Chapter 12

[General POV]

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door of Cassius' room. 

"Um, I've made your chicken soup," came a soft voice from outside. 

Inside the room, Cassius was lying in his bed, covered by a fluffy blanket. His nose was even redder now and his eyes were puffier and teary. Due to his constant sneezing and sniffling, he was unable to take a nap so he was watching a movie on his laptop. When he heard her voice, he blinked in mild surprise. 

'I mean, I know I asked her to make it but I'm surprised she actually did.'

To be honest, he was expecting her to simply flip him off or something and ignore his request. That kind of reaction wouldn't have shocked him given how she's been treated during her stay here but he didn't realize she would actually make him what he wanted. 

Another knock came. 

"...maybe he's asleep," Cassius heard her mumble. 

He quickly got out of bed, wincing momentarily at the pain that shot through his head, and walked over to the door where he pulled it open just in time to see her walking away with a tray of food left on the floor. Lynette paused in her footsteps and turned around to face in surprise. She stood there looking at him and a brief awkward silence passed. 

Eventually, she coughed and hesitantly spoke, "I um made your soup. If...If you don't like it, just throw it away or something..."

She bit her bottom lip before saying, "I-I'll go now. Got some stuff to do..."

Cassius watched as she scurried off like a small squirrel and his eyes slowly fell onto the tray of food on the floor. He bent down and picked it up before going back into his room, kicking the door shut behind him. 

In his room, he set the tray on his desk and sat down, eyeing it with suspicion. 

'She didn't poison it, did she?'

"..." 

He shook his head. That wouldn't happen. There would be no benefit in poisoning him since she was currently relying on his father to survive and hurting him in any way would be her one-way ticket to getting kicked out. 

After much hesitation, he eventually lifted the cloth covering the tray and a steaming bowl of soup was revealed. The smell of the soup wafted through his nose and it twitched. 

'It...smells good?'

The soup wasn't the only thin on the tray. There was also a plate containing two pieces of toast; both of which were already buttered, and an unopened bottle of an energy drink. 

Once again, Cassius was surprised. Why would she go to the trouble for this? Was it because she was afraid of getting kicked out? Or...does she like him?

That last one caused him to snort. 

They may share the same mother but they were not siblings. Rather, he did not consider her his sister and at this point, he was pretty sure she didn't consider him her brother. Their relationship was basically non-existent and they lived like strangers. Other than at the dining table, they almost never saw each other; even at school. Cassius and Marcus were in their senior year while she was not and because of this, their classes were in completely different areas. The only place they'd likely meet was at the cafeteria or library but even then, Lynette was practically invisible to anyone who wasn't looking for her. 

So, there was no way she liked him. If anything, she probably hated him just as much as he disliked her. 

Cassius shook his head, 'My head is too sore to think about such things right now. Let's just try this soup.'

At this point, he was starving. 

Picking up the silver spoon, he dipped it just below the surface and lifted the utensil towards his lips. He blew on it, cooling it a bit, before opening his mouth and delivering the soup inside. 

"!!"

His eyes widened in shock. 

It was good!

Very good!

It tasted just as good as Ms. Owens' chicken soup despite the differentiating tastes. This one seemed to contain a bit of spiciness in it and something else he couldn't quite place.

He drank another spoonful and continued until the utensil hit the bottom of the bowl. When that happened, Cassius blinked in surprise. He didn't realize it was all gone until there was nothing left. That was how good it was and how much he was starving. He hadn't even touched the pieces of toast on the side. 

Licking the remnants of the soup from his lips, placed the spoon down and picked up a piece of toast which he lazily munched on. The toast wasn't anything special - it was just toast - but it helped fill up his stomach. He ate until only crumbs remained on the plate and then he picked up a napkin, dabbing his lips like a well-mannered person. Finally, he opened the bottle of energy drink and tore off the covering on its mouth before holding it to his lips and letting the liquid enter his mouth. 

He drank it all in one go and burped when he was done. 

Leaning back on the chair, he released a sigh. 

'That was a good meal.'

——————[oo]——————

[Lynette's POV]

I wasn't planning on making it. 

...Okay, I was, but I didn't want to. 

As much as I appreciated Mr Haynes' assistance, I owed nothing to his sons so making Cassius some chicken soup wasn't really high on my priorities list. But, well, I'm a coward. 

I like to think I have a backbone but in a situation like this, where everything I have is dependent on someone else, my backbone is nothing but weak and brittle. A sad yet true fact. 

So I sucked it up and made the soup. 

I was by no means a professional chef but I cooked pretty decently. Mom taught me how to cook in case she came home late from work or had an emergency to attend to and there was nothing to eat. She taught me all her recipes and tended to give long lectures on what to do, how to do it, and why it should be done. 

Suffice it to say her cooking knowledge was drilled into me.

When Cassius asked me to make him chicken soup, I was more or less shocked. I mean, we have never spoken before and, well, he hated me. So his requesting (demanding) me to make him soup was something I hadn't ever expected. He must've been desperate enough to ask me of all people to cook him food immediately rather than wait for Ms Owens to return tonight or eat the beef stew in the fridge. 

I used my mother's recipe which I had saved on my phone. I added my own little twist and placed the food neatly on a tray before delivering it to him upstairs. 

When the door opened and revealed his form, it finally clicked that he was sick. I should've guessed it earlier but he didn't look as pale as he did at that moment. Now I realized why he was desperate for some soup. 

After saying my part to him, I quickly made myself scarce and silently wondered if he would throw it away. I did say he could if he didn't like it but...it would be a waste. 

Glancing at the time on my phone screen, I frowned. 

Thanks to the whole soup-making business, I was now late for the movie I was hoping to see. 

I felt a little wronged. I was looking forward to going to the cinema and watching a movie by myself but now...

"Huu, another time I guess," I muttered glancing out the window. A flash of lightning suddenly appeared and following that was the sound of thunderclaps. The rain seemed to be heavier than this morning and now, the sky was completely dark. 

"...Maybe it's for the best I didn't go," I hummed. 

With nothing else to do, I pulled out a novel I borrowed from the school library and climbed into my bed, settling inside.

Since movies weren't an option; a novel it is.