(Spin-off of Imaginary, more so specifically it's second book, Severity)
Cleo Vexer, a problematic teenage girl, is the sensation of your average pessimist and mediocre criminal. Still having to survive the rest of her senior year bitter and lonely...
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Winsley and I curl in the furry blankets on my couch, sipping on coffee as we exchange the newest stories of our week upon a cozy Tuesday night.
"I'm going to beat the living daylights out of Oliver Walkley." Winsley mutters as she molds herself further into the couch. "The boy has zero class."
"Calm down, Wins." I smile assuringly. "I'm past him already. Sicily showed her true colors as well. I'd rather just erase my memories of them rather than plot some uncalled for revenge."
Winsley stares at me incredulously. "Am I talking to the real Cleo Vexer?" I roll my eyes at her dramatics. "The Cleo Vexer I know doesn't let people get away that easily."
I shrug, feeling the warmth of coffee surge down my throat. "I'm just starting to get tired of it all. Maybe it's for the best."
I could feel Winsley's eyes burn in disbelief. "Is something going on that I don't know about?"
"I'm just turning over a new leaf." I reasoned.
"Honey," She huffed. "People don't change over night."
"Then I'm doing an experiment." I corrected myself. "If all my life I focus on petty revenge, I'm going to lose myself to that. I'm starting to realize that having the fulfilling type of happiness doesn't come from spray paint cans."
"This is too much information to dump on me, especially when it's a Tuesday." Winsley groaned. "Did you talk to Sever or something? You sound like him when he's ready to ignite a riot."
I smile sheepishly, my hand kneeling through my hair. "I did ask him for some advice."
Winsley's mouth drops agape. "Why didn't you ask me?"
I shrug embarrassedly. "Sever has been through his sides of darkness that are fairly similar to mine. Sorry, Wins."
What I really wanted to say was, 'Sever knows how it feels to be second choice.'
Just how I was to Oliver Walkley's relationship behind the curtain, a secret starring him and Sicily Wells. And I used to think Sicily forgot her lipstick in his bathroom during some party. But then again, I'm a sucker for believing in things that make everything seem fine.
"It's not an issue." Winsley smiles assuringly. A guilty feeling swirled in my chest when atop her lips was oblivion. "Plus, we have made plans by ourselves without him a lot recently. Though I am surprised that you two could tolerate each other for more than five minutes."
"He's alright," I bend over and place my coffee cup on the table. "And he's also your boyfriend, so I'll make amends for your sake."
She shakes her head, a smile still stained on her face. "You just don't want to admit that he's actually a genuinely good guy."
I grin softly, giving away the apparent secret that I agreed with her statement. "If that's what you believe." I sing mockingly.
"So what about you?" Winsley prompted. "How's Caslon?"
"I'm not really sure." I thought over it. "He's been very deflecting recently. It's like there's a beaming spotlight on me no matter where I go when I'm with him. But I guess that was after I confronted him about his family's legacy."
"Don't bargain for answers, Cleo." Winsley advised, a sparkly glint in her eyes. "If the both of you are dating now, demand and confront, question his character. You have the right to know."
My eyebrows scrunched together in thought. Over all the years, no boy could treat me with a love I could fathom. No one really wanted me. With Caslon Allway on a path that I knew would lead to heartbreak, it got me scared.
I sat upright from the couch, my feet nuzzling into the rug. I turned my gaze to Winsley in surprise as I register her words. Finally in a turn of events, it had been Winsley telling me to grow a backbone.
