Rumor Central by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Read Free Book Online

going to come at me with this mess?”
    Bryce gritted his teeth. “I talked to Kenny’s brother. He said it’s true. And then I heard from a reliable source that Dave was with him.”
    I looked around like I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out the bushes and tell me I was being punk’d or something.
    â€œI never got with his friend. I don’t even know anyone named Dave!”
    He stopped and stared at me. “So you did get with Kenny then?” he asked, disgusted.
    I couldn’t believe I’d set myself up like that. But I understood his disgust. Not only was Kenny Bryce’s former best friend, even though it was back when they were in middle school, but Kenny had a major reputation for talking to any girl that gave him the time of day—short, tall, fat, skinny, ugly, pretty, Kenny didn’t care and it had earned him a horrible reputation. So any girl worth anything wouldn’t be caught dead with him. So why had I given him the time of day? Let’s just say that was the first and last time I’d ever had something to drink at a party. But that was long before Bryce, so what difference did it make?
    â€œWho told you I got with Kenny?”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” he replied.
    â€œWhere did you get that from, Bryce?” I repeated.
    He didn’t have to answer. I knew who had told him. The only other person who knew about me and Kenny, my former BFF—or should I say my enemy because Sheridan telling my business like that meant it was about to be on!
    â€œLook, who told me doesn’t matter. Just the fact that I know you’ve been with Kenny makes me sick to my stomach. Nobody wants one of Kenny’s exes as their girl. I can’t even . . .” He shook his head like he couldn’t even finish his sentence.
    â€œI’m not Kenny’s ex!” I said firmly. Then I caught myself. I was so not about to stand out here and plead with a guy to be with me. Maya Morgan didn’t roll like that.
    I stood straight and let my attitude show all over my face. “You believe what you want to believe,” I said. “But a word of advice. I wouldn’t be listening to jealous has-beens who wish they could be me.”
    â€œI mean, if it’s not true, maybe . . .”
    I gave him the hand to stop talking to me. Forget Bryce. Not only had he been ready to assume the worst, but he was going to break up with me over it? Oh, I don’t think so.
    â€œBryce, go crawl back under your rock,” I said. “I am so done talking to you. Forever.”
    Sheridan just didn’t know—this little move marked the beginning of an all-out war!

Chapter 7
    I breathed a sigh of relief as the black Porsche pulled up to the curb. I had called Tamara to tell her I’d be late for the meeting we had this afternoon and thankfully, she was out running an errand and agreed to just swing by and get me on her way to the station. I didn’t even feel like dealing with my car with all those idiots standing around gawking. My dad would just have to send someone for it later. Right now, I just wanted to get away from this stupid school before I hurt somebody.
    â€œSo, you had a bad day, huh?” Tamara asked after I had climbed into her front seat. I really liked our relationship. Even though she was technically my boss, she acted more like my big sister. She told me it was because she felt a connection to me, probably because I reminded her of herself at seventeen. I didn’t know about all that, but Tamara was definitely cool people. I mean, how many other bigwigs would drop everything and come when I called. Not to mention, she was the baddest dresser (outside of me) that I knew.
    I leaned back in the soft seat. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
    â€œI hate to hear what happened,” she said as she navigated her luxury vehicle onto the freeway. “What are you going to do about your