Rumor Central (8 page)

I
'd known that people weren't going to be happy about my show, but I never expected this type of reception. As I made my way down the hallway, members of the drill team gave me the evil eye and I swear, if looks could kill . . .

“Trifling witch,” someone said as I passed.

I heard someone else mutter another derogatory word, but one of the things I had learned from my dad was to never let them see you sweat and I wasn't about to give these busters the satisfaction.

I heard someone yell, “There she is!”

Within minutes, the head cheerleader, Chenoa, and other members of the cheerleading squad came stomping my way.

“You are so f-ing foul,” Chenoa spat. She stepped in my face and I swear, it took everything in my power not to run because she looked like she was about to haul off and knock the mess out of me. I wasn't a fighter, but I felt like I could hold my own if I had to. I just wasn't trying to go there ever again.

“I can't believe you ran that story,” Chenoa said, her voice filled with anger.

“It's the truth.” I shrugged. “That's what I do, get to the truth.”

“Your stupid show is called
Rumor Central
,” she screamed. “You don't know what the truth is!”

“Yeah, it's just a bunch of gossip and trash,” one of the other cheerleaders said.

“Then, if it's not true, why are you so worked up?” I calmly said.

Chenoa's eyes actually watered up as she took a different tone. “I thought that you were my girl.”

I almost busted out laughing. “
Your girl
? You hadn't had two words to say to me in the last three weeks. Now, all of a sudden, I'm your girl? Please,” I said, opening my locker, throwing in my books, and slamming the door shut. I couldn't believe her nerve.

“How could you do this?” Evian said, stepping up and whispering in my ear. She had eased up behind the cheerleaders and they'd parted like she was some kind of royalty.

I ignored her.

“You know you're messing with the wrong people,” she warned.

I shrugged nonchalantly, even though her icy tone sent shivers up my spine.

“I'm just doing my job. If you have a beef, take it up with the station,” I said.

Chenoa wagged her finger. I hadn't even realized she'd stepped on the other side of me. They were on both sides of me like a sandwich. “Oh, you'd better believe my dad already has his attorney on it. You and your funky show are about to go down.”

I stared straight at her. “And I'm sure that you had to play up the innocent role with Daddy. But we all know the truth and if I were you, I wouldn't want Daddy to go digging around because he might just turn up some stuff he doesn't want to know.”

That made her stop. Obviously, she hadn't thought about that.

Evian must've decided she was going to try and reason with me because she stepped toward me, but this time, she didn't have as much of an attitude. “Do you have any idea what kind of trouble they are in?” she asked.

“Yeah, Mr. Carvin has already ordered us to his office at lunchtime,” Chenoa threw in. She, on the other hand, still had major attitude.

“Not my problem,” I said. I wasn't cocky or anything, but they needed to understand that I was just doing my job. Too bad, so sad if they couldn't understand that.

The tallest cheerleader on the squad, Zenobia, took a step toward me. “I ought to knock the mess out of you,” she said.

I didn't let my fear show on my face as I said, “Then do it and make sure your daddy's attorney is on standby when I sue you because I don't fight. I sue.”

“Zenobia, I know you are not about to resort to violence in my hallway,” a booming voice interrupted us.

Me and Zenobia's Amazon-looking self faced off, ignoring the principal who then stepped in between us.

Mr. Carvin looked directly at me. “And you, I think you have bigger problems,” he said. “You don't need to add violence to your list.” He turned to the other cheerleaders. “In my office,
now
. All of you,” he said, motioning toward the cheerleaders. But before he left, he made sure to shoot me the evil eye. “And Miss Morgan, I need to see you after school as well.”

“But I have to work,” I protested.

“That wasn't a request,” he said, as he turned and walked away.

“If I were you, I'd watch my back,” Zenobia said, as she passed me, bumping my shoulder.

Whatever. I wasn't going to lose any sleep over them.

The one thing I did know is that they covered their tracks well and if they didn't, each of their daddies had more than enough money to get them out of trouble.

“You all right?” I hadn't even realized Valerie was beside me the whole time. I found myself wondering if she would have had my back or if she would have run for cover if something had gone down. Judging from the fear in her face, ol' girl would've definitely jetted.

“I'm cool. I knew I was going to get some backlash.”

“They're just hating,” Valerie said, walking along beside me. “They take great pleasure in making life miserable for the rest of us and they can't take their own medicine.”

“I guess they can't. It's just that—”

Before I could finish, she nudged me. “Look who's coming your way.”

I looked up and Bryce was walking up with Mike, another one of his teammates. They were walking directly toward us, so there was no pretending that I didn't see them.

“Yo, that's jacked up what you did, girl,” Mike said. But the smile on his face told me he actually wasn't upset with me. “But I'm not even gonna lie, you got the whole school buzzing, I tell you that much.”

“Then I guess I'm doing my job,” I said confidently, not bothering to acknowledge Bryce.

Mike grinned. “So is it true that you have an interview with Nicki Minaj?”

I smiled back. They'd teased that during last night's show with a whole “Nicki's got a secret” campaign. “Yeah, I'm gonna interview her on the red carpet. She'll share her secret, then I'm doing a backstage special.”

“For real?” Mike said, excitedly. “What a brother gotta do to get the hook-up?”

I couldn't help it. I noticed Bryce shift uncomfortably and I found myself flirting. “A brother gotta know the right thing to do,” I said, squeezing his cheek. Any other time, he would've completely grossed me out. But just the thought of sticking it to Bryce made me push on.

I took his cell phone out of his hand and punched my phone number in. “Call me and I'll hook you up. Maybe you can come for the taping and meet Nicki in person.”

“For real?” he asked in excitement.

I nodded, smiling.

“Wow. Can I bring a friend?” he asked.

I side-eyed Bryce. “It all depends on who that friend is,” I said, not cracking a smile as I walked off.

I wondered if Bryce's eyes were on me as I sashayed down the hall. But I didn't need to wonder. I was rocking a new Valentino skirt that was hugging me in all the right places. My strappy wedges showed off my athletic calves. Yeah, I knew his eyes were on me. And I knew watching me walk away had to have him sick. And that was just the way I liked it.

I
stared at the paper in my hand, a huge smile plastered across my face. It wasn't like I hadn't seen this much money before. Shoot, I could spend that in a day, but there was something about knowing I'd earned this all on my own that really felt good.

“Maya, honey, why are you standing in the middle of the kitchen?” my mom joked as she walked in the room. My dad was standing right behind her. They looked like they'd just come in from playing tennis—something they both loved doing together. “Are you about to make dinner?” my mom asked.

“No, just checking out my hard work,” I replied.

She looked around the kitchen. “Oh my. You cleaned up the kitchen?”

“Get real, Mom,” I said. “I'm talking about this. Bam.” I put the check for five thousand dollars down on the counter.

My mother eyed the check. “What's this?” she said picking it up.

“My paycheck,” I sang. My mom smiled.

My dad was ecstatic. “Maya, I am so incredibly proud of you,” he said, taking the check from my mom.

“Doesn't it feel good to earn your own money?” he asked.

I flashed a smile. “It feels better spending yours.” I took the check from him, folded it, and dropped it in my purse. “But it does feel good earning my own.”

“Let's go shopping,” my mom said. “You know it's not a whole lot that we can do with five grand, but maybe we can go to the spa and stock up on beauty supplies.”

My dad narrowed his eyes at my mom. “Liza, don't teach the child to spend money before she even gets it. I put you two on a budget and things need to stay that way.”

“This is ridiculous. So now, I'm like some teen that has to ask daddy for permission to shop,” my mom shot back.

“You and your daughter's shopping is out of control! Your American Express bill last month was thirty-four-thousand dollars!”

“
And
?”

“Liza, I can't do this with you now,” he said, picking up the mail and sifting through it, all but dismissing her.

I couldn't do it either. I was so not in the mood for their fights. “I'm going to my room. I have to get ready for my show tomorrow.”

“Maya,” my dad called out, stopping me just before I reached the bottom of the staircase. “Just know that I—” He looked at my mom. “We both are extremely proud of you.”

I was proud of myself as well, so much so that the fact that they'd taken something I'd done and made it all about them didn't bother me.

I made my way back up the stairs and into my room. I needed to call Kennedi and share my joy at my news of such a huge paycheck, which included my salary, and a Red Carpet bonus. Her mom was always on her case about money, even though they had plenty of it. So, she would definitely appreciate the fact that I had my own money. I wanted to tell somebody other than my parents. I mean, Valerie and I were cool, but she was actually working for free so what would I look like rubbing my paycheck in her face?

I pulled my check back out, fell back over my bed, and dialed Kennedi's number. It went to her voicemail after three rings.

“Hey, Ken, it's me. Call me when you can. Got something I want to tell you,” I said. I hung up the phone and debated calling Lauren, but since I knew her parents had cut her off financially, the last thing I wanted was to be waving some money in her face. I scrolled through my contact list. I smiled when I saw my cousins' names. “You could always call Nina and Tina,” I laughed to myself. As if. I would never be that desperate. They were only a year behind me, but we had absolutely nothing in common. As cool as Nina and Tina could be at family get togethers, I wasn't trying to hang with them outside of that.

I spotted Sheridan and Evian's names in the favorites section of my contact list. For the first time, I actually found myself missing my girls. But knowing Sheridan's jealous behind, she probably would've just reminded me how her purse cost eight thousand dollars.

“Forget them,” I mumbled, holding my check up and admiring it. “I don't need anything but this.”

After a couple of minutes, I finally got up and dropped the check back in my purse.

I dropped down on my bed, flipped the TV on, and started flipping channels. I stopped on Channel 4, and my mouth dropped open as the news anchor broadcast a story about P. Diddy's house being broken into and vandalized.

“Police in South Miami are searching for a band of criminals that are going around and breaking into celebrity homes. Their latest victim is rap mogul P. Diddy, who had his summer home vandalized. Authorities are unsure how the crooks get past the security system, but more than eleven homes have been hit in the Miami-Dade area. And authorities think they may be all tied together.”

“I'll tell you how they're getting past those systems,” I mumbled. “Blake's father owns one of the biggest security firms in the country.”

I laughed when I thought about the Bling Ring as Bali called them. I actually thought they'd chilled out, but I guess they were at it again.

Suddenly, it was like a light bulb went off and I jumped up and raced to my closet and grabbed a box off the top shelf. I dumped the contents on my bed, then smiled when I felt the small digital tape. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about this. But me seeing this news report and remembering this, oh yeah, that was karma, baby, and I was ready to deliver yet another payback.

I
t was going to be hard to top the cheerleading scandal, but I had no doubt that I had delivered.

“So, this is real?” Dexter asked, looking at me in disbelief as he paused the video playing on the big screen at the front of the room.

I nodded, pushing away that gnawing feeling inside my stomach.

Bali was going to go off when he found out what I'd done. I quickly pushed that thought aside. Bali's feelings were no longer my concern.

“It's as real as it gets,” I added.

Tamara smiled slyly. “What did I tell you? Was she the girl to deliver, or what?”

Dexter looked like he was drooling. “Boy, was she ever.” He smiled at Tamara. “Your idea to get someone on the inside of that glitzy teen world was right on target.” He turned back to me. “This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about. This is the kind of stuff we need to get people talking.”

Ken, the assistant producer, leaned in and looked closer at the screen. “Now, tell me again who these people are.”

I sighed heavily. I'd explained this to everyone three times already, but I started again since Ken had walked in on the tail end of the video.

“Okay, that is Amanda Hall,” I said, pointing to the tall blonde in the first video. “She's Jazzy J's daughter.”

“Like,
the
Jazzy J,” Ken asked, “as in the multimillion-dollar rapper-producer, Jazzy J?”

“The one and only,” I said, nodding before pointing to the other two people in the video. “And that's Sabrina Fulton, daughter of Clyde Fulton, the real estate mogul, and Blake Lewis, Jr.”

Ken swung his head around. “Any relation to Blake Lewis, Sr., of Lewis Security Systems?”

Tamara, Dexter, and I all smiled. “Yep, you're looking at the son of Mr. Invincible Security himself,” Dexter said, referring to the well-known commercial Blake's family ran about how foolproof their security systems were.

“Well, lean me over and spank me silly,” Ken exclaimed. I had no idea what that corny mess meant, but I guessed, from the way he was cheesing so hard, it meant he was super excited.

“I just can't believe they are really and truly breaking into a mansion, and filming it?” Dexter said, still stunned.

When he said it like that it sounded pretty stupid, but when Bali had first filled us in on the Bling Ring, we'd all thought it was kind of cool. Bali and Sabrina were best friends, so that's how I knew about it. Bali had left the tape at my house after we watched it one day. They kept the Bling Ring under wraps, but those who did know about it actually thought it was kinda cool that they could get in and out without getting caught.

“Yeah, that's what they do,” I said. “They go in, steal stuff, and then sell it on the black market.”

“Why?” Tamara asked. “It's not like any of them don't have the means to buy this stuff.”

“It's the thrill of it all,” I replied. “Look,” I felt compelled to add, “I want to get this story out there, but is there a way that we can do it without anyone going to jail?” I couldn't believe I was coming to their defense, but while I couldn't stand those trolls, I wasn't trying to see anyone get locked up, especially because I'd snitched.

“I guess we can blur their faces,” Tamara said, looking at Dexter. “Right?”

He nodded, but I could tell he really didn't want to do it. It was all about the drama at
Rumor Central
and showing their faces would definitely bring the drama.

“Then it's all set,” Tamara said. “ ‘The Bling Ring exposed' will be the subject of our next
Rumor Central
.” She turned to me. “And Maya, might I add—good work. We needed you to deliver and you definitely did. I can't wait to see what you come up with.”

I took in her praises, actually proud of myself for remembering the tape. But what I needed to know now was how in the world was I going to top that?