Things were looking up for Kori. With the sluggishness of the first few weeks had mostly ebbed away, and things were starting to get into their regular flow. Since it was their senior year, many of her colleagues were planning on making the most out of it, although not in the most productive of ways.<br/><br/>While others were wondering how they would make it through the year while high and drunk (maybe just don't get high or drunk), Kori had a future to think of. There was her gymnastics career and her GPA. She couldn't afford to have a non-stop party all year. Neither could Jared, she thought to herself. While the young ball player was almost certainly guaranteed a scholarship for his on-court performance, his grades still needed to match up. After so many years of being by his side through good and bad, Kori was determined to see him achieve his dreams just as much as he. Before a tough game or test, or when either was feeling a little demotivated (and if they weren't fighting), they always made sure to remind each other, "We win this together." She did not claim to be a genius in any way, but she'd help in any way she could.<br/><br/>"Sooo..." Tammy started, "This weekend, there's a party at Scott's. And oh, at Scott's again on the next. But Audrey also wants to throw one on the same night." She pouted as she tapped away at her phone screen during breakfast. "I really don't wanna be forced to choose which one to go for. And besides, there won't be enough people for both. Unless we stuff inviting the weirds..."<br/><br/>Kori rolled her eyes at Tammy's statement as she speared through some fries with her fork. "And whom exactly would that be? These apparent undesirables?"<br/><br/>"You know the ones I'm talking about. Those math nerds who think they're too cool for their math nerd friends. The theatre kids, thinking they're so profound, and high above everybody." Tammy scowled as she looked in their direction. "If we're super unlucky, we might even drag along Dark. That creep."<br/><br/>Kori felt a twinge of annoyance at the way her best friend referred to Dark, but she did her best not let it show. She'd told herself the girl was not her responsibility, and she was adamant on keeping it that way.<br/><br/>"I thought we said no more talk about Dark. Let her be a creep over there, and we just stay over here."<br/><br/>"Oh, yeah. Forgot. Nobody wants to go around talking about their ex, especially if it's that ex," she teased.<br/><br/>~~~~~<br/><br/>The rest of breakfast went on with more talk about all the big plans Tammy had for the year. She did remind herself on a few occasions that she had a school life to think about, although Kori thought she could have been doing it a lot more. She didn't spoil her fun, though. She allowed her to go off, knowing that she could easily reel her in if necessary.<br/><br/>At the ring of the bell, the two made their way to their first class, meeting up with the rest of their clique on the way. Kori cozied up to her man, finding her place in the embrace of his left arm. "Hey, sweetness. What you got over there?"<br/><br/>"This?" Jared asked, lifting the folded paper in his left hand. "Just the school paper," he said nonchalantly.<br/><br/>"It's nice to see that you're trying to keep up with current affairs, but I don't think these are the types of affairs you should be keeping up with. You tried CNN? They have an app," Kori joked.<br/><br/>"Nah," he replied. "Real news is a little too depressing for me. I'm more into this." He turned to a specific section in the paper and folded it into a comfortable size for reading on the move.<br/><br/>The redhead took the paper from him, and looked down at it. It was the literature section. She couldn't quite understand why he was showing him this, or why he'd be interested. Being a reader herself, she'd given the section a look a couple of times before, and found nothing too interesting to say about it. Most of the pieces read like bad Wattpad stories.<br/><br/>She didn't understand why Jared had bothered to even show her, until she began reading. A swell of excitement grew inside her as she went over the lines of writing. The story at the top was about her! Of course, the name was different, and the setting was a fantastical realm instead of a boring high school, but there was no questioning that the main character was her. Fiery red hair, emerald green eyes, even the beauty mark on her collarbone. No one had ever described her so beautifully, and in such detail.<br/><br/>"Seems you've got a secret admirer, maybe even a little more than just that," Jared commented, breaking Kori's concentration. She looked up at him, and immediately sensed the suspicion in the gaze of his blue eyes. Then it hit her, why Jared had been reading the school paper.<br/><br/>She stopped in her tracks, withdrawing herself from Jared and stepping away. Her brow furrowed. The little bubble of excitement inside her began to recede as she realized the potential for an argument over the story she'd just read.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I've got a secret admirer. So what? There's literally a story about you or me every other week in the paper." To prove her point, she turned to the front page, where a collage of the school's biggest sports names sat above an article titled, 'The Year in Sports: What to Expect'. Kori's arms folded over her loose black top. "Let me guess, Madison put you up to this."<br/><br/>Jared was slow on his reply. He was well aware how Kori got when Madison or her friends were involved, and he really wasn't trying to rile her up. "No..." he replied, scratching a spot on his scalp. "It was actually Jannes who pointed it out."<br/><br/>"So Madison put you up to this," Korina replied bluntly.<br/><br/>Jared knew exactly what she meant. Kori was of the opinion that any action done by Casey or Jannes was in some way or the other related to Madison.<br/><br/>He took a deep breath, taking time to choose his next words carefully, lest he worked his girlfriend into more of a fit. "I just thought it was interesting that somebody out there would no you so well, maybe even more than me. I'm just curious to know who this person might be."<br/><br/>"You're a fucking terrible liar, Jared." Her voice was flat. Inasmuch as she was annoyed, she was not looking to pick fights. "Jannes probably fed you some bullshit that made you think this story is more than it is, and you're falling for it. Please don't let Madison and her friends play you like this. You're too smart for that."<br/><br/>She placed a hand against his cheek and rubbed it gently. "And I know you're gonna ask again anyway, so I'll just tell you now. I don't know who wrote that story," she lied. Kori knew exactly who the author was. She'd read similar writing just a couple of weeks ago, and in a way, she was responsible for that story being in the school paper.<br/><br/>"And even if I did, I wouldn't care. I'm not gonna go running after them just because of some flowery writing. Now can we just forget about this and go on with our day?"