Betrayed in Blood

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Thanks for your little speech," Camilla replied, holding a hand in front of her, "but I'm not interested in speaking with anyone who's using their platform for defamation."

"Call it whatever you want, but even some of your supposed friends have turned against you."

Camilla had no trouble acting insulted by Ava because she wasn't acting. Her concern was how long she could hold back her rage. Ava was taking this too far.

"If André here really chose to turn against me, that isn't my problem anymore. We didn't end our relationship on good terms, so I'm not surprised that he believes your lies now."

"Who said I was referring to just him? Trust me, he's not alone."

Camilla pretended not to care, but her mind was racing, wondering who it could be. "Well, anyone who betrays my trust is no friend of mine."

"Soon enough, you won't have any friends left once we expose all of your lies and secrets."

"That's enough, Ava," Jared interrupted.

"One day," she continued, addressing him, "you'll realize the truth, and you'll never be able to trust anyone again."

Clenching her jaw, Camilla stepped towards Ava and whispered though gritted teeth, "Evelyn."

Her face hardened. It was soft enough that nobody else could have heard it, but it was risky, Camilla knew, to say it in such close proximity to André.

But she didn't care anymore.

There were too many eyes on them. She saw someone recording from the side. Did they think a fight was going to break out? Camilla wished she could fight Ava.

"I'm not going to argue with you here, in front of a bunch of people," Camilla said, straightening her posture and taking a deep breath. "I want to have a civil discussion with you, but I want it to be private."

Ava eyed Camilla. "So you want to have a conversation with just the two of us, alone-"

"Evelyn," Camilla whispered again, "we are on the same cheer team. We don't need to be enemies. I want to resolve this in private. Please."

Ava's gaze was much different than before as she stated, "Lead the way."

Camilla left Jared's side without a glance. People were still watching, and she knew some would follow them, hoping to catch their confrontation, or maybe even the truth. So she guided Ava downstairs, to the first floor, and wandered the halls, looking back to see how long it would take before the bystanders gave up their hunt. They left once she went back up the stairs again, so she led them to the library.

"This is where we're going to talk?" Ava asked. "There are other people here."

"There are study rooms. Each one has a camera, but they don't have microphones. They are soundproof for studying purposes. We can talk in there, just don't make any gestures. Some students may report our interaction from earlier. We need to look like we have resolved the issue."

They entered a room, and Camilla shut the door behind her. She turned back around. Ava glared at her in the same way Camilla had done a few minutes prior.

"You went way too far," Camilla started.

"Oh, I went too far?" Ava snapped. "You called me by my real name when André was right there!"

"And you humiliated me in front of so many people!"

"That's what we agreed on! I agreed to pretend to hate you and to spy on the committee. I've done both of those, haven't I?"