Tristan

She could have done better.

Much better than my brother.

Cassandra might not be experienced. She might be a creepy liar and she might be a little too good at acting, but she's also kind and smart and strong.

And I like having her near me. I like feeling her body against me. She doesn't smell all weird and musky like other girls. Instead, she smells so childishly strawberry. Her hair, her skin, even her accessories smell the same. I have the feeling that all kinds of lotions that she uses came from the same brand.

She's getting thin, though. So much thinner than when I first got into this agreement with her. She looks like a totally different person compared to the girl whom I noticed months ago.

Still, she's a good actress. I know that she always looks at my food whenever we eat together. I know that she always purposely leaves behind a huge portion of her meal. I know that she touches her stomach whenever she thinks nobody is looking.

And I'd hate for her to feel miserable about her eating habits. Because I find her better looking when she was a little bit fleshy. She has that kind of cheeks. The cheeks that look good when they're plump.

Oops. Maybe that's too much noticing. Maybe I need to stop looking out for her when I don't have to.

I can tell that I'm only alone in my situation. Because when Cassie looks at Desmond, her pupils dilate the way they never do for me. Her cheeks flush the way they never do for me. Her determination flares the way a girl still smitten to a guy will be.

That's the annoying thing about Desmond. He is cruel and heartless. He can treat people like shit and still get the love. He can act like the lowest trash in the compound, but he's still the true heir of the family, the original bearer of this powerful, all encompassing name.

And I'm still me.

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Cassie was dizzy. It had been exactly 16 hours and 42 minutes since the last time she gobbled something with a significant amount of calories inside her mouth. She ate a bowl of berry yoghurt for her 'Early Dinner', a concept that Tyra and her girls taught her to maintain her weight. She had cheated, though, because she asked her household assistant to fry her a single chicken nugget and she had savored it over the course of ten minutes.

Oh god, she was hungry. So hungry.

And it didn't help that the rest of the Elite Girls hardly ordered anything from the menu in Gastromaquia. Cassie had never been here. This was the kind of cafe where you'd visit with your friends, not a place to go alone.

Cassie deduced that it was another trick for the girls to stay slim. They never ordered their own food.

But they did steal a bit here and there from the boys.

There were a total of 8 people that managed to get to the cafe. 4 boys and 4 girls, Cassie and Tristan included.

And they were talking shit about everybody in the school.

"Did you see Madeline's skirts today?" Lila Harroway rolled her eyes. She was a very pretty blonde girl who played every single sports available in school. Her instagram consisted of her in either bikini or skimpy yoga-clothes or her riding on Becky, her pristine white horse.

Note: Lila was not part of the Haters Club.

Cassie knew for a fact that Tyra hated her with all her might, because before Desmond dated Tyra, he had dated Lila first.

"Ugh, I know, I think the skirt lost a good three inches since yesterday. And did she ask for an added flare to it? It looks like her skirt is always billowing even though it's not windy." At this setting, though, Tyra managed to keep her hating to the minimum. Maybe it was the mutual hatred to the girl who had shortened her skirt to the length where it was almost pornography.

"She looks good, though. Madeline has great legs," August laughed. Of course he was oblivious about it. He was a boy, after all.

Sandra, one of Tyra's closest girlfriend and another member of the Haters Club, stole a fry out of August's plate. "Don't you think it's a little slutty for her to keep flashing you guys her panties?"

"I don't mind if she doesn't mind." A jock whose name Cassie couldn't remember winked suggestively.

They were sitting on a large round table. The smell of the boys's foods kept assaulting Cassie's nose as she tried to concentrate on the flitting topics. It was hard, particularly because she wasn't used to so much gossiping and keeping tabs with everybody and what scandalous things they were doing.

"Aria May Olson is sleeping with a sophomore! I think she took the poor boy's virginity!"

"The substitute teacher for the history class is so hot. We should find some dirt on her."

"Ugh. Remember the french kid who was on an exchange program? I wish he'd break up with that slut and date me instead."

Cassie couldn't keep track with all the rumors, all the names, all the scandals. She didn't even know if it mattered. All she managed to do was nodding and giggling or smirking at the cue, and that would be good enough for them. Desmond wasn't participating in the chatter, either. He quietly cut up his steak and listened to the other kids's banter, soaking up information.

Tristan ordered steak, too. It was salmon, Cassie's favorite. Cassie tried to remember the last time she had a good, proper meal and came up blank. This diet she was doing really did a number to her quality of life.

Her fake-boyfriend wasn't participating either. In fact, he actively ignored all the gossips, and he did it in a very open way. Tristan ate loudly, his utensils clanking at one another as he chomped down his food and drank his orange juice, as if eating could turn down the toxic noise from around them.

"You look sick," Tristan commented. His voice was low enough that no one but Cassie could hear him.

"I haven't eaten anything since yesterday," Cassie whispered back.

A second later, a huge chunk of salmon was in front of Cassie's face.

"Come on," Tristan held the fork near Cassie's mouth. "Just eat something."

Cassie hesitated. But before she could even react, Tristan pinched her arm and she yelped in surprise.

And oof. He put the food inside her mouth.

Cassie slowly chewed on the fish. Immediately thereafter, her senses were all blasting off with joy of the taste of the food. Cassie shut her eyes, her mouth let out an involuntary moan as she shook her head slightly. "Oh my god, this is so good."

"I know," Tristan grinned, feeding her another bite. "Have more."

"Isn't that so sweet?" Lila was resting her chin on her hand. "I never knew that you two are together. I just found out this morning."

Cassie forced a demure smile. As a new member of the Elite, she wasn't sure on how to approach this. Cassie tried to look at Tyra, who quickly saved her.

"The relationship is new, isn't that right?"

As Cassie was nodding, Tristan finally spoke out loud for the first time. "We've been pretty close for a while before she finally said yes."

The statement gauged Desmond to look up to them. "Oh?"

Cassie glanced at Tristan, but he kept his gaze ahead, straight to his half-brother. Side by side, they looked so different and yet similar. They had roughly the same build and body type, but the resemblance ended there. Tristan's hair was darker, straighter, whereas Desmond's held a little curve. Tristan's lips were puffy and red, whereas Desmond's was thin and shapely. Cassie wondered if there was any photograph of them together. It would be interesting to see.

'Do it!' Cassie could feel Lucas eyeing her. Hard. 'Do what you're good at!'

"I'm actually embarrassed to talk about this," Cassie looked at her lap in mock reticence, a small smile playing on her lips. She slipped a lock of hair behind her ear, purposely showing Desmond the fake hickey on her neck. When she saw his eyes darting to that area, her confidence soared. "Before, we were just... trying to keep it casual."

If only Cassie weren't so observant, she would have missed it. Desmond was good at masking his feelings. So good, in fact, that she almost thought she was imagining the little twitch on his eyebrows. It only lasted a millisecond, but the reaction was there.

"Casual." Was all he ever voiced, but that one word carried so much meaning. A multitude of expressions flitted over his face.

Tyra let out a gasp. This prompted Lila to also freely let out her reaction, which was an amused laugh that was cut short. Lila took her phone from her pocket, and Cassie knew that tomorrow there would be a new rumor circulating. Probably something that included her and Tristan and them having all kinds of sex in all kinds of places. Maybe they were speculating about which rooms in school where they had done it.

August was the first person to actually string a coherent sentence together as a form of reaction. "Wow. I didn't know... well, congrats to you guys, then."

"It was a difficult time for me, August. I was heartbroken. And you know how it is when you're trying to move on from someone. Your body just... changes. You want to do something radical, something different," Cassie tried to keep an air of effervescence in her voice. The voice of a girl who had just been sexually awakened. "Thankfully, Tristan was there, and he has been incredibly... how should I put it? Helpful."

"I know what you're talking about, Cassie," Tyra giggled. She never giggled when she was plotting, but she constantly did it when she was putting her own mask. "Especially since," she bit her lip in the most lascivious way as she glanced at Tristan. "You know..."

Tyra was referring to another rumor about Tristan pertaining to his size. It was something that Cassie had been waiting to capitalize to. "Gosh, Tyra!"

As if on cue, Tristan snaked an arm around her and pulled her into him. Cassie tried her best to relax as she rested her head to the nook of his jaw. His body heat encapsulated her and the way his fingers moved up and down her arm was really distracting. She didn't know how other girls could really get cozy while they were cuddling with their boyfriends and not just combust.

But here she was, nervous because of just a simple gesture, and yet talking as if she had done it all.

"Tell me, Cassie, because I'm dying to know," Desmond cocked his head to one side, his green eyes fully fixated to her. "How did my dear brother ask you out? Because the last time I heard, he might be good at the action bit but atrocious at the actual romance."

Cassie and Tristan had discussed about this before. "He called me, took me at his favorite restaurant, and then gave me chocolate."

"That's it?"

"Well, the fact that he didn't disappear in the morning after a great night helped, too."

The stab felt a little obvious, but Cassie didn't care.

Desmond was silent. But unlike the previous silence that was founded by quiet-confidence, this time it was due to an utter bereft of speech. He took Tyra's hand and squeezed it, and in the mean time, Tyra gave Cassie a little nod, as if praising her.

Tristan kissed the top of her head. "More food? I'd hate for you to be tired."

"This is like, the first time I saw a guy encouraging his girlfriend to eat more!" Lila screeched in approval. "Oh my god, this is so sweet."

Tristan fed her another big chunk of fish, and then gave her a sip of his drink. Cassie didn't know she needed it until the water hit her system. Her heart had been beating so hard, so loudly, that she was afraid everybody could figure out how nervous she really was.

Desmond sighed. A moment later, he raised his hand to ask for the bill. He quietly paid for everyone, his eyes never meeting Cassie the whole time, even though they were sitting across each other. It was actually a feat of its own. There was still a good thirty minutes before they had to get out of the cafe, but Desmond had already gone to his car, leaving Tyra behind.

Tyra struggled to keep up with his pace as her high heel wasn't designed to walking fast, or walking comfortably, or maybe even walking altogether. But before she could even get inside the car, however, Desmond had already sped up, leaving the rest of the group sitting in silence and dumbfounded with the erratic behavior of their king.

Lila and August started discussing about what might piss off Desmond. August thought that it was because Desmond's steak was too raw. He actually went to the chef and personally reprimanded the poor guy.

But Cassie knew the real reason, and as a personal celebration, she let herself another bite of Tristan's fish.

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thank you for reading! :) i actually wrote a total of 20k words this week only. it's been so long since the last time i'm this fired up about the story. don't forget to vote and comment! tell me what you think about this chapter! I'll try to have another update on Wednesday.