“She said that?”
“Yeah. She said it’d be fine.”
The truth, raw and unfiltered, from the one person too young to lie about it. I hung up and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor.
So Brittany knew, and she still blamed me.
She had practically handed them the ball herself and walked away. And when the damage was done, she pointed her perfectly manicured finger at me.
But I didn’t call her.
I didn’t scream or rage or demand justice.
What would it change? She’d twist it like she always did.
I just looked at Sam that night and said, “Let it go.”
He looked up from his book and studied my face carefully. “You sure?”
Karma’s better at this than I am.”
I was right. Three days later, karma came knocking.
I was making dinner when my phone rang. Brittany.
I answered cautiously.
“Hey.”
Her voice was panicked. “Alice! Oh my God!
The boys destroyed everything! This is your fault!”
“They broke the TV… our new TV!
And Jayden dumped juice on my laptop! And Noah shattered my perfume shelf! I was on a call, and I came downstairs and…everything’s RUINED!
And it’s because of you!”
I wiped my hands on a towel and leaned against the counter. “Me?”
“Yes! Because you didn’t stop them at your place, and now they think it’s okay to wreck things!”
I inhaled slowly, trying to stay calm.
“Brittany. You told them it was okay.”
There was a pause.
“What?”
“Jayden told me. Word for word.
You said they could throw the ball in my living room.”
Another pause. Then, “I… maybe I said it. But I didn’t mean to break things!”
“Kids don’t hear nuance,” I said flatly.
“They just remember what they’re allowed to do once.”
She huffed, her voice quieter now. “You don’t have to be smug.”
“I’m not. I just hope you understand how it felt.”
She didn’t respond.
Just hung up.
Later that night, Sam came home, and I told him everything.
He smirked. “I guess the universe has her number on speed dial.”
I laughed for the first time in days, not because I wanted revenge. But because, finally, she couldn’t outrun the truth.
A few days later, Brittany texted me out of the blue:
“You were right.
I should’ve listened. I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t long. Not dramatic.
Just quiet. Almost like she ran out of excuses and had nowhere left to hide.
For a second, I stared at the screen, wondering if she meant it or if it was just guilt whispering through her thumbs. But I didn’t need to dissect it.
I typed back:
“It happens.
Maybe we both learned something.”
She replied with a red heart emoji. From Brittany, that was practically a full-blown confession.
And that was the end of it.Continue reading…
