Dark was a wide open book, free for anyone to read if they just bothered to look. Try as she might to hide the true emotions she felt, Kori could still saw it all. Her heart almost broke seeing her wipe away those tears as though it would wipe away the disappointment as well. She was responsible for this; showing her a way to share her passion with the world, just to crush her spirit by taking it away. Thinking back to the accusations Art had leveled at her, she realized that she was proving to be everything he had said she was. She couldn't let herself be that person.<br/><br/>She regarded the girl slowly, thinking to herself the real reason why she didn't want her publishing her stories. She felt so stupid realizing that she was only doing it to protect the ego of a grown man. Jared was eighteen, one year away from college. He couldn't keep behaving like this, and she had to stop tolerating it. If they were going to carry this relationship over into college as they planned, he needed to grow a much tougher skin.<br/><br/>"Hey, hey, hey," she said softly. "It's not your fault. You're not causing me any trouble, and to be honest, I'm being a total dick by asking you to stop doing what you love just to make someone else feel better. You should be free to write about whatever you want, however you want. And if anyone tells you otherwise, just point me in their direction an I'll do the rest."<br/><br/>Before Dark could react, she snatched the black folder from her, holding it to her side so that she couldn't reach for it. She smiled mischievously. "If you are going to continue this story though, I have to be the first to read it before the rest of the school. Deal?"