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We'll tear you up. I

0:37

wouldn't think you would hate to go without a

0:39

skeleton in your closet. It

0:42

shouldn't be too hard to call out an

0:44

evil doer, should it? My name is Nate,

0:46

and before Chris my neighbor came into the

0:48

picture I was one of those

0:51

guys who loved the quiet serenity of life,

0:53

tending to my gardening and my free time

0:55

included. But the arrival of Chris

0:57

into my life turned my world upside down.

0:59

At first Chris didn't appear to be anything

1:01

out of the ordinary when he moved in.

1:04

I considered myself a good judge of

1:06

character and when I sized him up

1:08

while giving him a plate of casserole

1:10

I did not suspect him to be

1:12

of unruly characteristics. But soon enough the

1:14

simple pleasures I enjoyed began to be

1:16

of interest to Chris's misdemeanor. We

1:19

weren't friends, just co-neighbors, but

1:21

his actions to me declared

1:23

war. Every morning

1:25

I woke up to one new piece

1:27

of graffiti or the other than the

1:29

one I had cleaned off the previous

1:31

day. How did this all truly start?

1:33

I contract the last time we engaged

1:35

in a conversation without any hint of

1:37

trouble back to the last outdoor gathering

1:39

of one of our other neighbors James.

1:42

James and his family had had this tradition

1:44

of having monthly outdoor feets where they invited

1:46

other neighbors to have a nice evening. This

1:48

was the second one that I attended with

1:50

Nate in attendance. Not because we

1:53

were avoiding each other, but because the

1:55

timing never seemed to click for our

1:57

availability. At that very barbecue

1:59

feast. The guys were joking about clothes

2:01

and how some women didn't know how

2:03

to push out an appeal of some

2:05

sort. In a joking manner, I referred

2:07

to Nate's shirt, which was a mix

2:09

of random tie-dye designs. I said,

2:11

with a shirt like Nate's, the guys aren't

2:13

doing much better. It was supposed

2:15

to be a joke, and for the rest of

2:18

the guys in that little group, it was. We

2:20

all laughed, with the exception of Nate,

2:22

and we're back making another joke. The

2:24

barbecue night ended and we went our

2:27

separate ways to our houses. The

2:29

next morning, while going on my morning run, I

2:31

saw the shirt I'd made a joke from

2:34

hanging a bit out of the bin bag.

2:36

It didn't seem like much, but neither the

2:38

joke I made, so I decided to wave

2:40

it off, playing it as none of my

2:42

business, as something might have happened to it

2:45

after the barbecue that had nothing to do

2:47

with me. Turns out, it

2:49

was my business. How? It

2:52

was three days after that that the designs

2:54

began. At the initial stage of his madness,

2:56

I tried to address the issue as politely

2:58

as I could. I walked over to his

3:00

door, presenting my dislike for the sign,

3:02

even if it was supposed to be

3:04

a great sight for the street, but

3:06

each word I spoke concerning the issue

3:08

was met with a resounding voice of

3:10

indifference from Chris. However, since he

3:13

was not ready to settle our differences like

3:15

grown adults, I decided to take the case

3:17

up in a way he could never have

3:19

expected. The good thing is that

3:21

from the way we exchanged our grievances, he

3:23

could never have expected that I would react

3:25

the way I did, but the truth is,

3:28

I could not just go on

3:30

with the back and forth. It

3:32

was infuriating, to say the least, like

3:34

instructing a child not to do something

3:36

bad, but being a child, the instructions

3:38

fall on deaf ears and they keep

3:41

at the silly act. That

3:43

was when I decided to take the matter into

3:45

my own hands. As Nate was

3:47

hellbent on pretending not to know what I was

3:49

talking about, I knew the best way

3:51

to bring him down was to catch him

3:53

in the very act of vandalism. I had

3:56

to catch him in a way that would

3:58

be undeniable, so that fateful day. day when

4:00

I got back in from the last

4:02

fruitless confrontation I had with Nate as

4:04

I continued to pace back and forth

4:06

wearing out the rug in the living

4:09

room, it became clear to me that

4:11

using a traditional means to resolve the

4:13

conflict and tension would be impossible, yet

4:15

I couldn't let his destructive behavior continue,

4:17

and even if he was going to

4:19

be destructive he could find somewhere else

4:21

to do it than close to my

4:23

property. I chose to expose

4:25

him to the entire neighborhood then, but

4:28

I couldn't do it without concrete evidence.

4:31

I refused to be known as

4:33

that neighbor who shouts allegations without

4:35

evidence. After a while I

4:37

moved to the room I used as a

4:39

study, and this was where it all came

4:41

to me, my mischievous plan for revenge. I

4:44

had different ideas come to mind, but I

4:46

wanted the one that allowed me to act

4:48

as civil as possible and necessary, so I

4:50

decided to put a tail on Nate, catching

4:52

him in his act. While it cost me

4:54

a couple of bucks, I knew for a

4:57

fact that in the end I

4:59

would say it was worth the expense. I picked

5:01

up my system and ordered a couple

5:03

of discreet surveillance CCTV cameras that I could

5:05

find. They arrived a couple of days after

5:07

and I installed them in the dead of

5:10

the night. It had to be in the

5:12

night because I did not want to give

5:14

Nate any reason to believe I was on

5:16

to him or make him change his location.

5:19

I had invested my time and money

5:21

into it and it could not go to

5:23

waste. I placed them in places he would

5:25

never think to check, even if he suspected

5:28

that I was surveilling him. The good thing

5:30

was that he could not find

5:32

me legally guilty of monitoring his

5:34

movements since I could easily deny

5:37

that I was surveilling my property

5:39

from unwanted and unforeseen circumstances. It

5:42

was the perfect plan. All I had

5:44

to do was wait and, of course,

5:46

like an unsuspecting fish baited with a

5:48

worm on a hook, he took my

5:51

silence about the graffiti as I surrendered

5:53

to him. As I continued

5:55

to wait after placing the device, the

5:57

waiting moment felt like an eternity. At

6:00

some point, the thought that I'd accused

6:02

him wrongly came to my mind. Each

6:04

night I would lay awake wondering if the

6:06

CCTV had been able to catch him doing

6:08

something he shouldn't be doing. From

6:11

that wonder keeping me up, I would

6:13

find my way to the study checking

6:15

through the video feed, watching, waiting that

6:17

I would see something. Each night I

6:19

went to bed tired and fruitless for

6:22

my adventure, yet I refused to throw

6:24

in the towel. A lot

6:26

of energy had been used up, and most

6:28

importantly, I could not see myself accepting

6:30

that I was wrong about Nate

6:32

being the graffiti painter. Then, one

6:35

night, after my tireless and unfruitfulness of

6:37

the previous nights, he was there in

6:39

my feed. In the dead of the

6:41

night, I saw the figure approach the

6:43

bars of my house. I

6:45

saw the figure with a spray can

6:47

approach, and as he began to paint,

6:50

another figure appeared. And just

6:52

before I cut my loss in accepting

6:54

that Nate was not the one vandalizing

6:56

my property, he appeared from the other

6:58

side of the road. Apparently

7:00

there were two of them. This was

7:02

the unexpected part of the night. I

7:05

somehow found myself laughing hysterically at the

7:07

fact that he could have fooled me

7:09

and gotten away with it if not

7:11

that I refused to back down. I

7:14

had what I wanted. I had the

7:16

evidence that I could show to the

7:18

entire neighborhood while I exposed him as

7:20

the evil doer. But somehow, I didn't

7:22

feel satisfied. I felt like this was

7:25

somewhat of an easy pass given the

7:27

stress he put me through. The sleepless

7:29

nights, the money it had to pay for

7:31

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same thing, no one would know. The

8:59

thought came for a brief moment and

9:01

for that brief moment, it took root

9:03

and formed into a plan in my mind. I really

9:06

do not remember doing it, but somehow I was

9:08

sure I was the one that did it. I

9:10

mean, it was my account. It was my

9:12

name on the purchase account. It was the

9:14

money that I used to pay. But all

9:16

of this proceeding part happened like a blur.

9:19

I do not remember it. All I

9:21

remember was getting the package, opening it,

9:23

and seeing the cans of spray paint

9:25

staring back at me. As I looked

9:27

at the box of the crime tools,

9:29

a sense of power washed over me.

9:31

You would be right to call it

9:33

my moment of empowerment. Quickly, I picked

9:35

up the second crime weapon, my

9:38

laptop. I scrolled through searching

9:40

for how to draw the easiest graffiti

9:42

ever. The first couple of videos I

9:44

found seemed greater than my level of

9:47

expertise. But when I finally got the

9:49

one that worked, I watched it repeatedly.

9:51

I understood what I had to do

9:53

and how to position myself. After

9:56

putting in a couple of hours for the next three days,

9:58

I was ready to begin the second crime. second phase

10:00

of my revenge plan. Everything was set and

10:02

all I had to do was wait till

10:04

night. Once it was dead in the night,

10:06

I set out of my house with spray

10:08

paint cans in my hand. I

10:10

matched the houses that I'd marked in my

10:13

head. They belonged to the people that would

10:15

be extra pissed. They would not let it

10:17

slide till it became an issue. This was

10:19

pivotal to the plan I had. You could

10:22

be sure that my graffiti was no good,

10:24

but at least it was something. It was

10:27

enough to start up issues. The

10:29

next morning we were alerted by raised voices

10:31

through the street of people demanding to

10:33

know who had the audacity to desecrate

10:35

the face of their property. Of course,

10:37

I came out with the same complaint.

10:39

This was where it got interesting. As

10:42

different people gave their suspicions, I was

10:44

silent. Then they asked why I was

10:46

silent. I proceeded to tell them of

10:48

the issue I'd been facing for a

10:50

while and who I suspected to be

10:52

doing it all along. We were quick

10:55

to ask if my accusation was not

10:57

baseless. Then I informed them that I

10:59

had video evidence that I was waiting

11:01

to make use of when the time was

11:03

right since the person in question refused to

11:06

take responsibility and own up to his actions.

11:08

Luckily for me, the video was on my

11:10

phone and I proceeded to show them. I

11:12

informed them that after I caught him on

11:15

camera, I took down the CCTV device as

11:17

an explanation as to why I didn't have

11:19

the tape of who tainted my house walls.

11:21

You can guess that the reaction was priceless.

11:24

They marched to Nate's house and demanded

11:27

that he pay for fixing every wall

11:29

that was desecrated the night before. They

11:31

presented the video I had taken, stating and

11:33

showing him the evidence of him and his

11:35

buddy doing it to my house. It

11:38

was sweet knowing that none of them

11:40

could trace it back to me, but

11:42

it was sweeter knowing that Nate finally

11:44

got what he deserved and that was

11:46

the last time my house was tainted.

11:48

Thankfully, they didn't have access to my

11:50

purchase history. It probably would have been

11:52

disastrous for me, wouldn't it? stressed

12:00

out, even beyond committing actual

12:02

crimes. Last thing I want

12:04

is the judgment from people as they see how many times

12:07

I order at 9pm from DoorDash.

12:09

That said, our next story is, if

12:11

you're going to sleep with your coworker,

12:13

don't be unprofessional. My name is Alexa.

12:15

Well, Alex, since that was what I

12:17

was known as at work. I was

12:19

Alex, always buried in a truckload of

12:21

papers, either trying to make sense of

12:23

the numbers on the sheets or typing

12:25

the numbers myself and making reports about

12:27

something. I was an intern at one

12:29

of the reputable firms in the city.

12:31

I was recruited just after finishing college

12:33

and you could tell that I had

12:35

that newcomer vibe with how I was

12:37

serious with office work. While the other

12:39

interns like myself or those who were

12:41

freshly retained as full-time workers at the

12:43

firm were off blazing somewhere, I was

12:46

always glued to the tiny cubicle I was

12:48

assigned. It would be unnecessary lies

12:50

to say that I was okay not making

12:52

friends or doing whatever the heck it was

12:54

that they all found more important to do

12:56

regardless of the pile of work that they

12:58

had to do at their respective cubicles.

13:01

I was not okay doing that. However,

13:03

I wanted out of the tiny cubicle.

13:06

I was tired being like the rest

13:08

of the gang from the very first

13:10

day I was assigned to space. I

13:12

wanted to level up and rise from

13:14

the microcosm of the workplace, so I

13:16

put the work in. From crunching numbers

13:18

and finance to crafting compelling marketing strategies,

13:20

I was bent on making my mark

13:23

such that my role in each department

13:25

of the company would be notable. You

13:27

can already imagine that I was usually

13:29

a target for the office banter among

13:31

the new workforce. They usually termed me

13:33

as a no-fun or spoiled spot when

13:36

I remind them of the deadline for

13:38

due tasks. I was not

13:40

the kind of person you informed about

13:42

a hangout, be it on the weekends,

13:44

but most especially not on weekdays. To

13:47

be fair, they did know how to get

13:49

their work done, at least most of them,

13:51

seeing as the company was quite competitive. Everyone

13:54

Had to do something if they wanted to be

13:56

part of the five interns that would be retrained

13:58

after their first year of interning. Shit. Given

14:00

my nature of being committed to my

14:02

works, it was not unusual for me

14:04

to keep track of what was going

14:07

on in my surroundings. and because of

14:09

that it did not take long for

14:11

me to figure out the breach of

14:13

agreement that was ongoing between seizure and

14:15

Thompson. Teacher was one of the other

14:17

for interns and Mr. Thompson was the

14:19

leader in charge of the interns. He

14:21

was the one who assigned tasks, gave

14:23

us deadline to meet and past is

14:25

feedback along the that apartment manager who

14:27

in turn gave the higher ups the.

14:30

Final Feedback hundred I find out that fateful

14:32

day I was pissed at the other interns.

14:34

We had a joint deadline to meet and

14:36

as usual the we're not interested in getting

14:39

the work done at the time we were

14:41

given the wanted it pile up to the

14:43

last minute before getting together to brainstorm on

14:45

the project. I had a different opinion and

14:48

I saw to do the work myself hoping

14:50

that they would join in. leader that day

14:52

I went to the printing corner where the

14:55

com and printer was for all the interns.

14:57

We weren't at the status where we had

14:59

nearby printers and it was a bit tiring

15:01

to always has to go all the way

15:04

to print more. So the fact that I

15:06

was pissed with the other interns didn't have

15:08

make it better be strange I witnessed was

15:11

enough to raise my annoyance. Over the weeks

15:13

I noticed this sort of favoritism between Mr.

15:15

Thompson and Chiesa. To be fair, I wanted

15:17

to play it out as they kind of

15:20

a line somewhat, but it was more than

15:22

that and I could sense it in every

15:24

standing meeting. T shall always had a sassy

15:26

mouse. whether she was kind enough to turn

15:29

her work in. she never got to

15:31

do it right yet her actions were

15:33

never important to be attacked by the

15:35

manager he would rather be cel nitpicking

15:38

and others little mistakes the scene i

15:40

witnessed was preceded by wish to voices

15:42

coming from close to the printing room

15:44

the voices were followed by childish laughter

15:46

that you would not expect to be

15:49

sound in the workplace this was why

15:51

i decided to pry i moved closer

15:53

wanting to see exactly what was ongoing

15:55

and warranted the sound i could hear

15:57

when i did see them lock together

16:00

in more places than one, a wave

16:03

of unease swept through my entire

16:05

body. I was stuck frozen in

16:07

place as the scene before me

16:09

continued to progress. They were

16:11

beautifully engrossed in these activities such that they

16:13

did not notice when I came into the

16:15

room or the fact that I was standing

16:17

within a close shot of them. As

16:20

I remained with each second ticing into

16:22

the next, I was struck with disbelief.

16:25

Although a part of me knew there was

16:27

something of some sort going on between them,

16:29

I didn't believe that it was intimate

16:31

of any nature, and neither did I

16:33

think that on the rare chance that

16:35

they were, they would be reckless to

16:37

not only go against office policy, but

16:40

to disregard the policy in the office

16:42

space. It was quite unbelievable

16:44

to me at least. In

16:46

that instant, it all clicked, the

16:48

way they interacted, the unusual warmness

16:50

and friendship. All of it

16:52

made sense, and the annoyance kicked in

16:54

more. I believed in hard work, and

16:57

at the same time I do not

16:59

disregard the place of great luck. What

17:01

I hate is unjust fevers, especially

17:03

not at the peril of other

17:06

people's comfort. Everything they

17:08

did was at the expense of my

17:10

comfort. The night I had to spend

17:12

picking up the slack for the entire

17:14

team, knowing that our manager would tender

17:16

his final report of the interns collectively,

17:18

I was pissed at the injustice of

17:20

it all. I was able to

17:22

recover from the initial shock that I felt

17:24

before they noticed my presence, and I began

17:26

to fight the urge within me to con-

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covered. Front

18:04

them right there, but I didn't want to

18:06

come off like a creep or a stalker.

18:08

I couldn't let them flip the switch and

18:10

put me on the spot instead, so I

18:12

left the room without getting the print out

18:14

I wanted. I got back to my cubicle

18:16

and I contemplated going back with my phone

18:18

to take a picture in case they tried

18:20

to deny it when I confronted them, but

18:22

that didn't seem like a better choice than

18:24

the first. There was also

18:26

the fact that I could be reported

18:29

to the human resources department for conducting

18:31

myself in actions that inhibit cooperation among

18:33

team members. That was

18:35

not an option since I wanted to

18:37

become a full-time staff after the internship.

18:40

This type of allegation would kick me

18:42

out of the door instantly, so I

18:44

did. I kept on thinking about what

18:46

I'd just experienced, and before I could

18:48

choose what to do, I saw Mr.

18:51

Thompson stroll out of the room

18:53

like he wasn't just conducting himself

18:55

in unprofessional manners with a co-worker.

18:58

Shortly after he did, Keisha came out. If

19:00

I had not witnessed what I did, I

19:02

could not have guessed that a few meters from

19:05

where I was, a thing of

19:07

that nature happened, so it was no

19:09

surprise that the others did not see

19:11

it. I thought about raising

19:13

the issue in the next standing meeting such

19:15

that the other interns in the team would

19:17

understand what was going on as I did,

19:19

but there was a fear of being labeled

19:22

a stalker and peddler of false rumors if

19:24

I didn't have anything to support the claims

19:26

I was making. In the end, I kept

19:28

what I had seen to myself, but it

19:30

wasn't too long before I'd made the complaints

19:32

known to the right quarters. The

19:34

actions that would trigger me to finally

19:37

explode, damning the possible consequences started towards

19:39

the end of the next week. Although

19:42

we were almost at the bottom of the

19:44

hierarchy in the company, the rumors reached our

19:46

ears that there was a sudden need for

19:48

evaluation of the current interns. We

19:51

had spent just six months of the entire

19:53

year, but the higher-ups had demanded a final

19:55

report detailing the strength and impact of each

19:57

intern in the first half of the team.

20:00

their internship. It was rumored that since

20:02

this was unusual for the higher-ups to

20:04

demand, whatever report was submitted would

20:06

not only determine the fate of the

20:09

interns but also serve as a

20:11

barometer of their potential within the company.

20:13

As Friday drew nearer, you could

20:15

visibly see the tension among all but

20:17

one of the interns. Everyone

20:19

was a bit scared of what the report

20:21

would look like and tried to put in

20:24

their best. In that very room, I witnessed

20:26

the gory sight of Keisha and Mr. Thompson.

20:28

I went to make printouts and found some

20:30

papers stuck to the printing outlet. The person

20:32

that was printing was yet to remove the

20:34

printed copies and, out of benevolence, I wanted

20:37

to check the heading to figure out who

20:39

they belonged to so I could save them

20:41

the stress of coming to get them. But

20:43

what I would see stuck to the printer

20:46

was the report Mr. Thompson made. Curiosity made

20:48

me scan through and when I did, I

20:51

saw his favoritism and unprofessionalism

20:53

boldly written in the paper

20:55

with Keisha as the most

20:57

resourceful intern. I was livid

21:00

but not too much to march into his

21:02

office. I pleased the papers where

21:04

I found them and left the room. The

21:06

rest of the day passed by in a blur and

21:09

I clocked out for the weekend. The

21:11

weekend was a lot for me. I

21:13

couldn't deal with it anymore. I was

21:15

pissed that they would continue to get

21:17

away with their act and it could

21:19

continue to the other interns that would

21:21

come after us. So, by the next

21:24

week, very early on Monday morning, I

21:26

marched to the human resource office and

21:28

asked to speak discreetly regarding the actions

21:30

that could impact the company in a

21:32

negative light that I have witnessed. I

21:34

was taken seriously because, amidst the whole

21:36

level of hierarchy when it comes to

21:38

actions that could harm the company's image,

21:41

there were policies that allowed subordinates

21:43

to make reports on their supervisors.

21:46

That was my escape route. I went

21:48

in earlier than usual hoping that no

21:50

one would see me or trace back

21:53

the possible backlash to me. I went

21:55

in and I narrated everything I had

21:57

seen. I was particular about going early

21:59

that Monday. Monday morning so they wouldn't

22:01

view my actions as retaliatory since Keisha

22:04

was more rated than I was. I

22:06

couldn't understand why they had to bring

22:08

their unprofessional act into the workspace knowing

22:10

how harmful it would be to the

22:12

growth and development of the company and

22:15

this was especially to our supervisor, Mr.

22:17

Thompson. He was the main person I

22:19

needed the HR department to query, but

22:21

in the end, I could

22:23

only be sure of my actions. The

22:26

reaction to my actions was fully out

22:28

of bounds, but I got to know

22:30

this quite late. The complaint I

22:32

made to the HR department skyrocketed

22:34

into something way bigger than I

22:36

expected. Before the end of the

22:38

week, Keisha was asked to turn in her ID

22:40

card and clear out her desk before the end

22:43

of the day. At first, I thought Mr. Thompson

22:45

was let off the hook and removed from being

22:47

the intern manager as a slap on the wrist,

22:49

but I was wrong. I finally

22:51

got to the ears of others that

22:54

someone anonymously made a complaint to the

22:56

HR department and the complaint that was

22:58

made got Mr. Thompson relieved of his

23:00

duty with about three weeks to round

23:02

off his pending tasks while he looked

23:05

for another job. Eventually, I felt vindicated.

23:07

If he was going to sleep with

23:09

his coworker, he could have at least

23:11

tried to separate work from pleasure. Being

23:14

unprofessional got him what he deserved.

23:16

Even though most places that have

23:18

a rule about not dating coworkers

23:20

has installed this rule because either

23:22

they witnessed somebody or they personally

23:24

had a really big issue going

23:26

on, or especially like in this

23:28

story there's a power imbalance between

23:30

an intern and a higher up, usually

23:32

I'm willing to turn a blind eye

23:34

to an office romance, but when it

23:36

ticks all the boxes this one did

23:38

in this story, I mean how can

23:40

you not feel like you need to

23:42

report that? Especially when it's

23:45

being used to put you down and your

23:47

furtherment of your career. Our next

23:49

story is, Jealous sister breaks my

23:51

new gaming laptop, so I break

23:53

her expensive camera. Back when

23:55

I, 21 year old female, was in high

23:57

school, my parents lived by a few rules.

24:00

One of them was that they'd only get

24:02

us the essentials needed for school and extracurriculars.

24:05

We weren't broke or anything. In fact, we

24:07

were sitting comfortably in the middle class. My

24:09

dad worked at a bank, and my mom

24:11

was a nurse, and together, they brought in

24:13

enough money to take care of us and

24:15

even set aside funds for things like college

24:17

and all. But my dad would never get

24:20

us something he didn't deem as essential. I

24:22

think it had something to do with how

24:24

he grew up. It had to be because

24:26

he loved telling that story to anyone and

24:28

everyone willing to listen. He grew up in

24:30

a poor background, and he was responsible

24:32

for his bills and taking himself through

24:35

college. When he became financially stable, he

24:37

wanted to make sure that we knew

24:39

the importance of money by making some

24:41

things we wanted unavailable to us. I

24:43

guess that was his way of telling us to work for

24:46

whatever we wanted. When we wanted something

24:48

that wasn't for school, we had to give

24:50

him a list of reasons why we needed

24:52

it. The validity of our reasons is then

24:54

gauged at his discretion, and he decides whether

24:56

to get it for us. In

24:58

the full eighteen years where I lived at home, only

25:01

a few things got approved by him. Believe

25:04

me, it was easier to buy, save

25:06

up, and buy whatever we wanted, than

25:08

wait around and come up with a

25:10

ten reasons why list which would surely

25:12

be rejected. I had two siblings growing

25:14

up, an older sister and a younger

25:16

brother. I'd always been on good terms

25:18

with my brother, but as for my

25:20

sister, Julie, 24-year-old female, the

25:23

opposite was the case. She was

25:25

always pissed and irritated. I could count the number

25:27

of times I saw her in a good mood.

25:30

Most of her irritation was usually directed at

25:32

me. We bickered at least five times

25:34

a week and she was at fault for the

25:37

most part. I don't know why we were mostly

25:39

on bad terms, but whenever I thought about it,

25:41

it was almost as if she was jealous of

25:43

me. Why? I

25:45

have no earthly idea, but all evidence pointed at

25:47

it, like that one time when I got a

25:50

new dress from mom. In my sophomore year of

25:52

high school, I had a best friend named Sandra,

25:54

22-year-old female, and

25:56

she invited me to her birthday party which was

25:58

taking place in her house. I didn't

26:00

have a suitable dress for a party

26:02

so I told my mom to take

26:04

me shopping. My mom and siblings usually went

26:07

shopping together, it was like an unspoken

26:09

rule, but that day Julie and my brother,

26:11

Oscar, 19-year-old male, were not home. Oscar

26:13

had a group project with one of his

26:15

friends, which was usually what he said

26:17

whenever he wanted to leave the house and

26:20

slack off with the video games with

26:22

his friends. Julie also went to visit a

26:24

friend and mom was going to work,

26:26

so she couldn't call them to come back

26:28

home for shopping. Since the

26:30

mall was along the way to her

26:32

workplace, she decided to take me. I

26:34

got the dress I wanted and returned

26:36

home. When I was trying it on

26:38

before I left for the party, Julie

26:40

saw it and started throwing a tantrum.

26:42

She complained that my mom had always

26:44

shown favoritism towards me and her buying

26:47

me a dress was evidence of that.

26:49

Mom tried to explain the situation to

26:51

her but she wasn't interested in listening

26:53

to reason until mom promised to buy

26:55

her something too, but that on its

26:57

own wasn't enough for Julie. After I

26:59

attended Sandra's party, I took off my new

27:01

dress and dropped it in the laundry basket

27:03

I shared with her. A few days later

27:05

when it was time for laundry, I checked

27:07

the basket, but the dress was nowhere to

27:09

be found. I was sure of

27:11

where I kept it, but for some reason

27:14

it wasn't there. My mind went straight to

27:16

Julie and I confronted her about my missing

27:18

dress, but as expected, she denied knowing its

27:21

whereabouts. I tried to get mom

27:23

involved but Julie knew just how to manipulate

27:25

her. She said that mom stepped in, only

27:27

proving her point that she was always taking

27:29

my side. Because of this, mom

27:31

decided not to get involved and told me

27:34

to look around again. I searched and searched

27:36

but I didn't find it. A week later,

27:38

it turned up behind mom's rose bushes in

27:40

her backyard garden. It was all torn

27:42

up and ruined with mud. I remembered vividly

27:44

that I'd kept it in the laundry basket

27:47

and there was no way it could have

27:49

turned up behind the bushes if it wasn't

27:51

put there by someone. But of course, Julie

27:53

wasn't fessing up and since there was no

27:55

way to prove that she actually did it,

27:58

I had to let it slide. I was

28:00

even blamed by my dad for not taking good

28:02

care of my things. Julie got away

28:04

with a lot of things she did. Whenever

28:06

I did something good or mom and dad

28:09

praised me for something, she always

28:11

made sure to find a way to undermine me. I

28:13

ignored her for the most part, and that was why

28:15

we were able to live in the same house for

28:17

all those years. But then, there

28:20

were some days that I couldn't let

28:22

things slide. The one I remember vividly

28:24

was when she broke my new iPad.

28:26

Before I got that iPad, Julie requested

28:28

a video camera. She told my

28:30

dad that she needed it for a school

28:33

project. That was a lie. She wanted the

28:35

camera because she was planning to start some

28:37

kind of streaming show with some of her

28:39

school friends. But she obviously couldn't tell dad

28:42

that, so she cooked up the lie about

28:44

school. He asked why she was the one

28:46

buying the video camera, and not the school

28:49

or some of her other classmates, but she

28:51

already had a lie prepared. Dad was not

28:53

very involved in our schooling except when it

28:55

was something financial. He threatened to call her

28:58

teacher to confirm if she was telling the

29:00

truth, but she knew it was an empty

29:02

threat, and so she told him to go

29:04

ahead. As expected, he didn't call, and the

29:07

next day he got her the camera she

29:09

wanted. When I wanted an iPad, I could

29:11

have easily have gotten it with the same

29:13

dishonest means she used, but I wasn't that

29:15

kind of person. I preferred to tell the

29:18

truth, at least to him, so I went

29:20

to my dad and told him I wanted

29:22

a gaming laptop. He didn't like

29:24

my reasons for wanting it, so he refused

29:26

my request. I really wanted a laptop at

29:29

the time, so I decided to get it

29:31

myself. I got an after-school job at a

29:33

burger shack close to my school, so whenever

29:35

I closed, I resumed my shift. I attended

29:38

to my schoolwork whenever I got home at

29:40

night. It took me a few months and

29:42

consistent savings before I was finally able to

29:44

get the laptop I wanted. I was

29:47

so proud of myself, but my

29:49

parents were even more proud. My

29:51

dad praised me for my diligence

29:54

and for being responsible enough to save

29:56

and get what I wanted. I knew

29:58

what came next. As always, Jules. Julie

30:00

was jealous of my laptop and the

30:02

praises I got from our parents. So

30:05

what did she do? She started to report

30:07

money missing and blamed me for it. She

30:09

told our parents that I used her money

30:11

to get my laptop. The only reason why

30:13

they didn't believe her was that it was

30:15

because it was public knowledge that she didn't

30:17

know how to save a cent, talk less

30:19

of the amount of money needed to buy

30:21

my laptop. Whenever she got

30:24

some money, even the ones she wasn't

30:26

expecting, there was always something important she

30:28

needed to spend it on. When

30:30

her strategy of making my parents think

30:32

I stole her money failed drastically, I

30:35

knew she was going to try something

30:37

else. I put a password on

30:39

my laptop, and whenever I was done using it,

30:41

I always made sure to lock it in my

30:43

wardrobe. I had a wardrobe key and

30:45

I kept it with me at all times. I

30:48

never let her borrow my laptop even

30:50

when she said she had some school

30:52

project to do. An accident

30:55

could easily happen. I

30:57

couldn't trust her with it, but no matter how hard

30:59

I tried to make sure my laptop didn't land

31:02

in her hands, it finally happened.

31:05

One afternoon, I was home alone playing

31:07

a video game when I received a

31:09

call from my mom. She

31:11

forgot something at home and needed me to bring it for

31:13

her as soon as possible. I didn't even

31:15

think too much about leaving the laptop on

31:17

my study table. I went to meet her

31:19

and as soon as I got back, I

31:22

met my laptop on the ground snapped in

31:24

two. There was nobody at home, but I

31:26

knew exactly what happened. Julie

31:28

came home and when she saw that

31:30

I wasn't around, she took that opportunity

31:32

to break my laptop. To be sure,

31:34

I asked our neighbor who was lounging

31:36

outside his house when I left. He

31:38

confirmed that Julie had come home when

31:40

I left. I reported the issue to

31:43

our parents, but as expected, Julie denied

31:45

it blatantly, but our parents didn't

31:47

believe her, so my dad grounded

31:49

her and got me a new

31:51

laptop. But it wasn't as expensive

31:53

or the same model as the one I

31:56

bought for myself, so in a way, Julie

31:58

won and I couldn't accept that. I

32:01

decided to get my revenge on my

32:03

own. At that point, the one thing

32:05

Julie loved more than anything was her

32:07

camera. She had started her streaming stuff

32:10

and surprisingly she was starting to get

32:12

a little traction. That was exactly

32:14

where I hit her. One night when she

32:16

was asleep, I took out her camera from

32:19

her wardrobe and went down to the kitchen

32:21

and got some table salt. I had earlier

32:23

googled what could destroy a camera and I

32:25

saw that salt water could do the job.

32:28

I prepared a bath and poured the salt

32:30

before dropping in the camera. As soon as

32:32

I took it out, I switched it on.

32:34

I think it shorted a circuit or it

32:37

fried the battery or something but it stopped

32:39

working. I cleaned off the water and returned

32:41

the camera to the case before going back

32:44

to sleep. It took over two days

32:46

before Julie realized what happened. The day

32:48

she wanted to shoot her content for

32:50

her stream, she tried turning it on

32:52

but it wasn't working. She pointed fingers

32:54

at me but nobody believed her. My

32:56

dad complained that she was always careless

32:59

with her things, which was true, but

33:01

she was never careless with the camera. She

33:03

tried to get it fixed but the parts

33:06

were too expensive. She pleaded with my dad

33:08

to get her a new one but he

33:10

refused. She tried getting a job but she

33:12

was always getting fired. At one point

33:15

I felt sorry for her as she

33:17

tried again and again to gather enough

33:19

money to buy the camera but whenever

33:21

I remember all the things she put

33:23

me through, I reminded myself

33:25

that she deserved everything she got.

33:27

I was gonna say when OP

33:29

got that laptop, they can't let

33:31

their sister use it because god

33:33

forbid that laptop's gonna end up

33:35

behind the rose bushes in the

33:37

garden too. Well it ended up

33:39

snapped in half anyways. For somebody

33:41

who's just a perpetual screw up

33:43

because of their own choices, they can't

33:46

hold a job, they can't keep their

33:48

valuables intact, is there room to really

33:50

feel bad for them? Like maybe they

33:52

need some professional intervention. But with that

33:54

being said, that's all the time we

33:56

have for today, now if you want

33:58

to hear another ab- absolutely crazy

34:00

revenge story, check out that video on

34:02

the left! Or if you missed my

34:04

latest video, check out that video on

34:06

the right! That said, I'll see you

34:08

all next time with some more stories!