It Takes Two...

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"I saw Levi wit his tongue dwn Madeleine's throat in the common room. Kill me nw. Acc, nm- kill HIM."

It takes two to tango.
Kira knew this well. Every King had his Queen. Every prostitute had her regulars. Every war had its causes. Every betrayal had its sources. Every single little piece of scum clung to another.
Every Madeleine had a Levi. And vice versa.
The world was cruel. Fate had a funny sense of humour- but by funny, she meant something much darker and far more sinister than you'd think. People didn't deserve the crap life threw at them. The cards that were dealt were hardly ever fair. Nobody had it easy.
So why make it worse?!
Kira was on her way to the Girls Dorms, storming up the stairs with her mobile in hand. She was seething- boiling mad- ready to kill. Whatever life did to people, people shouldn't do to each other.
Or something.
Madeleine had gone out of her way to destroy her cousin. And now, Kira was gonna' return the favour.
People always complained that life wasn't fair. Well, as far as Kira was concerned, what she had to say to Madeleine was more than fair.
She flung the door open and lucky her!- Madeleine lay on her bed, a book cradled in her lap.
"Tell me about Levi." Her tone surprised her. She sounded calm- almost light-hearted.
She'd expected to explode.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine was trying to read, but the words were swimming in front of her eyes, jumping about, and refusing to make sense.
Sighing, she laid the book in her lap, before rubbing her eyes. After... what had happened... she was tired, and so confused. Why... what...
Levi Ryder had kissed her.
What on earth was happening to the world?
He was Ryder. Yes, he was hot, and talented... but he was so cocky. So sexist. And Madeleine had thought that he hated her.
And now he had kissed her. And more than that, asked her out.
And he'd been so nice - adorably so. Or, she would have found it adorable were it not for her confusion. His tone, his concern - she didn't know what was happening.
And when he kissed her... well, it wasn't the same. It just wasn't.
This was all too confusing.
The door was flung open, and resounded off the wall with a loud noise.
Kira was standing there, looking at Madeleine. "Tell me about Levi."
Madeleine's jaw dropped. What?! Surely, surely Levi hadn't said anything. Surely.
And the room was empty, it was...
She closed the book and sat up. "I'm sorry?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Playing little Miss Innocence are we?
"Tell me about Levi," Kira repeated slowly, her eyes narrowing. "Go on. Tell me every sordid little detail of your dirty little secret. I want to hear it from your lips."
I want to hear it from you... to hear you confess...
"Talk!" she spat, after a few moments silence.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Right now, Madeleine wasn't sure who she most wanted to kill - Kira or Levi.
That git better not have said anything.
But he wouldn't have. Even Madeleine knew that. Levi wouldn't say anything - at least, not until she'd said yes. He wouldn't want people knowing that he'd been turned down - that would be too humiliating for him.
"Talk!" Kira spat, looking as if she was going to explode.
"What are you talking about?!" Madeleine asked. It was easier to play innocent - and she was confused. How did Kira know?

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Don't play dumb with me," growled Kira, her fists curling into balls, her nails digging into the flesh of her palms.
She couldn't control this. She didn't want to control it. She wanted to explode- to ride out the blast. She wanted to burn- and for Madeleine to burn with her. And she couldn't stop shaking.
She wouldn't.
"Lee saw you both." A bitter smile twisted Kira's face. "He saw you. Levi had his tongue down your throat."
Each word was like a sharp jab- digging into her heart. Not only had Lee been betrayed, but Kira almost felt like she had been too. Kira had trusted Madeleine- she was one of her closest friends- and this was how she repayed her?!

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Oh God.
Madeleine clutched at the throw on her bed, the fabric folding under her fingers.
Lee... saw?
Irritatingly, her heart... sank. It dropped. And she felt guilty...
But why? They weren't going out anymore.
It didn't matter.
Madeleine shook her head. "Oh. He... he kissed me. The sentiment was not returned."
Okay, that sounded sharper than she had meant it to. Oops.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira laughed. The sentinent wasn't returned? Good God- Madeleine underestimated her.
"So if it wasn't returned," she smiled, laying deliberate stress on the word. "Did you push him away? Slap him like the mendacious little sychophant deserved?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Well... no.
Kira was right - but Madeleine would never admit it.
Madeleine glared at Kira. "What business is it of yours?" she demanded.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira glared at her.
"I'm here for my cousin. I'm here to make sure you know how horrible you are- how selfish, supercilious and impetutous you are. Have you any idea what you've put him through?!"
No, of course not. She was probably too wrapped up in Levi to care.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine felt the temper rise up in her, going from a tiny flame to this big, red hot, raging inferno -
"What I've put him though?! I wasn't the one with my - with my tongue down Chloe Morphy's throat in the middle of the friggin' forest!" she snarled.
Would Kira have an answer to that?

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira laughed again- a crueller, harsher laugh.
"So this was revenge? After Lee pushed her away- told her he couldn't do this because he was with you? Because he cared about you- and still cares about you, probably more than he's ever cared about any other girl in his life?! I've never met anyone so undeserving."
Kira was thoroughly sickened by Madeleine by this stage. How low could you go...? Thank God Lee was rid of her now. It was better for him- he deserved so much more.
Someone who really cared.
Madeleine was not that someone. Kira was disgusted that she herself had once trusted in her- confided in her- and called her her friend.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

The words resounded in Madeleine's ears hollowly, and she felt an overwhelming desire to be sick.
He'd said that... Lee had said that...
No.
No, he couldn't have. Madeleine was there, she'd seen it...
But if he had, well, she'd probably just made the biggest mistake in her life so far.
She shook her head angrily. "That's not what I saw. And no, it was not revenge - is that really what you think of me?! Things were going wrong long before that. And for the record, Levi kissed me. Not the other way round."
He couldn't have said that. He wouldn't have.
... Right?

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"You know what the worst part is?" Kira said hollowly- viciously. "After you two broke up, he blamed himself. He sat with me in the forest for ages and refused to talk. And whenever I finally did get something out of him, it was just trash. Do you want to know what he said?"
Madeleine's silence only enraged her.
"DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE SAID?!"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE SAID?!"
Kira exploded, and Madeleine was shaking like a leaf - not in fear of Kira, but of what she could say that Lee said.
She stood up, sliding off the bed and going over the window, placing her hand over her mouth for fear that she would be sick.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira followed her to the window, watching her stare into the grounds. Was it finally hitting home? Did she finally get how stupid she'd been? Some hope. Aww... maybe she was just all upset because Kira had yelled at her?
She was lucky she didn't rip her limb from limb...
The words he'd spoken were burned into her memory- she'd never forget what he said.
Never.
"He told me that even if you were the most horrid, apathetic waste of space I told him you were, it wouldn't change what or how he felt. He told me he hadn't tried hard enough- that he'd single-handedly killed everything you two were, or every could hope to be."
She wanted to stop speaking. Her throat was so hoarse- so clogged up. She hated saying it aloud. She hated the fact that Madeleine made Lee the way he was.
She hated Madeleine.
"He called you beautiful," Kira said softly. "He called you beautiful- and called himself stupid- inadequate. That you were way out of his league. How- how could you give that up?"