T.M.I.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing which people look upon with regret. It sometimes takes years to realize you've done something wrong.

Sometimes, it only takes seconds.

I regret the words coming out of my mouth the moment they spring freely into the space between Marisa and me. This can't happen. I can't let someone else in.

But it's been done. Her face lights up and she sits back on her bed, away from me, which is exactly where I want her and everyone else. My palms are sweaty so I wipe them on my jeans.

"So how are we going to do things?" she asks, unaware of my change of heart.

I can back out, I know I can, but I don't want her butting into my business. And I especially don't want to reach a point where I would be stuck without her.

"We are not going to do anything. I will give you access to the incoming rumor mill and you can help me sort through them."

Her eyes darken, but she fortunately keeps her mouth shut about how little control I'm willing to give up. Well, tough. If she wants to work with me, she'll have to get used to it.

"Fair enough." She stands and heads for her dresser from which she pulls out a small box.

It's one of those godawful tacky things with a heart on the lid and bedazzled ad nauseam. I want to puke just looking at it.

"I don't know why or how come," Marisa starts, "but TMI happened exactly after my own unpleasant incident with the golden circle." She pulls out a piece of paper and shows it to me.

Even if it's been only six months, I feel a bit nostalgic seeing the flyer that advertised the existence of TMI. I had to be careful when crafting it so that it would draw attention and not indicate anything about the person behind it. So I used the Petraka Academy stationary and a professional, neutral font.

The message was also clear:

Knowledge is power.

Too much information? You can never have too much information! Not in our day and age.

So it makes no sense for rumors to fly about with no way to know if they're real.

It makes no sense to get in trouble over things that never happened.

Enter TMI, the new hit app used by millions of students worldwide. If you have a suspicion or a juicy piece of gossip, enter it in the app and watch it either be confirmed (with proof) or dismissed.

It's free, effective, and will make sure you're always up to speed with school life.

TMI is here for you. TMI never lies. Because there is no such thing as Too Much Information.

I still remember how nervous I was on the day I spread these out in school, afraid no one would download the app, that no one would trust it. The use of worldwide was bullshit, meant to sell, because this app has always been designed with one single school in mind. Petraka.

It was slow. I saw people picking up the flyers and reading them, but no one rushed to their app store to get it. Even if I didn't expect them to, it was still disappointing.

So I had to do it the old fashioned way. Use a rumor that interested Rosie Geld, whisper it on school corners and wait for her to pick up on it and want to prove it. It was pure luck that Maria Solis was too high up the food chain to attack without proof or warning. Unlike other people. Unlike Audrey.