Paper Wishes novel Chapter 8

"Eden gave me a heads up that she'd heard Ann had been telling people that we got together over the summer and that we were so serious that I was getting ready to propose to her," he said, his voice laced with disgust. "I mean, how could people believe that?" As he asked that question, his face was a question mark-he was truly perplexed.

"That's not the worst part," he continued, "I made the mistake of waiting too long to confront her, and Ann spread all kinds of terrible rumors about Eden. She saw Eden as impeding on her territory because she saw us hanging out at school and leaving campus together for lunch."

I raised my hand slightly, not wanting to interject but worried I'd forget my question if I didn't.

He inclined his head toward me, indicating that I could interrupt.

"What did she say about Eden? Did you ever confront her?"

"I'd rather not repeat what she said about Eden. The things that were said were terrible, and none of them were true. And yes, I did confront Ann, but she denied everything."

I frowned. "That's... appalling. How could college-aged students get caught up in such middle school drama?"

Kai frowned. "Eden is shy. She tends to keep to herself. On the flip side, Ann comes across as very charismatic and friendly. I don't suppose it was too difficult for her to convince her friends to believe whatever she said. People are like sheep, they like the safety of the herd, so they'll agree with the masses for fear of being left out."

He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before he continued and said, "Yes, it's true that we're out of high school now, but the people who were immature in high school graduated with us. They are out in society with us now-working, going to college, whatever. When they graduated, they didn't leave their high school mentality behind. And as for her conscience, well, I did say she was a sociopath."

"I don't mean to sound naive, but how could someone so pretty be so ugly?" I wrinkled my nose in disdain. I understood Ann being jealous of other girls being around Kai because he was so handsome but to take it that far-I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"I don't know," Kai shrugged.

"Is she still telling people that you're together?"

He shrugged again, "I really don't know. I don't want to know. I don't care. I don't want to associate with her in any way. That's why I was so brusque at the theater today, and I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know she worked there-otherwise, we would've gone to a different theater or done something else instead."

I nodded to indicate that I understood. "That's why you didn't want me to go to the concession by myself during the movie."

"I don't want her spreading venomous lies about you like she did with Eden." He rubbed his forehead, looking frustrated.

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