And Then There Were Four

Cassie.

For two days, I didn't see hide nor hair of Lucas. In fact, all of us had looked for him, and yet... nothing. I was worried, which the others thought was crazy, considering Lucas attacked me, but in reality, I tried to attack him first, and so did my brother. Guilt swallowed at me, wondering if he would ever be normal again. Even if he didn't want me anymore, it didn't mean I didn't care to know if he was okay or not. Frustration filled me as I tried to focus on my current task at hand. The endless lectures on how to use effective magic was something so far from my thoughts, and yet my teacher's rambling still echoed in the distance.

The moment the bell rang, a sigh of relief washed over me as I collected my book and moved from my seat. My stomach growled for food, considering I had barely eaten the last two days, and instead moped around like a pathetic loser hoping for the attention of one person who, at one point, couldn't stand to be around me.

Stepping into the hall, I instantly dreaded this place. The whispered conversations and stares of the people around me made my skin crawl. Everyone heard about what had happened with Lucas, and I wasn't sure exactly how they had heard, but it may have had something to do with the fact Zia had seen Lucas jump from the window.

She was an absolute bitch, and the more she glanced at me and made mocking comments, the more I wanted to cut her eyes from her head and shove them down her throat. She had already tried twice now to taunt me, telling me I didn't deserve Lucas and that she would happily take him off my hands.

As if I would ever reject my mate, even if he were a bit of an asshole since we slept together. A moment I thought of very often.

He was mine, and I was his, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself.

"Cassie, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to go back to your room?" Sansa said as she grabbed my arm, stopping me in the hallway between the bell.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"I can't miss class because of all this," I explained as I adjusted the bag strap on my shoulder. "Plus, I'm starving and really need to get something to eat."

Her eyes went wide at my words as

if my wanting food shocked her in some way. She was literally the one who scolded me this morning for not eating. "Oh well, why don't we go to the cafe down the street where we got drinks that one time and we can grab something there?"

The cafe was a good fifteen-minute walk from here, and honestly, I didn't have the energy to do that. All I wanted to do was to go down to the cafeteria where everybody always ate lunch, grab something there and then move on to my next class without bringing any more attention to myself.

If that was possible.

"No, I think I'm just going to grab a sandwich or something down in the cafeteria," I replied as I gave her a small smile and attempted to walk past her, to which she quickly stopped me once more.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun. We haven't done it since that day, and there's been so much else going on. I think we should do that. We could even find Trixie."

Laughter escaped me as I shook my head. "As amazing as that sounds, maybe we can do that this weekend. I honestly just want to grab something small from the cafeteria and just move to my next class. I can't be late."

Hesitant about it all, she quickly let

me go but kept at my side the entire way there, still trying to convince me that going to the cafeteria was only going to be boring and that we should go have fun somewhere off campus.

It wasn't until they got to the cafeteria doors Trixie popped up with a smile on her face, and I suddenly realized something was going on.