"Rory." He stopped in his tracks, turning around to see the girl who'd called his name. She stood just beside the school entrance, arms crossed, staring him down.

 "Tiffany," he responded apprehensively.

 "You've been avoiding me." She twirled her long, blond hair around a manecured finger. Her voice was that sort of fake sweet that sets off alarm bells and tells you to get away.

 "Really? I, uh, hadn't noticed." 

 Tiffany shoved off of her perch by the doorway and approached Rory.

 "What gives?"

 "Nothing gives. I just... didn't have a reason to talk to you."

 "Aren't _I_ a reason?" She fake pouted.

 "Tiff, do you want something from me?"

 She sighed. "I want to talk. You know, _talk_." Her voice took on the sickly sweet quality again. "Like we-"

 "I need to go." He turned his back on her and started to walk.

 "Wait!" He didn't wait. "Rory, wait!"

 He ran a hand through his hair as he neared the school gates, inhaling tensely.

 "_I love you, Rory Moore!_" He stopped.

 He heard her panting behind him in the cool air as he turned back to her, slowly. Her normally cool and collected demeanor was gone, and she looked desperate. Almost vulnerable.

 "There. Will you talk to me now?"

 The question hung in the air for several moments.

 "Tiff..." She looked at him with big eyes. "I know that's not true."

 "God damn it, Rory. Why are you _like_ this? Why can't we just act like we're supposed to?"

 "We're not 'supposed' to do anything!"

 "You promised!" She pointed a finger at him accusatorily. "We're supposed to be together!"

 "Tiff, you don't love me any more than I love that pebble over there. We both just wanted to please our parents!"

 "You know," she switched into a biting, vicious tone, one of the many she kept on hand. "Anybody else in this school would kill for a chance like this. So what is it that's wrong with you?"

 "Not anybody else's father is the mayor, I guess," he bit back.

 "Who said anything about that? What's that got to do with it? Maybe I just like you for you."

 He looked at her, and a hint of shame crept into her face. "You never visited. When I was in the hospital." She looked down.

 "I was busy," she muttered. "But I heard. I cared."

 "Right."

 "I'm serious, I'm working on it. You wait and see if there's a girl in this school who'll touch one of the guys that did that to you, after the stories I'm spreading."

 "I don't need you to spread rumors for me," Rory shifted uncomfortably on his feet, glancing unhappily at his cast.

 "Well, I can't just beat everyone up like your buddy Nick." She threw her hands up in the air. "You're really gonna break our promise over a hospital visit?"

 "It's not that."

 "Then what? As far as I remember, we were all good last year. What happened?"

 "We were never 'good.' You don't want this and neither do I."

 "It's been good as guaranteed since the day we were born. Everyone's expecting it. We're as inevitable as Nick and Sam. I've been keeping up my end of our promise, but you-  It's like you want to ruin everything."

 "Keeping up your end by spreading lies and gossip?"

 "Because _you're_ so perfect, right? And you don't think I can do anything about Vik and his crew? Well just you wait and see what my petty gossip can do, Rory. I'm gonna set this school straight, and you'd better be paying attention when I do."