Arabella Rivera "I told you what I want. I need a favor." Her body grows tense, nervosity emanating off of her like waves of the ocean. She darted her eyes from me to the door, seeking a way out. "A favor that has to do with Haiden Cross?" She whispers more to herself. She then pinned me with a questioning stare. "Why?" Like magnets, my eyebrows draw together to line in a frown of confusion. "Why what?" The question slips out of my mouth. "Why do you need a favor for him? Did he send you? " Her question completely took me off guard. I guess I should have expected it seeing our current situation but surely I didn't think she'd ask it this soon. She read me like an open book and here I thought I was the one who had her in my clutches. She didn't even think I was the one who needed the favor against Haiden. It was like she hit bullseye right in the center. "He didn't send me if that's what you feared." I finally uttered. She visibly sighs in relief but then straightens her spine and throws on a look of question. "So what's the favor?" It was like she feared to even speak out those words. They came out so stiff, so unclear that one could only tell that it took a lot of courage for her to utter them. She didn't want to do any sort of favor for me, it was very clear on her face. I move off the wall and turn to her. Looking at her dead in the eye, I mutter. "I need you to stop spreading the rumor." Her feet shift nervously and her eyes refuse to look me in the eye. "What rumor?" Of course she tried to play as though she didn't have a clue as to what I was speaking about. But the way she gulped and the slight alarm that flicked in her eyes betrayed her nonchalant exterior. "Don't play the dumb card Sasha. We both know what rumor I'm talking about. Tell everyone that it was all a lie." I stated. Her true colors began to show and soon her face had turned a nasty shade of irritation and anger. "And why should I? He wasted my time in coming over. I climbed a tree for him only for him to dismiss me like I'm some sort of garbage and told me he had more important business to do." She hissed eyes burning with rage, not to me specifically. She then shrugged, popping her hip to look like she didn't care."Anyway, it wasn't me who said it first. Some girl shouted it- "That girl was me." Her mouth parts when the words come out of my mouth. She was startled, very. Her eyes deepening into more of a tangle mess of confusion. "What?" She voiced out the confusion that had rooted her frozen. I sighed, seeing how I needed to un-weave myself from the tangled web I had somehow gotten myself into. I had no choice but to fabricate some of the truth. I didn't want her to make up her own assumptions that would weave another thread of rumors. Rumors I didn't want. "The girl shouting from her window? Yeah that was me. " I started, not entirely sure as to where I was going with this. One stupid mistake, one single word, could shift this entirely. I had to tread on this as lightly as possible. Sasha's eyes gleamed with intrigue, yet still showed the shadow of skepticism. So I took it as a sign to continue. "Haiden dumped my friend the day before and I being upset about it all, lied about him having herpes. I regretted it instantly and wished I could've taken it back. This was some sort of vendetta against Haiden and I'm trying to fix it." Honestly, I'm not that proud of the excuse I came up with instantly, but given the short amount of time to prep I think I did good, especially seeing the shift in Sasha's emotions. Her brows pinched together and her eyes narrowed. "So he doesn't have herpes?" Was that all she got from that speech? I shook my head. "No he doesn't." It was like the news suddenly had snapped her out of her draining emotions about Haiden because a bright smile stretched on her face. "So that means I still have a chance?" She whispered so softly that I got the hint that the words were only meant for her to hear. After all the things she could think about, she's here wanting and hoping for another chance with the boy who she spoke ill of just a few minutes ago. Now I see why guys get confused by women's sudden emotions and actions. They never know what they truly want. They're like an enormous rubik's cube. A damn headache. She then cringes and looks at me lost. "Do you think he hates me now? Do you think he'll take me back? Crap I might have ruined my chances with him. " The tears that blurred her vision shocked me with its sudden and unexpected arrival. As I looked at how vulnerable and troubled she looked, a sudden switch of the light bulb in my head flickers on. I wasn't proud to think of manipulating her emotions but in this case, this was something very necessary. " Of course he would." I walk up to her, plastering a look of pity on my face. I rested my hands on both her shoulders and squeezed them in reassurance. "But you need to stop those rumors as soon as possible. That's the only way he'll forgive you and take you back. If not then I'm afraid the resentment will not wear off." I whispered, hoping to pierce through her roaring emotions to get to her. "Wait, resentment? He resents me?" She cried, hiccuping. The door to the bathroom opens and I prayed it wasn't Gwen or the other girls. I turn my head a little to see who entered and I'm relieved to see someone other than my nosey friend. The girl who entered spared us a look of question and rushes to an empty stall. I turn to Sasha and give her my undivided attention. "Yes he does. But you can fix that by stopping the rumors you now know aren't true." "But-But how?" She stuttered and I nearly cringed when mucus came out of her nose and slithers down to her top lip. "Well you could start by telling the first one you told, you were lying. I'm sure word will get around knowing this school. " She nodded and sniffles. "I really hope this works." This was easier than I thought. I smiled, giving her shoulder another squeeze. " It will, but first clean up yourself, you need Haiden to see the beautiful girl he wanted, not a weeping one." I joked. Sasha giggles and nods while walking to the sink. "I need him to pant after me." The bell rings. I breathed out a tense breath. My work was done, well sort of. But there was a sudden burn of something I had grown to be familiar with. Jealousy.