Ahhh, yes I am updating. Surprising myself, actually. But oh well, I have a killer stomach ache, and no plans for today. Hence this new chapter. Enjoy and don't kill me for skipping a few months!

Note: The song featured (italicized) is 'I'll Be' by Edwin McCain. It's not a recent song but I've always loved it and I thought it fit for the scene in which it plays.

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Chapter 6

Pay-back took place on Saturday, September 13th. This chapter takes place three months later, December 23rd. Since this is a boarding school students are allowed to stay at the school for Christmas and any other holiday if they so please. Every year, Christmas Eve night, there is a Christmas Ball. Girls dress in formal dresses, while the guys tend to dress in either a tux or dress pants and dress shirt, tie required. Now while some students go home to spend Christmas with their family, most tend to stay for the Ball, spend Christmas morning with their friends, and go home later in the day. Christmas vacation lasts through January 2nd.

For the past three months Amy and Ty have avoided each other. There has been the occasional sad/disappointed/mad/resentful gaze passed between the two in their only shared class, Current Events. Though when that happens they are both sure to look away as fast as humanly possible.

Amy has felt miserable over the past months. The night of pay-back was rewarded with an all night sugar-fast with the girls. They had congratulated her a hundred times, and she had smiled and gone along with everything. But honestly all she felt was guilty. Guilty for liking Ty in the first place. Guilty for freaking out on him, for she had come to realize she had been too harsh. It was only natural for him. And she had come to believe him when he said he hadn't been thinking of Sarah when they had last kissed. Then there was the guilt for hurting Ty. Although, he had rarely shown any sign of what had happened that night, and that had hurt her. She had tried to also show no emotion, and has succeeded. She goes on like nothing happened, but still feels residing guilt, and unfortunately, residing feelings.

Ty was, indeed, hurt by what Amy did. He couldn't understand how she couldn't see his reasoning behind what he did. When she had come that night he had been in shock, but happy. He also had felt something for her, and despite everything, still did. But he wasn't one to flaunt and wallow in self-pity, so he went on with his life like Amy had never stepped into it. He had wanted to talk to her after that night, resolve things once and for all. But not matter what front he put on, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle talking to her like nothing happened. It was still a sore spot.

And on with the story!

Three Months Later- December 23rd- Wednesday

I let out a large sigh, fluttering a strand of hair that fell in front of my face. Candy looked up at me and laughed, her eyes twinkling in her winter glow. She had confided in me that her favorite season was winter. The cold, the snow, the all together warmth of the season. I had agreed. Winter was my favorite season, for all of her reasons and more.Although at the moment I was cursing winter and everything it meant.

"No, definitely not."I scoffed at the mirror which held my form. I was dressed in a long black dress that showed way too much cleavage. I tried to pull together the two pieces of fabric, pitiful, that covered me. This was all in vain because when I let go they just went back to being tiny and covering barely anything. "Who picked this one out?" I glanced back at the offenders. Kiley, Soraya, Marmy, Candice, Nessa, and Halley all sat on a long couch that was situated right outside the dressing room I was occupying. A week ago we had all gone out and they had gotten their dresses, all pretty and flowing perfectly about their frames. I hadn't wanted to go to the Christmas Ball, but tagged along anyways. When they had gotten me into a few dresses, that were horrible, I decided I was not meant to go anyways. It wasn't that I didn't have a date, neither did Candy and Nessa. It was more of the fact that it wasn't my scene. Then today I had been captured after getting ready, stuffed onto the shuttle bus, and forced into a dozen dresses. This being the twelfth.

I raised my eyebrows at them, noticing their stifled laughter. Very slowly Kiley raised her hand, breaking out in a large smile. "Me."

I shook the dress, and they smiled as the fabric covering my chest slipped a little more and I made sure it was still covering me. "I hate you." I stated before walking towards the dressing room. I heard them moving behind me and I glared over my shoulder, "No more dresses." They all stopped mid-search and looked at me.

"Now, Amy, don't be sour. We just did it for a laugh, we'll be serious now. Promise." Halley smiled as she handed me a dress, I looked at its pink color and handed it back. She frowned. They all started to talk at once but I waved them off and shut the door to the dressing room. I slipped easily out of the too large dress and began to pull on my shirt when suddenly a waterfall of crimson cascaded around me. I looked up to see Soraya peeking over the door. I sighed, I wasn't even fully dressed yet.

"No." I stated pulling on my jeans.

"Please, just this last one and we promise not to force any more on you." I stared doubtfully up at her. "Pinky swear." her pinky flew into my vision. I sighed and shook it with my own. One more couldn't hurt. She squealed and hooked the dress onto the door and hopped away. I had learned not to even look at the dress, just slip it on. It made declining it that much easier. I slipped into the cool fabric and pulled it up and over my torso. I realized that it was strapless, and that gave me my first doubt. But as I managed to zip up the back I saw that the dress fit perfectly around my breasts, making me feel secure even without straps. I took in a deep breath and turned to look in the mirror, and my breath came out in one big whoosh.

The dress was snug around my breasts and upper body, then fell in loose waves to the floor. It was too long, but with the littlest bit of heel it would flow smoothly across the ground. In-between my breasts was a little brooch, square and shining, that held a long piece of crimson fabric that fell to connect with the fabric around my hip and cascade down my thigh. I looked over at the rack and picked up a long soft shawl that I nestled in the crook of my elbows to fall across my back. It looked as though it could be a prom dress, but it wasn't all poof like many were. It would fit perfectly with the dresses the girls had gotten. I took a deep breath and opened the door. They were all chatting anxiously and then Kiley look up at me and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. The other girls followed suit and looked up. Everyone was silent.

"Well?" I asked nervously, fiddling with the fabric over my legs.

They all sat still, their eyes wide in shock and then Marmy stood up. "Oh my god, Amy. You look absolutely gorgeous!" this broke everyone else's spell and they all jumped up to view the dress from every angle, all while gushing about how perfect it was.

"Plus the color is great." Soraya added, "It fits your skin tone and is perfect since its red." everyone looked at her in question. She sighed. "Christmas colors are red and green..."we all nodded in understanding and kept looking at the dress. I had to admit, as I looked in the mirror again, it was a beautiful dress.

"Ok. Take it off now." Kiley stated as she held open the door to the changing room. I looked at her in shock. She didn't like it? Kiley suddenly smiled, "So you can buy it you doof." I laughed and slapped her arm playfully as I closed the door. When I was dressed and I bought the dress, nearly 150 dollars, we went to look for shoes. The shoes I picked were a red that matched perfectly with the dress and complimented my slim legs. I then ran to the jewelry store, very anxious now to go to the Ball.My jewelry was a long silver chain with a heart shaped ruby, encased in silver, on the end. My earrings were also silver and were chandelier ones that shimmered to the very bottoms.

Next day- December 24th- Thursday- Christmas Eve- Night of the Ball.

"Amy."I moaned and flipped over in my bed, pulling the pillow up and over my head. "Amy." I pulled the pillow down harder. "Fine, want to play dirty?" I heard someone get off the bed. "We do this all the time Amy, it's getting rather annoying." I heard footsteps and readied myself for the music. I had mastered the art of blocking out the music. Then I heard the voice again, "Amy, if you don't get up right now I will proceed to cut this dress in two with no regrets." Dress...what dress? "I warned you. Here goes this pretty red dress." Red dress...! I jumped up in bed and leaped over the end, running full speed at Kiley holding my...drapes. I stopped dead run and nearly fell over.

"Curse you." I muttered as Kiley laughed at me. I looked at the time and groaned. Every time Kiley spent the night she woke me up at only nine o'clock. I decided to let it go, since I myself was excited for the dance now. My dress was just waiting to be donned. I picked out my clothes and left Kiley, fully clothed, to do whatever she wanted. I didn't shower, I was going to shower right before I got ready for the Ball, but I did brush my teeth, get dressed, pull up my hair, and wash my face.

"Ready?" Kiley was waiting outside the bathroom door. I nodded and we headed off to breakfast.

10 hours later.- 7:00.

"Where is my straightener?" Marmy squealed, leaping over my bed to search the cluttered side table and her bag right beneath it."It was right here!"

"Under the bed." Halley murmured while applying bronze colored lipstick.

"Why the hell would it be und..." Marmy nearly yelled, dropping to her knees, pulling out her straightener. "Oh." she held it up to show Halley, "Thanks!" Halley just nodded into the mirror and continued to apply makeup. It was anhour before Christmas Eve dinner and two hours before the ball. Dinner was to be held in the large dining room only used on special occasions. Everyone was to dress formally, and then get dressed for the ball immediately after. The ball was to begin at 9:00.

Since five we had all been taking showers (which the lines had taken forever) and were all scurrying around my room, the biggest room any of us had. So of course it was where we got ready. Soraya was getting her hair curled by Kiley, who donned curlers (her preferred method, and also mine)Halley was doing her make-up, Candy was drying her hair, and Nessa was almost ready. She was dressing in a long black skirt and a light pink blouse. Then there was me. I had my hair in so many curlers that it was impossible to see them all. My make-up was already applied, except for certain things I planned on doing right before the dance, and my beige flowing skirt fell to my knees. I was now trying to ease a brown tank- top over my curlers and make-up. Finally I got it and sighed I put a brown blazer on over that and smiled. I sat and watched the craziness in my room for another half-hour before my curlers were ready to come out. I slowly took each curler out one by one until my hair was all soft curls half-way down my back. I placed them neatly and then turned to everyone. Halley was slipping on her shoes while everyone else waited by the door. I joined them and together we all went to dinner.

We stepped into the large dining room and took our seats. The guys came over and sat down too. Matt was with Soraya, of course, Marmy with Mark, Halley and her new flame John, and then Kiley and Charlie. Charlie had asked her the week before and she had screamed with my for nearly and hour. She was psyched.Candy, Nessa, and I all sat with them and weren't left out in any way, we had a great time. Finally 8:30 rolled around and all the girls jumped up, leaving the guys sitting dumbfounded.

"We're going to get ready." Halley explained, kissing John quickly. We all practically ran to my dorm and the madness started again. I had to ease the tank-top up and over my head again, almost resorting to scissors.I then looked at myself in the mirror. I lifted up half of my hair and pulled it back, clipping it loosely with a barrette. I pulled a few pieces out to frame my face and then settled down to apply make-up. I put on a light pink lip-gloss that tends to stay on. I applied a light pink eyeshadow and a little bit of blush. I lightly applied some eyeliner and then stood up. Everyone was doing something and I was the first to walk towards the dresses hanging from my window. I sifted through them until I found mine. I walked behind the changing wall we made and stepped out of all my clothes except my underwear. I pulled on the dress and fit it around me until it felt perfect. I zipped it up as best I could then stepped out from behind the wall.

"Can someone help me here?" I called, and only Candy heard me. She set down her eyeshadow and zipped me up. "Thanks." She nodded and ran back to her make-up. I adjusted the dress a little more then pulled the shawl around my arms. I was ready. It was almost 9 and I went around the room motivating everyone. Finally, quarter of, everyone was ready.

"Lets go." Soraya smiled, practically jumping out of her skin in excitement. The Ball didn't have an ending time. It started at nine and no matter what had to be done by two in the morning, but by then most people would have snuck off together, including her and Matt. We all walked in our dresses, holding them up, and walked towards the Ball room. The room was only used three times a year, for the Christmas ball, Prom, and Morp. And sometimes not even all that. Prom was sometimes held outside of school.The girls with dates all waited outside the door while Candy, Nessa and I all stepped through to the Ball room. On the back wall was a stage that held a band that was already playing. I knew of them and smiled. They were a good band. They had many original songs but also played cover songs. Right now they were playing an original called "Cross Over" (not a real band or song). We made our way over to the beverages and each got a cup of punch.

"This place is beautiful!" Nessa shouted over the blaring music. I nodded in agreement. The rest of the room held tables along the outer edges, each with a red or green table cloth and white flowers. There were two Christmas trees to either side of the entrance, and the rest was a dance floor. There were streamers and light and everything. It was, indeed, very pretty. Suddenly Jeff, our friend from lunch, walked up to us and held out his hand to Candy.

"Do you want to dance with me?" He bowed slightly. We had all had an inkling that Jeff fancied her, but when he hadn't asked her to the Ball we had lost hope. But here he was, flushed and asking.

Candy looked at Nessa and I and giggled slightly, "Of course." She took his hand and he led her out to the dance floor.

"Well then, I want someone to ask me!" Nessa sighed. She looked at me and I nodded.

"Same." I looked around for a guy that I knew. I saw a lot of guys I had become friends with over the past few months but whom all had dates. Then I saw Ty. He was dancing with a black haired girl who was wearing a black dress, all flashy and provocative. He was dressed in what looked to be a black tux with an Emerald green dress shirt and a navy blue tie. His tux coat was most likely thrown somewhere though, because he only wore his shirt, loosely buttoned and his tie also lose around his neck. He looked good. I scowled without meaning to and Nessa saw.

"Amy." she warned, "I thought you were over him after...you know."

"I am, it's just sometimes I still feel..." I looked at her. "Guilty. Sad." she nodded in understanding and drank some punch.

"Let's dance." she stated, setting down her cup and grabbing my hand. We got on the dance floor and began to dance. I was laughing about a half hour later, still dancing, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Nick, also from the lunch table.

"Hey!" I shouted, smiling.

"Hi, want to dance with me?" he asked and I nodded. He pulled me towards a less crowded spot and we danced. We danced for a while, spinning, twirling, jumping, laughing, everything. Finally I held up my hand in exhaustion and we sat down at the table our group had sporadically been sitting at.I held a hand to my stomach and breathed deeply, tired from dancing so much.

"Having fun?" Nick asked, placing a hand on my knee. I was comfortable with Nick and let him, but I didn't want him to get the wrong idea so after a minute I shifted my leg.

"Yeah. It's tiring though!" I laughed. I looked around the room, seeing a bunch of people I knew dancing and having a great time. I spotted Ty again and this time he was sitting with about three other guys, and the black haired girl was sitting on one of their laps. So she was just a friend. I studied him, sitting relaxed in the chair, laughing at what someone said. I had felt miserable whenever I thought about him or saw him after the incident. We had begun to not even look or acknowledge the other. It had become easy. But I still felt bad for what I had done. I had come to realize that I had been too harsh on him. He had just broken up with his girlfriend, of course he thought of her. I should have accepted that and maybe things would have been different now. (It's near to midnight now. She danced with other people but mainly Nick)

Suddenly I was standing.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked and I looked at him.

"To do something I should have done a long time ago." he looked confused. "To say sorry." I walked through the throng of people, not even believing what I was doing as I did it. I vaguely registered it was a slow song, and should wait for a more upbeat one. But I didn't want to lose my courage.

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I walked straight up to Ty and held out my hand. He stopped talking to the guy next to him and looked up at me.

"Can I have this dance?"He looked surprised, and then glanced at the rest of the table. I saw them look at me and at Ty, but I only had eyes for him. I kept my hand outstretched waiting for an answer. When he was silent I wiped a curl from my face and wiggled my fingers, "Please?"

I'll Be your cryin' shoulder
I'll Be loves suicide
I'll Be better when I'm older
I'll Be the greatest fan of your life

"I..." he dropped his gaze then looked up at me. He stood up and took my hand, pulling me towards the floor.He looked at the band, noticing it was a slow song also, and hesitantly took me in his arms. I linked my hands around his neck and he placed his hands on my hips. There was a space between us that made me feel alone. It was almost a foot wide.

"Amy." he sighed, not looking me in the eyes, "What is this about?"

I swallowed, and saw him watch the movement in my neck. Maybe, I thought, just maybe he stills feels something for me. Maybe he'll forgive me.

And rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're My Survival, You're My Living Proof
My love is alive and not dead

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

"I wanted to talk to you." he raised his eyebrows, "I wanted to tell you that I'm..." I looked up at him till he finally looked me in the eye, "that I'm sorry." He stiffened noticeably andI pulled him close to me until our bodies were flush against each other.

"I know that I hurt you, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. You hurt me when you left that day, and then to find out you had a girlfriend...it was a big blow, Ty." He went to talk and I stopped him, "No, I know you weren't together when we kissed, and I know you only went back because you wanted to forget. But, Ty, can't you see...I wanted to forget too."

"What do you mean?" his voice was stiff, reined in.

I'll Be your cryin' shoulder
I'll Be loves suicide
I'll Be better when I'm older
I'll Be the greatest fan of your life

"I was still hurting because I really liked you. So when revenge got brought up I thought it would be the last thing I had to do before I forgot about you and stopped caring." I dropped my eyes. "I was wrong. When I came to your dorm that night, when you kissed me, I wasn't playing the prank." I looked back up. "When I kissed you it wasn't a prank. It was me. I wanted you so bad, Ty. I wanted to be able to feel for you and not get hurt. Then my phone vibrated and I remembered it was supposed to be a prank so I stopped. I had to. But it was so hard, Ty. Please know that. I'm so sorry." I burned beneath his gaze until I dropped it and went limp with defeat in his arms.

"It's ok if you don't accept my apology, I didn't expect you to. I just had to try." I sighed, getting ready to leave him when he spoke.

"Amy, I never wanted to hurt you. I was confused, I'm sure you can understand that. It wasn't intentional." He looked across the dance floor, "But what you did, that was intentional, and you succeeded in hurting me. Congratulations." He stepped out of our embrace and headed towards the back EXIT door that led into the courtyard. I stood in the middle of the dance floor and watched him go before I came to my senses and ran after him. I pulled the heavy door open, lifted my dress, and ran out into the night. I saw his silhouette ahead.

And I've dropped out, I've burned up, I fought my way back from
the dead
Tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said

"So, what?" I shouted to him, "One bad thing and we don't even try anymore? I'm glad then! If we had been together the littlest thing would have broken us up. We wouldn't have worked anyways. So go!" I was practically screaming, tears starting to leak out of my eyes. "GO!" I knew he was right in his decision but I wanted to have the last word, redeem myself, make what I did more justified.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me. I was still walking towards him, screaming at him to go when he started taking long strides towards me and I stopped, startled. "Amy, this wasn't some little thing! God, you hurt me on purpose! I liked you Amy, I liked you so much. I wanted to be with you, and I thought you wanted the same thing. So don't turn this on me like it's my fault. It's not. I'm the one who wanted this to work, you're the one who sabotaged any chance of that." he was now shouting at me, and I cringed away, scared of his anger. He saw this and he stopped yelling.

"I understand." I whispered. "I'll leave now." I turned and began to walk away, wiping tears away as I did, and then I heard him.

I'll Be your cryin' shoulder
I'll Be loves suicide
I'll Be better when I'm older
I'll Be the greatest fan of your life

"You look beautiful tonight." I stopped and turned. He was in a beam of moonlight, looking at me thoughtfully. I stared at him, confused. He had just been yelling at me now he was complimenting me?

"I look...beautiful?" I asked, making sure that was what he had said. He nodded and walked towards me. "Ty, I thought that you.."

He stopped me with a hand held up, "I know what I said, but then I saw how gorgeous you looked. So tonight, can we just pretend nothing happened and enjoy this," he waved around the courtyard bathed in moonlight. It was beautiful. "together? We'll deal with everything tomorrow, we'll deal with reality tomorrow. Tonight...tonight let's not think about reality. Please?" He was so close, so warm.

"Ok, no reality." he smiled down at me and pulled me into his arms. He began to dance with my in the courtyard, the music from inside audible.

I'll Be your cryin' shoulder
I'll Be loves suicide
I'll Be better when I'm older
I'll Be the greatest fan of your life

We danced in the moonlight that night, denying reality it's hold on us, if only for a little while.

(That line is from a story I'm writing. An original story. But it worked here so I used it.)

Too soon Ty pulled back and looked at me. He gently twirled a piece of my lose hair behind my ear, caressing my cheek along the way. He cradled it and I leaned into his hand, gazing up at him. He whispered my name into the eternal night and then leaned down capturing my lips with his. The kiss was long and sweet, sweeping me up into it's intoxicating existence and held me there. Soon the kiss was broken, but replaced with another, more urgent, kiss.

"Amy..." Ty whispered again. He grabbed my hand and dragged me away from courtyard. He was leading me around the school in a familiar fashion and I realized it was like the day at the library. When he brought me to my room.

"Ty."I urged, and he walked faster.We found the door in the dark and pushed our way though it. He pulled me, almost running, towards my room. He kissed my neck as I tried to open my door. Finally I did and I giggled as we fell into my room. I locked the door and then turned to him. In the moonlight streaming through my window he was more beautiful than ever. He swept me into his arms and kissed me. He kissed my lips, my eyes, my cheeks, my neck. Soon his hands traveled to the zipper on my back, and my dress soon fell smoothly to the floor. He smiled at me and I realized I hadn't worn a bra. I blushed and tried to cover myself up, but he stopped me.

"Your beautiful." he stated simply, kissing me again. "So beautiful." and that was all it took to loose myself completely.

The next morning– December 25th– Christmas

I yawned, my eyes still closed, and began to turn over in bed, and realized I couldn't. For one second I was confused, and then I remembered the night before and smiled. Ty's arm lay across me, cradling me into him. I turned over and looked at him. His hair fell over one closed eyes, his nose twitched as I moved, and his mouth was slightly open. I lifted a finger and trailed it acrossis cheekbone and his eyes fluttered open. A sleepy smile graced his face and I leaned forward to kiss it softly.

"Merry Christmas." he murmured against my lips.

I smiled as I pulled away, "Merry Christmas." His eyes became serious and he sweeped hair away from my face.

"Time for reality." he whispered sadly, moving his legs against mine beneath the covers. I shook my head as I snuggled closer to him, kissing him swiftly.

"Nope. I talked to reality and we have until we leave." Ty raised his eyebrow, "When we get back from Christmas break, then we'll deal with reality. But for now," I kissed his eyelids and sighed, "for now there is no reality. Just us."

Bleck! Ick. Fluff. Sucks. I know. Sorry. Oh, and I didn't have time for spell check, so excuse the errors this once please.

A picture of Amy's dress will be in my profile soon. So you can see it, it won't let me put it here.

Review:)