^ because she's my latest fan :D

New chapter, because I thought you'd waited long enough! You will see a lot more of Alyssa in the coming chapters... beware of her! Vote, comment all that jazz :)

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"Hi, Olivia!"

Olivia scanned the room for the source of the noise. Then she saw it. Strangely, it was Alyssa, who was sitting at one of the cafeteria tables with her friends, holding her hand in the air and gesturing for Olivia to come over with a friendly smile on her face.

"Uh…" Olivia looked round, wondering if it was some kind of joke or trap, and if a camera crew where going to burst out at any minute, but Alyssa seemed deadly serious about the whole thing, and Kayla and Courtney were smiling too.

"Come sit with us!" Alyssa smiled and gestured towards the seat opposite her.

Olivia was still dubious – how could Alyssa be so warm and friendly after her iciness just the previous day? – but she made her way over to the table in an effort to be forgiving. Admittedly, her decision was probably swayed by the fact that she still hadn’t properly spoken to Chelsie after the Aaron incident yesterday and didn’t exactly fancy eating lunch on a table by herself.

"Oh my gosh, I am sooo sorry that we got off on the wrong foot yesterday," Alyssa was saying as Olivia placed her tray on the tabletop and took a seat.

On this occasion, Alyssa’s hair had been scraped back into a perfectly messy ponytail and her skin was looking even more tanned than usual – had she slipped off to the Caribbean last night or something?

"Anyway, I guess I was just having an off day or something and like I said, I totally apologise. It was totally out of order, I know. So, are we good?" She smiled, showing off her perfect white teeth and her dazzling blue eyes focused on Olivia’s bemused face.

"Uh… yeah, I guess." Olivia shrugged.                                                                     

"Oh my gosh, that is such a relief. I could hardly sleep last night knowing how horrible I’d been to you – and on your first day too!" The words coming out of her mouth were so obviously fake and yet she had a way of delivering them that made them sound so sincere that even Olivia was starting to believe her.

"Uh… yeah. Like I said, it’s okay." Olivia looked down at her lunch and speared a chip with her fork, still quite confused by the whole situation, which was completely out of character from what Chelsie and Fred had described the day before, anyway. Still, the more she thought about Chelsie’s attitudes towards the school and the people inside it, the more they seemed just a twisted perception created someone who was just jealous of what she didn’t have. Maybe she was better off befriending Alyssa’s crowd rather than her.

"That’s great! So… now that we’re friends…" Alyssa lowered her voice. "How were things with Aaron?"

"Oh! Right…" Olivia smiled, trying to pretend that Aaron had barely crossed her mind since their after school encounter, even though she had barely thought of anything else from that time onwards. He had consumed her mind ever since he said goodbye, rendering her brain physically unable to process any information that wasn’t to do with him.

"Oh my god, you guys totally did it, didn’t you?" Alyssa gasped as a smile crept onto her flawless face. "I knew it! You are so not the little innocent you act!"

"No! Oh my gosh, no… is that what people think?"

Olivia was startled. Did people really think she was that much of a slut? She’d only just met the guy! All they’d done was kissed a little… Olivia’s skin tingled as the memory drifted back into her mind, as vivid as the moment it had occurred.

"Well, I don’t know," Alyssa shrugged innocently, looking down. "I mean, we only saw you for a second but… who knows what other people might have seen?"

"Nothing!" Olivia persisted, despite being aware that her words were sounding more and more like a lie as she went on, somehow being altered somewhere in between leaving her lips and hearing them in her ears. It was as if Alyssa’s mere presence was twisting even her perception of the truth.

Alyssa raised her eyebrows and smiled at Kayla and Courtney with a knowing look on her face. "Well, if you say nothing happened then…" Alyssa shrugged and poked at a piece of lettuce with her fork. "I guess nothing happened."

Olivia slumped back in her seat, knowing she was defeated. It was better just to leave the situation alone, as she was fully aware that Alyssa would never believe her. She had a strange aura, one that dominated the situation in a way that meant she was always in control. Maybe it was inherited from her father. Or maybe it was just something she had to work at.

A few moments of silence passed before Olivia noticed a girl she recognised approaching the table, a huge grin on her face. It was hard not to notice a tan that orange.

"Hi guys!"

Alyssa rolled her eyes and looked up at the girl who was smiling eagerly at the four of them. She looked as if she might have started waving maniacally at them if her hands had not been preoccupied with holding her lunch tray.

"Oh hi, Brooke!" There went Alyssa’s sugary sweet voice that only made Brooke’s smile grow even larger. "So nice to see you. How are you?"

"Great, thanks!" Brooke said enthusiastically. "What about you?"

"Oh yeah… amazing, thanks," Alyssa said, obviously bored of Brooke’s energy, which could be exhausting in high doses. "Uh… are you just here for a chat or…?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you had a spare place for me here. I noticed Carter and that weren’t here so I thought maybe…" Her speech drifted off hopefully.

Alyssa paused, even though she had known perfectly well what was coming. "Sorry, babe, no can do." She shook her head lightly."They just got held up in gym. You know what Coach Damon’s like. Still, if you want them to win the championship I guess you got to sacrifice something… but they’ll be here in a sec. Sorry – maybe another time, when there’s a seat…"

"Oh." The smile disappeared from Brooke’s face almost instantly. Anybody with a heart would’ve felt awful, but apparently not Alyssa. She probably had a heart of stone under all that spray tan. Or, considering how rich her family were, more like a heart made of diamond. "That’s okay… I guess I’ll just go sit over there or something then."

Alyssa looked sympathetic. It was hardly convincing, her expression as transparent as a glass window, but Brooke didn’t seem suspicious. She just looked as sweet and adoring as ever. "Sorry, babe. Another time, definitely."

Olivia watched her sidle off to another table not far away from theirs. When she was out of earshot, Alyssa rolled her eyes. "God, is she ever going to give up? It’s so pathetic."

"Wait… didn’t Carter and Ethan have football practice all lunch?" Kayla asked.

Alyssa clapped slowly. "Well done, dumbass. I’m not having her sit here. It’s just too painful. The only thing that girl’s good for is throwing parties with free alcohol."

"Sooo true," Courtney agreed, laughing.

"So, Olivia," Alyssa turned back to her, a movement that caused Olivia’s heart to sink slightly. There could only be something negative that followed Alyssa’s manipulative way of conversation. "Are you coming to the school dance in a few weeks time? It’s going to be so amazing. My daddy’s paying for it, you know."

"Oh, I don’t know…" Olivia’s speech drifted off as Alyssa’s face displayed a shocked expression. "It’s just, I don’t really know that many people here and…"

"You know me, silly! It’s going to be so much fun. You just have to come!" she pouted, widening her deep blue eyes into cute puppy dog style that made it almost impossible to refuse.

"Well…"                                                                         

"I’ll even help you pick out a dress. No one knows fashion like me, right, girls?" She looked at Kayla and Courtney for back-up, who simultaneously nodded at her. "And pay for it, if that’s what’s bothering you."

"Oh no, you don’t have to do that."

"Don’t worry about it, babe. I promise you, it’s nothing. Daddy pays for whatever goes on my credit card. He won’t mind buying one tiny extra little dress, right?" She smiled.

"Uh…"

"So you’ll come, yes? That’s decided. I can’t wait! It’s going to be amazing – I’ll make sure of it."

Olivia was out of excuses. Why did Alyssa want her to come to the dance so badly, anyway? Maybe she was just being friendly. After all, she had been nothing but nice to her all through lunch, albeit quite bitchy to Brooke. But it still seemed strange – was she up to something in that devious scheming mind of hers? There was something about her that gave the impression that she wasn’t fully trustworthy. Underneath those blonde locks and that golden glow there was almost certainly more than meets the eye.