Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 27

It was times like this Cassie wished that the walls of her apartment building weren't paper-thin.

Despite playing soft music while trying to work on her psychology paper, she could still hear Lexi and Isaac happily chatting away in the former's apartment. The music playing in Cassie's place made it difficult to understand what exactly was being said, but the laughter that occasionally popped up from one or both of them was easy to hear. Every time Cassie heard it, she felt her heart hurt more and more. It soon became too much to handle; her mind was clouded with despair and anger over listening to Lexi and Isaac acting so damn happy.

Enough is enough, Cassie thought, I'm giving them a piece of my fucking mind!

She stalked out of her apartment and stormed over to Lexi's, where she knocked on the door in an obnoxious manner. She wasn't certain how this confrontation was going to play out, but she had a feeling that Isaac would get involved almost immediately. But nothing had prepared her for what came out of his mouth.

"Cassie, you need to leave. Lexi's my girlfriend now. You need to accept it and move on."

The word girlfriend hadn't been expected whatsoever. Cassie knew the pair had been dating and had also kissed before. She knew they were no longer just friends. But to hear her ex-boyfriend referring to Lexi as his girlfriend sent her over the edge.

"You cannot be serious!!! How dare you refer to Lexi as your fucking girlfriend?! You guys haven't even been dating that long! You don't know her that well!!!"

Isaac scoffed. "What Lexi and I do is none of your fucking business."

"Cassie, please stop" Lexi begged. "Please go home."

At first, Cassie considered ignoring the unwanted advice. But she changed her mind once an ugly thought formed in her mind. Her scowl turned into a defiant smirk that baffled Lexi and Isaac.

"Fine. Just so you know, I didn't come here to try and convince you to come back to me, Isaac. I want you both to understand that from now on, I'm gonna make both your lives hell. If I can't be happy then neither can you!"

She stomped away before the couple could respond, satisfied yet still in a fury over everything that had occurred. She didn't see Isaac's red face or Lexi's horrified expression as they both tried to process everything. The latter closed the door before stumbling into the living room.

"Jesus Christ," Isaac muttered while he followed his girlfriend.

Lexi didn't say anything; she sank down on a chair and rested her head in her hands. Isaac sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder She didn't really respond to his touch but didn't stop him. She was too busy trying to pull herself together after being yelled at for the millionth time. She didn't want Isaac to see her like this, but it was impossible to hide how hurt the confrontation had left her.

"I'm so sorry," Isaac said.

"It's not your fault," Lexi replied. She looked up so that they were staring back at each other.

"I'm really sick of this bullshit."

"Me too. I'm so done with this drama."

"I know you are, baby. I really am sorry about what Cassie did. I wish it hadn't happened."

"Please stop apologizing. I don't wanna talk about Cassie anymore. I just want us to try and enjoy what's left of tonight."

"I'm perfectly okay with that. Come here."

At this, Lexi moved closer so that Isaac could give her a tight hug. He kissed the top of her head while she relaxed at his comforting grip around her waist. This wasn't how he'd wanted their night to go, but he needed to comfort Lexi more than anything else. After everything she'd done for him to celebrate his birthday, he wanted her to feel appreciated in return.

***

Compared to how she'd been last night, Cassie was in a much better mood the following morning when she relayed the past events to Mariana. The pair were going to spend the day doing homework in their apartment, but Cassie was still giddy about last night. Her previous disgust had been replaced with excitement on the numerous ways she could make Lexi and Isaac's lives miserable. She didn't share any of her ideas with Mariana— she wanted to keep that to herself. Instead, she kept bringing up the highlights from last night's confrontation.

"I was so pissed, but now I just wanna fuck with them," Cassie blurted. "It'll be awesome!"

"Must've been nice," Mariana replied in a flat voice.

"It really was! They have no idea what I have planned for them."

"I bet."

Cassie noticed that her best friend wasn't as invested in their conversation as she should've been. Thinking that something was wrong, she closed her laptop screen with furrowed brows.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

Mariana looked up with frustration evident in her features. "I'm sorry, Cassie, but I'm not interested in talking about this right now. You've already told me what happened, and now you're just bragging about it non-stop."

"Can you blame me?"

"Maybe not, but it is annoying. Can we please stop talking about it? Besides, I'm trying very hard to focus on finishing this stupid paper today."

Cassie bit her lip with newfound guilt. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry for distracting you. I'll stop talking about last night."

"Thank you," Mariana replied with a relieved grin.

Despite her promise, Cassie still wanted to break it so that she could carry on bragging about what she'd done. But she wanted to respect Mariana's request because she really was trying to work on her paper. So, she whipped out her cell phone on a whim and texted Isaac to gloat some more.

Cassie: So, Lexi's your new girlfriend now? Fine, I get it. You don't want to be with me anymore. I won't try to win you back anymore. But NOW I'm gonna make both your lives hell. You two don't deserve to be happy at ALL. I'm gonna fuck with you both until it breaks you guys up. I don't even care if you want nothing to do with me after that. Fuck YOU, and fuck Lexi, too!!!

Satisfied with the text she'd sent off to her ex, Cassie finally resumed her homework with a triumphant smirk. She didn't expect Isaac to get back to her, nor did she care if he even did. The knowledge of her words having such an effect on both him and Lexi was enough to keep her in a good mood for the rest of the day.