The next day, as I was eating during short break, Hans asked, "Mehn, did you hear what Andy did yesterday?"

Oh fuck, news of Cassie and I must have spread.

I replied, "I assume you're talking about the fact he broke up with Cassie? I don't see how that's a big deal."

Hans' eyes widened. "Not a big deal? He fucking hit her!"

I choked, pounding my chest. After I recovered, I stuttered, "Wh-what? You're kidding?"

"No, he's not!" Seth chirped in. "The story going around is that Andy caught Cassie cheating on him when he went to her place."

I scoffed. "That's the story going around? The whole thing is probably a lie, because, for one, Andy never caught Cassie and me together-"

Seth's brow furrowed. "Oh no, we're not talking about the fact you heartlessly banged your friend's girlfriend!"

"Heartlessly?" I rose an eyebrow at him, smirking. "I assure you, my heart was very much behind Cassie and I's hookup."

Seth's face flushed, and he sheepishly laughed. "Oh, I didn't mean to judge! I can see how Cassie could have caught your eye-"

Mitch sighed. "Seth?"

"Yeah?"

"Please stop talking."

"Oh, of course, no problemo!" Seth put his hand to his lips, mimicking locking them.

"Mitch continued, "Apparently, Andy went over to Cassie's house and caught her with some dude. The rest is history."

I nodded. "How did Andy even get into her house in the first place?"

Mitch shrugged. "I've told you all I know."

Grinning, Hans said, "She probably gave him a spare key into her house."

"To her parent's house, you mean." I corrected. "I'm sure they take comfort in knowing their daughter gives out full access to their possessions to all her dick appointments."

Hans laughed. "Mehn, it wouldn't surprise me if you're right. Some of these bitches would do anything for dick."

Aimee walked up behind him. "Learn to think with your brain rather than your dick, then maybe us girls would acknowledge that opinion."

Seth said, "Uh, guys, don't look now, but Aimee Jacques is standing right behind us."

I rolled my eyes at Seth. "Yeah, no kidding!"

Aimee lightly smacked my head. "Stop it, leave my Lil cutie alone."

Rubbing my head, I shot her a dirty look, then turned to Seth. "Did you hear that, Seth? Mama Jacques doesn't want me to hurt her wittle- ow!"

Aimee put down the hand she'd used to pinch me. "Stop trying to make Seth feel like my compliment was an insult!"

Seth said, "Hehe, yeah...I totally took that as a compliment!"

Aimee furrowed her brow. "Hold on, you didn't-"

I sighed. "Aimee, what are you doing here?"

"Funny you should ask because I came here for you."

Hans said, "Surprise, surprise."

Aimee frowned at Hans. "Did you say something?"

Grinning, he rose his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Nope, nothing came out from these two lips, ma'am!"

Her eyes narrowed at him for a few seconds, then she turned back to me. "So, are you coming?"

I fished out a bar of Cadbury chocolate from my pocket, then replied, "No, thank you. As you can see, I want to-"

Aimee's hand darted forward and snatched the bar out of my hand.

My eyes flickered to my empty hand briefly, before firing Aimee a dark gaze. "Aimee, I strongly suggest you return my chocolate before things get ugly."

"The only thing that would be getting 'ugly' is this chocolate after it takes a trip to the bin!"

Crossing my arms, I scoffed. "Nice try, but this is short break. I doubt the bin is overflowing with trash right now."

Aimee smirked. "Maybe not, but are you really going to rummage through the bin with all these people around?"

"I-" I gritted my teeth. Damn it! And I don't want to waste food...

After a short while, I said, "Well, it looks like I'll be going with you after all."

Aimee rose her eyebrows at me. "Good to know."

Sighing, I got up and followed her to an empty table, making sure to drag my feet as I did. Might as well look like I'm suffering.

As soon as we both sat down, Aimee huffed, "Well, I don't know how you did it, but congratulations."

Ah, she must have heard about Cassie. I smirked. "It was quite easy, actually. First, I thought of the plan, then I executed it."

"You're actually proud of it?"

Why is she mad?

I bristled. "Why wouldn't I be? He deserved it."

She crossed her arms. "Really? So the owner of The Eatery did something so bad that you just had to blow up his kitchen?"

"Of- what?"

"Oh, so now you're playing dumb? Please, you practically confessed to orchestrating that explosion!"

My shoulders sagged. "For your information, I wasn't referring to that."

Aimee's eyes widened. "O-Oh."

Shaking my head, I breathed, "I mean, did you really think I somehow caused an explosion in The Eatery? Just how sick do you think I am?"

Her face flushed. "W-with you, I never know!"

"Why would you even think I'd want to blow up The Eatery?"

"Well..." Aimee's voice trailed off as she averted her gaze from mine.

I struggled to keep on a straight face. "Wow, so you're quick to accuse me but slow to tell me your reason for doing so? Is your reason that stupid?"

Her eyes snapped back to mine. "Shut up, no it's not! I thought you did so because you needed an excuse for skipping practice yesterday!"

Silence fell.

After a moment, Aimee stammered, "W-well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

I breathed, "Sorry, give me a moment to gather my thoughts. You know, since you scattered them with your ridiculous accusations-"

"Don't try to put the blame on me! You're the one who decided to skip practice without even giving me a reason. I already had my speech all planned out in my head, only for me to arrive at The Eatery and see firemen all around!"

"Wait," I narrowed my eyes. "If you already had your speech planned before you arrived at The Eatery, how did you know I wasn't planning to show up?"

"Because we had an agreement to message each other before heading to The Eatery, remember?"

I blankly stared at her.

She narrowed her eyes. "You do remember, don't you? I told you about this last-"

"Is this the only reason why you asked to speak?"

Suddenly, from across the hall, Prickleberry called out, "Miss Jacques, can I have a word, please?"

Aimee said under her breath. "Shit!"

I frowned. "Why is Prickleberry calling-"

She interrupted me. "Never mind that, just listen. Because of what happened at The Eatery-"

Prickleberry growled, "Miss Jacques!"

"-we're gonna practice at your place after school today-"

"Miss Jacques, you are not deaf!"

Aimee finally faced Prickleberry. "Coming!"

Glancing back at me, she said, "Don't forget, after school, today. See ya."

Leaving those words hanging in the air, she walked over to Prickleberry.

Before they both left the hall, I called out, "Good afternoon, Mr. Prickleberry!"

Mr. Prickleberry glared at me. "Can you behave as if you have proper home training for once and not shout?"

I grinned, shouting even louder, "Of course I can, sir!"