Frankly My Dear, All's Fair in Love and War

16: Just Animals in Heat

Desmond

Of course she's not the first.

To deny me, I mean.

There are other instances. Sometimes, they didn't know who I was. Sometimes, it was very dark and they would think that my looks would be deceivingly different under the sunlight. Sometimes, they knew who I am and decide to say no just to spur me into actions.

In the end, I always win. I always have them come back.

None of the people who have rejected me is like Cassandra Bellington. And I don't mean physically. Cassie is pretty. Even before she shaved off all the extra weight. She has nice skin, she has smooth blond hair. She looks well-cared for, a face that belongs to the upper society.

She just.. doesn't look like a player. Or someone who knows the game. She looks dumbfounded, she looks new. She's nervous and awkward and she tries horribly hard to fit in now, which would be a problem for her, because she has spent the first 17 years of her life running to the side that offers anonymity.

But Cassie is a fast-learner. I can tell when she suddenly cozies up to Tyra like a hyena and flirts with August condescendingly as if he's a fat kid with a bad case of pimples. I can tell when she suddenly has my despicable half-brother wrapped around her little finger.

And maybe that's why I end up in front of her house. Maybe that's why I bang my head, literally, to my steering wheel before I send her that text message. I should have unsent it. Have someone come and steal Cassie's phone so that she can never see what I wrote. I'm in front of your house. What kind of creepy shit is this?

But instead, after getting no reply for quite a while, I call her.

What the fuck are you doing, Desmond?

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16: Just Animals in Heat

Cassie arrived at school with a new determination.

And a whole new wardrobe.

She drilled her whole household assistants to alter all of her uniforms. Tighter on the waist. Shorter. Fitted into the immaculate measurements of Cassie's curves. Now the clothes clung to her body like a second skin, and almost in a way that made it scandalous. Cassie wasn't the only one who did this, but she was the first to make such drastic changes in just a span of one night.

Tyra spotted her on the school halls and linked arms with her. "You look like a slutty catholic schoolgirl."

"Thanks."

"And where's the poop, Cassie?"

It took a second for Cassie to realize what Tyra was talking about. Tyra light brown eyes were cold, even though she was smiling on her lips and everywhere else. Nobody but Cassie would have thought that this wasn't just a case of two girlfriends catching up with each other.

"Excuse me?" She tried to feign confusion, if only to stall a little longer.

"You're one little tryhard bitch, but you didn't go to this Desperado level before. So where's the poop, Cassie?" Her name was enunciated slowly, and the grip on Cassie's arm tightened.

Cassie didn't want to tell Tyra that her boyfriend just drove into her house last night and practically begged her to love him. She knew that on some levels, Desmond's desperation would excite Tyra. But she would be far more comfortable telling about this in the safety of the Ping Pong Room with other people to ensure that Tyra wouldn't do anything to endanger her life.

"I got smaller," Cassie lied. "Lost another 2 kilos this week."

"Yes and your boobs are shrinking like the Venezuela's currency," Tyra didn't want to let this go, but a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind and spun her around.