This chapter is cute. There are Cresswell, Jacinter, and Kaider snippets throughout. Wolflet is in the next chapter.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf: Part Three

After school at The Rampion, Thorne and Cress sit across from each other. Their backpacks are at the window seat with the jackets. On the table are their notebooks, pens and pencils, and empty plates with half-filled cups. Cress looks at the notebook, following the numbers with her pencil. Meanwhile, Thorne watches her. He loves seeing her like this: so focused on something that he finds uninteresting. It's strange how he could find enjoyment in watching her look at numbers. Maybe it was the way she moves the pen or squints her eyes. Or the way she moves the hair that falls in her face behind her ear.

"You know what you're doing," Cress says.

She looks up at him and the apples of her cheeks redden. Whenever she looks at Thorne, she can't believe that he's her boyfriend. Before, she was a nobody who longed and lusted for him. And now they're in love. Butterflies always fly wildly in her stomach, crashing against the walls when she looks at him.

"You didn't need my help," Cress continues. "You just wanted to spend time with me. You're crying wolf."

"I didn't cry for Wolf," Thorne responds with a small grin. "I cried for you."

Cress's eyes widen as her heart races. She looks away from him, feeling her cheeks burn. To distract herself from her embarrassment, she grabs her glass and continues to sip her drink from the straw. But from her peripheral vision, she can see Thorne smiling at her.

"I'm kidding," Thorne says. "Not about spending time with you but about the crying wolf part."

Cress nods, putting her now-empty glass down. "Gotta love double-entendres."

"What?"

Cress pauses, unsure if Thorne's joking but he smirks. He stands up for a moment to kiss her quickly before closing their books and pushing them towards the window's side of the table. Cress didn't object to that. She only puts her pencil down on top.

-o-

Winter walks into her room after eating an after-school snack. Typing on her phone, she closes her door with her foot. She pauses, biting on the inside of her cheek as she counts with her fingers for the time difference. She didn't put as much thought into the time change between Commonwealth and Artemisia as she did when she first moved here. Before, she would count down the minutes. Now, it was a thought on the back burner. She isn't sure why it came to her mind but that didn't stop her from calling Jacin.

It's only evening there. Maybe late evening at most.

"Hey," Winter says once she stops hearing the dial tone. "When was the last time we fought over something?"

There's no response. Winter double-checks to see if he even picked up and she sees the ongoing call flash.

"Or the last time we were mad at each other?" Winter asks.

There's still nothing. Winter looks at her phone again. The call is still going and she called Jacin. Her service is fine and his seems clear as well. Maybe she has to repeat herself.

Jacin Bae: Okay … hello to you too.

Winter smiles. "Sorry, it's just something I wanted to clarify. How are you?"

Jacin Bae: I'm great. And I don't remember ever fighting or being mad at each other. How are you?

"Really?" Winter takes a seat at her desk and spins around in her chair. "Not even a fight?"

She hears Jacin breathe as if he's shrugging. It's an exasperated sound that seems like it's processing a thought. It makes Winter smile.

Jacin Bae: Nothing too important to remember. Maybe back when we were kids and I refused to spin the jumping rope. Or when you were still here and wanted me to go to a party. Even when you wanted to be boyfriend/girlfriend and I didn't care about the status, we didn't fight.

"And I'm doing well," Winter says. "I can't believe you remember those."

She can't stop beaming at the fights that Jacin remembers. Even when she was thinking about it earlier, she couldn't think of anything. Not even those fights came to mind. She doesn't recall a time when she and Jacin ever looked at each other, brows furrowed, arms crossed, tension heightened. They never had anything to fight over, not even the status change. After they became official, she forgot every ounce of convincing she did. They share a love that makes the distance worth it.

Jacin Bae: I got dizzy from the spinning and hate parties.

"You didn't hate parties."

Jacin Bae: I hated parties with all my aces. Why are you asking?

"Scarlet was wondering."

Jacin Bae: Why is she wondering?

"She and Wolf got in a fight. Or something she calls a fight. I don't know. I wasn't there. She says that he said they're good but she isn't sure because she said something and feels guilty about it."

Jacin Bae: Huh … isn't this the boy who flew to a different country for her when she disappeared?

"You did the same thing first."

Jacin Bae: … fair, but I was having an existential crisis.

"Well, he's having one now which leads to my next question. What are you?"

Winter twirls a curl in her fingers as she waits for an answer. At least she now knows that Jacin is there.

Jacin Bae: This doesn't help my former existentialism.

"Okay, I'll provide more context. When people ask for your nationality, do you say Lunar or not?"

Jacin Bae: Nobody in Artemisia asks what you are because nobody really cares and assumes you're a Lunar. Only tourists say who they are based on where they're from, and it's easy to spot them. But if I went somewhere and I was asked, I would say Lunar. It's all I've ever known.

Winter nods. "Right? It's almost automatic."

Jacin Bae: Oh, stars, what did Scarlet do?

Winter explains everything that she knows, continuing when she turns in her seat and sees Levana entering. Levana walks further into the room, taking a seat on the corner of the bed. Winter eyes Levana and sees that her stepmother's face is looser as if she's concerned. Winter feels her body freeze because if something spooked Levana, it was serious.

"Jacin, I'm going to call you back," Winter says.

Levana clears her throat. "Winter, if the man in a relationship is the victim in an argument and he claims it's not a problem, it's likely not."

Jacin Bae: Facts.

Winter smirks. "I love you. Call you later."

Winter hangs up and turns around to give Levana her full attention. She crosses her legs and folds her hands on her lap.

"What is it?" Winter asks. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Levana responds. "We need to talk about Cinder."

"What about her?"

"It's about Selene."

-o-

Cinder and Kai have no plans for the night. It didn't help that Cinder invited herself last-minute to avoid Levana. Without discussing, they knew that their night would consist of making out and ordering out. If they were lucky, they could throw in a movie and homework. And in that order too. But first, they had to discuss sleeping arrangements because it was a touchy subject after Levana gave them her version of the talk.

"It's kind of surreal to have this house to yourself," Cinder says as she follows Kai up the stairs.

"Yeah," Kai responds. "Most nights, I stay with Torin and his family. It's so lonely and empty here."

Cinder nods. She was there when Kai's father got sick and passed. His whole life changed from having blood family to being the only one left. She supposedly went through that but didn't know who she lost. She didn't know her mother. The only person whose loss she truly understood was Winter's father who was basically her father as well. And even then, she isn't sure is she felt it correctly.

"So there are two guest rooms," Kai says. "You could choose one or you could have my room and I'll take a guest bed."

Cinder shakes her head. "No, Kai, because I know you and your Asian-ness. You will be changing the sheets and flipping the entire room which I don't want."

Kai can't argue that. "Well, I didn't have time to prepare."

"And I don't want you to. You've seen my room in its natural state. I'm your girlfriend, not a guest."

Cinder opens his bedroom door and sees a neatly-made bed, books organized on shelves, and folded clothes. This doesn't support whatever claim she thought she had. His clean room made hers look like the aftermath of a tornado. It makes her wonder what he had to fix since it already looks perfect. It makes sense since she knows he has a cleaning lady drop in once in a while, but this is all his doing.

Kai gives her a full smile and a kiss on the cheeks. "I'm going to grab a pillow for the middle if that'll make you more comfortable."

"Yeah…" Cinder mutters, putting her bag down by the door. "So do you want a pizza or Chinese?"

Kai shrugs as he leaves the room. "Pick whatever."

There's something you might have noticed by now but Cinder and Wolf's plots in the arc are intertwined *coughs*