chapter eighteen

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Cassidy was lying on her bed, bored out of her mind, refusing to try on yet another dress that her grandmother had bought for her in a fit of excitement after hearing about their plans to go to homecoming

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Cassidy was lying on her bed, bored out of her mind, refusing to try on yet another dress that her grandmother had bought for her in a fit of excitement after hearing about their plans to go to homecoming.

Warren, watching her from the doorway, asked incredulously, "How are you okay with this?"

"And," Cassidy repeated, continuing to roll around on her bed, "as I said a million times before, Layla doesn't have any ulterior motives other than to make Will jealous."

Warren let out a deep sigh and flopped down onto the floor, where he had been sitting. "Doesn't her randomly holding my hand bother you?" he asked, his voice tinged with a hint of irritation.

Cassidy halted her movement and stared at Warren from her upside-down position. "It did," she clarified, referring to her feeling bothered by Layla holding his hand.

"But when you're in love," she continued, "you tend to act foolishly without thinking about your actions. Layla is desperate, and Stronghold is behaving like a dog chasing after someone who's holding treats for him. The thing with Gwen is not going to last; it's not even real to begin with."

"And how are you so sure?" Warren inquired, tilting his head to the side with an eyebrow raised.

"There is a reason why Gwen is pursuing Stronghold," Cassidy elaborated. "It's because of his parents' fame. But if that was the case, she would have gone after anyone. She's the one with an ulterior motive, Warren, and we both can see it. We've had encounters when her posse approached us for various reasons—it's almost as if they were expecting something from us—but the moment Layla and her friends started eating lunch with us, they backed off."

"I was wondering why my days had become less aggravating," Warren commented, gazing up at the ceiling. "But it still doesn't explain why you're so calm about this sudden shift."

"Maybe," Cassidy responded, rolling over to lie on her stomach. "It's because Layla and her friends aren't intimidated by us. They were initially wary, but they...just don't see us as the 'baddies,' you know? We aren't the immoral people they once thought we were, and it's a refreshing change of pace to have some diversity. In fact, they're vastly superior to any hero at our school."

"What if one day they realize we are what they initially believed?" Warren asked, contemplating the reality of the possibility that still loomed over them.

Cassidy extended her hand towards him, and he interlaced his fingers with hers. She smiled, leaning against her bed. "If it happens, so be it, right? It was worth the experience," she said with a shrug.

"You're so optimistic about everything," he teased, sitting up from the floor and leaning forward to quickly connect their lips, aware of the risk of doing so with Cassidy's grandmother in the house.

Warren then turned his head, peering over his shoulder. "Do you think she noticed?" he asked jokingly.

"She has a fantastic sense of smell, not hearing," Cassidy said, rolling her eyes. Just as the lips were about to meet once again, the sound of Fiona's footsteps down the hall reached their ears, and they both pulled away, "Or...maybe she does have extraordinary hearing," 

"No kidding," he whispered, and the duo flinched as they heard the sound of the elderly woman clearing her throat, as if she had overheard their quiet remark.

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