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Chapter 6

I stared at the screen. My last message stared back at me: How can I prove you can trust me? I'd never met this guy - or Trina, for that matter - so why did I feel like I could trust him? There's an answer to this, a simple one: I had a gut feeling. I so rarely went with my gut feeling that I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. 

Shawn was taking a long time to answer, and it gave me a sort of satisfaction as I realized I must have caught him off-guard.

S: You've got enough information to make a convincing argument in your show Thursday.

L: True...

S: But you can't use it.

L: What? Why?

S: You can't use it because it came from Trina's website. You'll have to use something else.

L: What should I use?

S: That's up to you.
S: If you use anything you got off her website, or anything she told you, we'll know you're not in.

L: I found out a lot about that girl who sued Vitality off of another website.
L: Can I still use that?

S: No. It was on Trina's website.

I frowned. This was going to be impossible.

L: Fine. I'm going to lose the debate, you know.

S: Good. Kyle might like winning for once. ;)

I raised an eyebrow.

L: Hey! He does win sometimes!

S: Yeah. SOMETIMES.

I shook my head and sighed.

L: I need to go now. Does Trina still want to have that talk?

S: That won't be necessary. All she wanted to say is what I've said. We'll talk again after your show.
S: Maybe.

---

That night was the longest workout session I think I've ever endured. From Fiona asking me if I was okay to her saying something about me was off, I realized suddenly just how much I told her. I rarely to never kept anything from her, especially something as big as thinking that, maybe, our future boss was, perhaps, corrupt in a big way.

By Thursday, I was anxious. Not just the pre-live show jitters I still got sometimes, but full-on ready-to-have-a-meltdown anxiety that was making me question whether or not I was right to just hand over my trust like that to complete strangers I've never met before.

But then, some people might say inviting millions of people into my bedroom a few times a week to watch me and my friend argue would be about equal to doing just that.

When Kyle came over that night, I was a wreck. Inwardly, of course. On the outside, I had my hair curled and brought together in a clip that made all of my curls cascade over one shoulder; my makeup was done just as perfectly as the week before, except the wings on my eyeliner could have taken flight right off my face (I, uh, made a mistake with my eye shadow, okay?); I had on my best jeans and the top that always made the green of my eyes stand out.

He gave me an up-and-down look when I opened the door for him. He let out a low whistle and smiled at me. "You look great. What's the occasion?"

I rolled my eyes and began walking to my room. "The occasion is, I'm gonna beat you again," I called over my shoulder.

Once we were inside, he shut the door behind us. I felt the finality of the click. Right now I had the choice to either prove I was trustworthy and lose, or win and lose the trust of someone who, until yesterday, I hadn't ever known existed.

"Liz?" Kyle asked from behind me.

I turned to find him standing a foot away. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

He bit his lip and shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "Um, since we still have a few minutes until the show, I wanted to talk to you about something."

I nodded and walked over to the couch, snagging my notes on the way. "Sure. Sit and we can talk." I plopped down, not caring how unladylike I was being. No one was really here to see it other than Kyle, but he didn't really count. "What do you wanna talk about?" I asked as he sat.

His hands nervously fidgeted as he stared at them. A long silence passed that was broken by a blurted, "Do you find me attractive?"

Both of my eyebrows shot up. "What?" I asked in disbelief. Where had that question even come from? I couldn't remember ever giving him any inkling that I may feel that way.

Which I do not.

At all.

He turned so red I was a little worried. "Um, do you think I'm attractive?"

I stared at him for a moment before I scanned him. "Um, I guess you look okay tonight. Why?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't mean like that. I meant-" He closed his mouth and tipped his head back with a groan. "I'm terrible at this." He looked at me again and took a deep breath. "I mean, Lizzie, that I like you." He took my hand and I let him, too in shock to protest. "I really like you. I think I might even love you." His eyes were expectant.

I wanted to bolt. I wanted to rewind this moment and stop him from making his confession. I wanted to be able to ignore that he felt this way. But I couldn't.

I gently took my hand back and settled my other one on his shoulder. "Kyle," I said softly. "We've been best friends for years. I don't want to lose what we have."

"Me neither," he said quickly. "Nothing really has to change, does it? Not if you don't want it to, that is." He bit his lip as his eyes widened slightly. It was obvious he hadn't meant to say that.

I shook my head. "Kyle, I'm so sorry," I said, feeling tears begin to gather. "I don't feel like that about you. You're my best friend, you're like my family, but I could never be something more for you."

The corners of his mouth tugged downward. He nodded as he took a shaky breath. "Okay, then." He turned away from me and one hand reached up to wipe his eyes. "Um," he said with a sniffle. "I, uh, I'm sorry, I guess."

I firmly shook my head. "Don't be sorry for being honest, Kyle." I stood up and walked around to my desk. I searched through my things and brought two objects over to him. "Look at me."

He turned to me and saw what I had. "What's that?"

I held up a small tube. "Concealer." I held up a round compact. "And some powder."

"Makeup?" He wrinkled his nose.

I nodded. "We're starting in, like, two minutes. I've got just enough time to make you look like you're fine. If I don't, you know that's all the comments will be."

"Really?" His brow furrowed as he fumbled for his phone. "Oh."

"Yes, oh. Now come here." He slid forward just a little bit and I snagged a tissue from the table by the sofa. I quickly dabbed away the moisture before uncapping the concealer and putting a tiny dot on the back of my hand. "Look up." He did and I quickly dabbed some concealer under both of his eyes. "Now close them." He did and I put more on the lids. I opened the powder and put a tiny bit on his eyes, blending it out so you couldn't tell. I was just very, very fortunate we were a close color match. I was maybe a few shades lighter, but it was fine. You could barely tell. "Done. Check it."

He opened the camera on his phone as I used the tissue to clean the makeup off my hand. "It looks great!" He leaned closer to his phone. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, let's start."

I took a deep breath and placed a smile on my face that didn't reach my eyes. He nodded and I waved at the camera. "Hey guys! Welcome back to another episode of He Said She Said! We're going to be debating the pros and cons of Vitality again tonight at your request. Last time we, well-" Kyle and I shared a glance. "Let's just say that, last time, things went pretty badly. So, at your request, we're back at it." I turned to Kyle and rubbed my hands. "And, boy, are you going down!"

He offered me a lazy grin, something that's pretty much become his trademark to our viewers. "I doubt that. I found some stuff that I don't think you'll be able to ignore."

"Bring it." I held up a finger and looked at the camera. "But first, the coin toss." I looked at Kyle and he glanced around. I groaned. "Don't tell me you forgot it again."

"It's not forgotten," he said as he got up. He walked over to my bed and picked it up. "Just left behind," he added as he sat down. He flipped it, caught it, and smacked it on the back of his hand. "I go first," he said, holding his hand out and revealing the side with his picture on it.  He crossed his legs and smirked at me. "Vitality only has good at its center. Like I said last week, they pay each and every programmer and former founders, and that's just the beginning. The Knights do volunteer work, like helping after disasters and handing out food at shelters."

"What about the stubs?"

His face scrunched up in confusion, not expecting my sudden direction. "Stubs?"

"Yeah, the check stubs. If they're paying these people, surely they can back it up with proof." I crossed my arms. I was pretty sure I wasn't out of the lines set for me by Shawn.

Kyle raised an eyebrow at me. "I thought we went over this already?" I shrugged and gave him a challenging look. "At least I looked it up this time," he said with a smile at the camera. "There's not much online about them getting paid, actually."

"So you admit that's a statement you can't back up?"

He frowned at me, look guarded. "I suppose not. Where is this going?"

I shrugged. "Just asking questions."

"O-kay, then." He glanced at the camera. "They don't have to give evidence of whether or not they pay anyone, you know. It's an example of how transparent they try to be."

"Okay," I said with a smile.

Kyle glanced between me and the camera. "Did you have anything for your argument?"

I sighed dramatically. "I did, but I misplaced my notes." I turned to the camera. "I'm sorry, guys. I just had a busy last few days and somehow lost them. On that note, I think it's safe to say Kyle's won, but go ahead and tell us who you think won, anyway."

He reached over and turned on the comments. We sat there and watched them scroll. Tonight, though, I had trouble focusing on the comments choosing a winner because my eyes kept being drawn to the ones shipping me and Kyle. They'd been there for a long time, but I'd never given them a second thought since I didn't think they were right about Kyle.

But they were.

"Looks like I won," Kyle gloated a few moments later.

I nearly jumped at his thoughts and forced a smile. "Well done!" I said. He saw right through it. I expected him to, but he didn't say anything. I didn't think he would. I turned to the camera. "So, thank you for watching, everyone. Just a side note: we're not repeating this topic again, so when you suggest the next one, please, do not say this one. Now, suggest away!"

We watched the comments scroll, and I tried to ignore the ones asking what was wrong. I guess we couldn't hide that something was up. Not from them, at least. One of the topics caught my eye and I nudged Kyle. He saw it, too, and gave me a quizzical look. "You pick," he said with a shrug.

"Okay, so next time we'll debate whether men or women have the harder time getting ahead in their careers! We'll see you Saturday at six. Bye everyone, and have a good day!" I waved at the camera and waited for Kyle's signal. When he gave it, I relaxed back into the sofa. A glance at him told me that he was relieved too.

I stood and walked over to my desk. "Let me get that makeup off of you now," I said quietly as I grabbed the pack of remover wipes. The tension in the room was almost palpable. I walked back over to the sofa and stood in from of Kyle. He wasn't looking at me. I opened the package, took out a wipe, and resealed it. "This is probably going to feel a little cold," I warned. He stayed still as I cleaned the makeup off. "Done," I told him a minute later.

He glanced up at me. "Thanks," he muttered. "I think we need to talk about stuff."

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