Page 85 of A Vicious Rumor

I hated how absolutely perceptive Paper was about things. "I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

He smirked. "Alright. Just know, that this fight is about more than just you. It's been brewing for the last decade, and it needs to happen. I've tried every single way I know to get these two to get along. Sometimes you just have to let the dogs fight it out so they can establish their own order."

"They'll be off to college in a year each. They can last till then without hurting each other, or worse. And then they never have to talk to one another again."

Paper took his glasses off and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. He cleaned the lenses slowly. "That's not really how it works in this society," he said, fixing the spectacles back to his face. "But, it's a nice thought."

He looked me up and down, as if sizing me up for a moment. "By the way, Tyson's class is directly across the hall. Keep that in mind if you're trying to avoid him."

The bell rang at just that moment, and the doors throughout the hallway opened. "Better run," Paper said with amusement in his voice.

"Shit!" I cursed for the first time in a long time. I darted out of the club room and headed for the stairs. I'd already missed one class for the day. If I could avoid missing another, I'd be grateful. Tyson didn't know my class schedule, so I figured I'd be safe to avoid him this way. At least, that was my hope.

As I took my seat in my Calculus class and opened my backpack I stared in horror realizing that I'd left Zachary's folder lying on the desk in the club room. I was about to get up, but the teacher walked in at that moment, closing the door behind her.

"Ms. Kinds," I said, which was an ironic last name because she was anything but.

"Yes?" she answered in an annoyed voice.

"I'm sorry, but I left something in my locker. Can I please go and get it?"

"No," she said matter-of-factly. "It'll teach you to be more responsible next time."

The entire class snickered at my misfortune, which was my second round of it for the day. I sat back down in my seat and tried to calm my nerves. This was the last class of the day. No one went into the club room except the Triad. It would be safe for the next hour, and I could grab it then.

26

LILY

My heart was beating so fast as I rounded the corner and made my way back into the club room. What I saw had my stomach pulled up into my throat.

"What are you doing with that?" I asked Kitty as I watched her try and stuff the folder into her backpack.

"Oh? This?" she said with a smirk, holding it up and shaking it in front of me. "Strangest thing. I found it just sitting out here on this desk. Has the most interesting information in it. Figured I'd return it to its owner."

This was bad. Like, really bad. It was one thing for my mother to give me this file to give to Scissors. Once he knew what was inside, there was no way he was going to share it with anyone. But, I didn't have the same trust in Kitty. If the documents inside went public, it would definitely be traced back to my mother, and she would lose her job.

Not to mention the fallout it would cause Zachary.

"I'll take care of that," I said, holding my hand out.

"Oh, it's not a bother," she said, moving to shove it back into her backpack. "I'm sure Scissors doesn't want to talk to you these days anyways," she snickered. "Not after he found out that you were a cheating whore."

"Give me the folder, Katherine," I said in as firm a tone as I could muster.

"Or what?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

I stood in front of the door, blocking her only exit. "You don't leave this room with that folder."

She rolled her eyes. "Like you're going to stop me." She walked right up to me, and I put both hands up and pushed her back.

"I'm not messing around," I said. "Give me the folder."

"You little bitch," she said, lunging towards me. I tried to block her again, but this time she wrapped her hand around the back of my head and pulled really hard on my hair. I yelped in pain as I was forced to follow her movements as she pulled me away from the door.

She let go and tried to make a run for it, but I grabbed at her backpack, ripping it off of her shoulders. I held onto it like it was a precious commodity, and she turned around and glared at me. She ran towards me and I threw the backpack far into the back corner of the room just before Kitty tackled me to the ground. My back hit the floor and all but knocked the wind out of me. She started trying to pull my hair and scratch at my face, and it was all I could do to put my arms up and try and protect myself.

"Whoa!" a male's voice said before I felt her being pulled off of me.

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