Chapter 8

Alex was suspended for the day, considering it was his first offense and it was only his first day. Nathan was sent back to class. Angela came and picked him up early. Her face was clearly disappointed. They drove home in silence.

Alex propped his head on the cold glass of the car window and tried to relax. It was short lived.

"What were you thinking?!" Challenged Angela.

"Well…"

"I mean he could have broken something! He could press charges, Alex! Your lucky Naima can talk him out of it or you would be in a whole world of trouble."

Whatever. He thought. "Ok. I'm sorry." He grumbled.

"Sometimes that's not enough." She sighed.

They finally arrive back at the house and Alex heads back to his room. He lets Midnight in and shuts the door.

Angela stands alone in the kitchen staring at her keys on the counter. He couldn't even last a day. What am I going to do? She thought to herself.

There was a knock on the front door. Who could that be? She went and opened the door.

"Hi." Said Cassandra as she stood on the front porch, rocking on her heels.

"Oh. Hi, Cassie." Said Angela.

"I'm here to see Alex." Said Cassie.

Angela stared at her. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I checked out today." She replied.

Meanwhile Alex could hear the conversation going on. He knew Cassie was reading his thoughts at the moment. He got up and went into the living room and peeked out over Angela's shoulder, at Cassie.

"Hey." Said Alex. Angela jumped.

"Alex! Oh my God. I didn't hear you come in here." Said Angela. She turned back to Cassie. "Uh…Ok come in. If you guys go in the basement or his room you can't shut the door. That's the rule."

"Ok Angela." Said Alex as he walked back towards his room. Cassie skipped into the house and followed him.

Alex went into his room and fell back onto his bed and stared at midnight; who was staring at the door. Midnight barked as Cassie turned into his room. Cassie stopped in the doorway. Midnight continued to bark and took a few steps forward.

"Hey!" Said Alex. Midnight looked back then continued barking. He took her by the collar and drug her out of his room, and locked her in Naima's room.

When he came back Cassie was looking through his clothes.

"Excuse you?" said Alex.

"Yes?" She called still going through them. She read his thoughts. "I'm seeing what Naima picked out for you." She stated.

"Oh." That's not weird at all. "Well. What do you want to do besides go through me clothes?"

"I don't know." She said as she turned and hopped onto his bed. " We can talk."

Alex rolled his eyes. He went over and lay on the bed beside her. She sat up crossed her legs and stared at him with her insane deep brown eyes. He looked up at her.

"What?" Asked Alex.

"You're very interesting." She replied.

"I'm interesting? I'm not the one going through other people's clothes without asking. Now am I?" He replied.

"I'm just saying."

"What's so interesting about me?" He asked closing his eyes.

"Well. Everything." She said tilting her head.

He opened his eyes and sat up. He crossed his legs Indian style and shook the hair from his face. "Lets be specific."

"I don't think you want me to tell you. I'm afraid it'll hurt you."

Alex thought for a minute. Hurt me? …She can read thoughts. She probably knows more about me than I know about myself.

"Yea." Said Cassie, answering his thoughts.

"Just tell me then." He said quietly.

"Ughh. Okay." There was a moment of silence. "Well. The fact that you lost everything…."

Alex looked up. Images started flashing in his head.

"And yet, you were still able to make it. It just seems like life handed you too much to handle but you proved it wrong." She said. She closed her eyes trying to block out the images in Alex's mind.

Alex looked up at her from underneath his hair. He hardly heard a word she said. He saw that she was trying to block his thoughts. "I'm sorry." He said.

"It's ok." She said opening her eyes. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It's not your fault." He said while looking around the room.

Cassie watched him. It was so tempting to her. She had to do it.

Before Alex could react, Cassie had his face in a soft embrace and his lips touched hers. At first he fought it but that only lasted a second. He soon gave in and kissed her back while his hands played with her hair.

Cassie could feel the electricity pumping through her. She didn't know if it was from him or from her own Adrenaline. She loved it.

Then Alex heard Angela's footsteps coming down the hall. His eyes widened and he pulled Cassie's face away from his. He leaped off the bed and stood by the TV.

Angela walked in and stared incredulously at them both. "What are you doing, Alex?" Asked Angela.

"Oh. Me? Nothing I was just…"His voice faded away.

"Yea… Ok. Do you want anything for lunch?"

"No I'm fine." He said quickly.

"What about you Cassie?"

You don't want anything. Thought Alex as he glared at her.

"I… I'm fine." said Cassie as she looked at him from the side.

Angela took another glance at the two of them. "Ok. Well I'm going to get me something. I'll be back in a couple of minutes. So behave yourself." She said locking her gaze on Alex then walking away.

Alex waited for the reassuring click of the front door closing. He let out a sigh and went back over to Cassie.

She smiled and laughed. "That was fun."

"Yea.." He replied.

Cassie frowned. " I know you like Naima."

"Listen I …"

"But I also know your aware that it will never happen."

"Uh… yea. So that's what I was saying. I like you too."

"Well, lets not jump into things. I mean I don't have to read your mind to know that you do that quite often." She laughed.

"What do you mean?" He said.

"Well you moved from Australia to America with a stranger for one."

"Ha. Good point." He laughed as he smiled at her." But what If I want to jump into things." He said his face getting ever closer to hers.

Cassie could feel his breathe on her face. "Then, lets jump together." She said as she leaned in and met his waiting lips.

"Well, Well, Well." Said a voice coming from the doorway.

Alex and Cassandra pulled away from each other and jumped onto opposite sides of the bed. Their eyes still wide with shock, they turned to face the stranger. Cassandra knew her but Alex had never seen her before. She was average height with short blonde hair that was cropped at an angle; the shortest part being in the back and the longest in the front. She was wearing a black T-shirt that said WHS in big bold white letters across her chest. She had on blue jeans and flip flops that contrasted the Louis Vuitton handbag she carried around her shoulder.

"Hey Naima." She called. "Looks like your mutant has found a lover."

Naima stopped what she was doing in the kitchen and looked towards her friend with curiosity. "What?" she asked as she made her way to his doorway."

"Well. Look for yourself." she said pointing at the two of them. "They were sucking face when I came in here."

Naima looked at Alex then at Cassie. Her mouth fell open in shock. Cassie. She thought. She clenched her jaw shut and glared. She could name a few reasons why she hated this girl and she just added another to her list.

"Why…" She breathed deeply. "Why is she here?" asked Naima.

"Well, she checked out and… Hey, wait. Why are you here?" Said Alex.

"There was a tornado warning. Didn't you notice the clouds outside?" She asked annoyed.

No he hadn't. He had completely over looked them. I have better things to worry about besides clouds. He thought, comforting himself.

"So I rode home with Paige." Said Naima quickly. "Now back to you. Why is she here." She pronounced every word carefully as if to make sure they hit his ears just right.

"She's here because she wants to be." He said as he shifted his stance into a more protective one. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes. There is. She's a lying little bitch. She told me that Nathan was cheating on me so we would break up; so then she could have her go at him." explained Naima.

Alex looked at Cassie; waiting for her side.

"That's not what happened and you know it." Said Cassandra and she jabbed a finger towards Naima. Cassie walked around the bed and stopped in front of Naima. She pulled her chin up and her shoulders back, trying to be as tall as possible. "I told you he was cheating, Naima, because he was! With Macy Sox. I would never want to date a guy like him anyways." She said, cringing.

"That's a lie." Said Naima as she got in Cassandra's face. Cassandra never flinched. "Nathan would never cheat on me! He said that you kept flirting with him and you were just trying to tear us apart."

"Why would I want to do that? Just trust me Naima I wasn't lying. Remember I can read peoples thoughts." said Cassie as she looked at Naima sincerely.

Naima took a step back from Cassie. "Nathan wouldn't cheat. I know that for a fact."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." said Cassie.

"Oh. Shut up you lying whore." said Naima.

"Hey." Alex interrupted in a commanding voice. "You two need to chill. Plus I just heard Angela come in the front door."

Naima turned from him sharply and stalked away. Paige followed close behind. She went into her room and locked the door. Angela called after her but soon gave up.

You not lying are you? Alex questioned to Cassie in his head.

"No!" She nearly screamed. "I promise. She's just to naïve to see the truth."

"You guys just keep your.."

"Distance. I know. That's what we've been doing."

Alex sighed and sat back on the bed. Cassie did the same. Alex lost himself in his own thought as he stared at the bed covers.

"She's not mad at you." said Cassie.

"Your sure?"

"Yea… I'm sure." She said solemnly.

No one needs to know at all times what people are thinking. It will eventually eat them away from the inside out to hear all the crude comments people unconsciously make in their thoughts. Thought Cassandra. She thought about this quite often; Whenever she would walk past a discriminative teacher, or student, or even if they didn't like her shirt. It killed her. Now, this. He does like me, but I'm his second choice. Even after that stupid display she just put on. It's her over me.