When the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, Tori let herself be swept along by the currents of kids rushing toward their lockers, eager to get to an after school club, desperate not to miss the bus, or hoping to meet up with friends outside.

Upon opening her locker, Tori found another note, presumably from Jade. Tori picked it up, smiling.

"Whatcha smiling about?" asked a loud voice that could only belong to Trina. Ugh, why did she have to be here now? Tori thought.

"Nothing!" Tori said, moving the note to her side where it wouldn't be as easily visible to her sister.

"What is it, a piece of paper?" Trina asked, bending in weird ways to try to get a better look.

"It's none of your business, that's what."

"Oh come on, you can tell me whatever it is. I'm your sister! You can trust me with anything."

Yeah, right. "Can't you just leave it be?"

Trina tilted her head like she was considering that, then suddenly she grabbed for the piece of paper. Tori's pulse quickened with fear and worry as she felt the piece of paper being pulled out of her grasp.

"Trina! Give that back!"

"Why, what is it?" Trina asked, evidently very pleased with herself for stealing it.

Tori gritted her teeth and tried to grab the paper back, but Trina pulled it away and held it far behind her.

"I'm not giving it back to you until you tell me what it is. Or I could just open it and find out for myself," Trina mused.

"No, it's private!"

Trina looked into Tori's eyes, curious now. "Private? What kind of thing could be private? Hmmm… Oh, is it a note from a secret admirer?"

Tori snorted. It seemed to her that no one could be farther from a secret admirer than Jade. Even under the small chance that Jade didn't entirely hate Tori, she definitely didn't like her. Especially not that way.

"Not a secret admirer then? I don't know what else it could be. Well, only one way to find out…" And Trina began to unfold the note.

Tori's head became clouded with panic. Trina couldn't read it. That would be the end of… everything. Jade would never trust Tori again, and Trina would never leave her alone about not trusting Jade. And what if Trina told other people about whatever the contents of the note were? Based on Jade's earlier letter, it seemed like Jade already got enough grief from rumors. She didn't need any more.

Tori dove at Trina and tried to wrestle the note from her hands. The two of them struggled against each other for a few moments, until they were interrupted by a piercing, critical voice coming from the middle of the hallway.

"You should really save your fighting for home; no one wants to see that here."

Tori and Trina both froze and turned to the side, where Jade stood, glaring at them both.

Trina began to ramble, stumbling over her words and saying a lot of nothing, which Tori knew was her panic response to stressful situations.

Jade ignored Trina's babbling and stepped toward the sisters. She plucked the note out of Trina's hand; shock at Jade's arrival had made Trina loosen her grip.

"Is this important to one of you?" Jade asked, her expression and tone cold and distant, as though she didn't know what the piece of paper was.

Trina finally regained some composure. "Give it back, Jade. I don't know what it is, but it's important to Tori. I know you might not care about other people, but you don't have to be vicious all the time."

Something shifted in Jade's expression. It was subtle, but Tori thought she saw a flicker of pain before it was masked by a cruel smirk.

"Important? Is it? Well, I guess that's just too bad." And Jade ripped the note in half, then again and again, until the paper was no longer recognizable.

Jade took all the tiny shreds of paper and gathered them up in her fist, then walked up to Tori. She grabbed her wrist, turned it so Tori's palm was facing up, then pressed the paper bits into Tori's hand. "Here you go," Jade said spitefully. Then she stalked off.

A/N: Sorry to end the chapter this early, but I was super pressed for time this week. I had a fair amount of writer's block before I finally hit on this scene, but now I think I know where to go from here for next week.

I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!