2
This was not what Cassie planned on happening.
August Berningham was certainly not on his knees, literally, to beg to her. It was all just in her imagination.
But no matter how much Cassie wanted to believe her mind, she couldn't. because this was the reality. August was really in front of her, and he was kneeling as his mouth kept reciting all the types of praise and worships that would make any other people do anything he'd want.
The Case: August had always gotten bad marks on Calculus. Cassie had always gotten the perfect score in that area. They sat next to each other in the senior year, so some interactions were bound to happen. Following the interactions was August becoming more and more dependant on her when it came to Calculus. And now, before mid-terms, he requested to her that she became his personal tutor.
This was probably the dreams of every single studious (nerd) female in this school. August was good-looking, just like every A-lister. He was a jock, he was the easiest way to get into Desmond's good grace. And best of all, August was the least mean of them all.
"Please Cassie," August's blue eyes tinkled in a way that Cassie thought only a puppy's eyes would. "Only you can help me! Please, just the Calculus!" August might talk about dumb things 90 percent of the time, but there was something about him that enforce people to make them care for him.
Aside from being a 200 pound athletic blonde jock, August Berningham was also certified as Desmond Arrington's bestfriend.
Actually, people didn't need to notice that August was charming, and blonde, and also super rich, and blonde, and that he had won a lot of football games. And blonde.
All people needed to know was that August was Desmond's bestfriend, and nobody would dare to refuse his demands.
Cassie was this close to refusing, but at the last second, August grabbed her hands, and at that she was lost.
At 18, Cassie had never been touched by anything male. More over, a hot specimen of male. She looked with horror at the seemingly innocent August. But August didn't seem like he had just used his sexual strength to make Cassie conform to him. He just seemed like he desperately needed help.
Finally, Cassie released a long sigh. "Alright," she said. "but you must know that I expect high salary."
"That's cupcake. I'll pay you so high you can update your entire wardrobe, Cass!" August finally got into his feet, genuinely relieved that Cassie obliged. "Or I can take you to some dates. You know, girls usually consider my company a good thing."
Cassie rolled her eyes. She forgot that she was talking with August Berningham, and if anything, he was an idiot. She'd spit him with sarcasm and he'd take it literally.
"I was just kidding, August. You don't need to pay me. Just make sure that you pick me up and drive me home."
"You're the best, Cass," August exclaimed as he proceeded to hug her. They were in such a public place that everyone could see this. Cassie blushed, partly because she was in the center of attention, and partly because of August's hard body was pressed into hers so tightly. Boys were warm, alright, and hugs from them felt so different, so comfortable. Maybe after she got out from this messy place, she'd find a boyfriend herself.
As August released her, though, Cassie saw someone behind his back. Desmond Arrington. This was probably the first time Cassie saw Desmond this close, even after twelve years being in the same school, and oh boy...
If there was any word to describe ethereal beauty without much sounding like how Bella described Edward, Cassie would have used it.
Desmond's eyes were darted to August, and on his face was a ghost of smile. His perfectly sculpted lips were not curving up, but his eyes were warm and smiling, a sure sign of fondness. It was altogether different from how Cassie wondered how Desmond would be, and it was also different from how all the girls describe him. Desmond might be a lot of things, but a warm-hearted boy he was not.
"You're such a whore, August," Desmond commented when August came to him. "I think you scare the poor girl."
"Asshole," August slapped Desmond's back, laughing. They almost looked like they're normal highschoolers, if only they weren't so good-looking.
Just as Cassie released a smile, her eyes caught Desmond's green ones. In that moment, his expression had changed rigorously into something different. For August, he showed his fondness, but for Cassie, it was something else.
Cassie was positive that it was curiosity, if not interest.
And if only she had had experiences around boys before, if only she wasn't also curious, if only she didn't reciprocate his curiosity, then maybe, maybe none of this would ever happen.
-
Chapter One: Royally Fucked
-
"He was staring at her. She knew that exactly. She saw how his eyes moved to the places she went. She saw that he was shifting whenever she made a move, an obvious reaction that he acknowledged her. But she wasn't sure how she'd react to that kind of attention: flattered or anxious?
He was, after all, the King of St. Pulkeria, the object of desire of nearly every feminine being around that area. He could snap his fingers and girls would present right in front of him, girls far more beautiful and interesting than her.
Cassie checked again, just to be sure.
Yep. That guy was staring at her.
-
If there was one good thing that Cassie could say about him, then that would be he had a set of really good eyes.
First of all, his eyes were green. How many people in this world could possibly have green eyes? She could only count so many people that she knew who was bestowed with that color, and his was the most hauntingly beautiful.
She admitted, it was at first his eyes that made it hard for her not to look at him. She may dislike his guts, but is it such a crime to look at those gorgeous eyes?
-
His green eyes were still at her when he spoke to August. They were beguiling her, watching her every step, waiting for her to look back at him.
Oh, no, she wouldn't.
Cassie knew better than to fall to the King of Womanizer's charms. Desmond did have the reputation of breaking girls' hearts. Not only that, girls also claimed him as an excellent wooer.
But for someone of Cassie's echelon, who had never had a boyfriend nor a fling all her life, Desmond's most basic moves could be perceived as Godly.
The fact that Desmond hung around August's house a lot didn't make it easier for Cassie to ignore him. she knew that both boys were bestfriends, but she had no idea that they were at the point where Desmond should be charged for living on the Berlington's residence.
Everytime August brought Cassie to his house for their tutoring lesson, Desmond would always be there, watching quietly, doing his own business, not bothering them. Not at all.
But that wasn't what happened in Cassie's mind. Desmond, in Cassie's opinion, was doing everything he could to bother her.
It's as if Desmond was trying to torture her. His mouth wasn't making any sound, but the shape it made when he saw her was daunting. He would smirk, snort a laugh, sometimes he would even smile at her approvingly. Desmond almost always brought a book to read whenever she was around, but his eyes were nowhere around the book, but around her, and the expression he made when she caught him staring at him was... priceless. It was a combination of pleasure and mock-embarrassment, he clearly waited for her to notice him.
If only he was bald, and middle-aged, and ugly, Cassie would have thought that he was a rapist. But Desmond had a mop of thick, stylized dark hair, he was of her age, and for the love of God, he was gorgeous. Cassie, just like any other 18 year old girls, thought that him staring at her was a huge compliment.
She tried to resist, though.
At that time, after all, Desmond was having a high-profile relationship with the current Queen Bee of St. Pulkeria, Tyra. It was suicide to mess with them.
But God, with all those little signs he sent them, and Cassie's own realization that 18 year old was a good year to finally have her first boyfriend, it was getting harder and harder not to fall for him.
She was such an easy prey.
-
Cassie stood alone in the room full of people. It was originally August's study room with her, but upon one day, it has transformed into a party cell. Dimly lit, with disco lights, music blasting from August's favorite speaker, a lot of chips and drinks, and of course, people.
Half-stoned people. Crazy people. Dangerous people.
She knew half of them, they were students of St. Pulkeria, the Elite ones. But she never expected meeting them like this. When they were serving their duty time at school, they were all uniform-laced, neat, and for the most part, clean. They'd sometimes greet her at school, a nice and polite greet. They wouldn't be ripping off their expensive shirts or dripping alcohol to their own body, or start licking each other's slick wet chests/breasts.
It was, to Cassie's virginal eyes, horrifying, the dark side of these Elite's lives. Now she was even more content with her position in school. A lot of juniors have started to try to kiss A-lister's asses so that they could be included in their exclusive, A-list-esque clubs. Cassie wondered if those juniors would still be on if they saw this was how their idols behaved outside school.
Wait, no. She thought that maybe they would still be on, if not more driven. These kind of parties, these animalistic behavior were the exact things that those juniors were longing for.
Cassie searched for August, at least someone familiar and friendly. But once she spotted him, every urge to approach him had been zeroed. He was in the center of the crowd, bottles of reeking alcohol were all around him, and he was gulping more and more and more. The crowd was pleased to see him drinking a lot, and they handed him more and more and more bottles.
Maybe they wanted to see him dead drunk. Maybe they secretly wanted to kill him so that the slot to Desmond's bestfriend would be open. Either way, Cassie was even more horrified when August could finish all the bottles and still managed to stand.
"Suck that, SUCKERS!" he shouted, much to the applause of his crowd.
"This is the best party in this semester!!" another girl (who was standing on August's hardwood coffee table) shouted on top of her lungs, before she hit her head to the chandelier and fainted.
This place, Cassie decided, was fucked up. She even had forgotten why she had agreed to come to this party. But before she could pivoted and get away from it, someone caught her hand.
It was Desmond Arrington.