It was down-right strange, seeing the girl before me cry. And not just a few sniffles, but actual heart-wrenching sobs.

Without realizing it, I'd put my hand on her shoulder, though she just cried harder, and I pulled it back. "Courtney..." I mumbled awkwardly, my heart silently going out to her. Believe it or not, I knew what a broken heart felt like. It was something I never, ever, wanted to feel again. Although, who did? I sympathized with her.

"I hate her!" She shouted, though it was muffled by her hands that were still pressed to her face. I stole a glance at Gwen, from over Courtney's seat, who sunk as low in her chair as she could. I thought I was the only one who was underhanded enough to pull something like this? Apparently not.

"Erm, it'll be okay, Courtney." I tried again, and she dropped her hands from her face long enough to stare at me with such a pained expression, I pulled her into a hug, much to the surprise of Sierra and Cody, who sat a few feet away.

"H-How do you know?" She hiccuped, though tentatively returned my hug. Of course she'd be incredulous. I was Heather after all. The Queen Of Mean.

I sighed in frustration. Courtney would be no use to our team if all she did was cry. Sierra certainly wasn't, in Paris. So I guess it was up to me to comfort her. "Because; next chance we get, we'll vote that boyfriend stealer, off, and-"

"You're one to talk, Heather. You stole Trent from Gwen in season-"

"I'm trying to make you feel better, here!" I snapped, breaking the hug and leaning back in my seat. Courtney pursed her lips, then sighed. "Continue."

"And if you want, we can 'whip her off'." I used air quotes, and the brunette across from me snorted lightly.

"That might make it a little better..." She admitted, rubbing at her slightly red and puffy eyes.

I raised my voice a little louder, so Gwen could hear me. "Maybe we can convince Chris not to give her a parachute, and drop her off back in the Yukon!"

It was quiet for a minute, before Gwen hopped out of her seat, and stormed off toward the confessional, not even sparing me nor Courtney a glance.

"I, um, appreciate you trying to help, Heather." The brunette mumbled after a silent minute of her wiping at her fresh tears with a tissue.

"Yeah, well, don't think I'm going to be making a habit of it." I mutter, though she cracked a tiny smile.

"So why'd you bother, anyway?" She asked.

"Well, you know, your sobbing was getting so damn annoying... Not to mention you'd be useless to our team tomorrow if you were just a broken mess..." Courtney gave me a look, like she knows I'm not telling the whole truth. Ugh.

"Sierra, Cody, go... do something else. Not in this room." I order, but the two don't budge. "NOW!" I shout, and they jump, and head toward the economy section. Good; maybe Cody'll give Duncan another punch. God knows the idiot deserves it.

"Okay. I'm telling this to you, and you only. And if anyone hears about this, I'll make your life miserable." I warn, and she rolls her eyes, but nods.

"Fine. It was in seventh grade..."

"Jeremy!" I shouted, peddling faster on my bike one early Monday morning, trying to catch up to the sandy-haired boy.

Jeremy stopped, and turned to look at me, and smiled. I could feel my heart flutter in my chest at that gorgeous smile.

I'd been a different person, though. A happier, kinder, person. A boy changed all that.

Jeremy Summers. My first official boyfriend, and first official love. I'd always hated him, throughout Elementary school. He was always stealing my cookies from my lunch box, or teasing me, or pelting me extra hard during Dodge-ball in Gym class. He was a jerk that I wanted nothing more, then to wipe off the face of the Earth.

Until August 27th, 2006 came.

"Heather, get down from there! You're gonna fall!" My best friend, Miranda, shouted up to me, as I stood up on the roof of the school. Jeremy had thrown my backpack up there, and I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of me getting angry. I was just going to get it myself. Or at least, that's what I'd had planned, before one of the bricks on the roof had come lose, and sent me falling like a rock.

"Heather!" Miranda shouted in alarm, but I could barely hear her, because of the wind rushing past my ears. I braced myself for the impact that would be me hitting cement. However, what I crashed into wasn't rock hard cement, but another person.

Don't get me wrong, it still hurt like hell, but I was alive.

"Jeremy!" I half shouted, half growled, rushing to climb off of him. He'd apparently tried to catch me, but I'd been too heavy, and ended up bringing us both down, instead. He gave me a small grin, as I noticed a bruise on his cheekbone begin to bloom. "Why the heck did you do that!"

"I couldn't let you get hurt like that. I'd kill me way worse then any injury."

And just like that, my perspective of him changed. My entire world changed. Then, a week later, we were dating.

"Hey, Heather." He greeted me as my bike came to complete stop beside him. "You look beautiful. As usual."

I could feel my face flush at the compliment, even though I'd been used to getting complimented my whole life. With him, it felt like he truly meant it.

It was a whole year later, till I found out he'd said the same things to a million other girls. I was number eleven, that he'd been seeing, all at once.

How he managed to keep us all from finding out for that long, I had no idea. Just dumb luck, I'd assumed.

"Don't even talk to me!" I shouted in pure fury, eyes burning with the tears I wouldn't dare let fall.

"Angel, don't be like this, please!" He shouted after me, and my heart stuttered in my chest. Angel. His special nickname for me. He'd said that the day I fell from the roof, that I was his angel falling from heaven.

I couldn't believe he was playing that card. How low could he go?

I'd walked into his house, ready for our usual Saturday afternoon study date, when I caught him and Rachel Carson making out in his bedroom. I'd stared for long enough for him to notice me, before running out of his so fast I felt like a giant blur. Of course, he'd ran after me, just as fast.

"Rachel, Lyra, Iris, Ariel, Emily, Claire, Theresa, Hannah, Nina, Amy, and you still want me, too? Go fuck yourself!" I screamed, my lips almost tingled with the feeling of letting that curse fly. It felt kind of good. I noticed from the corner of my eye that he'd stopped following me, and had a wide-eyed expression.

Still, my heart had ached so bad, I thought it was going to stop beating all together. I wanted nothing more then to curl into a ball and cry my eyes out. Then maybe go after Jeremy with a knife, like the one he'd stabbed repeatedly into my heart.

After that, my whole personality had changed. I began being mean, and pushing people away, keeping my heart locked up. Don't get me wrong; I didn't regret who I am, now. I just wish I had that chance to stab him once or twice.

I knew what it felt like to be cheated on. I knew what it was like to have your heart stepped on. And I wanted Gwen and Duncan to suffer, more then I'm sure even Courtney did. Just because of what Jeremy Summers did to me. To what all asshole guys did to girls. Retaliation. It was only fair.

"Wow, I-I never knew. Maybe you aren't such a bad person, after all..." Courtney said softly, once I finished my story.

"Don't go there. I'm not that girl in Middle School, anymore. I'm not nice. Not totally evil, but nowhere near nice." I clarified to the girl, who seemed to have stop crying for the time being.

"I understand."

We leaned back in our first class seats, and just sat in an almost comfortable silence, till the confessional door opened, and Weird Goth Girl herself; stepped out.

"Why don't you just do us all a favor and jump off the plane, now?" I exclaimed to her, and she stomped over to the two of us, hands balled at her sides.

"You know what? I-" She stopped speaking, mid-sentence, took one look at Courtney's tearful expression, and shook her head. "Forget it." She retreated to the farthest seat she could find, just as Cody and Sierra came back in.

"I hate her." Courtney repeated, in a hiss. "I just... don't have the energy to yell anymore."

I understood, completely.

"So, would you say we're friend-ish, now?" Courtney asked, once the other three Team Amazon members began drifting off to sleep in their respective chairs. I gave her a pat on the shoulder, and a teasing smirk.

"Don't get your hopes up... Hey, wanna draw on Gwen's face while she sleeps?" I suggested, and Courtney grinned a real smile for the first time in hours.

"And make her pee her pants with warm water!" She added, excitedly.

"That's the spirit! I'll go hunt down a permanent marker, if you get the water."

"Deal."

Gwen would sure have a lovely surprise to wake up to, in the morning. And thanks to her and Duncan, I may have just made a friend.

AN: Was the flashback inside a flashback confusing? I hope not. Anyway, I really liked writing this. Because frankly, I'm very angry at both Gwen and Duncan. -Don't expect too many DxC fics from me, for a while- Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion on this. And even on the episode! So angry.