So, you guys wanted to know how the cat fight against Cindy went? Well here it is! I hope you guys like the chapter.

Lyn xx


~x~ Chapter 50 ~x~

She knew without having to look that it was Konstantin who was holding her back. No one else in the group would've known that she was very close to falling over the edge and letting her temper get the better of her.

TK's expression was enough to make Cindy falter just a little and the tall girl stepped back a small pace. The fury was clear on the young girl's face and Carlisle stepped in resting a hand on the shoulder on the other side of the arm that Konstantin was holding firmly onto.

"I'm sorry. If you would like to catch up with Rayne, you would have to wait for a little while. We're working on a rather tight schedule and we don't have any time for delays." Carlisle interjected before a full on fight could break out between the two girls, most likely with TK coming up top and knocking the other girl out.

"Oh, of course!" Cindy gasped. "I didn't realise that she was on the job. I'm sorry, I was just offering as her friend to take you around the city in case she didn't have the time to. She probably wants to catch up with her other friends after all."

"If you're really her friend then she'd be hanging out with you as well." Kelly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"You're Kelly Tristan! I'm such a big fan of yours!" Cindy squealed with a wide smile. "I'm sorry for interrupting you."

"Cindy? There you are!" another voice called out and soon three other girls joined the tall brunette. All three girls looked basically identical in that they all wore heavy make-up, too-tight clothes and high heels. "St. Rose's Tami Knight? Aren't you meant to be some kind of a stepladder using child star now?"

"Stepladder using child star?" TK stared at them in shock. "Seriously, you guys really can't find more inventive names can you?"

"Why be smart when it's self-explanatory?" Cindy shrugged.

"That can't honestly be the name that's going around about her!" Karen frowned and stared at the four overly caked girls sceptically.

"I don't see why not when it's the truth," one of the other girls shrugged.

"It's just another name to go on top of the list. If you have a boyfriend, I'd suggest you hold on tight because this girl isn't nearly as innocent as she looks." Cindy commented as she popped her gum. "So who have you thrown yourself at this time, TK? I hope you're better than your friend and didn't steal someone's boyfriend."

"Let me warn you before you say anything else, Cindy." TK whispered with her temper barely in check. "Say one more insult about my friends and I am going to publically humiliate you so badly that you'll never dare to face your so called friends ever again. I might not have been there to see it myself, and oh I sure as hell wish that I was, but you don't have to be a smartass to know why Kemp ditched you and shaped up. Kemp left you because he realised that dating is worth more of his time and effort than hanging around with a chick who doesn't know anything but how to flaunt herself shamelessly at others without a care in the world."

"You talk as though you're better than me when you're nothing but an inexperienced brat."

"Oh and this so-called inexperienced brat has also received more advances from boys within a week than you would in a year." TK smirked. "Try as hard as you want, Cindy, be my guest, but no matter how much make-up you cake onto your face and how little clothes you wear, a natural is always going to whoop your ass in the end."

"Ah, so the truth finally comes out!" Cindy snapped out with a bitchy laugh. "The little bitch finally reveals her true colours. Admit it, you enjoy wrapping boys around your finger just like the rest of us girls."

"I don't know who you're speaking on behalf of but I sure as hell don't care. It doesn't matter whether I enjoy it or not but at least I get the pride in knowing that I am approached for something longer lasting than anything that you can offer. At least I'm not a quickie on speed dial."

The others glanced nervously between the war that was happening between the two girls and not even Cindy's posse dared to interfere. They all knew TK's real reputation. As much as they were envious of the young girl for being such an achiever seemingly without any effort, they also knew that unless she was angry, she wouldn't say anything without reason or enough evidence to back up her insults. That was the real difference between TK and Cindy's comments. Cindy could offer all the empty insults she wanted, but in the end it was TK who knew the truth and had all the heavy blackmail worthy material.

The VA cast watched warily from the side lines. None of them had ever seen the young girl react with such vehemence before and they were all stunned. This was even more intense than the scene in Vampire Academy between 'Rose' and 'Mia' and the TK that was standing in front of them now somewhat scared them. It went to show that she really wasn't a girl to be messed with. They'd already known that TK could put up one heck of a fight physically, but they never acknowledged the idea that TK come out victor in a bitch fight. They had all waiting for the young girl to snap and lunge at the offensive girl but TK actually seemed pretty contained, choosing to use words rather than her fists.

By now a small crowd had gathered around them and some people were even holding up their phones to record the scene. Carlisle noticed but he also knew that he couldn't just step in. Not just yet. No doubt if he cut them off now, Cindy would make up the worst piece of gossip she could about TK and Carlisle wanted to prevent that. He wanted to trust that TK would be able to handle the situation and fend for herself. If worst came to worst, he would communicate with the press and limit the amount of press damage, but at the rate things were going, it seemed to him that TK was handling herself just fine.

All who understood TK's last comment about being on speed dial flinched at the insult and they all watched Cindy, waiting for her reply.

Cindy was seething in anger. She couldn't believe that TK had had the nerve to say something like that. She'd always thought that TK was a good for nothing competition who used her fake innocent to make all the boys swoon. To this day Cindy would still stand by her belief. After all, it was the only thing that would make sense to her as to why so many boys across the schools in London always seemed to talk about the young girl.

Cindy was the most popular girl in London. She was always invited to all the parties. She knew about everything, everything except for the reason as to why so many boys seemed to like TK so much.

"How dare you!"

"How dare I?" TK replied with a chiding tone. "How dare you come up to me when you don't even know me and start accusing my friends of being boyfriend stealers? How dare you try to use your social climbing antics on my friends? Life is a competition, Cindy, and if you choose to fight dirty by talking down others with untruthful insults then you're going to get burned. You're not the only one who can talk others down and publically humiliate someone just for your gain. If you don't back off my friends right now, you're going to find that you're not the only one with all the gossip around here."

"I'll only say the truth and if the truth is humiliating then it's their own fault for doing something stupid and stooping so low as to steal someone else's boyfriend!"

"You really are the pot calling the kettle black." TK threw her arms up into the air. "Stooping so low as to stealing someone else's boyfriend? You would know, wouldn't you, Cindy? Did sweet Anna over there ever find out why her boyfriend suddenly stopped seeing her? Did Mandy ever find out why her boyfriend suddenly stopped talking to her? Did Carla ever find out why she never did hook up with Tucker in the end? You keep them close like they mean something to you but you just use them as your shield, to make yourself look good. You haven't respected them once and I'm beginning to wonder if you'll ever know the meaning of the word respect."

"How do you know something like that?" Anna gasped and her heart clenched at the mention of her last boyfriend from a few months ago.

"Cindy, what did she mean by that?" Mandy frowned when she ran TK's words carefully through her mind. "What is TK talking about?"

"I think we're done here, Cindy. Best of luck with explaining the truth." TK gave a small bow and turned to walk away.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me, Tamara Knight!" Cindy shouted in rage. "Who the hell did you sleep with to find out about that?"

"Oh no, Cindy. I don't need to sleep with people to find out what I do or don't want to know. That's your job and you do it enough for the whole world." TK laughed bitterly. "There is something known as the art of communication with words, you know? You forget one very crucial thing about boys, Cindy. Boys love one thing more than getting the girl and that's letting the world know all about it. You should pick your partners more carefully in the future if you want to maintain any semblance of privacy."

"Why speak now? Why now after all these years?" Cindy glared.

"Because it took you that long for your actions and words to finally let my anger take control. Think of this as my final warning: stop harassing my friends whether I'm around or not. This is for all the girls you've screwed over with your lies, Cindy. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to have lunch."

With that said, TK linked her arms with Karen and Kelly's before leading the way to the restaurant without looking back once. Without looking, she could tell that the other three girls were now demanding for some well-deserved answered from Cindy. TK really wasn't a vengeful person usually. She was normally capable of at least being civil with that girl, but everything had built up and Cindy's snide comments about her friends and Cindy's attempts to snatch one of the boys from the cast were the final straw.

TK finally let it rip and she did it good and proper.

The males of the VA crew followed after the three girls closely on their heels and they all went into the lovely Italian restaurant that TK had suggested. For a while, none of them said anything but Kelly was the first to break the silence by letting out a heavy breath.

"Gosh, I really thought that girl was going to start lunging at you to claw your eyes out or something." Kelly laughed nervously.

"I'm really sorry about what just happened." TK scrunched her eyes shut in shame and horror. Letting her friends see her behave like that was one of the last things she'd ever wanted them to see. She knew that she was capable of being absolutely ruthless and just as bitchy as any other girl out there but she didn't want to succumb to it. She really did need to learn to control her temper more. "That was really inappropriate, I know, I'll prepare for having to write apology letters or something."

"Was it true?" Harrison asked curiously.

"Was what true?" TK blinked in confusion.

"The things that you said about her and the things she said about you."

"Unfortunately, pretty much everything was true except for the part about my friends being boyfriend stealers." TK sighed and rubbed her temples to try and clear away the building headache.

"So, you're a wanted girl around here?"

"I wouldn't quite put it like that." TK grimaced. "Basically, long story short, amongst all of the London schools, there are various girls who are the most sought after in terms of bets that go around. The boys take it in turns to try and win a girl over. I got my reputation because no one ever succeeded. By the tenth boy that I'd rejected, I was put into the contest and more guys tried their luck in getting me. That's the only reason for why I'm known across the schools, one of my names was the Queen of Rejections."

"That is quite a title." Karen giggled and gave Jake a playful nudge.

"And unfortunately for you, that kind of contest stirred up trouble with the attention seeking crowd of girls." Kelly nodded in realisation as she pieced the puzzle together.

"Unfortunately, yeah."

"What I want to know is how you knew about all the dirt on that girl." James commented thoughtfully. "You don't strike me as the type of girl to fish for gossip and I highly doubt that that kind of information carelessly gets around."

"It's all the boys' fault." TK sighed. "I wasn't kidding when I said that boys called me when they wanted something longer lasting. I didn't mean a sexual relationship; I meant that they treated me and my friends as agony aunts or something. Our café had another name; it was the comfort and counselling café because we really did help solve people's woes and sorrows. There are a lot of people who mess around at our café but there are also those who seek help. Although I don't have advice to offer, I do listen to whatever they have to say and sometimes that's more than enough."

"Sometimes, all it takes is for someone willing to listen without judging." Carlisle smiled and patted her shoulder. "I am glad that my judgement was right."

"You judgement about what?" TK tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"That you would be able to handle yourself out there and solve the problem without any of us stepping in to break up the fight. You did well, nice and dignified and utterly ruthless. You really are Alexandra's daughter through and through, Rayne."

"Well, I guess that I have to get it from somewhere." TK laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "So, that scene won't cause you too much trouble later? Because I reckon it will get onto the internet…"

"You don't have to worry, Rayne. That argument was definitely in your favour throughout most of it. I have a feeling that there will be no damage control required for this." Carlisle chuckled. "You should just hope that Alexandra doesn't see a clip of that though, Rayne."

"Why?"

"Would any mother stand to have their own daughter insulted in public?"

"Well, no, especially not Mum. She can be rather terrifying sometimes." TK shuddered fearfully.

"You were pretty scary out there yourself." Harrison commented with a wink. "I didn't think you had it in you to actually uphold and win a cat fight. I thought you were all for the fists."

"As much as I prefer physical fighting, even I know that there are a lot of battles that are better fought with words rather than violence." TK smiled sheepishly.

"That fiery scene was almost better than the one in the script!" Karen gushed. "Seriously, I didn't think that you could hold so much… venom in your voice, Rayne."

"I guess that girl has just been pushing my buttons the wrong way for a very long time."

"You've well and truly proved that anyone who insults your friends will get annihilated good and proper and in total style." James laughed and gave her a clap. "Out of curiosity, have you ever gotten into a fight that didn't involve insults having been hurled at your friends?"

"Serious ones? Of course not! What would be the point in those? I can take anything people throw at me, but when they start dissing my friends, that's where I draw the line." TK shook her head frantically. "I mean, there are times when I do lose it but they are relatively rare, I think."

Everyone on the table just stared at her for a long lengthy moment before they all broke out into laughter. TK just stared at them like they were crazy and she smiled sheepishly at the waiter who had arrived at the wrong time to try and get their orders.

"Sorry, I think it might take them a little moment to calm down," she smiled wryly at him.

"Don't worry about it, take all the time you need," he shook his head and TK blinked at him in confusion when he crouched down so that he was almost at eye-level with her. "Actually, I was just wondering, can I please get your autograph?"

"Huh?" TK spluttered.

"I saw the scene out there and you're now my new heroine. What you did out there was crazy, girl. I'm impressed. I'm Ted."

"Nice to meet you, Ted. I'm flattered, I think." TK twiddled her thumbs shyly as her cheeks flushed at his compliment.

"You're from around here, aren't you? I remember seeing a girl like you quite a few times walking past before."

"How long have you been working here?"

"Just over a year." Ted shrugged. "So, about that autograph?"

"Oh, right! Yeah, of course. Do you have pen and paper at hand?" TK asked dumbly and she realised the stupidity of her question when she remembered that he was the waiter. Of course he would have pen and paper! She smiled nervously at him as he handed them to her and she hastily scribbled her name down.

"Thank you," he smiled. He noticed that everyone else on the table seemed to have sobered somewhat and gave a polite and welcoming smile to all of them. "So, what will your orders be?"

Everyone took it in turns to give their orders and once they were all done, Ted left them to it and they all turned to face TK.

"So, even before the interviews have reached London, you've got yourself a fan and a male one at that! Nicely done." Karen giggled.

"That guy definitely wanted you." Kelly commented bluntly.

"Kelly!" TK squeaked in shame.

"What? I'm just saying," the other girl shrugged, completely unabashed.

"So, I'm curious. How did you know that girl?" Jake asked. "She was definitely older than you and I can't imagine you two running in the same circles."

"I don't know her, not really. I'd only ever met her once before I think and that was when she was going out with Kemp. Though saying they were dating is probably stretching the truth a little bit." TK grimaced.

"What'd you mean?" James frowned in confusion.

"Well, you know. They weren't dating to date. They were all for the action and the looks." TK tried to explain without saying anything explicitly at all.

Realisation dawned in his eyes and his expression darkened. "Couples like that still exist?"

"Apparently so." Harrison scoffed.

"With the way that she dressed, she can't have been expecting anything more from a relationship." Konstantin commented.

"I don't oppose her sense of style so much. It's her own choice if she wants to ruin her skin and milk all her assets for her worth. But it's the way she goes about things to get what she wants that's unacceptable and earned her the reputation that she has." TK sighed. "I mean, aside from the overdose of make-up, that way of dressing isn't actually all that uncommon in London. It's pretty normal compared to most parts of the States. London girls definitely know how to give American ones a run for their money."

"I know what you mean." Karen nodded in agreement. "There are girls who make too much of an effort on a daily basis in America but not as many as there seems to be here in London."

"It's a culture thing." TK shrugged. "Personally I think it's a waste of money but that's just me."

"Ray, we all know your thoughts on make-up and dressing up." James laughed. "That's the one thing that hasn't changed at all since we first met you."

"What'd you mean it's the one thing that hasn't changed? I haven't changed all that much have I?" she frowned. "You know, it's kind of scary but my friends said the same thing yesterday too."

"About you being different?" Carlisle arched his brows. "I would have thought that it was obvious that you have changed since you joined us."

"Have I?" she tilted her head to the side. "If I have, I haven't taken any notice at all."

"It's all part of life," the director smiled. "You're young and you're still growing, it's only natural for you to be a little different over time. No one is exactly the same forever."

"That is true." TK laughed, seeing his point.

While waiting for their food, the conversation continued at a leisurely pace and they began talking more and more about what TK's life was like here. Having seen a small glimpse of it earlier in the form of a fight, they were all curious to know what else TK faced as a student in London and what her life was like. Never would they have guessed that TK was involved in such intense drama.