Rumor Central (3 page)

I
stood at the massive entrance to the school and took a deep breath. Everyone was rushing to class since the bell was going to ring in a few minutes. The teachers at Miami High could seriously trip over tardies. You'd think with all the money our parents paid, they'd give us a little flexibility. I swore they didn't because of the stupid scholarship kids that went here. Some do-gooder thought it would be a great idea to give scholarships to needy students so they could “take part in the private school experience.” Personally, I thought it just brought down our stock, but I just stayed away from them and they stayed away from me.

I ran my fingers through my curls, tossed my hair over my shoulder and headed inside. I immediately spotted Chenoa and Sheridan walking down the hall. They didn't see me, but I stopped in my tracks to give them time to go ahead. The last thing I felt like doing was getting into it with anyone. I was too pretty to beef, especially since Davion had worked his magic and I was runway ready. Oh, who was I kidding? I was always runway ready.

Not only was I looking good, but I was feeling good. As expected, Bryce had shown up last night to take me out to dinner to celebrate. He'd even surprised me with a Tiffany charm bracelet. He must've gone straight to Tiffany's after I called him and told him my good news. That was my boo, he was so thoughtful.

So, obviously, I was floating on cloud nine, sporting my new bracelet and my fabulous 'do and I wasn't trying to let anyone spoil my mood. But, Maya Morgan didn't run from anyone. So, while I briefly thought about staying home so I didn't have to see my former crew, I quickly tossed that thought aside. I needed to be at school and show my face so everyone could see that I was about to become a bigger star than I already was.

As I'd thought, word must've already spread because several people started looking my way as I made my way inside. Many of them were whispering and pointing. I had just made it to my locker when one of the jocks walked over and said, “What's up, Maya. Is it true that you're getting your own TV show?”

“It is,” I said, smiling as I threw my calculus book (which I hadn't bothered to open in preparation of my test today) in my locker. “I'm about to blow up on so many levels.”

“Wow, that's tight,” he said.

“It's messed up, is what it is,” Shay said, appearing from nowhere. “But what else can you expect from a backstabbing troll?” She had her usual attitude as she folded her arms like I was supposed to be scared.

I slowly shut my locker and turned to face her. Of course, Evian and Bali were standing behind her, and Chenoa and Sheridan walked up as well. They looked like some kind of gang standing there staring at me. But I wasn't about to be punked, so I smirked.

“Actually, it's pretty nice,” I replied. “You should hear all the plans they have now that they got rid of dead weight and have something they can really work with.”

Bam!
They should know better than to come at me the wrong way. Shay took a step toward me, but Evian cut her off, stepping in front of her to stop her.

“Naw, Shay, let her make it—for now,” she said.

Sheridan stepped up. “So out of order,” she said.

Sheridan and I faced off like some cowboys from those old Western movies. If she was trying to look intimidating, she needed to take that mess to someone who didn't know her.

“I mean, you don't feel any kind of shame about selling us out?” Sheridan finally asked.

I rolled my eyes. Sheridan was my girl. We'd been friends since seventh grade so I really didn't like beefing with her. “Look,” I said, trying to appear sympathetic, “I get that you guys are salty about how all of this went down. I mean, it's messed up how they did this, but seriously, if you were in my shoes, what would you have done?”

Sheridan looked away because she was just like me. She could front all she wanted, but at the end of the day, she would've done exactly what I had.

All this drama was making my head hurt. Kennedi had been ecstatic when I called and told her the news about me getting my own show. That's the way true friends should be. I guess this whole situation was showing me who my friends really were.

“So you knew all along that they were trying to get rid of us and keep you?” Evian asked.

“I told you, I had no idea,” I replied. “Tamara just asked if I wanted my own show. I thought she was talking about one day.” Suddenly, I was glad that I'd never told them about my connection to Tamara. She'd told me not to tell anyone when we first started the show, just to avoid any problems. I'm glad I listened because that would've been major drama.

“You are such a liar,” Shay said.

I gave her the hand. I wasn't about to sit up and try to convince them that this wasn't some underhanded plot by me to get my own show. They could believe what they wanted to believe.

“Maya, I can't believe you'd do something so foul,” Chenoa said. I rolled my eyes at her. Why was she even here? This didn't even have anything to do with her.

“We get that this is business,” Bali added. “But you just threw us under the bus. They said, ‘we want to keep you,' and you didn't negotiate or anything. Just told us, ‘Deuces, I'm out,' without even thinking twice about us.”

I raised an eyebrow and shot him a
your point would be?
look.

Shay stepped back in my face. “What makes this so jacked up is that you're the reason we were in this mess in the first place. It was your bright idea to fight for more money, more perks.” She paused and tilted her head. “Now that I think about it, maybe you were running game all along. This probably was your plan.”

It wasn't, but it dang sure would've been had I thought about it. All is fair in love and reality TV. But since a small crowd was gathering and I wasn't in the mood for drama, I didn't say what I was actually thinking. Instead, I said, “Look, they told me they were planning to cut
Miami Divas
anyway,” I lied. “So it had nothing to do with our demands.”

“Bull,” Bali said.

“You don't have to believe me.” I shrugged. “I don't have a reason to lie to you.”

“Really, you do,” Evian said. “Because what you did was low-down.”

Several people had now gathered around like they were ready for something to jump off. The bell rang and nobody moved. I guess seeing a fight was worth getting a tardy.

I let out a long, frustrating breath. See, this was why I needed a bodyguard. I could tell Tamara didn't really think I needed one, which was why she said she would ‘look into it'. But I was going to let her know it's mess like this why I did. But for now, I was on my own. Forget being nice. They wanted drama, I could definitely give it to them.

“If I were you, I'd be nice to me. Because maybe, just maybe I will put in a good word and let you make an appearance on my show,” I told them.

“Don't do me any favors,” Bali snapped, raising his voice.

“Yeah, screw you and your show,” Shay said. She was now all up in my personal space again.

“And tell me again, why are you in my face?” I said, turning up my nose. “And you need a Tic Tac or something because your breath is aggravating my allergies.”

“Oooh, I wouldn't take that,” someone yelled.

“Clock that chick in the eye,” someone else chimed in.

Were they really trying to get a fight to jump off?
I hoped not because I didn't fight. I sued. And if any one of them laid a hand on me, I would have my dad's attorney up at the school before they got to their next class.

“Come on, Shay. She's not worth it,” Evian said, taking Shay's hand and pulling her back. “Now that we know what kind of backstabber she really is, she doesn't have to ever worry about being our friend again.”

I stared at both of them, not blinking. “Can someone pass me some tissue so I can dry my tears?” I said, my voice full of sarcasm.

Several people busted out laughing. I wondered where the heck were the teachers. Usually, when the bell rang, someone was in the hallway ushering us all to class.

Evian tugged at Shay, while Bali and Sheridan just glared at me. “Come on, I told you, she's not worth it. She's gonna get hers.”

“Yeah, and I'm gonna be the one to give it to her,” Shay snapped.

I really didn't understand why they were trippin' with me. Any one of them would've done the exact same thing.

Shay snatched her arm away, then stepped back in my face. “Payback ain't pretty,” she said, spit flying from her mouth.

“Neither is your face,” I said, turning to walk off. I wasn't about to do this with them. But I hadn't taken a step when Shay grabbed my hair and yanked me back.

“Owww,” I screamed. Before I knew it, I turned around and pushed her as hard as I could. She stumbled back, caught her balance, then came charging toward me, slamming into me like a linebacker on the football team. She then grabbed my six-hundred-dollar freshly done hair as tight as she could and tried to fling me to the floor. Of course, I wasn't going to let it go down like that. So, I grabbed her hair right back and tried to throw her down.

“Let me go!” she screamed.

“You let me go!” I shouted back.

We started rolling around on the floor and all I could think was,
Am I really fighting in my four-inch
Manolo Blahniks?

“Have you two lost your mind?” Mr. Carvin, the school principal, said, racing to break us up. He grabbed Shay by the arm and the softball coach grabbed me.

“I'm gonna kill her!” Shay yelled.

“In your dreams!”

“Stop this fighting, now!” Mr. Carvin shouted as both of us tried to break free.

It took a minute, but we both stopped squirming enough for them to let us go.

“What in the world is your problem? I thought you two were friends,” Mr. Carvin yelled.

“Were as in past tense,” I said, checking my clothes to make sure that my Juicy Couture jumpsuit hadn't been messed up.

“I was never her friend,” Shay snapped, trying to catch her breath. “We just had a show together.”

“Whatever. You'd just better get your dad to get his credit card ready,” I said, pulling out my rhinestone-studded iPhone. “Got me up here fighting like some thug,” I huffed. “I don't think so! I'm suing you, your mama, your daddy, the whole Miami Heat,” I said as I punched in the code to unlock my phone.

Mr. Carvin exhaled in frustration. “Miss Morgan, put that phone away and get in my office right now.” I ignored him and kept punching. He actually stepped in front of me and snatched the phone out of my hand.

“Hey, I'm entitled to one phone call,” I said.

“This isn't jail,” he said, scuttling us into his office.

I cut my eyes at Sheridan, who stood off to the side, watching everything. I was stunned that she hadn't tried to jump in and help me. No matter how many fights we'd had in the past, at the end of the day, she always had my back. Truthfully, I knew Sheridan wasn't a fighter either, but she knew Shay was crazy and she hadn't lifted a finger. She rolled her eyes at me and walked off. Oh, I would definitely never forget that.

Inside Mr. Carvin's office, I immediately began protesting. “Why am I in trouble? She started it by grabbing my hair.”

“I didn't grab your hair,” Shay said innocently as she plopped down in the chair in front of his desk. “When you walked off, it got caught in my bracelet.” She held her arm and shook her dangling bracelets.

“You are such a liar,” I yelled.

“Both of you be quiet! Sit down, Miss Morgan!”

“She started it!” I said, sitting down in the seat next to her. “I didn't do—”

“I don't care who started it,” Mr. Carvin said, interrupting me as he walked behind his desk. “There is no fighting in this school and you know that this is absolutely unacceptable. You two are seniors. I would expect more from you.” He pulled out a notepad. “As you know, we have a zero tolerance for fighting—”

“But—” I said.

“But nothing.” He scribbled on the notepad, then handed it to me and Shay. “You both are suspended for three days.”

“You can't do this,” Shay said, knocking over the chair as she stood.

Mr. Carvin frowned in her direction. “Miss Turner, try me if you want to. I'll change that suspension to the rest of the year and you'll find yourself repeating the twelfth grade.”

She rolled her eyes as she took her suspension notice. “Can I go now?” she said, glaring at him.

He nodded. “You need to leave campus immediately,” he called out as she stomped toward the door.

She stopped and spun around. “Bu-But, I have a dance competition today and we leave right after school.”

“You won't be taking part in anything related to Miami High for the next three days,” he replied with a firm tone. “Good day, Miss Turner.”

Shay glanced over at me. “You are so going to regret this,” she muttered in my direction.

“Whatever, Shay. You started it,” I said, before taking my notice and leaving as well.

I noticed this nerdy chick, Valerie Elgin, sitting in the front office, like she was waiting to see someone. Valerie was one of the scholarship students. She was a year younger than us and I only knew her because we used to work on the school newspaper together—back before I came to my senses and quit.

“You okay?” she asked as I walked out of the office. When I didn't answer, she added, “If you ever need anything, I can help.” I stopped and stared at her to see was she serious. She must've been because she kept talking. “I mean.... I didn't mean.... I mean, I know you have a lot going on and I was just thinking . . . if I could help in any way, like with schoolwork or anything else, I will.”