I haven't written a contest story in a number of years so I thought I'd give it a try. Thank you to my wonderful editor who prefers to remain anonymous. Also thanks to all my readers.
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It will soon be Valentine's Day and I decided to finally get back at my so-called girlfriend and her friends.
I'll go back a few years and tell you about myself. My name is Henry. I was an only child with busy parents who put their professional life first. Dad was a lawyer and mom an executive secretary. We were somewhat wealthy and lived in a nice neighborhood. They were good parents in the sense that I got most anything I ever wanted, but while I was young, nannies raised me. Later I spent a lot of time with my grandparents.
I was never interested in sports or any other clubs or activities so my parents didn't have to go to practices, games, or events. The only thing I joined was the band when I was in middle school in hopes of making a few friends. I stuck with that through high school and had a lot of acquaintances but not any close friends. I take that back—I had one friend who lived down the street from me. Her name was Sara. We were the same age and talked together a lot. We treated each other like sister and brother.
I will admit that I was an exceptionally smart kid and even skipped a grade in middle school. I never studied and always received A's. Some kids thought I was weird, others thought of me as a geek and wimp because I wasn't interested in pulling tricks or stunts on other kids. They pulled lots of them on me though. And in gym class, I was almost always the last one chosen.
In high school, I thought I was making some new friends. The jocks asked me to be a manager on the football team. I later found out that all they wanted me to do was be a gofer, gather equipment, and pick up after the players. They acted like my friends but laughed at me behind my back. They were just using me. I stopped being the manager before the season ended.
I believed they were also using me to get to Sara. She was a knockout. I still talked to her a lot. Plus whenever she had problems with her school assignments, she would call me and I would go over to her house and help her. She was the one who told me that the team was using me. She still went out with a few of them and they told her what a wimp they thought I was. She was a cheerleader so she spent a lot of time together with the jocks.
One thing I liked to do was cook. I started watching videos and basic food shows on the internet. It was fun and I enjoyed it. Once I knew the basics, I started watching pastry and dessert videos and classes also. I really enjoyed making cookies and candies like chocolate covered caramels and nuts. Sometimes I asked Sara if she wanted to try things I made but she always said she had to watch her weight to stay a cheerleader.
After a while, I was pretty good at it. Mostly I made meals for my grandmother who lived in a senior apartment just a few blocks away. My grandfather had passed away a little over a year ago. With my parents always working, that meant I had to fend for myself. But it wasn't any fun to cook for just one so we set it up where I would cook dinner for the two of us a few times a week. I would cook it at my house, take it over to her, and spend a couple of hours with her. She would always brag to her friends what a good grandson I was.
In my senior year, Cheri, another cheerleader, asked if I would help her with her algebra. Needless to say, I was surprised but agreed to do it. She began telling me how much she liked me and liked being with me, but at school she was always hanging out with the jocks. Of course, I was smart enough to see through her. She knew my family was well off and probably thought she could play me along. I was still a guy though and figured I'd take advantage of the situation. I knew she was only a few months younger than me because it had been all over the school about what a great party her parents had for her when she turned eighteen.
She wouldn't do anything with me at school in front of her friends but I started playing around with her at her house. After helping her with her homework, I started kissing her. We eventually got into heavier things and I'll always remember the first time I came in her. She couldn't hide it if she wanted to. She couldn't believe she came so hard. From that day forward, we had sex regularly. She made me promise not to tell anyone about it though.
At school, I heard she was having sex with just about anyone who asked her. It somewhat pissed me off that she didn't want anyone to know we were sort of a couple. So since I knew she was using me, I just returned the favor. I got regular sex from her but never had to actually pay for a date.
Near the end of the school year, I asked her to the prom, but she told me Bill had already asked her. He was one of the football players and I knew she spent a lot of time with him. She didn't keep many things secret from her girlfriends and they didn't seem to care who heard them talking.
I asked Sara but she told me Don had asked her a while ago. That made me sad because I really liked her. It was my fault I waited so long.
"Henry, if I knew you wanted to take me I would have went with you. I'm so sorry. I thought you were going to ask Cheri."
"She's going with Bill."
"I'm really sorry. You're still my friend though, Henry."
I smiled at her. I couldn't be mad at her. I hadn't ever asked her out for a date.
So I didn't go to the prom. I just stayed home and made a big dinner for my grandmother and me. Graduation wasn't a big deal for me except that I could finally get away from all the jocks and their friends. And my parents were traveling, so only my grandmother was there to see me get my diploma.
Instead of going to college, I told my parents that I was going to become a chef. Needless to say, they weren't very happy and did their best to talk me out of it but I stuck to my guns. I had already applied to a cooking school. I guess they didn't think being a chef was a good enough job. They thought I should do something that made a lot of money like they did.
