James blinks and shrugs like a malfunctioning robot, obviously taken aback. “Yeah? I don’t get why that’s a big deal. You hate parties, anyway.”

I hate parties? Anger washes over me like a giant wave, crashing and raging inside my chest. My first instinct is to tell James off and yell at him to go away.

But then, I get a better idea.

“For your information,” I say. “I love parties. I stopped going to them because of you. And I’m already planning on attending tomorrow. With a date.”

James’s eyes narrow with skepticism. “A date?”

I lift up my chin. “Yup.”

It’s so last minute, I doubt Celeste will agree to go. I’m not even completely sure if she’s back from LA yet, since we haven’t said a word to each other after the day we interviewed the Amatos. But James doesn’t need to know that.

“Well, okay,” he says, taking a step back with a huff. “Guess it can’t be helped, then.”

For the first time since we broke up, he looks pissed. Which both surprises and amuses me to no end. Celeste will probably say no, but at this point, I don’t care. Because the deep satisfaction I get at James’s expression is plenty enough revenge.

21: Celeste

The last thing Celeste expects on the second-to-last day of the year is a phone call from Gemma. Lately, she and her ex have only ever communicated through email or KakaoTalk. Although they converse in person just fine—or as well as they can, given the circumstances—the sheer concept of talking with her ex on the phone is so daunting she lets it ring all the way to voicemail before calling her back.

She doesn’t know what to expect when Gemma picks up, but her ex’s retelling of all the drama surrounding a company party holds her captivated. Celeste enjoys being her own boss, but the one thing she misses about working at an office is all the drama and politics. She loves being able to hear about everything without being directly involved.

Celeste can’t remember the last time she and Gemma talked on the phone like this, but it surprisingly feels…

normal. It of course isn’t as natural as talking to her actual friends, but it’s not as bad as she thought it would be.

“Let me get this straight,” Celeste says when Gemma finishes her story. “Your ex-fiancé told you to not come to the party so he can go to it with his new girlfriend? What an asshole. Men really are the worst.”

“Yeah…” Gemma replies. “And I know it wasn’t my place to say this, but the only way I could think of telling him off was by saying I’m attending with a date.”