissing..." Tara said choking it out through her tears. Her saying it out loud made it all feel more real. Tara immediately placed her hands on her face and started looking down at the ground. She didn't want to see her friend's reaction. She didn't want to face the realities of it all. Audrey heard the words and sighed.
"Tara..." Audrey started. She didn't know the whole situation. She shouldn't have left Tara alone. She knew Stacy was hitting on Gavin this week and that he rejected it, but she wasn't positive of all the details. "I'm sorry." Audrey said and hugged her best friend tightly. "There's something I need to tell you about, though." Tara then turned her head and took her view from the ground to her friend.
"Audrey, what are you talking about?" Tara said not sure if she wanted answers. She had to get them, though. Something inside of her wanted an explanation.
"Well, remember when you came to me about how Stacy was all over Gavin earlier this week?" Tara nodded with understanding...She remembered and she wanted to forget. "Well, there was something that I didn't tell you about." Tara sniffled and wiped her tears with her sleeve. Her best friend was keeping secrets from her? "The reason why Gavin was talking to Stacy was because he needed her help to set up. He needed someone to get rid of Moreno and Stacy and Kim were his only options. The reason why he went so out of his way with all of this was because he wanted things to move forward between you two. I told him how your first kiss was supposed to be magical and that he shouldn't mess it up. That's also the reason why he rejected yours the other day. He wanted to give you the perfect kiss. When he started talking to Stacy she started flirting with Gavin, but he wanted no part of it. I hope you're not mad at me. I just wanted to help you guys. I just care a lot about you. You're my best friend." Audrey waited for her best friends reaction. A small smile crept across Tara's face, but then it turned immediately to a frown..
"He was telling the truth...and I totally hurt him." Tara said and sighed. When did things get all complicated?
"Tara...I'm sure he could see the situation from your perspective." Audrey said trying to comfort her friend. Tara looked completely worn out from the entire day. When she woke up, she was excited, but things just kept crushing her down.
"You're probably right..." Tara then fell back on Audrey's bed and looked up at the ceiling and started wiping away the last few of her tears. All of a sudden her phone started to ring from an unrecognizable number. She hoped it was Gavin on the other end calling from who knows where. She just needed to talk to him about everything. She needed to sort it out and apologize. She picked up the phone and pressed the 'talk' button.
"Hello?" Tara said unsure of who was on the other end of the phone call. She then heard a voice she never thought would be calling her. It was Kim. Why in the world would she be calling her? She was Stacy's partner in crime. They were a combo deal.
"Tara, I need to talk to you about earlier. Can you tell me where you are so I can meet you?" Kim said with urgency in her voice.
"Do you know where Audrey's house is?" Tara responded and Audrey looked at her right when she heard her name. Audrey had no idea who was on the other end.
"Yeah. I'll be right over. Meet me outside."
"Sounds good." Tara said and then hung up the phone. Tara told Audrey who was on the other end and both of them started racking their brain trying to figure out what she could possibly want from them. Racking their brain trying to figure out what they could possibly say. Ten minutes later they heard a car pull into the driveway and got out of Audrey's room and headed outside. The reason why Audrey came outside with Tara was for moral support. She needed someone at the moment. Today was a rough day for her. Kim got out of the car and walked to the front porch where Tara and Audrey were standing.
"Thanks for letting me meet you guys." Kim said as politely as possible. She wanted to be openly honest for once. She wasn't sure where her friendship with Stacy was and to be honest, she didn't really care anymore. She was tired of being used and taken for granted.
"You're welcome, I guess..." Tara said and sat down on Audrey's porch swing. Audrey then followed and sat next to her and Kim sat on the bench across from them. "What did you want to talk about?" Tara finally got the voice in her to ask. She hoped curiosity wouldn't kill the cat.
"I heard about what happened with you and Gavin earlier today and I have a confession. This is hard for me to say, but this entire week Stacy has been trying to steal him from you. Stacy kissed Gavin earlier. It wasn't the other way around. Stacy wanted to get Gavin alone and she got that chance...right when you walked in. She's not all to blame...I helped her. I feel horrible about it. It's just, my entire life Stacy and I have been friends. I guess I hoped someday her old self would come back and I wouldn't need to work for her approval anymore. Gavin loves you, Tara. And I think you should be with him. I'm also really sorry for my part in it all." Tara listened to Kim's confession and smiled at the end of it. She was upset that Kim did that, but she wasn't angry with her. She understood.
"Thank you for coming to me and telling me this. Audrey told me some of the details as to what happened and it's really reassuring finding out more. I also accept your apology. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that with Stacy as well. No one should be treated like that, Kim." Tara said looking at Kim the entire time. She felt sympathy for her.
"You're welcome.." Kim said getting up. "I hope things work really are nice, Tara." With that, Kim left the premises and drove off. Tara needed to talk to Gavin Monday and that was what she was planning to do. They needed to get past this all. The perfect kiss...didn't Gavin know that the kiss wasn't that important to her? All she cared about was their connection.