Chapter 4
1670 Words
Keira POV
The book hit the floor with a soft thud.
It sounded like a gunshot.
Lila’s smile didn’t change. If anything, it got wider, like she’d just won a game I didn’t know we were playing.
“Found you,” she said again, softer this time.
Not loud enough for the whole library to hear.
Just loud enough for me to know I was screwed.
Kaden moved before I could think.
He stepped out from behind the shelf, putting himself between me and her.
His jaw was tight, his hands loose at his sides.
The look on his face wasn’t playful anymore.
It was dangerous.
“Lila,” he said.
One word.
A warning.
She tilted her head, pretending to be confused.
“Oh? Did I interrupt something?”
Her eyes flicked past him to where I stood, half-hidden behind the shelf.
“My bad. I didn’t realize the new girl needed special tutoring.”
My face burned.
I wanted to disappear.
I wanted to say something sharp, something that would wipe that smile off her face.
But my throat was dry.
Kaden didn’t give me the chance.
“Leave,” he said.
Flat. Final.
Lila laughed.
It was light, airy, and completely fake.
“Wow. Protective much? I guess Mom and Dad are gonna love hearing about this.”
She turned on her heel, but not before whispering loud enough for me to hear:
“See you at lunch, Keira. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
The door clicked shut behind her.
Silence fell again.
But this time it felt heavier.
Kaden let out a breath he’d been holding.
He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.
“Dammit.”
I stepped out from behind the shelf, keeping my distance.
“What now?” I asked.
My voice sounded small, even to me.
“Now,” he said, “we get ahead of it.”
“How?” I asked.
“By telling everyone it’s not true? Nobody’s gonna believe us.”
He looked at me then, really looked at me.
“I know.”
He paused.
“So we don’t lie.”
I frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means,” he said slowly, “we control the story before Lila does.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not doing this with you, Kaden. I’m not playing your games.”
“This isn’t a game,” he said quietly.
“If she tells them we’re dating, you’re done here. If she tells them you’re using me, you’re done here. If she tells them we’re sneaking around, you’re done here.”
He stepped closer.
“I’m not letting that happen.”
“Why?” I asked.
The question came out before I could stop it.
“Why do you care so much?”
He stopped in front of me.
Close enough that I could see the faint scar above his left eyebrow.
Close enough that I could see he wasn’t joking.
“Because you don’t deserve it,” he said simply.
“Not from her. Not from anyone.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
Nobody had ever said that to me before.
The bell rang, loud and jarring.
Lunch was over.
Kaden stepped back, breaking the moment.
“Third period starts in two minutes. Go to class. Act normal.”
He almost smiled.
“Leave Lila to me.”
I didn’t move.
“Act normal? After that?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Because if you fall apart, she wins.”
I hated that he was right again.
I walked out of the library without looking back.
The hallway hit me like a wave.
Loud.
Crowded.
Full of eyes.
I kept my head down, but I could feel it.
The shift.
The way conversations dipped the second I passed.
“Is that her?”
“The new girl?”
“The one with Kaden?”
I didn’t stop.
I didn’t answer.
I just kept moving, one foot in front of the other, until I reached my locker.
Mia was waiting.
She leaned against it like she’d been there all day, arms crossed, flanked by two girls I didn’t know.
Lila’s crew.
“Hey, Keira,” Mia said.
Her smile was sweet.
Too sweet.
“Fun lunch?”
I didn’t answer.
I spun the dial on my locker, pretending she wasn’t there.
“Come on,” Mia said.
“Don’t be shy. We just want to know what’s going on between you and Kaden.”
“There’s nothing going on,” I said without looking up.
Mia laughed.
“Liar.”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice.
“Lila saw you two. In the library. Alone. Behind the shelves.”
My fingers fumbled with the lock.
I hated that she knew.
I hated that she used it.
“Even if that’s true,” I said, “it’s none of your business.”
“Oh, but it is,” Mia said.
“This is St. Claire. Everything’s our business.”
She leaned in.
“Lila’s been with Kaden since freshman year. You think you can just waltz in and take him?”
I slammed the locker shut.
“I don’t want him,” I said.
“Not even a little.”
Mia’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why were you hiding with him?”
Because he dragged me there.
Because I was scared.
Because I didn’t know what else to do.
I didn’t say any of it.
I just said, “Move.”
Mia didn’t move.
She studied me for a long second, like she was trying to figure out if I was a threat or a joke.
Finally, she stepped aside.
“But you should know,” she said quietly.
“Lila doesn’t lose.”
She walked away, her friends following.
I stood there for a moment, gripping my locker handle until my knuckles hurt.
“Keira?”
I turned.
It was Noah.
Quiet kid from English.
He kept to himself, sat in the back, never talked to anyone.
“Yeah?” I said.
He shifted on his feet.
“Just… be careful, okay?”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Lila doesn’t like losing. And she really doesn’t like you.”
I nodded.
“Thanks.”
He walked away before I could say anything else.
Second day, and I already had a warning from the one guy who never talked.
Great.
I made it to third period with thirty seconds to spare.
Sat in the back.
Kept my head down.
But I could feel it.
The rumors spreading like wildfire.
By the end of class, I was sure everyone knew.
Kaden and the new girl.
Alone in the library.
Hiding.
None of it was true.
But truth didn’t matter here.
Perception did.
When the bell rang, I waited ten seconds before standing up.
Let the crowd thin out.
Let the worst of the stares pass.
I made it to the hallway and nearly ran into Kaden.
He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching me.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No,” I said honestly.
“I’m not okay.”
He nodded, like he expected that.
“Mia talk to you?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“So did Noah.”
Kaden’s jaw tightened.
“Noah doesn’t talk to anyone.”
“Guess I’m special,” I said bitterly.
Kaden stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“Listen. Lila’s going to try and make this bigger. She’ll tell people we’re dating. She’ll tell people you’re using me. You can’t let her control the story.”
“So what do I do?” I asked.
“Go on stage and deny it? Make it worse?”
“No,” he said.
“You ignore her. You act like it doesn’t matter. Because if you react, she wins.”
I wanted to believe that.
I really did.
But ignoring Lila had never worked before.
And Kaden didn’t know what she was capable of.
Not yet.
“I can’t ignore this,” I said.
“It’s already everywhere.”
“Then let me handle it,” he said.
His voice was low, steady.
“Trust me on this.”
I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
He wasn’t smirking.
He wasn’t playing.
He looked scared.
For me.
“I don’t know if I can trust you,” I said quietly.
“You don’t have to,” he said.
“Just don’t face her alone.”
Footsteps echoed down the hall.
Lila’s voice followed.
“Well, well,” she said.
“If it isn’t the two of you.”
Kaden stepped in front of me, blocking her view.
“Lila. Not now.”
“Oh, but now’s perfect,” she said.
She smiled at me over his shoulder.
“Hi, Keira. Heard you had an interesting lunch.”
I didn’t answer.
Lila’s smile widened.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
She paused.
“Yet.”
She walked away, laughing softly.
Kaden didn’t move until she was gone.
When he turned back to me, his face was hard.
“She’s going to make a move,” he said.
“So we need to make one first.”
“What move?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
Not right away.
Instead, he said, “Meet me after school. Front gates. We talk.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because I have a plan,” he said.
“And you’re part of it.”
I wanted to say no.
I wanted to walk away and pretend none of this was happening.
But I knew I couldn’t.
Not anymore.
“Fine,” I said.
“But if this blows up in my face, it’s on you.”
Kaden nodded.
“It’s on me.”
He walked away, leaving me standing in the hallway with Lila’s words ringing in my ears.
Yet.
The rumors had started.
And I had no idea how to stop them.
- Writer
