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From Envy...

Kaia headed to the library. She’d spotted Harper heading in that direction at the beginning of lunch, and she had a sneaking suspicion she’d find her huddled over a desk with Kane, hatching some pathetic plan. It was time to lend these small-town tricksters the wisdom of her experience.
Why?
Why the hell not?
She found them just as she’d imagined, heads together, arms waving animatedly, whispers flying. She crept up slowly behind Harper, finger to her lips, trusting Kane to keep his poker face, which he did, right up to the moment that Kaia tapped Harper on the shoulder and smiled angelically into her face, which reflected, in quick succession, surprise, guilt, and disgust. Harper settled on the latter, but Kaia kept up her icy smile.
“What do you want?” Harper hissed. “We’re busy here.”
“I don’t mind if the lovely Kaia joins us,” Kane said generously.
“Shut up, Kane.” Harper glared at him, then turned back to Kaia. “Why are you still here?”
“What, is this where you tell me, ‘This is an A, B conversation and I should C my way out of it?’” Kaia sneered.
“I was leaning more toward, ‘This is an X, Z conversation, so Y don’t you just go away,’” Harper corrected her. “Or at least, I would have been if this were 1998 and we were ten years old. What do you think this is, VH1’s Lamest Slang of the 90s?”
“Well, your outfit does say ‘retro gone wrong,’” Kaia pointed out. “But I guess you’re not out of time, just out of taste. I can live with that.”
“I’m supposed to take fashion tips from someone who makes Paris Hilton look classy?” Harper said.
Kane, whose eyes had been bouncing back and forth between the two as if he were following a heated Ping-Pong match, began to softly applaud. “Bring it on, ladies. When do we take out the mud wrestling pit?”
“Shut up, Kane,” they snapped in unison.
He chuckled softly. “Okay, okay, I know when I’m not wanted.” He checked his watch and stood up, collecting his books. “Besides,” he gave Harper a meaningful look, “I’ve got to go meet someone. We’re setting up a study ‘date’ for later. See ya.”
Harper shot him a vicious, how-dare-you-leave-me-here-alone-with-her look, but he just grinned and disappeared.
“Such a studious guy all of a sudden,” Kaia said.
“Yeah well, you know Kane, needs to win at all costs,” Harper said uncomfortably. “Even if it means some hard work.”
“It’s going to be pretty damn hard to win at the rate the two of you are going,” Kaia pointed out.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kaia laughed to herself. It would have been cute if it weren’t so pathetic, this little show of ignorance and innocence. Harper was going to have to practice the poker face a bit if this whole thing was going to work.
“I think you know,” Kaia said simply.
Harper sighed. “Kaia, it’s a little early in the week for mind games, don’t you think?”
“Look, I didn’t come here to fight, or play games,” Kaia promised her, wishing they could just cut through the bullshit and skip to the part where they got something done. But, as she well knew, that’s not how these things worked. And the bullshit was, in the end, half the fun. “At least, not with you.”
“Then what?” Harper asked wearily.
“I know what you’re up to,” Kaia said, relishing the involuntary shudder that ran through Harper’s body. “And I want to help.”
“You know what we’re up to? Are you talking in code now? What is this, a James Bond movie? What would we be ‘up to’?”
“Do you really want me to spell it out for you? Adam, Beth, Operation Screw Over Your Supposed Best Friend—or, in your case, just screw him?”
Harper’s face turned pale. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said in a strangled voice.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. You’re totally innocent, you’re appalled I would even suggest it. Whatever.” Kaia checked her watch. This was getting old. “Here’s my point. I want to help—you two are playing out of your league, and I think you need some coaching from a pro. That’s me.”
“Just out of curiosity,” and it was clear that Harper had plenty, “let’s say Kane and I did have some unholy alliance—why would you want to help? And why would we trust you?”
“I’m helping because I’m bored, and because I hate to see a good opportunity go to waste. As for why you should trust me?” Kaia paused. It was a good question. One that deserved a reasonably honest answer. “You shouldn’t. But you’re going to anyway because you’ve got almost everything you need—will, motive, lack of scruples—but you’re missing one key thing, and that’s what I can supply.”
“And what’s that?” Harper asked skeptically.
“A plan.”