Better than him

Chapter Eighteen: Improvement

Not proofread, also did y'all notice Cassie's outfit is like the imitation of her old color scheme...crazy

Dakota's POV

I walk the hallway with Cassie on my arm, I'm only walking her to class since she's hella worried about Nate being around to mess with her

I notice she's a little tired but she looks so good today, like different in a way and her clothes are different

"Did I tell you how fine you look today" I say causing Cassie to smile and blush a bit

"No but uh...thank you" She says shyly and I smile but notice she can't meet my eyes, we stop at her locker and she hurries open it and collect her stuff

"Uh Cas...you good, all I did was compliment you" I say and Cassie sighs before looking at me

"I know just uh....can you walk me to class please" She says and I frown my eyebrows before grabbing her hand and walking to class, as we do I see Nate walking up the stairs by us

He looks Cassie up and down and licks his lips causing me to automatically wrap my arm around her and she nuzzles into me and puts her hand in my chest

He scoffs before taking off up the stairs and she lets out a sigh of relief, we keep walking when Maddy walks up to us and I sigh as she glares at Cassie

"Hey Maddy....I'll catch up to you in a bit, I'm just walking Cassie to class' I say but Casey detaches from me and rubs her arm nervously

"I'll uh find my way...Nate's gone anyway so I'll be fine..Uh see you later Dakota" She says before taking off down the hallway, I watch her walk off and can't help but feel a bit weird about her sudden change in demeanor

"What was that" Maddy says and I shrug, Maddy sighs before taking my hand and drags me down the hallway as she demands I walk her to class now

Rue's narration

Dakota didn't know it but Cassie was waking up at 4 am every morning to do her self care ritual she found recently, she did it as a way to tell Dakota that she's feeling better about herself

And to prove it to herself that she's getting better with her self esteem

And Dakota noticed her efforts but thought it was odd in the suddenly changed in her appearance and Lexi thought it was weird too..and Maddy but she didn't bother to speak about it

After all she didn't want any part of Cassie after her betrayal but she respected Dakota enough to not cause any drama since Cassie's paying for it enough not having her person

What Dakota also didn't realize was how much she had to work now that her parents are including her in the company

"Dakota...here's your homework for the company...and here's how we run things here" Dakota's dad says as he puts a stack of paperwork on Dakota's desk at his office

Dakota looks at him shocked as she listens to every word he says, she writes notes on everything and finishes her stacks of paperwork that she's given everyday she comes in after school

Dakota enjoyed the distraction, it helped that she didn't have to sit in her room and worry about funeral plans for Mouse since her parents are taking care of things

She did have Fez on her mind though, he'd been avoiding her for reasons she doesn't know yet and wishes he'd talk but...he won't