"I'm not talking to them," I said through gritted teeth as I grabbed Courtney's arm and tried to steer her back out of the Beanery. Victoria watched me coolly over the rim of her drink, while Tyler sat on the couch across from her looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Maddie, come on! We used to be your friends, we're worried about you!" Courtney said, blocking the doorway. I gritted my teeth, allowing her to lead me to the spot next to Victoria.

"So what is this, some kind of intervention?" I demanded, crossing my arms as the silence took over. Vicky smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"More like a wake up call," she said, setting her coffee down so she could run her eyes over me.

"Oh really?" I snapped, lifting my eyebrows at Courtney as she sat down next to Tyler. She shrugged, avoiding my eyes. Tyler was looking at me, but I was too angry to so spare him a glance.

"Ethan's lying to you," Vicky said bluntly, drawing my attention back to her.

"This again?" I scoffed. I tried to stand, but Vicky grabbed my arm and forced me back down.

"Sit down and shut up," she snapped, before rounding on Courtney and Tyler, "You two wanted to do this with me, so spit it out,"

"I heard Dakota talking in the hallway," Tyler said, and my eyes flicked to his face, "They're up to something,"

"So what?" I practically screamed, "To people like you, they're always up to something because you can't understand that they do things other than drink and party! For all you know she's staging an animal rights protest!"

Whoa...did I just defend Dakota?

I caught my breath as Tyler watched me, his expression pained.

"Calm the hell down," Victoria grumbled, reaching over to take a swig of her coffee, "There's no need for the histrionics, we're trying to help,"

I glared at her, but she wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"What your friends are trying to say," she began, inspecting her cuticles, "Is that this Ethan kid is a shit and up to no good,"

"He's seeing Dakota," Courtney put in, her voice tiny. When I looked over at her she could barely meet my eyes.

"Is this some kind of prank? Do you all find this funny?" I demanded as the heat rose in my face. I was too wound up to care whether it was from anger at them nosing around in my business, or from the humiliation that maybe what they were telling the truth and I was being a crushed out idiot when it came to Ethan.

"Do you really think I'd be having coffee with a couple of juniors if I wasn't serious?" Victoria fired back, her eyes blazing now, "You're making a complete mess of your life, Madison.  It's enough now!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" I shot back. I saw the switch flip the instant the words left my lips. Victoria's face turned into a mask of ice, a look I'd seen her fix on many a wannabe but never on me.

"Watch your tongue, little Carlisle," she said coldly, "We're doing this to help you, there's no need to be such a little bitch about it,"

"Well thanks for your concern," I said sarcastically. Victoria rolled her eyes, looking away.

"If you weren't Brett's little sister you'd be wearing this latte right about now. Come on, I think we've done all we can for her," Victoria said, setting down her cup and rising gracefully from the couch. Courtney hopped up, all too eager to escape the tension and follow the queen bee from the café. I watched them go, wondering whether Courtney had meant a thing she'd said about missing me or if it had all been a part of their plan to get me alone.

"He's into Dakota," Tyler said simply, cutting the thick tension between us.

"Shut up," I snapped, fed up with his attempts at reconciliation. I stood to leave but he jumped up and followed me out of the café.

"No, Madison, I won't shut up. You can hate me, fine, but just listen, okay? We brought you here because we still care abo-" Tyler began, his voice rising too.

"If you still cared you'd never have done that to me!" I shouted, rounding on him. I felt the prickle of imminent tears behind my eyes.

"Don't you think I know that I screwed up? I screwed up bad and I hurt you and I'm sorry! But that doesn't change the fact that Ethan's into Dakota, Maddie. And as long as you're willing to follow him around like a lap dog, they're going to keep seeing each other behind your back!"

"Why the hell do you even care?" I snapped.

"Because even though you hate me, I still care about you! I don't want to see you double-timed!" Tyler said, staring me down, "He's going to hurt you, Maddie,"

I only realized I was crying when I felt the tears run down my cheeks. With an angry huff, I turned on my heel and stormed back

 ****************

I was halfway back to school, bemoaning my blistering shoes and the state of my life when I was struck by an idea. It had occurred to me as I passed the football field, my eyes seeking out the kicker as he practiced shooting field goals. I was of half a mind to walk up and horse-collar him to the ground until he told me the truth. Then again, he'd stuck to his guns the whole time about Dakota being just a friend.  I needed to find out the truth, but everyone I knew had their own version and none of it seemed to add up. 

There was only one person in this whole mess whose side I hadn't heard yet.  My feet turned towards the school building of their own accord, bypassing my planned route to my car. My original plan of speeding home with blasting music so I could pull on my Nikes and run my troubles away wasn't going to settle this. Worst of all, Tyler's words had wheedled their way under my skin and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep that night unless I settled them.

I stormed my way through the empty hallways and didn't even bother to knock as I threw open the door to the student newspaper office. I didn't expect to be faced with five sets of eyes, but thankfully one belonged to the person I was looking for.

"Can I help you?" Dakota demanded icily, the first of the student journalists to recover. She turned her back to me, returning to pinning pictures and printouts onto a bulletin board.

"Are you seeing Ethan Wheeler?" I asked, not the least bit bothered by the snickers from two of the sophomore writers. I shot the pair of them a look filled with so much venom it shut them right up. The one with braces flushed beet red while the one with the terrible skin bent her head over her notebook to avoid my gaze.

"Do you mind? We're in the middle of a meeting," Dakota said, still not bothering to face me.

"Oh I have the time to wait," I said, folding my arms and leaning casually against the doorframe. Dakota made an annoyed sound in her throat.

"Give me five," she snapped, and the other writers hustled past me out of the room. I glared at each of them in turn, throwing on my best Victoria Carrington face. I was mad enough after my café encounter that it must've worked because they hurried away and slammed the door behind them.

"You'd think a girl from money like yours would have better manners," Dakota said, still hanging things on the pinboard.

"Didn't you hear? I'm the queen of the freaks now," I replied. Dakota snorted. I let the silence stretch on between us, looking at the pictures she was hanging on the pinboard. My eyes narrowed when I spotted one tucked away in a corner that featured four boys on a piece of driftwood. Dakota finally shot me a look to see if I was still standing there and I lifted my eyebrows in response.

"Why do you care so much about Ethan Wheeler?" she asked, climbing onto a step stool to pin something at the top of the board.

"Because I'd very much like to make out with him again," I said with a shrug. Dakota wasn't able to school her features as she whirled around to look at me, tumbling off the stool in the process. I snorted a laugh despite myself as she pulled herself up using the desk. When she finally turned to face me, however, she'd plastered her mask of indifference back onto her face.

"I'm not seeing Ethan Wheeler, so frankly I couldn't care less whose face you suck," she said as she bent to pick up some more papers to pin.

"Awesome, so it won't be a problem when I do it again tonight," I continued, watching for her reaction. This time she was ready for me, her pulsing jaw muscle the only crack in her veneer of indifference.

"Have fun!" she trilled sarcastically, "And next time do me a favor, brag about your extra-curriculars when I'm not leading a meeting,"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," I said, mock saluting her as I turned to leave, "I'll make sure you get the play-by-play,"

The other newspaper club members were huddled in the hallway, cutting themselves off midsentence as I strode out of the office. I shot them looks that sent them scurrying back into the office, whispers flying between them. I took great pleasure at the fact that Dakota had to shout to get them to quiet down.

Even though she'd called me a bitch today, I secretly wished Victoria could've been there to see that one. I had a sneaky feeling she would've been proud that I'd so thoroughly gotten under Dakota's skin.

*****************

Uh oh, has mean girl A-lister Madison returned? Or was she just trying to find answers? And how do you think Ethan is going to react if he finds out? Once again thank you for reading and  if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote and comment! :)